Anonymous - I
1 - escape from ordinary.
The cafeteria smelled like reheated samosas and cheap perfume—an oddly familiar combination that clung to Arya’s hoodie as she made her way to her usual corner table.
St. Elora’s College of Arts and Technology was known for two things: an excellent placement rate and mysteriously frequent power cuts. Neither impressed Aarya. She had transferred here mid-semester, a quiet girl with sharper instincts than she let on, blending into the background like wallpaper.
Every day followed the same pattern—8 AM lectures, sleepy notes, lunch alone, and hours in the library pretending to study while secretly sketching medieval daggers and mythical beasts in the margins of her notebook. Her professors called her distracted. The truth was: Aarya wasn’t bored. She was waiting.
Waiting for something to pull her out of the ordinary.
Her life had too much silence between conversations. Too many unsent texts. Too many thoughts no one asked her to share.
Until that Tuesday.
---
It started with a poster.
Pinned to the rusting student notice board beside the auditorium, the neon-colored flyer read:
> 💀 “Dare to enter the realm? Download the underground beta of Divine Sword now. One world. One fate. One winner.”
A QR code blinked beneath the text. Barely visible.
“Probably another rigged RPG,” muttered a senior passing by.
But Aarya was already scanning it.
Aarya
Isn't it just a game?
Aarya
*half a way into scanning while thinking*
*Notification* The "Divine world" application installing.....
Aarya
*Sigh* it's just a game I am already bored to the core....
Aarya
I'll delete after I am bored with this game too.
Aarya
Aish!!! Am late for the lecture damn...
Aarya
*keeps her phone in pocket and runs to lecture*
Aarya sits next to khushi her one and only bestie
Khushi
Ma'am? Where were you?
Aarya
Aree I was reading something on notice board and then-
Aarya
*got interrupted by Jack*
Jack
And then madam was planning how to get top rank again for this semester isn't it? *chuckles*
Both khushi and Aarya chuckled
Aarya
Seriously!!! Am so done with this academic pressure!! 😭
Aarya
When I'll be free from this curse?
Jack
Maybe next life? *says in sarcastic*
Khushi
Aye shu- professor came shu *whispers and makes both sit properly and stop talking*
2
Khushi
Did you take notes of what ma'am explained?
Aarya
Yeah yeah... I had too since ik you guys both are of no use at all....
Khushi
Aww you the best Aarya muah *gives a flying kiss*
Khushi
Babe don't be jelly *kisses on Jack's lips*
Jack
Just a peck of kiss? That's not fair babe
Khushi
Jack we still in class...
Aarya
And I am still here too.... Guys can you both read the mood?
Aarya
Always doing pda *sighs*
Aarya
When I'll be having fun in life?
Jack
You wanna date Aarya?
Khushi
Tell me I can set you up with one the seniors they keep asking about your phone number uk😭
Khushi
And I have Make excuses....
Jack
Yeah many in waiting list you just have to say yes isn't it babe?
Aarya
Guys you both may continue... Now I take my leave.
Aarya
well I wanna date but also don't wanna date... Idk how to explain
Aarya
*leaves from the classroom while saying this*
Khushi
This girl very difficult to understand sometimes.
As Aarya walking through the campus
*Application installed successfully*
Aarya heads to the library
Character Sketch – Aarya Mehra
Age: 19
Course: Bachelor of Arts in Digital Design
Personality Traits:
Observant – Nothing escapes her eyes. She reads people like pages, though she rarely turns her own.
Introverted but intense – Quiet in class, loud in thought. She speaks little, but when she does, it leaves a mark.
Emotionally guarded – Burned once by betrayal, she’s built invisible walls no one’s noticed—or dared to scale.
Creative with a dark streak – A digital artist who prefers drawing, fantasy webtoons, bookworm, loves reading unrealistic stories that amuses the most.
Thrill-seeker in disguise – While she avoids drama in real life, she secretly craves the unsaid attention and fantasy of impossible scenarios.
Quirks:
She never eats with both earbuds in—just one, always the left.
She collects cryptic usernames like others collect songs.
Her sketchbook is filled with alternate realities—maps, weapons, runes—each with a story she’s never told not even to her bestie Khushi.
📖 Aarya Mehra didn’t believe in fate.
Fate, to her, was just a lazy excuse for choices people were too scared to own. But when she transferred to St. Elora’s mid-semester, alone and unread like a lost prologue, even though she had to admit—something was off. But, somehow she was adjusting fine with a only roommate and only friend Khushi. From day 1 she knew her vibes is the genuine found around her.
