Leo Shaw stood in the middle of the vast prairie, still reeling from Sonya's explanation. The realization hit him like a delayed thunderclap—everything around him was a perfect illusion, yet it felt utterly real. The grass beneath his boots was soft and springy, yielding just right under his weight. A gentle breeze carried the clean, earthy scent of wild greenery, ruffling his hair and cooling his skin. Overhead, the sun warmed his face with authentic heat, while fluffy clouds drifted lazily across an endless blue sky. In the distance, herds of cattle and sheep grazed contentedly, their occasional lowing carried perfectly on the wind.
It was flawless. No glitches, no tells—nothing to suggest this wasn't a genuine slice of the natural world. If he hadn't known better, he'd swear he'd been
