The air in my apartment didn't just grow cold; it grew heavy, as if the oxygen had been replaced by liquid lead. I was reaching for a lukewarm cup of coffee when the world fractured. A jagged line of neon-blue light tore through the center of my living room, humming with a frequency that vibrated in my very marrow.
Before I could even drop the mug, the rift exhaled.
I was pulled into a vacuum of light and sound, my senses shattering for what felt like an eternity. When my boots finally hit solid ground, it wasn't the hardwood floor of my flat. I was standing in a meadow of silver-white grass that glowed with a faint, rhythmic pulse. Above me, the sky was a deep, bruised violet, dominated by two massive moons that looked close enough to touch.
I looked at my hands. They were glowing. When I clenched my fist, a spark of pure kinetic energy arced between my knuckles. I didn't just feel stronger; I felt different. I felt like a weapon that had finally been unsheathed.
"Another Walker?" a sharp, melodic voice cut through the silence.
I spun around. Standing atop a jagged obsidian rock was a girl clad in leather armor that shimmered like dragon scales. In her hand, she held a staff topped with a crystal that mirrored the moons above.
"You're late," she said, her eyes narrowing. "The gates are already closing."
My life as an ordinary man was over. My Sterling Life had begun.