章 33: Into the Wild Unknown

The sensation was nothing like the portals I'd used before. This time, it felt as though I was being hurled down an endless, spiraling vortex. My body twisted, weightless yet heavy at once, every part of me disoriented as if I were riding an uncontrollable roller coaster. Darkness enveloped me, making it impossible to tell up from down.

Then, with a bone-jarring impact, I was thrown onto solid ground.

"Ugh…!" I gasped, every muscle in my body aching from the fall. My cheek pressed against cool, dewy grass, and I coughed, pushing myself up with trembling arms. "Where... am I?"

The first thing I noticed was the forest. Towering trees surrounded me like ancient sentinels, their thick branches intertwining to form a canopy so dense that only faint traces of moonlight managed to filter through. The air smelled of damp earth and wild foliage, sharp and fresh. Shadows flickered around me as the faint light danced on the swaying leaves.