Chapter 47

Past the ticket scanners, the girls followed the signs toward the arena. Elise felt a flutter of nerves beneath her curiosity. She had played PUBG in her previous life, but never enough to get past the beginner stage. Watching professionals compete was entirely new to her.

Jade, on the other hand, played practically everything. She had hundreds of hours in PUBG, watched professional streams when she had time, and could hold forth on game strategies at length. A few live SK matches had been enough to turn her into a fan. She knew every player, especially Fin. She had watched almost every clip of him online, and though he rarely streamed, she never missed him when he did.

SK's recent training camp in Russia had left her without a stream or a live match to watch for ages. By the time they reached the entrance, she was more excited than either of her friends.

A staff member stepped in front of them. He wore an event jacket and a badge around his neck. His gaze passed over their faces and paused briefly on Elise.

“Congratulations! You're the sixty-sixth spectators to enter today. You've won a free upgrade to VIP seating.”

The girls stared at one another. Their ordinary tickets were near the back, where they had expected to watch the players on the big screen because they would barely be able to see their faces onstage.

“Really?” Jade asked. “We already came in. Why would we get an upgrade?”

The man's smile faltered. When Coach Mercer had approached him, he had been confused too. The coach had only said that the girls were friends of his and he wanted to surprise them.

The staff member handed Jade three tickets. “See for yourselves. They all have authentication codes.”

The girls huddled over them. Once Jade was satisfied they were real, she broke into a wide grin. “Thanks!”

Nora followed them in a daze. This was her first live match, and she had already won something?

Elise was still bewildered when they found their seats. The VIP section stood just behind a railing separating it from the players' rest area. SK, in their team uniforms, sat closest to them, less than a yard away.

Nora clutched Elise, who was seated between her and Jade. “How did we get this lucky?” she whispered. “We're so close to SK!”

Jade squeezed Elise's hand too. She kept her eyes on the players, quietly identifying them one by one. Halfway through, she stopped.

“Wait. I don't see Fin.”

“Maybe he's backstage because he's playing?” Nora said.

“Could be.” Jade counted again and found that the other players scheduled to go onstage were missing too. She sighed. “Too bad. I wanted to see him.”

Elise watched the two of them practically glow at the prospect of meeting their idol. “You really like Fin that much?”

“Of course! He's worth the price of admission on his own.”

Nora leaned close to Elise's ear. “And apparently he's incredibly handsome.” Her voice shook a little on the last word.

When Dylan had first told her about Fin, she had admired his skill. Then he had shown her a photograph, and admiration had turned into something more enthusiastic. Fin stood in the middle of a group shot in SK's blue-and-white uniform, a hoodie underneath hanging loose on his lean frame. His hair was untidy, his bangs covering half his face. The eyes visible beneath them were fine-featured and half-lidded, as though he couldn't be bothered with the photograph. Even surrounded by teammates, he was the first person Nora had noticed.

Elise nodded. A professional player who was also handsome would have no trouble attracting fans; the crowd around them was proof enough. Plenty of players were good, but she had heard that few were as good as Fin, and fewer still looked like that. She was curious now herself.

Her third brother was handsome too. Even when he looked most listless, his slightly upturned eyes and lazy gaze seemed to flirt without his meaning to. Theo probably didn't realize it. She wondered how he compared to Fin.

A man entered SK's rest area. Before sitting down, Coach Mercer looked toward the VIP section and waved wildly at the three girls. He had noticed they weren't in the seats attached to the tickets he had given them. If the staff member had messed up the upgrade, Fin would kill him. How could Fin's own sister come to his match and sit in an ordinary seat?

Nora grabbed Elise's arm. “Elise, that's him!”

“Who?”

“The man who asked about you outside school.”

But what was he doing in SK's rest area?

Jade frowned. “Are you sure? That's Coach Mercer.”

“The coach?” Nora stared at him. Why would SK's coach be asking about Elise?

Elise had no idea either. She didn't know him. Before she could think it through, music swelled over the speakers, signaling that the match was about to begin. She turned toward the stage.

A commentary desk stood beneath the giant screen, flanked by two soundproof glass booths, each holding four computers. The commentator worked the crowd into a frenzy and began introducing the teams before the players came out.

“First, the captain of SK, winners of three consecutive world championships: Fin!”

Cheers and screams filled the arena. Elise was about to cover her ears when the photograph on the screen caught her eye. Fin looked into the camera with a familiar air of lazy indifference.

