Jincheng City. The Jen Family Villa.
The aspect ratio of the universe was wrong.
The world did not stretch wide to the horizon. It was crushed, compressed, and narrowed into a suffocating 9:16 vertical frame. To the left and right of reality, there was only a void of black bars, pressing in on the inhabitants of Jincheng City like the walls of a trash compactor.
But Elara Vance did not notice the black bars. She did not remember a world that was wide. She only knew the marble floor beneath her knees and the smell of lemon-scented misery.
She was scrubbing. Her hands, red and raw from bleach, moved in frantic circles. She wore a grey, tattered maid's uniform that looked like a potato sack designed by a sadist. It was three sizes too big, hanging off her frame to emphasize her frailty.
She didn't know her name was Elara Vance. She knew herself only as The Mute Maid.
"Trash!"
A stiletto heel, sharp as a dagger, slammed down onto the back of Elara's hand.
"..."
