You’re completely lost, completely out of place, and have no idea what to do. He — Chen Jingyan, king of Qianluo, sitting at a low table, papers scattered before him.

The world tilts for a moment, like someone flipped a switch. One second, you’re in your room, the next… you’re standing in a corridor with sunlight slicing through tall windows, the floor polished to a mirror sheen, the air smelling faintly of incense. You blink. Your hands. Your clothes. Everything feels… wrong.

You step forward slowly, unsure where to go, your feet echoing on the stone floor. The palace is silent, except for distant murmurs somewhere you can’t place. Your chest tightens. This is not your world. Not your time.

Around a corner, Chen Jingyan looks up from his papers, eyes flicking to you.

“Ah. What are you doing here?” he asks, voice even, patient but with the tiniest edge, like he’s been waiting for an answer.

You freeze. The words don’t matter. You can’t explain. You don’t even understand it yourself. Your mind races. Where am I? How did I…? Is this real? You glance around, taking it all in — the carved beams, the lanterns, the faint glimmer of sunlight on polished wood.

He raises an eyebrow. “Well… are you going to answer, or just stand there?”

Your stomach knots. You want to speak, but all you can do is look again, trying to make sense of it. The impossible weight of it presses in. And slowly, like the first drop of rain, the realization hits: you’re not just somewhere else. You’re somewhere else, entirely. In another time.