She froze.

Wasn't that her third brother?

Nora was screaming beside her. Jade didn't scream, but her loosely clenched hands trembled. Nora shook Elise's arm. “Well? Isn't F handsome? I told you!”

“Yes,” Elise managed. “He is.”

She had been wondering how Fin compared with Theo. It turned out Fin was Theo. She had come to watch her own brother compete.

Once the shock eased, relief followed. She had wanted him to come home earlier but hadn't been able to find him. Now that she had stumbled into his match, she had to find a way to see him. Did he even know she was here? She didn't have his contact information, and she had heard that only staff were allowed backstage.

She missed the rest of the introductions while she worried over it. Then both teams entered, and the crowd grew louder still. The screen moved from face to face as the players took their places.

Theo sat closest to the commentary desk. He slipped his equipment bag off his shoulder and connected his headset, keyboard, and mouse to the computer. When the camera reached him, the cheers rose noticeably. The organizers gave the most popular player more screen time, and his glance toward the audience was captured in perfect detail.

Fans immediately began chanting his name. Fin usually left as soon as a match ended, with virtually no interaction. When had he ever looked out at them like that?

Theo's eyes settled briefly on the VIP seats. His usual indifference had given way to concentration, but the corner of his mouth lifted just a little.

“He looked this way! He smiled! Was he looking at me?” someone cried behind Elise.

The Fin fan club was right behind her. At his glance, they erupted so loudly she covered her ears.

Jade sounded much calmer. “I feel like he was looking toward us.”

Elise wasn't sure. For an instant she thought she had met Theo's eyes, but the stage was far away and he had looked aside so quickly. Had he noticed her?

Onstage, SK's players seemed remarkably relaxed as they finished setting up and waved to the fans. Theo had been almost unnervingly pleasant today. Usually they dreaded making mistakes because of the hellish practice that would follow. Before this match, instead of threatening them, he had told them, “Relax. Play like you do in training.”

The unfamiliar kindness had puzzled them, but it had also relieved their nerves.

Theo settled his headset and adjusted his mouse and keyboard to comfortable angles. After so many matches, competition could leave him tired and numb. Today his blood was racing again. His sister was in the audience, watching him enter the world he loved. Even if she didn't understand every move, surely she would be able to tell he was good. The thought made him nervous and excited at once.

The match map was much smaller than the one they usually trained on, though the supplies were distributed much the same way. At the designated point, the players parachuted in. Nearly five minutes passed as SK gathered equipment without encountering an enemy; DP had apparently landed elsewhere.

“Found a vehicle?” Theo asked over the headset.

“Got one.” A teammate marked the location, and they gathered around it. Theo took the driver's seat. Once everyone was aboard, he drove toward the bridge.

“Across now?” one teammate asked. “What if they're waiting for us?”

There was little cover on the bridge, and the vehicle would announce their position to anyone nearby. An ambush could wipe them all out.

“That's what I want,” Theo said, his hands moving steadily over the controls.

A bullet struck the vehicle with a sharp ping. Theo judged the direction of the shot and drove in a weaving line. This game tested driving as well as aim; bullets flashed past them, but none hit the car again. At cover midway across the bridge, the team jumped out. Shots immediately struck the barrier in front of them. More than one opponent was closing in.

The big screen switched to Theo's view. A head rose above cover across the bridge. He aimed and fired, knocking off the opponent's level-three helmet. Seconds later, the message appeared:

SK_Fin killed DP_KzzZ with an M416 headshot.

The audience roared. His recoil control and aim were extraordinary. DP had three players left against SK's four. The SK teammates relaxed. Their team had won three consecutive national championships; DP hadn't even reached last year's final. This felt almost like a practice match.

After losing a player, DP retreated. SK crossed the bridge, searched a house, and crouched beneath its windows, aiming at the neighboring building. A figure flickered past an opposite window.

“They're in the houses across from us.”

Theo acknowledged the report. Each team now occupied a building. Outnumbered, DP stayed under cover, ready to fire if SK showed themselves, and waited for the safe zone to refresh.

“They're playing much more cautiously after that loss,” the commentator said. “But where the next zone lands is down to luck. If DP gets it, SK could be in trouble even with four against three. If it lands on SK, DP's prospects are grim.”

The zone refreshed.

“Oh, that's a terrible circle for SK!”

“Damn it,” an SK player muttered.

