**Chapter 1 – The Debt Collector and the Void**
**Mumbai, 10:48 PM**
The ceiling fan squeaked louder than usual, rotating in uneven jerks as if mimicking the disjointed rhythm of Arjun Verma's life. He lay motionless on his thin mattress, the musty odor of old plaster and damp walls enveloping him like a second skin. Sweat beaded his forehead, tracing slow lines down his temples as he stared blankly at the peeling ceiling. His phone, an outdated model with a spider-webbed screen, buzzed once more beside him.
Loan Rejected.
He didn't bother unlocking it. The subject line was enough. It was the third one this month. Arjun's thumb hovered over the screen before finally locking the device and tossing it aside. The soft thud against the concrete floor echoed louder in the stillness of the night.
This wasn't new. He had grown used to rejection. Once a top-ranking engineering student at one of India's better-known technical colleges, his academic dreams had come crashing down when his father's illness consumed every rupee the family had. He had dropped out, taken over the family's financial responsibilities, and ended up in this dingy, rented room in the industrial part of Mumbai.
Now 25, Arjun worked delivery gigs during the day, ferrying overpriced meals to offices he once dreamed of working in. He studied at night, pouring over PDFs of engineering textbooks, coding tutorials, and obscure research papers, hoping to find a way to claw back the life he once envisioned.
His UPI app pinged again. A payment reminder. The digital equivalent of a creditor's knock at the door. He read the message.
Pay ₹10,000 by tomorrow or face collection action.
Arjun's jaw tensed. Ten thousand rupees. He had ₹143 in his account.
He considered selling his blood again. Or maybe his laptop—his only real connection to the digital world where he felt like someone who mattered. But that would sever his last tether to his dreams.
No. Not yet.
With a tired sigh, he rolled over and shut his eyes.
---
**Somewhere Else**
The first thing he noticed was the silence. Not the kind of silence that lives between city traffic or the lull of midnight. This was pure. Absolute. A void.
Arjun opened his eyes and sat up.
He wasn't in his room anymore.
He was standing. Flat ground beneath him—smooth, cool, and endless. Above, there was no sky. Only an infinite stretch of soft blackness, punctuated by a surreal glow from a floating blue interface. It hovered inches from his face.
> \[SYSTEM WORLD INITIALIZED]
> Territory: 1000 sq km
> Time Ratio: 2:1
> Clone Slots: 1
> Level: 1
> Upgrade Path: Knowledge-Based
> Begin Simulation? \[Y/N]
Arjun stared.
Was he dreaming?
"Hello?" he called out. His voice didn't echo. It was absorbed, as if the world itself was listening. He waved a hand through the interface. It didn't vanish. Instead, it expanded.
> Welcome, Arjun Verma.
> You are the Sovereign of the System World.
> This realm is yours to shape—limited only by your knowledge.
> Skills:-Scan. Clone. Simulate. Learn. Build.
> Rise through thought. Not violence.
He blinked rapidly. "This can't be real."
> Real or not is irrelevant. The knowledge you gain will be yours.
> Everything you learn, simulate, and master here is absorbed.
> System Level increases only by increasing your total knowledge.
> Physical replication of materials in the real world is not supported.
> This is your mind's forge. Build wisely.
Arjun stepped forward. The ground shimmered beneath him, a digital mesh forming under each step. 1000 square kilometers stretched outward—a blank canvas.
The possibilities began to dawn on him.
"Scan?" he whispered.
> One scan available.
>
> Scan a real-world person to create their cognitive clone.
> The clone will simulate thoughts, skills, and experiences of real person which scan.
> Knowledge learned by the clone will be assimilated into the User.
His breath caught. This… this was beyond any technological concept he'd ever studied. And yet, the interface explained it so plainly, so methodically, it felt like waking into a lucid dream designed by an advanced intelligence.
Arjun clenched his fists.
Who would he scan?
He thought of Professor Deshmukh, his mentor before he dropped out. The man was a walking encyclopedia of fluid dynamics and nanomaterials. But Deshmukh lived in Pune. Arjun hadn't seen him in years.
No. He needed someone closer. Someone accessible.
He stepped forward. "I need to think."
The terrain responded. A desk formed. A chair. A holographic screen displaying his system stats. It wasn't magic. It was interface-based creation. Based on his mental blueprint of an object, the world would render it.
"Knowledge = Power," he whispered. "This world… it's a cognitive sandbox."
His eyes lit up.
This wasn't a fantasy system that handed him weapons or armies. It was something infinitely more powerful: **a crucible for thought**.
He could build laboratories. Simulate inventions. Clone geniuses and train them to work for him. And everything they learned, he would learn too.
Not a god. A sovereign of intellect.
He sat on the chair. It molded to his body.
A whiteboard appeared before him.
He drew up his first 30-day plan.
**Phase One: Survival**
* Select initial scan
* Design efficient food production inside System World (for testing sustainability models)
* Simulate basic power systems using real-world tech blueprints
* Learn one subject from scratch: Advanced Materials or AI Systems
**Phase Two: Monetization**
* Translate learned skills into freelance income
* Launch technical blog with high-value content
* Use AI writing tools to streamline process based on System World simulations
**Phase Three: Expansion**
* Save money for travel
* Scan top minds across the country
* Expand system world influence, unlock higher time compression and multi-simulation layers
He stared at the list.
For the first time in years, his breathing slowed.
He wasn't trapped anymore.
He was on the verge of becoming a mind no one could predict—and no one could stop.
His fingers hovered over the interface.
> Begin Simulation? \[Y/N]
He pressed **Y**.
The void lit up.
Arjun Verma's empire had no borders, no armies, and no flag.
Only thought.
And soon, the world would feel its weight.