The ceiling fan in the Bhopal classroom whirred with a rhythmic thwack-thwack-thwack, a sound that Aryan Kourav found oddly grounding. In his previous life, he had died in a world of grey concrete and mundane deadlines. Here, in this second life, the air tasted sweeter, even if he was currently trapped in a pre-university coaching session.
"Aryan, if you stare at that bird outside for one more minute, I'm going to poke your eye out," a voice whispered sharply.
Aryan didn't need to turn to know who it was. Ananya Sharma, his neighbor and childhood friend, was sitting just inches away. She was, by all accounts, the "Jewel of the City"—possessing a sharp intellect and a face that could stop traffic. But to Aryan, she was the girl who used to cry when she lost her erasers.
"You're too tense, Ananya," Aryan replied, finally turning his gaze to her. He leaned back, a playful smirk dancing on his lips. "The birds are free. No exams, no career paths. Just vibes."
Ananya huffed, her cheeks tinting pink—a reaction she'd had since she was ten, though she'd never admit why. "Vibes won't get you into a top-tier engineering college. And your sister Meera told my mom that if you don't take this seriously, she's going to use you as a practice dummy for her Kalaripayattu training."
Aryan chuckled. His older sister Meera was a force of nature, and his little sister Diya was a genius in her own right. His parents were the glue holding their chaotic, loving home together. It was a perfect life.
"Meera loves me too much for that," Aryan said, his voice dropping to a smooth, flirty cadence. He leaned in closer, noticing how Ananya's breath hitched. "Besides, I have you to tutor me, don't I? A smart girl like you wouldn't let her favorite childhood friend fail."
"I... I'm not your tutor! And I'm definitely not your favorite anything!" Ananya stammered, turning back to her notebook so quickly she nearly tipped her chair.
She hated how he did that. Ever since they were kids, Aryan had this... weight to him. He was handsome, yes—sharp jawline, eyes that seemed to see through everything—but it was his soul that pulled her in. She had fallen for him the moment he stood between her and a pack of snarling dogs when they were seven. He hadn't even been scared; he had just looked at the dogs until they ran away.
He's so frustrating, she thought, her heart doing a frantic dance. He acts like nothing in this world can touch him.
The clock struck 12:00 PM.
Suddenly, the thwack-thwack of the fan stopped. The hum of the city died. A terrifying, absolute silence fell over the earth.
Aryan's eyes narrowed. His "reincarnator's intuition"—a lingering sense from his soul's journey—screamed at him. He stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over.
"Aryan? What's wrong?" Ananya asked, her playful annoyance vanished, replaced by an instinctive fear.
"Get away from the windows," Aryan commanded. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an authority that made the entire classroom freeze.
Then, the sky cracked. A pulse of violet light rippled through the atmosphere, passing through walls, clothes, and skin.
> [ATTENTION: THE GREAT SEAL HAS EXPIRED]
> [MANA SATURATION: 100%]
> [INITIATING PLANETARY SYSTEM INTEGRATION...]
>
Floating translucent screens appeared before everyone. Screams erupted as students began to glow. Some collapsed, their bodies smoking; others grew taller, their muscles bulging.
Ananya let out a choked sob. Her skin turned deathly pale, and the air around her began to crystallize into jagged shards of ice. "Aryan... it hurts... I feel like I'm freezing from the inside!"
Aryan didn't hesitate. He stepped into the freezing zone, his own screen flickering violently in front of his face.
> [ANALYZING HOST...]
> [WARNING: REINCARNATED SOUL DETECTED]
> [SOUL RANK: BEYOND CLASSIFICATION]
> [MATCHING ATTRIBUTE...]
> 💎 [ORIGIN ATTRIBUTE AWAKENED: ABSOLUTE EVOLUTION] 💎
> ╔══════════════════════════════════════════╗
> USER: ARYAN KOURAV
> LEVEL: 1 (0/100 EXP)
> RANK: ORIGIN (EX)
> EFFECT: All things can be consumed. All things can be evolved.
> You are the Apex of the New World.
> ╚══════════════════════════════════════════╝
>
As the power flooded Aryan, his black hair shimmered with a faint, metallic sheen. His eyes, once dark brown, now held a swirling galaxy of gold. He felt the "Absolute Evolution" kick in immediately. It didn't just give him a skill; it rewrote his DNA to handle the new world.
He reached out and grabbed Ananya's shoulders. The ice shards that should have sliced his hands to ribbons simply melted or were absorbed into his skin.
[PASSIVE ACTIVATED: ELEMENTAL ABSORPTION]
[EVOLVING THERMAL RESISTANCE... SUCCESS]
"Look at me, Ananya," he said. The chaos in the room—the shouting, the breaking glass—seemed to mute under the pressure of his voice.
Ananya looked up, her eyes turning a draconic, glowing blue.
> [SENSING NEAREST ENTITY...]
> [NAME: ANANYA SHARMA]
> [ATTRIBUTE: SSS-RANK (MYTHICAL) – FROST DRAGON EMPRESS]
>
"You're not freezing," Aryan told her, his grip firm and warm. "You're just waking up. Control it. Don't let the cold out; pull it in."
Ananya felt a strange warmth flowing from Aryan's hands. It wasn't just physical heat; it was as if his very presence was telling the universe to settle down. Under his gaze, the blizzard surrounding her vanished, absorbed into her core.
She collapsed against his chest, gasping for air. Her smart, calculating mind was spinning, but one thought remained clear: even as the world ended, Aryan was the only thing that felt real.
"Aryan," she whispered, clutching his shirt. "What is happening?"
Aryan looked out the window. In the distance, a massive rift had opened over the Taj-ul-Masajid, and a winged creature the size of a bus was crawling out.
"The world just got a lot more interesting," Aryan said, his eyes glowing with an predatory light. "And I think it's time we start leveling up."