The next morning, the engineering college campus moved with its usual rhythm. Students filled the walkways, bikes crowded the parking area, and the cafeteria buzzed with noise.

  Among them were two men who did not belong there.

  Director Anant Mehra had taken careful precautions. The neatly trimmed beard he usually kept had been replaced with a thicker one, and a pair of rectangular glasses hid much of his face. His formal suits were gone. Instead, he wore a simple shirt, jeans, and carried a backpack like any visiting parent or researcher.

  Beside him, Raghav looked even less suspicious in casual clothes. Anyone watching them would see nothing more than two ordinary civilians. They had to be careful.

  Aarav had already seen Mehra on national television during the press conference. Walking around campus without disguise would have been reckless.

  For the next few days, they quietly observed the life of Aarav Vardan.

  The third-year computer science student arrived on campus every morning with the same calm routine. He attended lectures, worked in the computer lab, and spent time with his friends discussing their mobile application project.

  Nothing about his behavior suggested the architect of chaos the nation had begun to fear.

  From a distance, Mehra watched him carefully. Raghav leaned closer and spoke under his breath.

  “Three days of observation,” he said. “And he behaves like the most ordinary student in this entire campus.”

  Mehra kept his eyes on Aarav. “That’s exactly what makes him interesting.”

  For several days, Aarav’s routine remained unchanged. He attended lectures in the morning, spent time in the computer lab working on the Campus Hub project, and returned to the hostel by evening. Sometimes he visited the campus café with Anish and Ritesh, and occasionally he walked through the garden area while talking with Nisha.

  To anyone watching, his life appeared completely ordinary. During those same days, the CBI observed him carefully. Mehra and Raghav never stayed in the same place for long. One day they watched from the cafeteria. The next day they sat near the library courtyard pretending to read. Sometimes they stood near the parking area like visitors waiting for someone.

  They spoke to a few students casually, asked harmless questions about campus life, and blended into the environment. Their goal was simple. Understand Aarav Vardan’s daily life.

  On the fifth day, Aarav was sitting inside the computer lab finishing a section of code. The quiet tapping of keyboards filled the room as students worked on their assignments.

  He paused for a moment and looked up from the screen.

  Through the glass door of the lab he noticed a man in the corridor speaking with a faculty member. The man wore rectangular glasses and carried a small notebook.

  Aarav looked only for a second before returning his attention to the laptop. Twenty minutes later he left the lab and walked down the staircase toward the courtyard.

  The same man was now sitting near the notice board, reading a poster about an upcoming seminar.

  Aarav continued walking without reacting. Coincidence was possible. But coincidence had limits.

  Later that afternoon he stood in line at the campus tea stall with Anish and Ritesh. As he waited for his tea, he noticed the man again.

  This time the man stood near the parking area, speaking quietly with another person.

  Aarav took his tea and joined his friends at a nearby table.

  He did not look in that direction again. Instead he continued discussing their mobile app.

  “Ritesh, the login API is still inefficient,” he said calmly. “If two hundred users log in at once, the server will lag.”

  Ritesh groaned. “Bro, can we talk about this later? I’m trying to drink tea.”

  Anish laughed. “Ignore him. Aarav thinks in code even while eating.”

  Aarav smiled faintly. Across the courtyard, the man with the glasses slowly walked away. Aarav noticed. He said nothing. But his mind had already reached a conclusion.

  Someone was watching him. That night, inside the hostel room, Anish and Ritesh argued loudly about a video game while Aarav sat quietly at his desk. He opened his laptop but did not begin coding. Instead he stared at the screen for a moment, thinking.

  “Someone is keeping an eye on me,” Aarav thought. “The question is… who are these people? The CBI, or them?”

  Aarav was never afraid of the CBI. He knew he could handle them. But they worried him. Those unknown they.

  To find out whether they were from the CBI or them, Aarav began forming a plan. He calculated the possibilities carefully. If they were from the CBI, then his identity was at risk. If that was true, then they might already suspect who the Monster was. That meant he had to play a game. A game that would prove his innocence.

  His eyes sharpened with determination. It was as if a fire had awakened inside him. Aarav slowly closed his laptop and murmured under his breath,

  “Let the hunt begin.”

  Across the room, Anish and Ritesh were still arguing loudly over a video game. Aarav ignored them completely. He took out his phone and checked it carefully, wondering whether the CBI had already started tracking his device.

  To his surprise, there were no signs of surveillance. The CBI was watching him. But they were not tracking him. Aarav opened his contacts and dialed Nisha’s number.

  When she answered, he spoke calmly. “Are you free tomorrow evening?”

  “Maybe,” she replied. “Why?”

  “Let’s meet at the café,” Aarav said. “Six o’clock.”

  He ended the call and placed the phone on the table. Tomorrow would be the first move in his game.

  The next evening the campus café was crowded. Students filled almost every table. Some were studying while others talked loudly about assignments and upcoming exams.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Aarav sat across from Nisha, with his cellphone in his hand. Several students nearby recognized him and waved casually. Two tables away, Director Anant Mehra wearing glasses sat quietly with a notebook. From his position he had a clear view of Aarav.

  Raghav sat near the entrance pretending to read messages on his phone.

  “He’s been here for twenty minutes,” Raghav murmured through his earpiece.

  Mehra nodded slightly without looking away from Aarav.

  “Good,” he said quietly. “Let’s see how long he stays.”

  Across the table, Nisha frowned slightly. “You’re not listening,” she said. But Aarav said nothing.

  Suddenly everyone's eye switched to a breaking news broadcast. The anchor’s voice carried through the room.

  “We have just received shocking news. Another body has been discovered in what authorities believe may be connected to the so-called Monster case.”

  A murmur spread across the café. Nisha looked up at the screen in confusion. Aarav turned to see the news.

