Darkness. Cold. I feel the world slipping away—the body, the mind, even memories of life in Kali Yuga fading into nothingness. One moment I was alive, one moment I was gone. Fear grips me, yet I feel no form, no weight… only the strange pull of something beyond life.
Then a voice, vast and resonant, fills the emptiness.
"You have arrived."
I turn—or what I think is turning—and see a figure that is both terrifying and beautiful. Lord Shiva himself. His eyes burn with cosmic fire, yet there is calm in his presence, an authority that silences the universe itself.
"Child of deeds," Lord Shiva says, "your life, though brief and mortal, has been filled with acts that balance dharma even in the darkness of Kali Yuga. And now, you stand at the threshold of fate."
I tremble, unable to speak. Everything I've known, all my struggles and joys, feel so small beneath his gaze.
"I… I don't understand," I whisper.
"Understand this," Lord Shiva replies, his voice echoing in my soul, "I can grant you three boons. Choose wisely, for each will shape not only your destiny but the course of the world around you."
I close my eyes, thinking of the stories I admired, the heroes I longed to be like, and the one life that always called to me: the legend of Karna.
"First," I say, feeling a strange certainty, "I wish to be born has Karna with the Saiyan bloodline—a lineage that can thrive in any world, harmonized with the Mahabharata era."
Lord Shiva nods. A warmth spreads through me, a deep vibration as if the universe itself acknowledges my choice.
"Next," I continue, careful, "I wish for a mind shield —so no deity or divine being knows I am reincarnated from Kali Yuga. My past life shall remain my secret."
A shiver runs down my spine as Lord Shiva waves his hand. I feel an invisible shield form around my soul, hiding me from the eyes of gods and demons alike.
Finally, I speak my third wish, my voice steadier than I feel:
"And third… I want to adapt perfectly to anything I see or do, the first time it happens. Every skill, every tactic, every weapon—I should master it flawlessly."
Lord Shiva smiles, his third eye opening in approval.
"So be it," he says. "Your wishes are granted. You will be reborn in the Mahabharata era as Karna. Go, live your life, and fulfill your destiny in a world that will test you in every way."
A blinding light surrounds me. My consciousness twists and reshapes. My past fades… and a new life begins.
I take my first breath as Karna, the child of destiny, carrying the weight of the life I am yet to live.