Code: Zero

The world is a lie. The sky is a skybox.And Aryan is the virus that will crash it all. S=klnΩThe entropy of the soul In the rain-slicked, neon-drenched alleys of a dystopian Mumbai, where ambition is currency and survival is a daily war, a young street urchin named Aryan scrapes by, invisible among the forgotten. But destiny has a darker path laid out for him. When a chance discovery unveils a hidden magic - a pulsating gauntlet that hums with ancient power and binary code - Aryan's world transforms.He rises from the gutters, a phantom in the shadows, leveraging his newfound abilities to carve out an empire in the city's ruthless underworld. From ragpicker to underworld don, Aryan masters the dance of power, wealth, and fear.Yet, every ascent has its precipice. As the lines between magic and technology blur, Aryan realizes his dominion is merely the first rung of a far greater, more terrifying ladder. Every "high-level script" he executes triggers a "Resource Scarcity" tax. Power is paid for in Entropy, a biological cost that transforms his flesh into necrotic stone and his memories into junk code.But he's not the only one wielding forgotten forces, and the treacherous world he's stepped into is older, deeper, and far more dangerous than he could ever imagine. The magic he thought he controlled has a will of its own, entwined with secrets that could unravel not just his empire, but the very fabric of reality itself.

Pages: 218, Hardcover, Notion Press