Chapter 1: Network Error
Shivgarh was a small town.
So small that if you were new, everyone would know you within two days.
And if you did something unusual… the entire town would talk about it.
That night seemed normal too.
9:47 PM.
Televisions were on in every house.
Some watched cricket, some daily soaps, some kids scrolled endlessly on their phones.
The internet was slow—as always. Nothing new for Shivgarh.
Aarav sat in his room, staring at his laptop.
Lines of code were running across the screen.
"Come on… just connect…" he muttered.
He had built a local signal tracker.
While others complained about bad network, Aarav preferred investigating it.
Suddenly, the laptop made a sharp beep.
A new signal blinked onto the screen.
«New Network Detected
Name: OTHER-SIDE
Signal Strength: ██████████ (Full)»
Aarav froze.
"What… is this?"
Full signal in Shivgarh? Impossible.
He quickly clicked Connect.
The screen flickered.
Then went black.
For a split second… he saw something.
It was like a camera had opened somewhere else.
Dark. Extremely dark.
And inside that darkness… something moved.
Aarav jerked back.
"Just a glitch," he whispered to himself.
Then—
His entire room went dark.
"Power cut?" Aarav shouted.
From downstairs, his mother replied,
"The electricity is fine! Only your room!"
Aarav's heartbeat quickened.
His laptop… was still ON.
Without power.
Static filled the screen.
And within that static… letters began typing.
By themselves.
«CAN YOU HEAR US?»
Aarav's fingers hovered over the keyboard.
He slowly typed:
«Who is this?»
Two seconds.
Five seconds.
Then the reply appeared.
«NOT WHO. WHERE.»
The temperature in the room suddenly dropped.
Like someone had turned the air conditioning to freezing.
Aarav could see his own breath.
"This isn't possible…" he whispered.
His phone vibrated.
Unknown notification.
No app name.
Just a message.
«DO NOT DISCONNECT.»
And then—
The WiFi router mounted on his wall…
Started melting.
Plastic dripping like liquid.
But the drops vanished before touching the floor.
As if they never existed.
Aarav stepped back in fear.
"That's it. I'm shutting this down."
He grabbed the laptop lid.
It wouldn't move.
As if something inside was holding it open.
The static on the screen began forming a shape.
A circle.
Like… a doorway.
Inside that doorway—
A shadow.
Moving.
Aarav stumbled backward.
His headphones, lying on the desk, suddenly powered on by themselves.
A sound emerged.
Slow.
Distorted.
Like someone speaking underwater.
"…can… you… hear…?"
Aarav covered his ears.
"STOP!"
The voice grew clearer.
"We… are… trapped…"
A hand appeared on the screen.
Human-like.
But made of pixels.
It was trying to push through.
Aarav's breathing stopped.
"This is a dream… this has to be a dream…"
A loud knock came from downstairs.
"Aarav! Come down quickly!" Kabir's voice called.
Aarav rushed out of the room.
When he reached downstairs, Kabir's face was pale.
"Turn on the TV," Kabir said.
The news was playing.
A headline flashed:
«LOCAL BOY MISSING FROM HIS HOME»
A photograph appeared.
Rohan.
Their classmate.
Kabir spoke quietly,
"His parents say he was in his room… using his phone…"
Aarav felt a chill run through him.
"And then?" Aarav asked.
Kabir pointed to the screen.
The reporter continued:
"The room was locked from inside. No signs of struggle.
Only one thing was found…"
The camera zoomed in.
Rohan's phone.
Its screen completely black.
Except for one line:
«CONNECTED TO OTHER-SIDE»
Aarav's hands trembled.
He slowly pulled out his own phone.
The screen was already on.
A new notification waited.
«USER ROHAN HAS JOINED THE NETWORK.»
Aarav looked up.
The TV suddenly glitched.
For one second, instead of the news anchor…
That same shadow appeared.
Looking directly at him.
Text flashed across the screen:
«NEXT USER: AARAV»