The forest was unnaturally quiet. No rustle of leaves, no insects chirping. Even the air hung heavy, thick with static energy.
Ethan moved through the overgrowth, his hand resting on the hilt of his plasma-forged blade. The system’s interface flickered at the edge of his vision, displaying nothing but a pulsing red warning:
[Unregistered Zone Detected.] [Proceeding may result in permanent death.]
Permanent death. That phrase wasn’t supposed to exist anymore. Players respawned. That was the rule. But this world—the new one—kept rewriting its own rules.
Lara followed behind him silently, her bow slung across her back. She looked around the twisted forest with wary eyes, her voice low. “The air here feels wrong. Like it’s breathing.”
Ethan nodded. “It’s not supposed to exist. This region
