Arun Deshmukh had always been fascinated by what-ifs. What if Alexander had reached the Ganges? What if Magadha had risen again? And most importantly, what if he could build the world he dreamed of — brick by brick?He never expected the universe to answer.One sleepless night, while playing Minecraft and studying Mauryan history for his thesis, his laptop sparked, the screen flashed with ancient Sanskrit letters, and darkness swallowed him whole.When light returned, he stood not in his bedroom, but in a dense forest filled with unfamiliar calls — peacocks and monkeys, banyans and sandalwood trees. His hands, trembling, reached for his phone — it was gone. But in its place floated a faint cube-shaped cursor in the air.A thought crossed his mind: Inventory.The air rippled. A translucent menu appeared — blocks of stone, gold, food, even diamond tools. It was Minecraft Creative Mode. In real life.Arun's heart raced. The air smelled of rain and ancient earth. He looked east, where smoke rose above palm-thatched roofs — a village from another age. He remembered enough history to know this wasn't a dream. The people wore cotton dhotis, and palm manuscripts lay drying by the river.This is the Gupta period, he realized, the 4th century.The scholar in him screamed in delight. The gamer in him whispered of unlimited potential.He took a deep breath and created his first block — smooth stone, gleaming in sunlight. Then, with a flick of thought, he built a small platform overlooking the valley. The villagers gasped, bowing."Vishwakarma!" one of them cried — the divine architect.Arun froze. If he could summon materials from nothing, shape buildings from air, in a world of kingdoms and gods… what would he become?Perhaps not a scholar. Not a builder.
But a god among men.