Chapter 49

Theo knew the map well. Shortly after the match began, he found Elise and Ryan and followed them from roughly one house away.

Neither of them noticed their shadow. They went on searching for equipment, and when Elise slipped into another building, Theo followed, listening for her footsteps and tracking where she went.

Snow, however, kept talking over team chat. She seemed to have something to say every few seconds.

She had heard the impatience in his voice. After a second or two of silence, she answered, “...Okay.”

Her grip tightened around her mouse. Onscreen, her eyes seemed ready to burn a hole through the monitor. How could he be so unmoved? Plenty of guys loved her sweet, flirtatious act. What was wrong with him? Was he gay?

Once she agreed and stopped chattering, Theo put his headset back on.

Snow stayed quiet after that. Angry as she was, making him dislike her would be worse. She would find another opportunity.

He seemed determined to play seriously, so perhaps she could impress him in the game. She had logged three hundred hours and was a decent player. On a particularly good day, she could get more than ten kills and win a match. Among female players, she thought she did pretty well.

The other team even had a beginner. If Snow crushed her, the comparison would make Snow look that much better.

She followed Theo and ran into him as he jumped down from a second-floor window. The gun on his back caught her eye.

“Is that an M249?”

She was no good with sniper rifles; her aim made the 98K she carried almost useless. A weapon like the M249 suited her much better at close and medium range. Fin was famous for his shooting, so surely he didn't need it as much as she did.

She kept her voice even this time, leaving out the sugary tone. “Can I have it?”

Theo glanced at her equipment. Apart from the 98K, her other gun really was inferior to the M249. He paused for a second or two, then ran around a wall and across the road.

“No,” he said lazily through her headset.

Snow stared. How stingy could he be? Other men practically melted when they heard her voice; if she asked for gear, they would have stripped themselves bare to give it to her. This one was impossible.

Theo paid no attention to her mood. He followed Elise again as soon as she came out of the house. Then his brows drew together.

She had been carrying an M416. Now her back was bare. Where had the gun gone?

Ryan, meanwhile, was practically loaded down with equipment.

Theo climbed onto a roof, entered the second floor through a balcony, and stopped in the bathroom. There he dropped more than half his gear, including all his level-three protection and the M249. He kept some ammunition and bandages, picked up two pieces of level-two protection in the room, put them on, and left.

When Snow saw him again, she was startled. “Where's your M249?”

It had been there a moment ago.

“I dropped it,” he said after a pause.

“Why would you drop it?” Her voice rose despite herself. He had refused to give it to her, only to throw it away?

Theo rubbed his ear. Compared with her fury, he sounded as if they were discussing different things altogether. “Oh. My bag was too heavy.”

Snow wanted to crush her mouse. He was humiliating her right in front of everyone. Some Fin he was. Just a clueless, stingy straight guy.

The audience couldn't hear their team chat, but Theo's actions astonished them too. A murmur swept through the venue. Why would he throw away perfectly good equipment? Was he so much better than his opponents that he wanted to even the odds? Was the great Fin going easy on them so openly?

How considerate!

Elise kept searching. She no longer got stuck on the stairs as she had at the start, and her movements were growing smoother, but several houses in a row had yielded almost nothing. Without even a gun, how was she supposed to last three minutes against her brother?

The first floor of the next house was just as poor. She went upstairs, opened the bathroom door, and stopped.

Equipment covered the floor. Level-three armor, a level-three helmet, ammunition, bandages, a first-aid kit, an eight-times scope, and a gun that looked formidable.

What kind of bathroom was this? Had she stumbled into a treasure room?

She swallowed her excitement and stuffed everything into her bag. She really did have incredible luck! Ryan had taken her equipment, and here she was finding something even better.

Once she was armed and armored, she felt much safer. Now her brother couldn't kill her with a single shot. It would take him at least three or four.

She had gone from broke to rich in an instant.

“What happened?” Ryan asked through her headset.

Only then did Elise realize she had cried out in surprise. Remembering how he had asked her for her gear, she made her voice calm.

“Nothing. I got stuck going upstairs.”

She had learned her lesson: she wasn't giving Ryan any more equipment. Teammate or not, staying alive mattered most. Besides, their opponent was her brother, and she had no desire to be flattened by him.

