A text box appeared at the bottom of the screen: "Why take a shortcut when the climb is the point?"

Instead of a loading bar, the screen flickered a violent static. A terminal window popped open, lines of code racing down like digital rain. Panic set in—Leo reached for the power button, but the screen froze on a single image: Claire, the protagonist, standing on a cliffside. But her eyes weren't black dots anymore; they were hollow, flickering pixels of white noise.

Suddenly, the hum of his PC fans surged into a roar. The room began to smell like pine needles and ozone. Leo’s vision blurred, and the floor beneath his desk felt... soft. Grassy.