Uruvi took her sweet time explaining the events that happened thus far. She made sure to trim out any details that would have made his heart weak, including Manvee’s fate. In her version of the story, she was left with a bleeding wound. By the time she had finished telling her story, her father was left with a frozen expression of surprise, shock, and morbid horror.

  “Dad? You… alright?” she asked, tugging his thigh.

  His frozen expression broke, which was followed by rapid blinking. “What the… Uruvi… You went through all that?”

  “Yeah… Pretty much…”

  He took a while to digest the information, unsure how to respond to it. In the end, he simply said, “well. What has happened… has happened. You are back in a safe place. Things may not be the same, but… we always adapt, don’t we?”

  Uruvi nodded. “Yeah… I guess so.”

  The quiet ambience was suddenly broken by the loud ringing of the phone. He quickly hopped over and picked it up. “Hello…? Yeah… Oh. I don’t think so… No. I don’t… none of them are there?”

  “Dad? What happened?” she asked.

  “Hold on…” He covered the mouthpiece with his hand and turned to her. “There seems to be something in the septic tank. We are trying to get hold of those guys.”

  She hopped onto her feet and said, “don’t worry. I got this.”

  He paused for a second, unsure what to say.

  “If things go wrong, we will run. Okay?” she said.

  He let out a sigh and said to the caller, “hold on. I got hold of someone. We are coming down.”

  She scoffed and asked, “someone?”

  “Oh. He doesn’t know you yet,” he said, placing the headset back.

  “By the way, how are the phones working?” she asked.

  “About that. Remember, I told you there was this gang that cleaned up the place. One of them, I think his name was Ashwin. I don’t know how, but he has been going around setting up connections. In just one day, he had already covered the distance from our apartment to your mother’s area. That is just crazy, right?”

  She was impressed, very impressed. “It is crazy…!”

  The two reached the septic tank, which was tucked into a corner of the basement. A brooding elderly man stood before the manhole cover. They could hear something crawling around beneath them.

  “Did you get a look at them?” asked her father.

  “No. We wouldn’t dare open the lid,” said the elder.

  “It could be just rats,” said her father.

  The splashing was loud, and each footstep had some weight to it. “Does that sound like rats, to you?”

  He did not reply; instead simply looked away.

  “Well. Let’s open and see what it is,” said Uruvi.

  The elder looked at the axe in her hand and turned back to her father. “She is one of them?”

  “I think so,” he replied.

  The elder stepped aside, giving way for Uruvi to open the lip. There was enough light to fill the small space inside, revealing three level 7 Pisacha hiding inside. They looked at the humans and let out a lowly screech.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Don’t worry. I got this,” she said, before jumping into the tank.

  Her father tried to object, but he was too slow. They watched as the puny girl sliced up the three monsters, turning them to dust, before getting out of the tank in one easy jump.

  “Any idea how they got in there?” she asked.

  The elder simply shook his head.

  “There was a breach in the fence last night,” said a stranger.

  She turned around and saw a strapping young gentleman walking towards them. She noticed that he had a screen in front of him as well.

  He held his phone up and said, “sorry. I saw your text late.”

  “No problem, Vinith. We got the situation under control,” said her father.

  He gazed down at her axe and said, “yeah. Hello there. I am Vinith.” He humbly offered his hand.

  “Uruvi,” she replied, shaking his hand.

  “Say, Vinith. Can you help us get connected to our smartphones as well?” asked her father.

  “Certainly,” he replied.

  As the day went on, things slowly began to quiet down. Uruvi got a taste of normal life once again, and she found herself getting pulled back into the shell she had created.

  She laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The world around her was deep in slumber, at least those who managed to get any. But she couldn’t get a wink of sleep whatsoever.

  “Arya, what is my mental health now?” she asked.

  “Analyzing… Your mental health is now at 100 percent.”

  “Then why do I feel so done with life…? Again?”

  “Negative. My database does not have an answer for that.”

  She let out a dull sigh and pulled up her screen. ‘Why does life feel so boring now?’ She wondered as she flipped through the screens. She had points to fill and skills to pick, but she was in no mood to do them.

  ‘Maybe the quiet life isn’t for me after all…’

  ***

  The next day started out as usual. She found herself sleepwalking her way through the morning. However, as noon approached, the anxiety within her began to build. The more she thought about it, the more questions popped up, and Arya did not have answers to any of them.

  Hours turned into minutes, and soon minutes turned into seconds. Her eyes were glued to the clock that hung on the wall above the flat screen TV.

  ‘Thirty seconds to go…’ She began biting the nail of her thumb to curb her anxiety.

  “Why are you watching the clock from that time?” asked her father, who had just returned from his morning scouting.

  She looked at him before returning to the clock. “Even I do not know.”

  The answer left him confused. He looked at the clock, which said it was ten seconds away from twelve. “Is there something that is going to happen at twelve?” He asked.

  “I don’t know. Is it?” she replied.

  “Uruvi. What is going on?”

  She saw the minute hand and hour hand strike twelve. “Wait…”

  The two of them froze in anticipation when the TV suddenly switched on.

  “What the hell? Since when is this working?” he said.

  “The TV wasn’t working?” she asked.

  “I mean, it was. But there was no signal or cable.”

  The TV screen turned white with a loading symbol at the center. It was accompanied by a soft tune, the kind one would hear in an elevator.

  Seconds later, the symbol vanished and was replaced by a strange-looking clipart. It was round and plump, with cartoonishly large eyes and a mouth. It had a pair of hands but no legs.

  “Greetings!” said the clipart. Uruvi instantly recognized its voice. “I am the Grand Advisor, and I am here today to present to you the grand vision of our creator!”

  “What is going on?” asked her dad.

  “Wait.”

  “You have been previewed to the beginning of the end. And now it is time to take it to the next level. Dear contestants, this is your chance to show your skill and prove your worth!”

  ‘What are these guys planning?’ She wondered.

  “Contestants! So far, you have seen what you are capable of, the powers, the weapons, the carnage! And now it is time to amp up the games. We are delighted to present to you the leaderboard!”

  A graphic of a Leaderboard, complete with ranks, points, and profile, appeared on screen. The data was obscured by a blur.

  “Starting from the end of this transmission, any kills a contestant makes, get them points! The points earned with each kill vary depending on the opponent and their power level. At the end of each day, the last contestant in the leaderboard will lose their life!”

  Uruvi’s heart froze while her skin burned like it was on fire.

  “Each leaderboard is designated to a specific area. Check your map to know which leaderboard you're assigned to. If you move to a different area, your leaderboard will change accordingly. Along with the leaderboard, you will now have access to several new features!”

  A laundry list of items scrolled past the screen at a comically fast rate.

  “Wait! Wait! I can’t read them!” said Uruvi, leaning in.

  The list vanished, and the Advisor returned. “You will have access to this information through your guide. Now, before we leave, we have a few words from our creator.”

  The image of the Advisor was replaced by the silhouette of a humanoid creature. The voice, which spoke, was deep and otherworldly. “Greetings… humans… I hope you are enjoying this gift I have bestowed upon you all. Think of it as a hearty reply from those who were put under your feet because we never got a chance to prove who we were. While you savor this divine moment, I hope you think of your gods, because they certainly weren’t thinking about you when they met their end.”

  The screen turned black once again, and silence returned. Neither of them spoke a word, but both understood the dire circumstances they were in at the moment.

  ‘This… This is going to be a bloodbath…’