The night air of Mumbai was heavy with the smell of sweat, smoke, and the faint sweetness of festival food. It clung to Ayesha Singh's skin as she stepped away from the glowing heart of the IIT Bombay campus, the fading laughter and music behind her now just echoes. Her white sneakers thudded softly against the pavement as she tightened her grip on her jacket, the moonlight brushing her face in silvery streaks.
She had stayed a little too long at the tech-fest. It was her first year—barely a few months in—and everything still had that new, shimmering excitement. Robotics exhibits, neon-lit hackathons, and hours of awkward but thrilling socializing. Ayesha had always been the kind to stay a little longer, talk a little more, dance a little harder. She was seventeen, top of her entrance exam cohort, living in the moment in the city of dreams.
But tonight, something felt... wrong.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. A text from her roommate:
"Where r u? The wing is locked soon!"
She smiled faintly and began typing back, but a shadow moved at the edge of her vision.
She looked up.
Five figures were trailing her, keeping distance but not enough to be unnoticeable. At first, she thought they were just heading the same way. But the way they moved—their steps matching hers, slowing when she slowed, laughing too loud in her direction—made her gut twist.
They were all seniors. She recognized two of them from a mechanical engineering seminar last week. One of them had complimented her on her project report. She'd smiled politely, not thinking much of it. Another had tried to start a conversation at the food stall tonight. She had politely turned him down.
Now all five were here.
"Hey, topper," one of them called, voice slurred slightly. "Not even a thank you for escorting you tonight?"
Ayesha's heart pounded. "I'm good, thanks," she said, forcing a polite smile and quickening her pace.
"Don't be like that. We're just being friendly," said another, a taller one whose eyes gleamed with something she didn't want to name.
She started to walk faster. The shortcut path through the academic block suddenly felt endless. Her dorm was barely five minutes away.
"Just come have a drink. Celebrate a bit. It's just us here, don't be so stuck-up," another voice pressed, closer now.
She turned sharply. "I said I'm fine. Please leave me alone."
The moment the words left her mouth, she knew they wouldn't.
They lunged.
She ran.
Her bag dropped to the ground as she sprinted down the narrow path between buildings. Her lungs burned. Panic shrieked through her veins. She turned the corner, but one of them was faster. He grabbed her wrist, yanking her back.
"Why so scared, princess?" he sneered.
She screamed, kicking, clawing, fighting with everything she had. Her fingernails caught skin, drawing blood. One of them cursed. Another laughed. Her jacket tore. The ground scraped her knees as she stumbled.
"No!" she shouted, thrashing, sobbing. "Don't—please—don't—"
A hand slammed over her mouth.
Everything after that happened too fast and too slow all at once. Ayesha fought like hell, but they were five. Drunk. Merciless. One of them shoved her hard, her head hitting the side of a concrete edge—her vision bursting into white-hot stars.
And then everything dimmed.
Pain. Shame. Fear. Disgust. The feeling of powerlessness. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Her thoughts blurred into a loop—
Ma, Baba, I'm sorry—
I wanted to see Stray Kids' comeback—
I wanted to dance—
I didn't want to die—
The sky above blurred as her consciousness slipped away, the stars pulsing like faraway dreams she'd never touch again.
---
There was no pain.
Just silence.
Cold, radiant, disembodied silence.
Then came the light.
A white so pure it had no depth, no dimension—just endless blank space stretching in all directions. Ayesha floated in it, or perhaps stood, or lay—she couldn't tell. Her body no longer hurt. In fact, she couldn't even feel her body at all.
Her memories fluttered behind her eyelids like scattered Polaroids. The campus. The music. The running. The terror.
The moment her skull cracked against concrete.
She had died. She had actually died.
A scream tried to claw its way out of her throat, but she had no throat. No voice. She was consciousness suspended in nothingness, cradled by an expanse of nothing.
Then came the voice.
"Subject AYESHA SINGH. Status: Deceased. Soul retrieval: Successful. Processing memory backup and emotional state."
The voice was clear, genderless, neither synthetic nor human. It echoed gently through the space without reverberation.
Ayesha's essence pulsed with confusion, fear, and disbelief.
"What the hell?" her thoughts snapped, raw and burning. "What is this? Am I in a coma? Heaven? Some weird brain-fry hallucination?"
