Winter.
That was the first thing I felt.
Not the kind of winter where you sip hot chai and wrap yourself in a blanket. No… this was the kind that seeps into your bones, sharp as needles, as if the air itself wants to bite you. The streets of Delhi were pale with frost, the cold wind making even the street dogs curl up under carts. My breath came out in white puffs as I hurried along the half-empty road. It was nearly midnight. I had stayed late at the office, working on a project that, in hindsight, wouldn't even matter a week later.
I remember thinking, I'm only twenty-one… is this really how life's going to be? Work, go home, sleep, repeat?
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Mom's name lit up the screen. I smiled faintly. Probably asking if I ate dinner. I didn't answer — not because I didn't want to, but because the traffic light ahead had just turned red and I needed to cross before it switched back. The road was unusually quiet… no honking, no rickshaws. Just me, the winter air, and the pale yellow streetlights flickering in the fog.
And then—
Headlights.
Two blinding orbs, rushing straight at me.
I froze. I couldn't move. My mind blanked.
The screech of tires came too late.
Metal slammed into me, and the world flipped upside down.
They say when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes.
For me, it was more like… snapshots.
Me, as a kid, chasing kites on the rooftop.
Eating golgappas with friends after school.
Laughing with my younger sister over stupid TikTok videos.
Holding my first paycheck, feeling like I had the whole world ahead of me.
And yet, alongside those flashes was a bitter thought: This is it? This is all I achieved?
I was only twenty-one. I hadn't even… lived yet.
The cold seeped deeper. My vision blurred, the edges of the world going black. My last breath left my lungs in a sigh.
And then… silence.
I expected nothing after that. Darkness, maybe. Eternal sleep.
Instead…
I was standing.
My eyes snapped open. I was still breathing — but not in Delhi. Not even in India.
The ground beneath me wasn't asphalt but pale cobblestone. The air smelled of wood smoke and some strange spice I couldn't place. Around me bustled people — tall, short, bearded, clean-shaven, but all wearing clothes that looked straight out of a medieval TV series. Cloaks, tunics, chainmail. I even saw a man with a bronze breastplate and a sword strapped to his side.
Some carried baskets of vegetables. Others had strange, rune-covered staffs. I caught sight of a woman sharpening a dagger that looked far too deadly to be for cooking.
I blinked hard, my brain refusing to process it.
"Uh… excuse me—" I started to speak, but the words froze in my throat.
They weren't speaking Hindi. Or English. Or anything I recognized. The chatter around me was a jumble of guttural sounds and melodic syllables, like some fantasy language from a video game.
"Where… where am I?" I muttered to myself.
People walked past without a second glance, though a few eyed me strangely — probably because I was wearing office clothes: black pants, a puffer jacket, and sneakers. I stuck out like a sore thumb in a medieval fair.
I turned in a slow circle, heart pounding. This couldn't be real. This was some kind of… coma dream. That had to be it.
Then, just as panic started clawing up my throat—
The world ripped.
No other word for it. One moment I was on the cobblestones, the next my feet weren't touching anything solid. My vision warped, the colors of the town smearing into streaks, and then I was… somewhere else.
Clouds.
I was surrounded by thick, rolling clouds — not the fluffy white kind, but dark and turbulent, swirling like smoke from a giant fire. Between them glimmered points of light, like stars caught in ink. The air was heavy, buzzing with an energy that made my skin prickle.
And then I saw her.
A shape emerged from the fog ahead — tall, graceful, draped in silver-white robes that shimmered as if woven from moonlight. Long hair, pale as snow, flowed behind her, and her eyes… her eyes were not human. They were pools of molten gold, glowing faintly in the dark.
I opened my mouth to speak, to ask what the hell is happening? — but she beat me to it.
Her gaze swept over me once.
Her lips curved… not in a smile, but in mild disgust.
"…Ugly."
I blinked. "What—?!"
Before I could even process the insult, she lifted a hand. A faint circle of light spun into existence around me, etched with glowing runes.
"I am Nyseris," she said, her voice echoing like it came from a hundred throats. "The goddess who governs mortal growth. And I find you… unworthy."
"Excuse me?!" I shouted. "You drag me here, call me ugly, and— wait, mortal growth? What are you even—"
Her hand clenched. The runes flared.
"As punishment for your offense to my sight," she continued, ignoring me completely, "you shall bear the Curse of Zero. You will never level up. You will forever remain at the lowest rung of existence."
"What does that even mean?!" I yelled, panic surging in my chest. "Hey— wait— don't—"
But she didn't wait.
The clouds swallowed me.
I woke up to darkness.
Cold, damp earth beneath my palms. The smell of wet leaves and distant rot. My breath puffed out in the chill night air. Crickets chirped somewhere in the shadows.
It took me a moment to realize I was lying on my side, in the middle of what looked like a forest. The moon hung low between jagged branches overhead, its pale light filtering through the leaves.
I pushed myself up slowly. My jacket was damp from the soil. My heart was still pounding from whatever… that had been.
"Okay," I muttered to myself, voice shaky. "This is… fine. Just… just a forest. In another world. After being cursed by a goddess who thinks I'm ugly. Totally fine."
I laughed. A short, hollow sound.
Then the laughter died as I realized… I had no idea what to do next.
There were no streetlights, no houses, no roads. Just trees stretching endlessly in every direction, their shadows twisting in the moonlight.
I patted my pockets. My phone was gone. My wallet too. All I had were my clothes — and absolutely no clue how to survive in a place like this.
Somewhere in the distance, a howl echoed. Low. Long. And far too close.
My stomach dropped.
I glanced around, desperately searching for… anything. A stick. A rock. Something I could use as a weapon. My hands found a broken branch half my height, rough and splintered at one end. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
Another sound came — not a howl this time, but rustling. Leaves crunching. Branches snapping.
Something was moving toward me.
I backed up until my back hit the trunk of a massive tree. My grip on the branch tightened. My breathing grew shallow.
Then, from the shadows, a pair of eyes glinted. Yellow. Unblinking.
And for the first time since waking up in this nightmare, I realized something:
The goddess had cursed me.
I had no powers. No "level ups."
And I was about to find out exactly what that meant.