RUDRA was born again.
Not metaphorically. Not spiritually. Technically—literally—reborn into someone else's dead body.
The boy's name was James. Eighteen. Pale, red-haired, bony, and clearly not built for war. And yet—he'd been targeted. Murdered. Even the Aghori trying to save him got slaughtered.
This wasn't some random street death. This was an execution.
And now... I was in his body.
I had just woken up in a hospital bed. Still groggy. Still adjusting.
I'd stumbled into the toilet, ready to take a leak, when I instinctively raised my right palm—to check the future of this body. Muscle memory. A habit from a past life.
What I saw froze me cold.
Nothing.
Not a single line.
No life line. No fate line. No heart, head, marriage, death—nothing.
Just a smooth, blank palm.
"WHAT THE HELL?" I snapped out loud.
I stared again. Rubbed it. Looked again. Still blank.
"I'm a palmist... and this hand is a fucking wasteland."
Then it hit me. Hard.
There's no future... because the boy is dead. The soul's gone. So the body doesn't carry a future of its own anymore.I'm just... borrowing it.
Before I could digest that horror, the bathroom door cracked open behind me.
"What happened, boy?" came the same doctor's voice. "Did your dick disappear or something?"
I spun around, cheeks burning.
"No! Hell, no!" I stammered.
He raised an eyebrow. "Then why scream like a Bollywood actress mid-climax?"
Think fast.
"I saw a lizard. Got startled," I lied.
The doctor looked me over, clearly not buying it.
"A lizard?" he repeated.
I nodded like a guilty schoolboy.
"It... it fell on my hand. While I was, you know... handling business with little James here."
He paused.
Then burst out laughing.
"Well, that makes more sense," he chuckled. "Be careful, son. Lizards are the real apex predators around here."
I nodded in defeat.
After that embarrassment, the discharge papers came quick. The nurse handed over some folded clothes. The hospital gown went straight into the bin.
The clothes were a size too big, and smelled like bleach, but I didn't care. I was leaving. Alive. And walking in a dead boy's skin.
As I stepped outside the hospital, the cold wind greeted me like an old friend.
James was gone. Rudra had returned.
But with no future line to guide me...I'd have to carve one myself.
Well. Where do I even go now?
I stood at the hospital gate, the cold wind biting against my skin, oversized clothes flapping like I didn't belong to this world.
Where did James live? Who were his people?I had nothing. No name, no address, no past. Just this body... and this damn dot.
A small black dot floated in front of my eyes—perfectly still.
At first, I ignored it. Blamed it on stress or post-death trauma. But then...
I closed my left eye.Still there.
I opened it, closed the right.Still there.
I shut both eyes.Still there.Like it was burned into my brain, not just my vision.
I waved a hand in front of my face. Nothing changed. The dot didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't react.
"What the hell...?" I muttered. "Now do I have some eye disease?"
I focused on it, mentally.
And tried to move it. And it moved without any problem
Left. Right. Up. Diagonal.
Wherever I wanted it to go—it followed. Like a cursor on a screen.
My heart skipped a beat.
It's not just in my head... it's connected to me.
'Should I try touching it? Pressing it? And drag it out of my sight?'
...Screw it.
I locked onto the dot and mentally pushed.
A sharp click echoed in my skull. Metallic. Robotic.
And then—
A voice echoed. Metallic. Emotionless. Robotic.
"I welcome you, Grandmaster."
A low hum vibrated in my ears.
Then, without warning, a glowing interface flickered into view—right in front of me. Floating. Semi-transparent. Strange glyphs danced across it, mixed with digital English. It looked like someone had fused an ancient manuscript with a corrupted laptop screen.
[ACTIVATING INTERFACE...][USER: JAMES][FAMILY NAME: NONE][SOUL BINDING: COMPLETE][MESSAGE FROM AGHORI: AVAILABLE]
Message from Aghori?
I focused on it. Clicked it mentally.
The box opened.
[RUDRA, remember the deal.]You have 30 days to find the person who killed me.Fail—and this system will end your soul.Succeed—and the system will evolve. The body will be permanently yours. And system will help you to get what you want. Your Revenge Rudra.
ENJOY THE GIFT.– Aghori
"Tch... this weirdo's still haunting me from the afterlife," I muttered under my breath.
So that's it.
A mysterious system.Bound by condition blood and vengeance.Tied to a deadline I can't afford to miss.
Quest : Find the killer.
But how the hell do I even start?
I didn't even know this boy—this James. Where did he live? Who were his people? Why was he killed?
[PERSONAL FILE: JAMES – AVAILABLE]
Finally, some useful crap.
"Let's see what you were hiding, James," I muttered, narrowing my eyes.
I clicked it.
The interface flickered... and his life began to load.