Aanya Roy Part 1: Arrival in Chandrapur The monsoon had begun its slow, deliberate siege over Bankura, draping the laterite hills in a persistent, misty gray. Every hill and hollow seemed to hold a secret, every forested path whispered with wind and rain. Arjun Sen’s jeep rolled over the slick red clay road, tires squelching in protest, as he left the asphalt of the district town behind and entered the forgotten spine of Chandrapur. The village appeared as if it had emerged from another century—terracotta temples leaning in tired dignity, mud walls patched with moss, and narrow lanes where…
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Vikram Rathore Part 1: The Inheritance The sun was beginning to set behind the rugged peaks of the Aravalli Range, casting long shadows over the winding roads that led to Kumbhalgarh Fort. Anirudh Deshmukh, a young archaeologist from Delhi, gazed out the window of his car as it meandered through the narrow, serpentine paths that led him to the fort. He had heard much about the place—the towering walls, the haunting beauty of the fort, and the endless stories of its troubled past. But he never imagined that it would be his own inheritance that would bring him here. It…
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Aritra Basu No one really knows when the nightmares began. Maybe it was the night Rehan clicked the link. Just a glowing green phrase in a forum full of digital shadows: “The Deepest Link – Do You Dare?” Most would scroll past, but Rehan was no most. Nineteen years old, brilliant with code and reckless with curiosity, he had spent the past few months exploring the surface and submerged layers of the internet. The dark web was his newest obsession. Not for drugs or weapons or conspiracy forums—but for secrets. He didn’t want to buy; he wanted to know. He…