1: The Hollow Crown
In the heart of Mumbai's skyline stood a gleaming black tower of steel and glass-Orion Dynamics, a global tech consultancy that had revolutionized enterprise infrastructure across continents. At its helm was Ethan Cross, a man who had everything but lived like he had nothing.
Tall, sharp-featured, and always dressed in tailored charcoal suits, Ethan was the youngest CEO in India's tech elite. His reputation was carved not by charm but by ruthless efficiency. Meetings rarely lasted more than fifteen minutes. If someone stumbled on a fact, they were replaced by the quarter's end. His mind was a machine—calculated, composed, cold.
But behind the pristine executive desk and spotless marble floors, Ethan's life was quieter than most imagined. His nights weren't spent in luxury bars or penthouse parties. Instead, after dinner with his wife—Anya Sinha, a fellow business magnate in a marriage arranged for mutual benefit—he'd retreat into his private study, kick off his shoes, and scroll through digital libraries of fantasy novels.
Dragons. Magic. Sword saints. Reincarnated kings. They were his real escape.
He read them not for the thrill, but because they gave him what real life didn't: purpose, danger, and authenticity.
His marriage was a contract, a calculated merger between CrossTech and Sinha Enterprises. There was no hatred, but no warmth either. Their dinner conversations rarely drifted from profit margins or boardroom rumors. Affection was for fairy tales.
Ethan thought he'd made peace with the monotony. After all, he had his novels—and in them, he could be the hero he never dared to be.
It was on a rainy Tuesday that everything changed.
The car ride home was quiet, save for the gentle hum of the electric engine and the rhythmic droplets on the windshield. His driver took a longer route through the Ghats due to road closures. The cliffside road was narrow, hugging the edge dangerously.
Ethan barely noticed. His eyes were glued to the glowing screen of his tablet, where a protagonist was about to slay a chimera in some ruined temple.
But the next moment, his world flipped.
BOOM!
A deafening crash shook the vehicle. The brakes screamed, but the momentum had already decided its path. The car rammed through the fragile guardrail like paper, tumbling into the abyss below.
As it spun through the air, Ethan caught a glimpse of another car's license plate—his cousin's.
His last thought before the crash wasn't about death, but betrayal.
"Figures," he whispered bitterly.
But death never came.
Instead, as the car plunged toward the river below, a fracture appeared in mid-air—like the sky itself had cracked. Space twisted. Colors bled into each other like oil on water. The vehicle was swallowed whole by the distortion, vanishing from the world without a trace.
The next thing Ethan felt was pressure—humid, suffocating, raw.
He woke to the chirping of birds and the distant roar of something…not human. His body ached. His clothes were torn. The car was gone. The river, gone.
And all around him, dense green foliage stretched endlessly.
A jungle.
Massive trees, twisted vines, unknown flora glowing faintly in the underbrush.
Ethan Cross, the cold strategist of CrossTech, was reborn not with a bang, but with a question:
"Where the hell am I?"
The scent of damp earth filled his lungs as Ethan struggled to sit up, his limbs trembling under the weight of disorientation. Sweat clung to his forehead, not from exertion, but from the thick, humid air that clung to everything like a second skin. His charcoal business suit was torn at the sleeve, the once-crisp white shirt now stained with mud, and his wristwatch—a limited edition—cracked and dead.
Around him, the jungle stretched like a living beast. Towering trees with trunks broader than city lamp posts reached skyward, their canopies knitting together to block out much of the sunlight. Shafts of golden light pierced through in scattered rays, catching on the floating motes of pollen that danced lazily in the still air. Vines dangled like serpents from gnarled branches, and the forest floor was a chaotic sprawl of ferns, roots, and mossy rocks.
Everything was alive.
And watching.
He could feel it—the pressure of unseen eyes, not hostile but curious. The air buzzed faintly, a subtle vibration that tickled his skin.
Then, a flash of movement.
A creature—no larger than a football—zipped past his vision. Ethan flinched, shielding his eyes. It circled back and hovered a few feet above the ground. It was like a living flame, dancing with hues of orange and violet. Wings of translucent fire fluttered rapidly, and at its center was a pulsing core, almost like a heart made of molten ember.
It was beautiful… and unnatural.
"A drone?" he murmured instinctively, brain still grasping for logic. "No, that's—"
The flame-being tilted slightly, as if analyzing him. Then it let out a melodic chirp, like a wind chime struck by lightning. In the next instant, it vanished, shooting upward through the canopy like a comet.
Ethan blinked, unsure if he'd imagined the entire thing.
He staggered forward, brushing aside ferns as tall as his waist, trying to make sense of anything. But every direction looked the same—green, alive, endless. He glanced down at his hands. Bloodied knuckles. Scraped palms. No sign of the car. No sign of civilization. Not even a road.
His CEO-trained mind kicked in, despite the madness. Prioritize. Information. Shelter. Water. Food.
But before he could take a step forward—
DING.
A sudden chime echoed—not from around him, but inside him. His body froze.
A glowing rectangle blinked to life before his eyes, suspended in the air like a hologram. It was sleek, minimalistic, almost futuristic. Lines of text scrolled down as if booting up.
Initializing interface…
Welcome, [Subject: Ethan Cross]
[Scanning genetic signature… Matched.]
[Verifying soul core integrity… 94% complete.]
Install Initiated…
▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 13%
System Name: HOLLOW CROWN
Ethan stumbled back, eyes wide.
"What the hell is this…?"