Ryan gave a quiet, mocking laugh. She could even get stuck on stairs? Useless.

“Right. Be careful next time.”

Clearly, he was the only useful player on this team. Once the shooting started, Elise would be the first to fall. He wouldn't bother reviving her; it would only waste time and his medical supplies.

The audience erupted when Elise entered the bathroom where Fin had dropped his equipment and picked it all up. How could anyone be that lucky? Fin had thrown away his gear to make things fair, and the rookie had stumbled straight into it. Ryan was far more practiced than she was, yet her equipment was much better than his now.

Some of Fin's fans were nearly in tears. They wanted to pick up his discarded gear too!

Crouched beneath a window, Theo watched Elise emerge, fully equipped, before moving his view away. She had been using cover as she moved between houses; following that route, sooner or later she would search this building and open the bathroom door.

A moment ago her character had worn a T-shirt and shorts. Now a helmet and armor covered her properly. The corner of his mouth lifted. A girl should be dressed decently, after all.

Judging that enough time had passed, he fired at the house where Ryan was hiding. Theo hadn't replaced all his equipment, and his armor was only level two, but it would do. The shot hit the wall, a warning that the fight was about to start.

Ryan ducked behind a door and angled his view to look for him.

Snow heard the gunfire and crept over, crouching behind a wrecked car. Fin had rejected her again and again and treated her as if she weren't there. He would rather discard his equipment than give it to her! She couldn't let that go. All those hours playing PUBG hadn't been wasted; she would show him he couldn't look down on her.

She spotted Ryan and fired toward the window where he was hiding before Fin could shoot. The bullet struck near the frame, missing Ryan by very little.

While he stayed out of sight, she moved to a closer piece of cover, where she could watch his movements more clearly. A corner of his helmet appeared at the window. She rose and fired twice.

Both shots hit the edge of the window. Neither touched the helmet. Worse, standing to shoot exposed her own head.

Ryan stepped out and fired.

Linw killed Bai with a headshot using an M416.

Snow's screen turned gray. Furious, she flung her headset onto the table.

“Our lucky audience member clearly has plenty of PUBG experience!” the host exclaimed. “That accuracy—a one-shot headshot! His recoil control could almost rival a professional's!”

It was high praise for an amateur, and the crowd was excited. Most casual players needed several shots to take someone down; headshot kills were rarer still. Ryan had done it.

He smiled at the notification, pleased with himself. His confidence surged. Perhaps he wasn't far behind a professional at all. Maybe he could even hold his own.

He glanced toward Fin's position. Fin had barely intervened during the exchange with Snow, and Ryan couldn't tell what he was thinking. The match was two against one now, but Ryan still didn't dare rush him.

Theo had expected Snow to lose their duel. Losing one teammate didn't concern him. He was distracted by Elise, who had hidden behind a rock halfway up the hill. While Snow and Ryan exchanged fire, he had watched Elise, worried she might pop out and give herself away. Fortunately, she hadn't.

When Fin still didn't move, Ryan grew nervous. He slipped out the back door and silently climbed through a window into another house. Theo hardly changed position.

Watching from beside the door, Ryan had a sudden thought. Maybe Fin wasn't all that impressive after all.

He fired at Theo's cover in challenge.

The shot brought Theo's attention back. He raised an eyebrow. Did this guy want a duel?

“Ryan's going up against Fin!” the host cried. “His aim was excellent just now, almost professional. How will he do against Fin? Ryan has the better gun and level-three helmet and armor, while Fin only has level-two protection. Fin's defense is much weaker, and his gun does less damage. He could be in trouble!”

The audience worried too. Fin had discarded his best gear. If Ryan landed a headshot, Fin could lose.

Elise could see what had happened from her hiding place. Ryan had killed Snow, and now he was going after her brother. Even though Ryan was on her team, she didn't want Theo to lose. She could only watch and worry.

Please don't lose, she thought.

Theo showed no sign of nerves. His posture hadn't changed; he watched the screen with an almost careless expression, a flicker of interest in his eyes.

Ryan's gun appeared around the door. He fired at the small part of Theo's body he could see. Both shots missed.

Before Ryan could hide again, Theo fired twice at the opening he had exposed. Both bullets hit. His gun might do less damage, but his aim was accurate: Ryan lost half his health. He hadn't hit Theo once.

