The Egg War ended, but its effects didn't.That night, Vicky couldn't sleep.
A dull ache spread through his bones—deep, steady, and wrong.Not normal fatigue.More like a low vibration inside him, as if his skeleton was humming.
He dismissed it."Adrenaline ka effect hoga."
He was wrong.
The Next Day
He went to the cyber café during his usual "tuition" hours.The silver coin grind had to continue.
He pulled the first coin.The chill hit harder than usual.Headache, instant.
He ignored it.
Pulled a second coin.
The humming in his bones sharpened.His hands trembled.
He tried for a third.
His vision flickered—San Andreas pixels overlapping with the real café for a split second.A terrifying overlap.He stopped immediately.
He left the café unsteady, the three coins heavy in his pocket.He climbed onto his cycle.
Halfway home, the world broke.
The Glitches Begin
It started small.A patch of road flickered into green, flat Minecraft grass for a fraction of a second.
A passing auto-rickshaw honked—and the sound warped into the bleat of a Minecraft sheepbefore snapping back.
Vicky froze."Kya ho raha hai…?"
He stared at his hand.For a moment, it looked pixelated.Blocky.Low-resolution.
The humming inside him was now constant.
He forced himself to move, pedaling slowly.By the time he reached his gate, the glitches had stopped—but the hum stayed.
At Home
He stepped inside, trying to look normal.
"Vicky," his dad called, "Paani de do."
"Ji, Papa."
Vicky lifted the glass.
The moment his fingers touched it, the humming spiked.The glass flickered—
—for one second, it wasn't real glass.It was a low-poly game asset.Outlined blue.Flat textures.
He nearly dropped it.
"You okay?" his father asked, frowning. "Haath kyun kaanp raha hai?"
"Bas… class ka thoda stress," Vicky managed.
He poured the water carefully.The glass stabilized back into reality.
But his heartbeat didn't.
The Warning
He went straight to his room and shut the door.
He opened his notebook.His hand still shook.
No experiments.No calculations.
Just one line, written large, uneven:
ENTRY #7:OVERUSE IS DANGEROUS.REALITY IS GLITCHING.I AM GLITCHING.STOP.
He put the pencil down and sat silently.
The power wasn't just tiring him.It was affecting the world around him.And him.
If he pushed any further without understanding, he wouldn't just risk his secret.
He'd risk everything.His home.His family.The reality he lived in.
This wasn't about being careful anymore.
This was survival.