The light around her shimmered, responding to her emotional spike. Then, a floating holographic interface materialized before her, bright blue letters forming against the white.
> Welcome to the Resurgence System
Last Wish Identified: "I wanted to see Stray Kids' comeback"
Soul Status: QUALIFIED
Task Assigned: Global Idol Ascension Protocol
"What... what is this?!" Ayesha's voice finally returned, though not from her lips. It came from within, from the thought made sound in this formless space.
"You are within the System," the voice replied calmly. "Your untimely death and pure emotional resonance qualified you for Rebirth Under Condition Clause 32-A."
"You mean I get a second chance?" she asked, her mind racing. "Because of K-pop?"
"Not solely," the voice corrected. "The Resurgence System responds to souls whose final desires indicate an intense yearning to live through purpose. Music, in your case, dance, and emotional drive connected to the global K-pop wave."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." She almost laughed. "You're telling me I'm getting reincarnated because I wanted to see a comeback video?"
"Incorrect. You are receiving a second chance because of your subconscious wish to be part of the phenomenon. To rise. To become the one you admired."
Ayesha blinked—if blinking were possible here. Her thoughts tangled.
"Wait. You're saying I'm being reincarnated to become a K-pop idol?"
> Confirmed.
Identity: AYESHA SINGH
New Birth Year: 2000 (Adjusted Timeline Index: Earth-R Beta)
Age Upon System Activation: 6 Years
Deadline for Debut: Mid-2019 (Global Idol Ascension Protocol)
Additional Objectives: Establish fanbase. Dominate dance/vocal/charisma metrics. Lead a co-ed idol group. Integrate into global K-pop wave.
Ayesha reeled.
"Wait—wait—what the hell is Earth-R Beta? What do you mean adjusted timeline?"
"You are being inserted into an alternate Earth-like simulation with minor temporal dilation. Time flows at a pace suited to entertainment industry dynamics and allows for controlled development windows."
Her pulse quickened, if such a thing was possible. This was beyond science. This was sci-fi with sprinkles of absurdity. But somehow, deep within her—
It clicked.
Because she had wanted it. Not just the comeback. Not just the fan service. She had danced the choreographies in secret, filmed herself learning routines at 3 a.m. She had watched TXT's pre-debut content religiously, memorized every beat of a Stray Kids MV. While others studied quantum mechanics, she'd let her soul starve on dreams of stages she'd never touch.
"So, what's the catch?" she asked, warily.
"No catch. You will be given a fair playing field with enhanced Support Modules. You will possess your past memories, emotional maturity, and mental faculties."
> SYSTEM MODULES ACTIVATED
Memory Retention: ON
Emotional Maturity Bonus: ON
Stat Framework: Vocal / Dance / Visual / Charisma / Stamina / Popularity / Mental Resilience / Language Proficiency
Training Boosters: Selective Passive Multipliers
Level System: EXP-based gains through practice, exposure, and competition
Milestones: System Rewards (non-magical, skill enhancement only)
The screen blinked and reconfigured, this time showing her a stat page:
> AYESHA SINGH - INITIAL STATS
Dance: 72 (Advanced Amateur)
Vocals: 40 (Amateur)
Visual: 85 (Natural Born Beauty)
Charisma: 60 (Room for Growth)
Language: Hindi [Native], English [Fluent], Korean [Basic - Learning Module Activated]
Popularity: 10
Mental Resilience: 95 (Post-Trauma Boost)
Stamina: 45
"You... really turned me into an RPG character."
"Correction. You were always a character. We merely acknowledged the stats."
She couldn't help the laugh that escaped. It was hollow, raw, disbelieving.
"Fine," she said, swallowing back the tightness in her nonexistent throat. "Let's say I accept this insane offer. What then?"
"You will awaken as your six-year-old self in the city of Varanasi. Your physical form is native to the timeline. You will have no guardian awareness of your altered consciousness. Your body is biologically young. Your soul, however, retains all memory."
"When does the System activate fully?"
"At age six. You will undergo a semi-dormant phase until then. Upon activation, your growth will accelerate according to the framework."
A final prompt appeared.
> Do you accept the parameters of the Resurgence Protocol?
[YES] / [NO]
Ayesha stared at it. Her hands didn't exist, but her will surged forward.
[YES]
The light bent.
Her vision tilted—like falling through glass.
And she was gone.
---