A Fracture Reality

Hori gasped as he stumbled forward, the sudden weightlessness of the portal fading as solid ground met his feet. The air was thick with humidity, the scent of damp earth and moss filling his lungs. He turned, his eyes darting frantically.

"Lyria? Yoon-Soo?"

The world around him was unlike anything he had seen before. Massive trees, their bark glowing faintly with bioluminescent veins, stretched into a sky filled with swirling colors—shades of violet, emerald, and deep crimson. Floating islands hovered in the distance, defying gravity as if reality itself had unraveled.

Then he heard it—Lyria's voice.

"I'm here," she called, her tone unsteady.

Hori turned to see her sitting on a fallen tree, holding her arm. A faint cut trailed down her skin, but she seemed more shaken than injured. Yoon-Soo stood a few feet away, scanning their surroundings with narrowed eyes.

"This... isn't our world," he muttered. "Where the hell are we?"

Before anyone could answer, a low hum vibrated through the ground beneath them. The air shifted, thickening as an unnatural presence stirred nearby.

Lyria's expression darkened. "We're not alone."

From the mist, figures began to emerge—humanoid, but distorted. Their faces were blurred, their limbs stretching and contracting as if they existed between two states of being. The very sight of them sent a chill through Hori's spine.

[Warning: Reality Anomalies Detected]

Yoon-Soo gripped his weapon. "If this place follows the same rules as before, we need to figure out how to fight them—fast."

Lyria reached for her magic, but the moment she tried to summon energy, a sharp pain shot through her. She gasped, her body trembling.

"My magic... it's unstable here," she whispered.

The figures moved closer, their bodies flickering like broken reflections. Hori clenched his fists.

"We'll just have to survive without it."

The battle for their place in this fractured world had begun.

To be continued…