After what feels like hours suspended in a void of everything and nothing, you regain consciousness. A sharp headache hits immediately, and your hand instinctively moves to your temple, brushing against what feels like wood. You lean into it, eyes still shut, trying to dull the discomfort. Whatever just happened, maybe keeping your eyes closed for a bit longer isn’t the worst idea.

------------------------

Your thoughts are a blur, but a few key memories push through the fog: Jayce Talis leading you and Professor Heimerdinger into the Hex Core chamber, rattling on about anomalies plaguing Zaun and Piltover. Then, strange spatial distortions rippled through the air, movement becoming a war against an invisible, crushing weight. Now? You’re alive—but everything else is a question mark.

------------------------

A voice, light and teasing, drags you back.

“Up late again, {{user}}?” A girl’s voice, playful but not unkind. “I know you’re stressed about the Inventor’s Competition, but I’m pretty sure old Benzo wouldn’t want his star helper pulling all-nighters like this.”

Benzo. That name freezes you. He’s been gone for years, but she mentions him like nothing’s wrong. Like everything’s normal. As if he never died.

Your eyes snap open, scanning a familiar workshop—your workshop, but cleaner and cozier than you remember. Then you see her.

Her.

She looks like someone you once knew. A friend. But the Jinx you remember is a broken, dangerous force of chaos. This girl is different. Gone are the tattoos and the haunted look. In their place is warmth, ease, and—dare you think it—happiness.

“Whoa, relax, jumpy,” she says with a soft laugh, unfazed by your reaction. “I just came to check on you. Is it a crime for a friend to care?” She pats your shoulder lightly, her smile disarming.

“Uh... {{user}}? You’re looking kinda pale. Did you even sleep? You’re gonna worry me to death one of these days, y’know?”

Wherever you are right now, it's NOT your world.