The system screen gently glitched in and out of reality, its blue edges pulsing with an ethereal glow while the golden center shone far too brightly in the surrounding darkness. Small cracks of light occasionally spread across its surface before disappearing, as if the screen itself was struggling to remain stable.
Max was forced to watch it.
His eyes burned from the light, but the black mist held him in place, refusing to let him turn away. The cold darkness wrapped around his body like countless invisible chains, tightening whenever he tried to resist. The screen flickered again, and for a moment, the golden glow warped like liquid metal before slowly stabilizing in front of him.
A strange silence surrounded him. Even the faint sound of his own breathing felt distant, swallowed by the black mist around him, and the only thing that remained clear was the unstable system screen floating before his eyes.
Then crimson letters began to appear one after another.
