Night wrapped Mumbai in a damp, restless heat. Even after sunset, the air clung to the skin like a second shirt. The paan shop downstairs slammed its shutters. Somewhere in the alley, someone argued loudly with a drunk, words echoing through narrow walls.
Arjun sat by the window, letting the faint city breeze brush his face. His ribs pulsed dull warnings beneath his shirt. The cracked phone lay partly repaired on the desk—glass replaced, circuits aligned, waiting for final testing.
But he wasn't thinking about the phone.He was thinking about the shadow on the rooftop.
Rudra.
Long tied-back hair.Sharp jawline.Cold, blade-like eyes.Expression locked in permanent quiet anger.A black hoodie thrown over broad shoulders.A face that looked carved rather than born.
A man who could stand still enough to disappear into the night.
A man who had watched him for days.
A man who didn't move like a civilian.
Arjun replayed the rooftop moment again in his mind—how the man didn't flinch, how he vanished between blinks. His breath hitched, remembering how the system reacted.
[Situational Awareness: +1%]
If the System responded when Rudra appeared…Then Rudra wasn't a coincidence.
A metallic tap hit the window suddenly.
Tak.
Arjun's heart jerked.
He stood. Slowly.Pulled the curtain aside.
Nothing.
Just the humid wind, the flickering streetlamp, and the shape of an old building across.
He exhaled—
Then froze.
A silhouette leaned casually against the water tank on the opposite rooftop.
Rudra.
Arjun's breath caught in his throat.
The man didn't hide this time. He didn't vanish. He stood tall, arms loose at his sides, long hair tied back with a simple band, hoodie half unzipped revealing a plain black T-shirt. A faint scar cut through his left eyebrow.
His eyes—narrow, sharp, silver-brown—locked onto Arjun with a calmness that didn't belong to the world.
Arjun swallowed. Hard.
The man raised two fingers. A small gesture.
Come.
Arjun's entire body went cold.
He looked back at the room—at the safety of the flickering tube light, the peeling paint, and the repairing tools. But safety felt like a lie. The rooftop felt like truth.
Another breeze hit his face.Somewhere below, a dog barked at nothing.
Arjun opened the door quietly.He stepped into the stairwell.Each footstep echoed too loudly.His palms were sweaty.
The stairs to the roof smelled of rust and old rain.
When he pushed the final door open, the night air rushed in—warm, salty, alive. The distant highway hummed like a restless beast. Laundry fluttered on ropes like ghosts trying to escape.
Rudra stood a few meters away, back turned.
Even from behind, the man radiated danger.
Not wild danger.Controlled danger.The type that came with experience and scars hidden under clothing.
"Don't freeze," Rudra said, voice low and steady. "If you freeze here, you'll freeze when it matters."
Arjun tensed. "Who are you? "
Rudra didn't turn immediately. His head tilted slightly, listening to the city.
"When I'm sure you're worth knowing," he said, "I'll tell you my name."
"You've been watching me."
"Everyone watches something," Rudra replied. "Most just watch the wrong things."
He finally turned.
His expression was unreadable—as if he had trimmed emotion out of his face the way some people trim hair. His eyes flicked over Arjun—from his messy long black hair to the bruise under the collar to the way Arjun's fingers curled unconsciously around nothing.
"You moved today," Rudra said. "You did something different."
Arjun's throat tightened. "You saw? "
"I see everything," Rudra murmured.
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate. Arjun felt small, thin, and fragile in front of him.
But Rudra wasn't threatening him.He was analyzing him.
Rudra's gaze locked onto Arjun's grey-brown eyes.
"They're changing," he said softly. "Not color. Focus."
Arjun's breath stilled.
Rudra stepped close enough that Arjun saw the faint scar across his jaw and the faint lines of exhaustion around his eyes.
"You're awakening," Rudra said. "Not fast. Not like the others. But you are."
Arjun's heart slammed once, painfully.
"I'm… awakening? " he whispered.
The man didn't smile. Didn't soften.He simply nodded once.
"The System chose you."
Arjun's world tightened into a single point.
"You know about the System? "
Rudra's jaw clenched. "I know more than you should right now."
The rooftop suddenly felt too small.
Wind whipped Rudra's hair back. His hoodie fluttered. His eyes stayed locked on Arjun's.
"Today's refusal," Rudra said, "wasn't courage. It was instinct."
Arjun's chest stung. "I didn't mean—"
"No," Rudra cut him off calmly. "Instinct is good. Instinct means you can grow."
Arjun blinked. "Grow… into what? "
Rudra—
for the first time—
smiled.
Not warm.Not kind.A sharp, dangerous smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Into someone who survives."
Arjun took a step back out of reflex. Rudra let him.
He turned away and looked out at the city lights.
"Tomorrow," Rudra said, "your life will get harder."
Arjun swallowed. "Because of Samar? "
Rudra didn't answer immediately. His silence was heavy.
Finally—
"No. Samar is just a symptom."
Arjun felt his stomach drop.
"What's the disease? "
Rudra's eyes reflected the city below—hard, metallic, broken, alive.
"The world," he said softly. "And the people waking in it."
The system flickered violently.
[Major Trait Detected: Latent Adaptation]Progress: 0.1% → 4%
Arjun gasped quietly.
Rudra turned back to him, voice steady.
"Get stronger, Arjun. Quickly."
Then he stepped backward.
One smooth step.One shift of weight.One breath.
He fell off the roof.
Arjun lunged forward—
—but Rudra didn't fall.
He landed on the balcony two floors below with the quiet grace of someone stepping off a bus.
He glanced up at Arjun—
"Don't be late tomorrow."
Then vanished into the night.
Arjun stood frozen, heart pounding, breath shaking.
The city hummed.
The system pulsed.
And something inside him finally understood:
Today wasn't the beginning.It was the warning.