林凡 attrs Lynch, anxious to proceed, tapped the screen again. The QR code glowed faintly under the dim light, pulsing with an eerie energy. He took a deep breath, feeling a mix of excitement and trepidation. This was it. The moment of truth.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, planting his finger on the code.

A sharp, jarring sensation shot through him, like being pushed through a wind tunnel at full speed. The screen flickered, the world tilting and spinning in a nauseating whirl. When the sensation finally subsided, everything was eerily silent. The neon lights of the city were gone, replaced by a scene of absolute darkness.

"Okay, this is weird," Lin Fan whispered, cupping his hands around his mouth to catch the sound. "Where am I?"

He took a tentative step forward, only to have his feet sink into something soft and squishy. He looked down and saw he was standing in a patch of mud, the ground beneath his feet like thick, sticky gelatin. He recoiled, his toes squelching as he retreated.