The people here smiled too easily. The professors knew her name too quickly. The rust on the gates, the flickering lights, the random signal drops—it all felt rehearsed. Like the universe had pressed ‘Record.’ With all these weird imagination and lingering questions made nothing but Aarya more conscious and void.
Aarya didn’t belong to this world, to this college, to the dorm life.
Not fully.
A only child loved by her parents but due to some reasons she ended up to this very college and pursuing Bachelor's degree in art's.
🌸 Khushi Malhotra –
If Aarya was a shadow, Khushi was sunlight in sneakers.
Outgoing, quick-witted, and fiercely loyal, Khushi Malhotra was the kind of girl who made friends while ordering coffee and remembered your birthday even if you didn’t. She had a talent for making chaos feel like comfort—her side of the dorm was always cluttered with Polaroids, fairy lights, and half-read novels.
Very protective towards Aarya, Though it was just have been like 3-4 months known to her, but it was a bond that even 4 years friendship feels like.
Khushi and Jack was in relationship since the first year it was jack who asked to be his GF. And both were quite intimate.
Khushi was the only person Aarya let close. And the only one who noticed when things around Aarya started to… shift.
A fashion major with a flair for sarcasm and emotional intelligence off the charts, Khushi wasn’t into video games, she was all about herself believe in present and goes with flow in life but—until Divine Sword started stealing pieces of her best friend away.
And she wasn’t about to let that happen quietly.
🕶️ Jack Fernandes –
Cool without trying, loyal without question—Jack was the kind of guy you underestimated until it was too late.
A Computer Science major with a love for indie music, late-night coding, and conspiracy podcasts, Jack had a brain that never powered down but always lazy to score higher and pretending to be the dumb.
While Khushi brought the energy, he brought the edge. Their bond was chaotic but unbreakable—and Aarya, once an outsider to it, found an unlikely sense of trust in Jack’s steady presence.
Though he started off as just “Khushi’s boyfriend”, Jack quickly proved himself more—a calm observer, a silent protector, and, eventually, the only person who believed Aarya when reality started glitching.
Where others thought she was losing it, Jack dug deeper—into Divin Sword’s code, its origin, and the invisible trail left behind by the player known as “I.”
3
Aarya was searching for a few novels to read as it was a weekend, and she will be in dorm doing nothing special.
She went to the novel section.
Aarya
Most of them I have already read ....*keeps walking through the shelf to check any new arrivals*
*She suddenly feels like someone was standing right behind her*
Aarya
Khushi? Is that you?
Aarya moved to another shelf to check whether it was khushi
She takes a glance at the whole library
There was not even a single student visible
Aarya
Why nobody been seen?
Aarya
Maybe because all busy for weekend plans?
Aarya
Whatever let's just grab a few books and leave.
By the way when Aarya turned again to move to the novel section she stepped on a book.
Aarya
What's this novel? Never seen before is it new arrival?
Aarya
*takes that book also takes 2 more books to read"
Khushi was already in the dorm.
Khushi
Omg you left way earlier I thought you must be here by this time.
Khushi
Of course how can I forgot my only frd and roommate all she does is spend her weekend digging herself into those novels 😭
Aarya
Yesssss *feels proud*
Khushi
Well... em.. Jack and I are-
Aarya
Going on a date.... Ohhh because it's the weekend and you guys can't miss any weekend uk to spend together and going on dates....
Aarya
Hahaha *sarcastic laugh*
Khushi
Hahaha you know it's so dangerous you know too much....
Aarya
Oh am scared too *buu*
Khushi
I am going to be late
Khushi
Well how's my new lipstick shade???
Aarya
Uk jack would be the one tasting then why not you take feedback from him only???
Khushi
awwwwww you that was good one....*gets all shy*
Aarya
Ikr go have fun come back safely
Khushi
Bye *muah flying kiss*
Aarya
*looks into the room*
Aarya
Ahh it's so Messy let's clean first
Aarya cleans the dorm and gets freshen up.
Does, some classwork so she can rest peacefully without any tension
*Divine sword waiting for the sign up*
Aarya
Ok since all classwork is done hmmm....
Aarya
Let's try this game.
Aarya lies on her hostel bed, her headphones half-on, half-off, as lo-fi beats buzzed quietly in the background. Her phone buzzed with a single notification.
> ✨ “Welcome to the Divine Sword. Are you ready to choose your sword?”
[SIGN UP NOW]
She taps the screen. The app icon shimmered—gold against a black void, like it was calling just to her.
Curiosity won.
With a shrug and a breath, Aarya hit “Sign Up.”
And,
That click started everything.
Download MangaToon APP on App Store and Google Play
