The sky changed.
No one noticed.
That was the first problem.
Arjun noticed.
Not immediately.
Just… before everyone else.
Something felt wrong.
The light didn't dim.
It didn't fade.
It shifted.
He sat in the back row of his college classroom, staring at the whiteboard while the professor continued explaining economic policy.
The words blurred.
Not because he didn't understand—
but because something kept pulling his attention away.
He turned slightly toward the window.
The sunlight looked… off.
Not darker.
Not brighter.
Just—
wrong.
Arjun leaned closer.
The sky wasn't blue anymore.
A faint metallic sheen had spread across it, turning the clouds into something unnaturally smooth—like polished steel stretched across the horizon.
"What the…?" he muttered.
A few students near the window shifted.
"Is it about to rain?"
"That doesn't look like rain."
"Maybe pollution?"
Before anyone could figure it out—
everything turned off.
Phones.
Laptops.
Projector.
Lights.
The classroom fell into silence.
No one moved at first.
It wasn't just the classroom.
The entire building felt… still.
Like something had paused everything at once.
Even the usual outside noise—
traffic, horns, distant chatter—
had faded.
Not gone.
Just… delayed.
"Power cut?" someone said.
But outside—
the street had gone dark too.
Traffic signals stopped.
Vehicles slowed.
People looked up.
No one spoke first.
Then everyone did.
"What just happened?"
"Is this a blackout?"
"Why are the signals off?"
Then it came.
A voice.
Not from speakers.
Not from devices.
From everywhere.
From the sky.
From the air.
From inside their heads.
[GALACTIC EVALUATION SYSTEM INITIALIZING]
Silence hit again.
Heavier this time.
"Did you hear that?"
"Where did that come from?"
"Is this some kind of prank?"
A boy near the front let out a nervous laugh.
"This has to be some publicity stunt…"
No one laughed with him.
Arjun didn't speak.
His heartbeat rose—
slowly.
Outside, the sky responded.
Massive glowing text formed across the metallic clouds.
Letters the size of buildings stretched across the horizon.
[Planet Identified: Earth]
[Civilization Rank: F]
[Population: 8,042,671,920]
The entire class rushed toward the windows.
Even the professor stopped.
"What kind of technology…?" he whispered.
Another message appeared.
[Earth has been selected for Galactic Evaluation.]
For a moment—
no one reacted.
Then more voices:
"This is definitely a promotion."
"Yeah, no way this is real."
"Some global marketing stunt…"
Arjun didn't laugh.
The voice didn't feel human.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't emotional.
It was… absolute.
Then the sky changed again.
[Evaluation begins in 60 seconds.]
A massive countdown appeared above the clouds.
60
The world froze.
59
58
Inside the classroom, panic began spreading.
"What evaluation?"
"What does that even mean?"
"Is this real?"
Outside—
drivers stopped in the middle of roads.
People stepped out of buildings.
Phones were raised—
even though they didn't work.
Across the world, confusion turned into fear.
News reporters spoke into cameras that weren't transmitting.
Emergency lines failed.
Governments issued orders that no one could hear.
The countdown didn't stop.
It didn't care.
41
40
Arjun felt something in his pocket.
A vibration.
His eyes narrowed.
That shouldn't be possible.
He slowly pulled out his phone.
The screen was black.
Dead.
Then—
white text appeared.
[Individual Compatibility Detected]
Arjun blinked.
"…What?"
Another message followed immediately.
[Commander Candidate Identified]
His chest tightened.
"Commander…?"
The next line didn't wait.
[Binding Galactic System to Host]
Pain exploded behind his eyes.
Arjun dropped to his knees.
The classroom blurred.
Voices became distant.
Information flooded in.
Star maps.
Unknown symbols.
Weapon systems.
Warships.
Battles across planets he had never seen.
It wasn't random.
It was structured.
Organized.
Like something was installing itself directly into his mind.
He didn't understand it—
but his body reacted anyway.
Accepting.
Adapting.
"What… is happening…?"
The pain stopped.
Instantly.
Replaced by something else.
Clarity.
A calm, mechanical voice echoed again—
inside him.
[System Integration Complete]
A transparent interface appeared before his eyes.
GALACTIC COMMAND SYSTEM
Host: Arjun Mehta
Commander Rank: F
Planet: Earth
Civilization Rank: F
A new notification appeared.
[Emergency Mission Assigned]
Arjun stared at it.
"…Mission?"
The system responded.
Mission Objective:
Eliminate Hostile Entity — Unit A1
Reward: System Authorization Level 1
Failure Condition: Host Death
Slowly—
he turned toward the window.
The countdown reached zero.
0
The sky shattered.
Cracks spread across the atmosphere like breaking glass.
Through them—
something appeared.
Ships.
Thousands of them.
Massive black structures, each the size of a small city, descending slowly from the fractures.
Glowing red lines ran across their surfaces like veins.
Screams erupted everywhere.
"ALIENS!"
One ship stopped above the city.
A massive opening formed beneath it.
Something dropped.
It hit the street below with a thunderous impact.
The ground cracked.
The impact wasn't just sound.
It was force.
The building trembled.
Windows rattled violently.
This wasn't something that belonged here.
And it wasn't alone.
The creature rose.
Thirty feet tall.
Six legs.
Four arms.
Black armored body—
like molten metal frozen mid-flow.
Blue eyes scanned the surroundings.
Then it moved.
A single swipe—
and a bus split in half.
Cars flipped.
Concrete shattered.
Chaos exploded across the city.
Inside the classroom—
no one moved.
"Oh my god…"
Arjun watched.
The system responded again.
[Commander Equipment Available]
Combat Drone — Basic Unit
Plasma Rifle — Military Prototype
Adaptive Combat Suit — Mark I
A prompt appeared.
Deploy Equipment?
YES / NO
Behind him—
students trembled.
Some cried.
Some stood frozen.
Outside—
the creature advanced.
Unstoppable.
Arjun didn't look back.
His finger moved.
YES.
Light burst around him.
Black armor formed across his body.
A sleek plasma rifle materialized in his hands.
A drone activated beside his shoulder.
He looked at the weapon.
Then—
at the destruction below.
No hesitation.
He stepped onto the broken edge of the window.
The city was already collapsing.
"…Alright."
His grip tightened.
"…let's see what this system can do."
And he jumped.