The old watch didn't shine anymore.
The old watch glass was scratched, the leather strap torn where Kamal had stitched it by hand last year, and the tick-tick sound was almost too slow to hear but it is still working. Barely. Just like him.
He placed it gently on the pawnshop counter.
The man behind the counter, gray-haired and grumpy, didn't even look up at first. He just tapped the edge of his calculator with a pen.
"You again?" the man said without warmth. "Let me guess. Rent's late. Sister's school fees. You want cash today?"
Kamal didn't reply. He opened his fingers and showed the watch.
The shopkeeper took it slowly, turning it over under the buzzing ceiling fan. After a few seconds, he said. "Old. Not gold. Fifty dollars."
Kamal's jaw clenched—but he nodded.
Fifty wasn't fair. But fifty would be enough.
"Fine," he said, voice low.
The man dropped two wrinkled twenty-dollar bills and a crumpled ten on the counter. "You know the deal. Seven days to buy it back. After that, it's mine."
Kamal took the money and turned.The bells on the door jingled as he left.
The street outside felt hotter than it should have. Warangal was always hot this time of year, but today the air was heavy and dry, like the world was holding its breath. Kamal wiped sweat from his forehead and pulled his bag tighter over his shoulder.
He had $50 now.It wasn't much.But it was enough for six hours at the gaming café.
Six hours inside Eternea.
Six hours to try, fail, or maybe it's a chance to finally begin.
He took the narrow shortcut between two closed clothing stalls, skipping puddles and broken bricks. Somewhere in the distance, auto horns blared and street vendors shouted about discounts on mangoes and phone cases. Life was loud. Too loud.
But Kamal's world had narrowed into two things: keeping Anu(his sister) safe, and making just enough to get by.
He wasn't a dreamer. Not anymore.He was a survivor.
The cyber café was barely visible from the road. Just a wooden door under a flickering sign that said "INFINITY GAMERZ." A short staircase led down into a cool basement lit with soft blue lights and filled with the sounds of fans and monitors.
The guy behind the counter had spiky hair and a nose ring. He looked up and smiled.
"Yo, Kamal bro! Back again? What's the plan today? Just vibing? Or—oh wait—'Eternea,' right?"
Kamal gave a short nod. "High-spec setup. Six hours."
The guy raised an eyebrow. "You want to put everything in one go? You sure?"
"Yeah."
He handed over the cash. The guy counted it, gave him a thumb-up, and handed back a printed slip with Station 7 written in faded ink.
Kamal sat at the farthest booth, away from everyone else. His usual spot. He pulled on the headset slowly, hands a little shaky. The strap was loose from wear, and a crack ran down one side of the frame, held together with tape. But it still worked.
The screen came alive.
Cool blue. Glowing letters. His heart always skipped a little when he saw it.
Welcome to ETERNEA
Shape your fate. Build your legend. Earn your life.
The login screen waited.
Kamal typed:
Username: SilentReckon
Password:************
He hesitated for one second—and hit "Enter."
A flash.
A chill ran down his spine. The soft thrum of the neural sync kicked in—like falling through clouds, or water, or memory.
When he opened his eyes again, Kamal was no longer in Warangal.He was in Eternea.
The sky above him was a swirling red-violet. Trees bent like they were whispering secrets to each other. The ground crunched beneath his feet—cold. A strange wind brushed past, carrying the scent of rusted metal and something older. Deeper.
Region: Whispering Ravines
Time of Day: Dusk
Spawn Zone: No active players nearby
Tutorial: Not Available
Starter Package: Denied (Insufficient Karma)
Kamal checked his stats.
Health: 100
Mana: 50
Stamina: 80
Class: Unassigned
Inventory: None
Coins: $0.00
Of course.No coins. No welcome quest. Not even a starter weapon.
He hadn't bought premium access. He didn't have real-world sponsors like the rich players on YouTube with their glowing armor and easy tutorials. He was at the bottom. In the dirt.
But maybe, that's exactly where they never looked.
Kamal moved through the Ravines slowly, crouching low.The rocks were sharp, the trees thin and ghostly. Shadows stretched too far, and in the corners of his vision, sometimes he thought he saw movement. But nothing came.
He reached a small ridge—and stopped.
Below, nestled between two dead trees, was a broken stone gate. Cracked. Covered in moss. So old it didn't seem like it belonged.
Words floated above it:
??? Zone – Restricted
[Access Requires One Bone Fragment]
A challenge.Kamal glanced at the brittle stick in his hand—the only thing he could find so far.
Then he saw it. Half-buried under a pile of black mud: bones.
A low-level Skeleton Rat limped nearby, dragging itself with half a tail and a cracked skull. Level 1. Same as him.
He waited. Moved carefully and struck.
+8 XP
Item acquired: Bone Fragment (Cracked)
The gate whispered open.From the shadows inside, a soft voice rose.
"Do you remember your pain?"
No player would ever expect that.But Kamal answered.
"Yes."
Class Unlocked: Necromancer of the Lost Path
Skill Unlocked: Raise – Fragment I
All Faction Reputation: -10
And so it began.
A boy with nothing. A broken watch left behind and a power no one saw coming.
The world inside the crypt was quiet—but not empty.
