CHAPTER 41: “PROOF, PRESSURE, AND A GHOST THREAD”

Three days after the Ghostline Roundtable, Raj was back in his workshop.But it didn’t feel like a homecoming.It felt like a deadline breathing down his neck.

The air was heavier,the silence was louder and the bench where he once stitched with calmness now felt like a warzone with missing maps.

A system notification popped up:

[System Quest Active: Proof in Play]

Objective:

– Create two functional prototypes (RC-V2 & RC-V3)

– Based on potential feedback (not yet received)

Time Limit: 30 days

Bonus: Reputation Access – Ghostline Tier 2 Scout Network

After checking the system objective,he saw it gave only 30days time.He decided

to start anyway.Raj stared at the foam cutouts, blank wristbands, and measurement templates spread across the table like puzzle pieces.

He didn’t feel stuck.He felt unseen again like the fire that burned in Hyderabad had dimmed the moment he got home.He thought:

I’m not failing. I just don’t know where to start.

He tapped the edge of his sketchpad nervously.

Priya entered the room holding a small cup of tea.She didn’t say anything at first. Just walked over and placed it beside him.

"You’ve been back 72 hours," she said softly. "You’ve already refolded your sketches seven times."

Raj exhaled slowly and said:"I need to build something better than RC-V1."

"No," she corrected. "You need to build something truer."

Raj blinked.

"You’ve already proven you’re good. Now they want to see if you’re real.",She said.

[System Whisper: Advice Thread Triggered]

Emotional Sync Detected – Assistant-Level Advice Registered

Minor Buff Applied: Idea Stabilization (+5% planning clarity for 2 hours)

That night, Raj sat alone in the workroom until nearly midnight.He didn’t stitch.He also didn’t draw.He just let himself feel the noise in his chest ,the kind of noise that rises only when you care too much.

Then, he noticed something odd.The left drawer of his workbench was slightly open.

He never left it that way.Inside, taped to the underside of the top panel, was a thin grey thread, one he didn’t remember leaving.

Attached to it was a folded note.He pulled it out.It was Handwritten.A Neat handwriting with an unknown ink.It was written:

"You build from memory. But your past isn’t the only one that left you a design."

– F#0

Raj froze a second.Not in fear, But in confusion.

Flame #0... was here?

He looked around the room. Everything was untouched.But something in the air felt different.He reached for the thread again,it wasn’t just fabric.

It had weight.Like someone had wrapped a message in silence.

[System Alert: Ghost Thread Acquired]

Material registered: Unknown Origin Signature

Emotional Value Detected: Layered Memory Residue

Optional Quest Unlocked: Legacy Beyond Timeline

Objective: Discover who left the ghost thread

Outcome: Story Path Influence

Raj held the thread in his hand for a long time and then finally whispered:

"So I’m not the only one building from the past."

The ghost thread was placed beside the Raj’s tools for hours.He didn’t stitch it.He didn’t hide it.

He just left it there ,like a quiet witness watching over every decision he made.Something about it made him work slower, but sharper and focused.

His hands hovered over the foam pieces, but this time, he didn’t follow a sketch.He let instinct lead.

He removed the outer seam layers he used in RC-V1.Changed the wrist cut angle and. adjusted the curve of the thumb loop.He also added an extra layer near the finger creases, not for protection, but for feeling.

When players flex their fingers, they should feel like they’re holding on to something that matters.

As he worked, the system stayed silent.Not because it was inactive.But because it knew better than to interrupt.By midnight, Raj had completed the structural base of RC-V2.It didn’t look radical.It didn’t scream innovation.But it whispered something different:

Memory with purpose.

He sat back, stretched his arms, and was about to close up when someone knocked on the door.It is not loud.Not rushed.Just three soft taps.He went to the door and opened it slowly.

It’s Spandana.

In her usual hoodie, sketchbook under one arm, no shoes on her feet.

"Sorry," she said. "Didn’t want to scare you."

"You didn’t."

"Wasn’t sure if you were still awake."

"I don’t think I’ve really slept in days," he said with a small smile.

She stepped inside, looked at the glove on the table.Eyes narrowed slightly.Then she said:

"You stitched it like it remembers something."

Raj blinked and asked:"What?"

"That glove doesn’t just fit," she said softly. "It looks like it knows."

That one line.So simple and so strange.But it changed Raj’s whole thought process.

