The Rift Hall had been uneasy from the moment the system signals began to pulse through its vast structure. Hundreds of players stood scattered across the glowing floor plates, each of them waiting for the next level announcement that would decide their fate, rank, and survival.
Myia stood close to the center but slightly withdrawn, her eyes constantly searching the crowd with growing unease. Her eyes searched for one person— Zakar.
Beside her, Sera remained composed on the surface, but her stillness was not peace, it was calculation. Her eyes tracked movement across the hall in slow, deliberate scans, reading tension in posture, reading fear in breathing patterns, reading the slightest abnormalities that most people would ignore.
Myia, on the other hand, was less controlled, her fingers curling and uncurling slightly as she tried to suppress the growing anxiety in her chest.
