The moment the tutorial began, his phone vibrated violently. Not a normal buzz—a deep, bone-rattling hum. The screen flashed white, and a single line of text appeared, typed in a glitchy, green font:
His bedroom dissolved. The posters, the desk, the creaky floorboards—all melted into digital static. Leo yelped and stumbled backward—except there was no floor. He was standing on a grid of neon yellow lines, suspended in a void.
The title screen was different from the videos he’d seen. The city wasn’t sunny New York. It was twilight, raining, and the skyscrapers looked… hungry.