A system notification popped up:

[System Sync: Emotional Echo Confirmed – RC-V2 Aligned with Creative Thread]

Bonus Triggered: "Legacy Curve"

– This glove carries not just design intent, but emotional storytelling

– All future testers of this glove will experience soft flashback response

Passive Unlock: Designs That Speak

Spandana walked around the table.She didn’t touch anything.Then opened her sketchpad.

Inside was a drawing of a young boy barefoot, standing in a cricket field with no gear, just shadows.

In the boy’s hand?

A glove which was burnt, stitched and frayed.But whole.She tore the page.Placed it next to RC-V2.Then said:

"If this is your glove’s story,

make sure it doesn’t end here."

And she left the room.

Raj didn’t speak for a long time.Then he slowly picked up the ghost thread again and wove it silently, carefully

into the inner wrist lining of RC-V2.Not visible.But forever part of its story.

He worked on full night without breaks.By sunrise, RC-V2 was complete.Raj didn’t label it.Didn’t photograph it.

He placed it inside a padded cloth pouch and sealed it like he was tucking away a memory not a product.

There was no rush to send it out.This glove wasn’t designed to race.It was built to last long.

He stretched his arms, cracked his neck, and stared at the scattered blank pages of his sketchpad.

Next on the list?

RC-V3.

But this time, he didn’t want to start with foam or wristbands.He wanted to start with what a player fears most.

•What if you’re given the match of your life... and your gear lets you down?

•What if your glove gets slippery in rain? •What if the finger bend feels too rigid in sudden dives?

Raj drew a single line across the page.Then wrote:

"Build for the game that breaks rules."

He erased the standard cuff line and redesigned a triangular wrist-lock extension with finger-trap release.

It is unusual and ugly but efficient.He knew traditionalists would hate it.But this glove wouldn’t be for them.

This would be the storm glove mostly useful for players who play dirty, wild, untimed matches in bad light and broken fields.He labeled it softly at the corner.

RC-V3: For the Fight You Can’t Predict

As he finished the base sketch, his phone buzzed.

Email: GHOSTLINE Gear Evaluation Feedback

He opened it slowly, his heartbeat racing..

Raj,

The RC-V1 model was tested across 3 environments: dry grip, soft turf, and wet training.

Key observations:

– Highest emotional feedback rating among all prototypes (words used: "calming," "familiar," "invisible")

– Performance: 8.6/10

– Innovation: 7.4/10

– Retention request: 91% of testers said they would request the same glove again

Result: RC-V1 has passed the First Phase Creator Evaluation

Prepare for Stage 2 presentation within 3 weeks.

P.S. One of the coaches left this note:

"This glove doesn’t teach the player anything ,but it reminds them who they are."

Raj closed his eyes and sat back and finally let out a laugh not big, but a relieved one.

A system notification popped up:

[System Reward Unlocked – "Creator’s Echo"]

RC-V1 Approved for Ghostline Legacy Line Consideration

New Buff: "Emotional Retention Thread"

– 6% more chance of your glove being remembered by name after use

Title Gained: Glove Whisperer

Passive Unlocked: Player-Affinity Detection

But before he could share the news with Priya or Spandana,a folded note slid under the workshop door.Just like the last time.It’s written with Grey ink.No name mentioned.

Written Four words:

"Don’t build too safe."

– F#0

As the early evening light slipped through the window slats, Raj stared at the bold sketch of RC-V3 one more time.Unorthodox,Unbalanced,Untamed.

But real.

He picked up his pen and, just beneath the label "RC-V3," added a new subtitle.

"RC-V3: The Glove That Refuses."

Because that’s what it was.It refused to follow rules.It refused to blend in and more than anything ,it refused to forget the player who built it.He opened the back of his notebook.On the last page was a faded drawing , his first ever glove concept from months ago.

Crooked,Off-ratio,sloppy.But passionate.

He stared at it for a long time.Then tore the page cleanly.Folded it twice and placed it inside RC-V3’s design folder.Not as a blueprint.But as a reminder.

A system notification popped up:

[System Message – Legacy Thread Strengthened]

You remembered the version of you who started all this.

That memory is now part of what others will feel when they wear what you build.

Raj leaned back in his chair, the sketchpad resting on his lap and for the first time in days

He felt ready.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

NOTE:

You saw RC-V2 rise from memory.

Now RC-V3 will rise from chaos.

If this Chapter lit even a spark in you,

Drop a gift. Leave a vote. Unlock the next design.

Raj’s hands aren’t just building gloves anymore.

They’re building a legacy.