  On the television, the reporter continued. "The victim was discovered only minutes ago. Police sources say a message was left at the scene addressed directly to the Central Bureau of Investigation.”

  Inside the café, Mehra’s eyes narrowed. The reporter read the message aloud.

  “Hunters should understand the nature of the beast before entering the forest.”

  The truth was completely psychotic, the part that turned a clever idea into something dangerously close to impossible. For anyone else, the plan would have been reckless. One tiny mistake, one second of miscalculation, and everything would collapse. Aarav understood the risk very well. Still, he chose to take it, not out of arrogance but to prove to himself how precise he could truly be.

  The preparation had begun the night before. Long after the café had emptied and the evening crowd had disappeared, Aarav returned quietly. The staff were busy wiping tables and stacking chairs, completely unaware that someone else had entered the room. They did not see him because Aarav was invisible. The strange ability that had awakened within him allowed him to move through the world unseen whenever he wished. To the people inside the café, the space he occupied appeared completely empty.

  Moving silently through the café, he studied everything carefully. The placement of the tables, the lighting above the ceiling, the angles of the security cameras, and the seat where he intended to sit with Nisha the following evening. Every detail mattered.

  Once he was satisfied, he began preparing the stage. Four tiny projectors were carefully placed around a single table, hidden where no one would casually notice them. Each device was positioned with precise alignment so that their projections would meet at the exact spot where Aarav would later sit. When he finished, he left the café as quietly as he had entered, leaving behind nothing but a perfectly prepared illusion.

  The next evening everything unfolded exactly as he had predicted. Aarav entered the café with Nisha and guided her toward the table he had already chosen. He sat down calmly, holding his phone in his hand while she spoke about her day. Across the room, Director Anant Mehra watched him carefully through a pair of glasses, convinced he had the perfect view of his suspect.

  Aarav listened quietly, nodding occasionally, his posture relaxed and unmoving. Then, without drawing attention, he pressed a button on his phone.

  The projectors activated.

  To everyone inside the café, Aarav was still sitting exactly where he had been a moment before. The illusion blended perfectly with the lighting and perspective of the room. Even someone sitting nearby would not immediately notice the difference.

  But what they were seeing was no longer the real Aarav.

  For a brief window of time, the projection continued to occupy the seat where he had been sitting, perfectly still and perfectly convincing. During that window, the real Aarav moved.

  The projectors worked together from four angles, ensuring the illusion looked solid from every direction around the table.

  Using the unnatural speed that his powers allowed, he disappeared from the café before anyone could notice.

  Aarav wanted the news to be broadcast while he and those officers were still inside the café. That was why he had carefully chosen a target who was scheduled to go live soon. He had already figured this out the previous night. Everything depended on timing. Within those twenty minutes, Aarav reached the location, dealt with the victim, and returned to the café. He slipped back into his seat, turned off the projections, and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

  Mehra glanced at Aarav once more. The boy was still sitting calmly across from Nisha, sipping his coffee.

  Mehra and Raghav immediately left the café and headed straight to the crime scene. By the time they arrived, the place was already surrounded by police and media vans.

  The victim was Raghunath Sinha, a prime-time journalist whose face was known across the country.

  Raghav looked at the body and shook his head slowly.

  Raghunath Sinha had built his career protecting powerful criminals in exchange for money.

  “Another corrupt man killed,” he said.

  Mehra stood silently for a moment, observing the scene. “He’s hunting corruption,” Mehra said quietly. “He believes he is justice.”

  Raghav turned toward him. “Aarav is innocent, sir. This death proves our investigation was wrong.”

  “Yes,” he said quietly. “That is exactly the problem.”

  Raghav frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Mehra walked slowly around the room, observing the broken glass on the floor and the scattered papers on the table. Everything in the room felt strangely controlled, almost deliberate.

  “Think about it,” Mehra said. “The Monster knows we are hunting him. He knows we are watching someone.”

  “So?”

  “Then he attacks someone at the exact moment we were keeping an eye on our suspect.”

  Raghav nodded slowly. “Yes.”

  “And he leaves a message for us.”

  Mehra glanced again at the line written on the wall. "Hunters should understand the nature of the beast before entering the forest.”

  Raghav exhaled slowly. "Then he’s mocking us.”

  “Not just mocking,” Mehra said quietly. “Threatening us.”

  “So what now, sir?” he asked. “Do we still keep Aarav under surveillance?”

  Mehra did not answer immediately. He continued walking slowly around the room.

  “Yes,” he said calmly. “We keep watching him.”

  Raghav looked surprised. “But sir, this proved he couldn’t have done this.”

  Mehra shook his head slightly. “No,” he said. “my gut feeling says something is wrong here.”

  “What?”

  “Yes,” Mehra said. “Aarav somehow knew that we were keeping an eye on him. He knew we suspected him. And to remove that suspicion, he played this game.”

  Mehra’s suspicion only grew stronger.

  Raghav looked at him carefully. “Sir, if Aarav really is the Monster and wanted to remove suspicion, then why would he make such a basic mistake in the first place? Why would he call the customer service center from his own phone?”

  Mehra stood silent for a moment, thinking. “Because he didn’t plan it at first,” Mehra said slowly. “He acted without thinking… in anger. And now he’s trying to cover his mistake.”

  Raghav crossed his arms. “That’s still just a theory.”

  “Yes,” Mehra replied calmly. “But a very convincing one.”

  Raghav shook his head slightly. “We still lack proof, sir.”

  Mehra looked once more at the message written on the wall.

  “Hunters should understand the nature of the beast before entering the forest.”

  A faint smile appeared on his face.

  “Yes,” he said quietly. “This game is going to last a long time.”

  Then he let out a short laugh.

  “The Monster versus the Hunter… has finally begun.”