The sidewalk beneath his feet vibrated once, it was subtle, like a speaker humming with no sound.
Lucen turned his head.
An alley between two buildings shimmered. Like air folding inward. Like someone was breathing through the seams of the world.
'That's definitely not good.'
Another ping.
[Ingress Request Timeout Imminent – 7 seconds]
The system didn't ask twice.
Lucen didn't hesitate.
'Fuck it what could go wrong.'
He tapped the prompt.
[Y]
The world folded.
Not violently. Not with force. Just… absence.
Light bent. Sound vanished. The mana in the air dropped to zero like it got yanked out of existence.
And then came the pull.
Straight down, like gravity flipped sideways.
Lucen didn't fall.
He just… transitioned and vanished like a ghost.
—
The world around him slammed back in all at once.
