Then—
A sound like a bat striking a cosmic ball.
THOOM.
Arjun opened his eyes.
He was floating.
Not falling. Not standing.
Floating.
Around him stretched an endless sky—neither blue nor black, but something deeper, threaded with golden constellations shaped like bats, balls, stumps, and ancient symbols.
Before him stood a figure.
Tall. Radiant. Ageless.
The being wore robes woven from light itself, and in his hand was a bat—not wood, not metal, but something… eternal.
Arjun swallowed.
"Am I dead?"
The being smiled.
"You were," the figure said.
"Now you are chosen."
Arjun laughed weakly. "Figures. Even death needs selectors."
The being chuckled—a sound like thunder applauding.
"I am Kshetrapal, Custodian of Play, Witness of Worlds, and Keeper of the Eternal Game."
Arjun frowned. "Game?"
The sky shifted.
Arjun saw worlds—countless worlds—where cricket was played in forms unimaginable. Civilizations rose and fell over matches. Gods gambled on innings. Heroes were forged by centuries at the crease.
"Across existence," Kshetrapal said, "there are Games that shape destiny. On your world, cricket is passion. Elsewhere… it is law."
Arjun's heart raced.
"And me?"
"You played with devotion. With sacrifice. With love untainted by greed."
The god's eyes sharpened.
"You died at the moment of perfection."
A glowing scoreboard appeared in the sky.
SOUL EVALUATION: COMPLETE
COMPATIBILITY: ABSOLUTE
"I offer you rebirth," Kshetrapal continued.
"Not as a mere prodigy. But as something more."
The bat in his hand glowed.
"Be reborn in your world. Relive your life. But this time—
you will walk the path of divinity."
Arjun's breath caught.
"You will become," the god declared,
"The God of Cricket."
A torrent of light surged into Arjun's soul.
Pain. Knowledge. Power.
A voice echoed in his mind—cold, precise, absolute.
Divine Cricket System Initialized
Authority: Beginner Godling
Primary Domain: Batting (Locked – Awakening Required)
Arjun screamed as reality shattered.
He awoke crying.
Small lungs. Small hands.
A ceiling fan spun lazily above him.
A woman sobbed with joy nearby.
"It's a boy!" someone shouted.
Arjun clenched his tiny fist.
Inside his newborn mind, a golden bat hovered—silent, waiting.
And for the first time in two lives…
He smiled.