Panicking, Ryan shut the door and took out medicine. Fin was fast and precise. Ryan had become flustered, and his own aim had gone crooked. If he hadn't lost his composure for that instant, he told himself, he would have hit Fin.

He had recovered about half the health he had lost when another shot struck him. Ryan looked up. At some point Fin had climbed through the window and entered the room. He stood over Ryan with a gun aimed at his head.

Theo looked at the M416 Ryan carried and frowned. Elise's M416 had suddenly disappeared. She wasn't foolish enough to throw away her gun the way he had. Yet Ryan had one now.

Theo switched to all-chat. His unhurried voice came clearly through Ryan's headset. “Did you find that M416 yourself?”

Ryan's character was bleeding. He wanted to keep healing, but with a gun at his forehead he didn't dare move. He couldn't understand why Fin hadn't killed him, and the question only confused him more.

“No.”

Theo understood. Elise was new to the game and wouldn't want to lose too badly in front of everyone. A beginner wouldn't automatically hand over equipment she found. Ryan must have asked her for it.

He moved his gun away from Ryan's head.

Desperate to survive, Ryan didn't stop to wonder why Fin still hadn't fired. He edged farther away and started applying bandages. His health climbed. When Fin continued to hold his fire, Ryan suddenly raised his own gun to shoot.

Before Ryan could get the shots off, Theo, apparently ready for him, fired twice. Ryan's health plunged to a sliver, and Theo stopped again.

It happened over and over. Ryan healed; Theo shot him nearly to death but never finished him. Ryan fought the urge to throw his mouse. A vein stood out on his forehead. This was humiliating. Fin could have ended it with one shot, but instead he was playing with him in front of the whole audience.

At last Theo decided enough time had passed. Elise was probably getting bored waiting. He fired the final shot.

SK_Fin killed Linw.

Ryan's screen went gray. Then Theo's voice came through his headset, quiet and casual, with an edge of coldness.

“Taking a kid's things? Aren't you ashamed?”

The audience had grown quieter as they watched Fin deal with the lucky spectator. Wasn't that a little cruel? Couldn't he have ended it quickly?

They couldn't hear team chat, but Fin had switched to all-chat, so his last words reached them. Was there a reason he had treated Ryan that way? Had Ryan taken something from a kid? But who was the kid?

Elise had moved from cover to cover and finally lain down in the thickest patch of grass she could find. Her green clothes blended into it as she listened for movement.

Everyone who stuck their head out seemed to die. Charging in was a terrible idea. She was a beginner; hiding was much safer. She could probably stay here forever!

Ryan's name had gone gray in the team list. Terrifying. Her brother wasn't human—he had even killed Ryan. Now only she and Theo were left. How could she possibly beat him?

Was there a time limit? Could she win by hiding long enough? It had been so long since she played that she couldn't remember the rules.

Footsteps sounded nearby. She turned her view and saw Theo walking openly up the hill, gun raised, making almost no effort to dodge or take cover. He looked as if he were out for a stroll. Closer and closer he came, until he was only about ten meters away.

Fear rose in her chest. If he found her, he would kill her too. That would be awful. She almost wanted to cry.

Would he go easy on her because she was his sister?

She dismissed the idea at once. In this life, Theo had ignored her. Even after they grew close in her previous life, she wasn't sure he would have let her win. He had been despondent then, but still found the energy to tease her, often saying she looked like an old lady when she got angry. He had hardly ever been gentle with her.

He looked around as though searching. Elise mentally lit a candle for herself and began counting down the final moments of her gaming career.

Theo knew the map so well that he didn't have to guess where his sister was hiding. She had finally joined him for a game, though, and he wanted her to have a good time.

He switched to all-chat. Holding back a laugh, he drawled with a trace of mischief, “I can see you.”

Elise flinched. He was doing it on purpose!

Remembering all the nasty things he had done before, she found her nerve. It was just shooting. She could do that too!

Still prone in the grass, she fired in his direction. Her aim wandered wildly and every shot missed.

Theo smiled. Apparently his sister was easy to scare. He picked out her hiding place and fired at a tree beside her.

Elise's blood rushed. Blades of grass blocked her view from the ground. She stood up and fired straight at him.