Arjun Mehra had mastered one skill in life.
Being unnoticed.
Not the kind of unnoticed that makes you mysterious or cool.
The forgettable kind.
The professor forgot his name.
His classmates forgot to include him in projects.
Even life itself seemed to skip him like an optional side quest.
And today, like every other day, he was late.
The evening traffic roared through the main road outside his college in Pune. The sky burned orange as the sun slowly dipped below the buildings.
Arjun adjusted his backpack and muttered, "Why does disaster follow me daily?"
He stepped forward to cross the road.
That's when he heard it.
A scream.
High-pitched. Terrified.
He turned.
A small child stood frozen in the middle of the road. A red ball rolled near her feet.
And a truck was speeding toward her.
Everything slowed.
The crowd gasped—but no one moved.
Arjun didn't think.
He ran.
His shoes pounded against asphalt. His heart slammed against his ribs. The truck horn blared like a death sentence.
He reached her.
Pushed her.
And then—
Impact.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Arjun expected pain.
Instead… there was nothing.
Darkness stretched endlessly around him. No sky. No ground.
Just void.
"…Am I dead?"
A blue flicker cracked across the darkness.
Like a glitch in reality.
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
Arjun blinked.
"…What?"
The screen brightened.
[Compatibility Check: 99.7%]
[Host Candidate: Arjun Mehra]
[Status: Critical Condition]
His breath quickened.
"This is a dream. This is definitely a dream."
[Do you accept the contract?]
YES / NO
"What contract?!"
The darkness trembled.
Somewhere far away, he heard machines beeping.
Hospital?
Was he alive?
The screen flickered again.
[Warning: Refusal will result in termination.]
Arjun swallowed.
"Termination… as in… death?"
Silence.
Then a final line appeared.
[Accept. Survive. Grow.]
He didn't want to die.
He didn't want his life to end as the invisible guy no one remembered.
His trembling finger moved.
"...Yes."
Light exploded.
Pain crashed into him like a tidal wave.
Air flooded his lungs.
Voices echoed.
"He's waking up!"
"Doctor! He's conscious!"
Arjun's eyes opened.
White ceiling. Hospital lights. Smell of antiseptic.
His body ached, but he was alive.
Alive.
His mother was crying beside him.
"You idiot," she whispered, holding his hand. "Why would you do something so reckless?"
Arjun tried to smile.
"I didn't think…"
But then—
A flicker.
At the corner of the hospital room.
Something moved.
A shape darker than the shadows.
Tall.
Distorted.
Its head tilted unnaturally.
And it was staring at him.
Arjun froze.
"…You see it too, right?" he whispered.
His mother looked confused. "See what?"
The creature's eyes—if those hollow dents could be called eyes—glowed faintly red.
The blue screen reappeared.
[First Mission Assigned]
Eliminate Shade – Level 1
Location: City Hospital
Time Limit: 24 Hours
Reward: Survival
Failure: Memory Reset
Arjun's heart pounded.
"Memory reset…?"
The creature twitched.
Its body stretched unnaturally along the wall like spilled ink crawling upward.
No one else reacted.
No one else saw it.
The nurse walked straight past it.
Through it.
The creature's head snapped toward the nurse.
Its mouth split open.
Too wide.
Arjun felt cold.
"This isn't a dream."
The system added one final line:
[Welcome, Shadow Host.]
The creature smiled.
And Arjun realized something horrifying.
He hadn't been chosen randomly.
The Shade had been watching him.
Even before the accident.
End of Chapter 1