The safe zone had landed on DP's side. SK would have to leave the house and cross open ground or be caught outside it. Once exposed, they would make easy targets.

“Some luck,” Jade said.

Elise gripped her hands together. She didn't understand all the details, but it was clear things had turned against her brother. Her nerves tightened with everyone else's.

“Interesting.” Theo smiled faintly. He had expected an easy win, but DP's disadvantage didn't guarantee a loss now. “I'll cover you. Go.”

His teammates hesitated. Could one person suppress three opponents? But Theo was their captain. They trusted him.

They threw smoke grenades into the road and rushed forward as the clouds spread. Figures appeared in the opposite windows and fired into the smoke. Theo loved playing sniper for the clean simplicity of taking someone down with a shot. He swung his aim from window to window, hitting each opponent who appeared. One ducked to heal, then another emerged. His hands stayed steady; under his fire, DP could barely show themselves.

SK_Dee killed DP_yw88.

“Got one!” a teammate said. The others had made it across and taken out another opponent. DP, down to two, withdrew again, and Theo reached the safe zone.

Then another message appeared.

DP_sanyue knocked down SK_Alger.

“What happened?” Theo asked.

“I got the direction of the footsteps wrong,” Alger said, panic in his voice. “They ambushed me.”

Mistakes happened in competition, but at a moment like this, it was a costly one.

“Where are you?” Dee asked.

“Second floor.”

Dee moved to help him.

“Don't,” Theo began.

Before he could finish, two more messages flashed up.

DP_sanyue killed SK_Alger.

DP_MonkeyX killed SK_Dee.

Their advantage had vanished in an instant.

“They underestimated their opponents,” the commentator said with a sigh. “SK's younger players still lack some experience. Even a team like SK can lose if it gets careless.”

The two eliminated players sat guilty and pale, unable to look at Theo. They had expected an easy win. Now they could already imagine the training waiting for them afterward.

Theo's lazy expression was gone. His lips curved, but there was anger behind the smile. He was so annoyed with them he could almost laugh.

Two SK players remained against two from DP, whose positions were still unknown. Then the safe zone refreshed again, and once again it favored the other side.

“Are we going to lose?” the remaining teammate asked. His hand shook on the mouse.

“What are you panicking for?” Theo said.

He listened for footsteps, judging their opponents' positions. All four players were close now, waiting for someone to make a mistake. Whenever a figure appeared by a wall, Theo hit them, but his weapon was weaker than theirs. It was becoming a question of who would run out of ammunition first.

His teammate made more mistakes and lost health bit by bit. Before he could heal, he went down.

DP_MonkeyX killed SK_6666.

The commentator leaped to his feet. “Only Fin is left! Is DP about to turn this around? Are we really going to see an upset?”

Theo mentally added more punishment to the practice awaiting his teammates. This was what underestimating an opponent looked like. They were new blood, with less match experience than the veterans; their overconfidence was something he had accounted for.

Now it was his turn.

He shot the level-three helmet off one opponent, then took out his level-three armor with another shot. The player ducked back into cover. Theo smiled and prepared to fire again.

The ammunition counter read zero.

The crowd exploded. They had come to watch Fin, and even with his teammates dragging him down, his performance had been steady enough to keep the opponents pinned. But now, of all moments, he was out of bullets?

He switched weapons. Empty too.

Jade sighed and exchanged an anxious look with Nora. Elise was even more nervous. Her heart hammered as she watched Theo's screen, then looked at his profile onstage. Her normally languid brother was completely focused, as though the world on the monitor held all his attention.

Please let him win.

Theo smiled. “Okay.”

His slightly husky voice came through the microphone, calm despite being SK's sole survivor. He took a breath.

“I'm just out of bullets. No need to panic when something goes wrong.”

The arena grew strangely quiet.

“Next up: Fin's exclusive grenade tutorial.”

His character moved swiftly across the screen, slipping beneath the opposing house and around behind a window.

“First, pull the pin. That's the safety.”

The view tilted upward toward the window. “Then find your angle, pause, and count to three.”

Elise held her breath and counted silently with him.

“Finally, throw.”

An explosion sounded.

SK_Fin killed DP_sanyue with a frag grenade.

SK_Fin killed DP_MonkeyX with a frag grenade.

Congratulations to SK_Fin, last survivor and winner of the match.

The crowd fell silent. So did the commentator.

Theo leaned back and took off his headset. After a moment, he brought the microphone to his mouth again.