OUTSIDE A COLLAPSED DUNGEON – NIGHT
[LOCATION: Himachal Sector – Ruined Zone-43 Dungeon Site]
Under the moonless sky. The air is thick with ash and silence, punctuated only by the eerie hum of mana still leaking from the recently collapsed dungeon. Emergency lights strobe red across the blackened terrain. Craters scar the land like claw marks.
A group of F-rank cleanup staff stand behind yellow magical barrier tape, visibly trembling. Their flashlights don't reach far into the darkness that still lingers. Mana radiation from the collapsed portal is off the charts.
Then—he arrives.
A silhouette walks through the glowing red mist. Clad in a long black hunter coat, his presence radiates power like a storm bottled within a man.
This is RIGVED SEN, one of India's few S-rank hunters.
His presence stills the wind.
RIGVED (thoughtful):
"The pattern's off. No signs of mana beasts leaving this one… but a collapse this sudden, and no core detonation?"
(pauses, inspecting)
"Almost like it didn't want to be found."
He steps toward the epicenter. A faint, glowing sigil pulses on the ground—a rare mark, ancient and twisted. Rigved kneels, brushing dust off it.
RIGVED (quietly):
"This… isn't from our mythology. Not Hindu. Not even this realm."
A junior B-rank officer runs up behind him, out of breath.
OFFICER:
"Sir! HQ says another abnormal dungeon just opened in Sector-27. Same signature."
Rigved's crimson eyes narrow. He stands slowly.
RIGVED:
"Two in three days… and the boy from the Bureau. Arvan."
(beat)
"The system's starting to tremble."
Not far from where Rigved was there stands a blurry figure In the mist, undetected
watching his every move
He starts muttering something
"When the old gods stir, the world forgets how to pray."