The train station of Ajmer was always alive with noise, but for Ajay, it was just background static. A world too loud, too chaotic for a man who had learned long ago to live in silence.
No one knew his real name here. They only knew whispers. A shadow in the underground who finished every job, who erased every trace. Codename: Shadow. The freelancer assassin who had burned his own bridge to the organization by slaughtering them all—teachers, brothers, even the mentor who once sharpened his blades.
Now, Ajmer was his only pause between contracts. Not a home—never that—but the closest thing he had to one. The streets smelled of roasted peanuts, incense smoke drifted near the temples, and in the evenings the pink sky over Ana Sagar Lake reflected off the water like molten copper. A place of memories he never acknowledged out loud.
Ajay lived on the third floor of a worn apartment block, bare walls and a single cot. His possessions were simple, but every item spoke of intent:
A disassembled Walther P99 handgun with suppressed barrel.
Two combat knives, polished and oiled.
A folding sniper stock hidden in his closet.
And tucked beneath the floorboards—boxes of ammunition and poisons, handmade and precise.
This was not the life of a family man. This was survival dressed in calm routine.
---
Ajay sat by the window, a cigarette between his lips though he never smoked deeply. His gaze followed the busy street below: vendors bargaining, children darting between rickshaws, lovers laughing too loudly. He didn't belong to this world. He only borrowed it, for a week at most, until the next mission came.
How many more missions until I stop? The thought was always fleeting. He knew the answer—there would be no stopping until someone stronger buried him in silence.
He exhaled, the cigarette ember glowing like a dying star. That was when the sky changed.
---
At first, it was subtle. Clouds moved too fast. Birds scattered as if struck by an unseen force. Then, darkness spread—not like rain clouds, but like ink spilling across paper.
The city froze. Conversations died in throats. Dogs howled.
And then came the screen.
A pane of light, translucent yet sharp, blinked into existence before Ajay's eyes.
[System Initialization...]
[Calibration Complete.]
[Name: Ajay ]
[Race: Human]
[Class: ———]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 0/0]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 13]
[Dexterity: 14]
[Endurance: 10]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Luck: 10]
[Free Points: 0]
Ajay's hand went to his knife instantly, blade sliding from the sheath with a whisper. But the screen followed his vision no matter where he moved. He tapped the glass edge—his fingers passed through empty air.
Illusion? Hallucination? No... too structured. Too consistent. Not human work. Not tech I know.
For the first time in years, his heartbeat actually quickened. Not in fear, but in calculation.
---
The world outside reacted with chaos. He heard screams, the shattering of glass, the screech of tires crashing into one another. Ajay closed the window shutters.
"No information. No explanation. No tutorial. Just a system dropped on our heads," he muttered coldly. His voice carried no panic—only irritation.
He locked the door, dragged a chair under the handle, and pulled a small black notebook from his jacket. The same notebook he used to detail assassination targets, now filled with new words:
Rules of Engagement.
1. Analyze environment.
2. Test this "system."
3. Minimize contact with infected—or whatever this is—until proven safe.
4. If unavoidable, kill swiftly.
5. Never get careless.
His blade caught the dim light. Ajay twirled it once, and slid it back into the sheath at his thigh.
---
The first sign came ten minutes later.
A scream outside—high-pitched, desperate. Then another, cut short into gurgling silence. Ajay rose from his cot and eased open the window just a fraction.
On the street below, a man stumbled. His skin was already paling, veins bulging black. His mouth opened wide, jaw clicking unnaturally. He lunged at a bystander—tearing into flesh with animal ferocity. Blood sprayed across the cracked pavement.
Ajay's eyes narrowed. Zombie? No... not mindless. Not natural either. Mutation triggered by this "system" event? Mana-based infection?
The thought clicked like clockwork. He closed the window.
If infection was possible, he couldn't risk reckless combat. Not yet. He reached beneath his bed, pulled out the Walther P99, and checked the magazine. Full. One suppressed shot might work, but ammo was finite. Knives were better. Cleaner.
Still, he planned contingencies:
Engage from behind.
Sever brainstem or decapitate.
Avoid fluids—blood might carry contagion.
If infection suspected—self-termination before turning.
Ajay wasn't a man who feared death. He feared losing control.
---
The first intruder came at dusk. A shuffle at the stairwell. Then slow, dragging steps down the hall.
Ajay crouched near the door, blade reversed in his grip. His breathing slowed. Muscles relaxed. The same state he entered before every contract kill.
The doorknob rattled. Then—BANG. The wood splintered inward as the creature stumbled inside.
It was once a man, maybe a shopkeeper. Now its eyes were milk-white, teeth cracked, jaw dripping crimson. It lurched toward him with a hungry growl.
Ajay didn't flinch.
Step one: sidestep left. Step two: slash artery. Step three: sever spine.
The zombie lunged. Ajay flowed past it like smoke. His blade flashed once, slicing across its throat. Blackened blood sprayed, but Ajay already pivoted, his second strike stabbing clean into the skull through the temple.
The body spasmed once, then collapsed to the floor.
Ajay stood above it, breathing steady. A killer's calm, even in apocalypse.
And then—the screen blinked again.
[Zombie (Feral) Defeated!]
[+50 EXP]
[Level Progress: 10%]
[+1 Agility]
[+1 Free Stat Point]
Ajay's lips curved into the faintest shadow of a smirk.
"So it begins."
He wiped the blade on the corpse's torn shirt, eyes reflecting the faint glow of the system panel.
The assassin's game had changed. And the world with it.