As the heavy stone gate sealed behind Kamal, the mist turned thicker, colder. It sticking to his arms and legs like fingers, and the torches along the walls flared to life with blue flame, casting dancing shadows across ancient bones piled in twisted shapes.
Some were cracked. Some glowed faintly. Most watched him.
Passive Skill Activated: Whispered Path
All undead within range recognize you as "Marked."
Kamal walked slowly. His footstep sounds echoed against the dusty floor like drumbeats in a lonely cave. There was no music here, no dramatic cutscene, no loot chest waiting with gold and gems.
Only silence and bones.
At the far end of the chamber was a stone altar, covered in etchings too faded to read. In front of it lay a collapsed skeleton—the remains of a knight perhaps, judging from the armor still rusted over one shoulder. A broken sword rested near its side.
Kamal stepped closer.
Interaction Available: "Raise Fragment" on Dead Entity?
Cost: 10 Mana
Requirement: Bone Fragment x1
Result: ???
[Proceed] – [Cancel]
His hand trembled just slightly.
He chose [Proceed].
A dull light filled the air around him. The bone fragment in his satchel cracked and turned to dust. Kamal raised one hand, not because he was told to, but because it felt right.
The skeleton on the ground shuddered.
Piece by piece, it reassembled.
Not with perfect polish—not glowing, not evil—but trembling, humble, like a memory standing upright.
The skull lifted, pale light flickering behind hollow eyes.Then it knelt.
Not in fear.But in recognition.
Undead Summoned: Fragment-Class Wightling (Lv. 1)
Name: [You may choose]
Loyalty: Passive
Abilities: Bite (4 DMG), Distract (Agro +10%)
Affinity: Stable
Kamal swallowed hard.He looked into the creature's empty sockets.
"Raksh," he whispered. "Your name is Raksh."
The system updated:
Raksh has accepted your naming. Loyalty increased.It didn't feel like magic.It felt like something older.
Deeper.
He stepped outside the crypt with Raksh trailing behind him like a silent shadow.
The sun had dipped lower in the sky. In the distance, game-weather was shifting: purple clouds gathering like angry birds across the horizon. The trees began to shiver.
Whispering Ravines wasn't welcoming anymore.Not that it ever was.
Kamal tapped open his inventory. It was still nearly empty—just his torn starter cloak, a cracked boot, and now, one companion. Not a sword. Not a shield. Not a shiny mount.
But something loyal.Maybe something even alive.In its own way.
Questline Unlocked: "Bones That Remember"
Objective: Find three more Wightlings and learn the Whispered Rite.
Reward: Access to Gravebinding Ritual – Tier I
Status: Optional / Hidden / Zero Players Completed
Kamal blinked. Zero?
This wasn't a side-quest.This wasn't even supposed to be in the game.
For the next hour, Kamal moved carefully across the Ravines. He avoided aggro zones, slipped past high grass filled with bonecrawlers, and used Raksh to scare off other wildlife.
Once, he saw a player far in the distance—a knight in glowing armor riding a thunderwolf. A streamer probably, someone with sponsorships and ten thousand subscribers.
The knight didn't even glance Kamal's way.
Just thundered off toward the west, chasing a marked boss.
Kamal kept walking east.Toward a small hut buried in the side of a hill.Inside, he found an old NPC woman—blind, covered in ash—and when he spoke to her, she flinched like she recognized something in his voice.
"Why do I hear old footsteps?" she whispered. "You walk with someone long gone."
For a second, Kamal felt something strange in his chest.But he kept calm and selected [Ask About the Whispered Rite].
The woman leaned closer.
"You want to speak with the dead? Then you must first bury something of your own."
Quest Update: "Bury a Memory"
Bury an item that matters to you.
Reward: Unlock Emotion-Based Resurrection
Kamal stared at the screen.Then he opened his pouch—and slowly removed the receipt from the pawnshop.
The little piece of paper with the date, the cash amount, the old man's stamp on the back.
His father's watch, reduced to ink and paper.
He placed it into the firepit in front of the woman.
She didn't look up.But the flames roared blue.
"Emotion Imprinted: Sacrifice"
Unlocking Passive Trait: Gravetouched
All summoned undead gain +5 Loyalty on first command
Fear Resistance increased by 10%
Raise Fragment cost reduced by 1 Mana
When Kamal returned to the edge of the cliffs, night had begun to fall inside the game.
He sat beneath a broken tree with Raksh crouched beside him. Not speaking. Not moving.
But the silence wasn't lonely anymore.
A notification appeared.
System Message:
"A minor streamer has posted a clip. Tagging unknown player controlling undead in Whispering Ravines."
Comments:
— lol what is this? broke boy build?
— necro class? not even on patch notes
— dude got a pet skeleton and thinks he's cool lol
— wait.... is that glitch legit?
Kamal closed the feed without replying.He didn't need to be famous.Not yet.
He reached into his inventory, selected "Summon Raksh," and watched the skeleton take a sharper stance this time—its joints steadier, its hands twitching toward action like it remembered something.
Raksh Loyalty: 8/100
Memory Potential: Dormant.
"Your minion remembers the life it once had…..."
Kamal looked up at the stars overhead.Then down at the dirt under his broken boots.
Today, he'd made $0.00.
But tomorrow?
He'd raise something worth remembering.
To be continued....