Although the teleportation itself was instantaneous, Stan had sensed something was wrong before it happened.
Back in the cave, for the briefest fraction of a second, he had felt an indescribable distortion ripple through the space around him. It was subtle enough that he dismissed it as his imagination.
Then it happened again. This time, the feeling intensified.
The air itself seemed to twist, while the world around him folded inward as though reality had suddenly become a sheet of paper being creased by an unseen hand.
By the time he realized something was happening, it was already too late.
An overwhelming force seized him. The strangest part of it all was his System's complete silence.
No warning. No notification. No attempt to resist.
It was as though whatever was acting upon him possessed an authority that even the System chose not to challenge.
The next instant, he was violently dragged through what felt like countless layers of warped space.
