Rain had turned to fog by morning, coating the city like a whisper.
Inside the LuTech training suite, the remaining 97 competitors prepped for Sniper Trials, a brutal test of precision, patience, and mental fortitude. Only the top 15 would advance.
Shen Wanqing had barely slept. Not from nerves, but from something more unexpected.
Reign's message.
"Yes. Once. Cost me a championship.""Never forgot. Never forgave."
It haunted her, not just the words, but the weight behind them.
Trial Format: 1v1 Sniper Duels
Each duel was best-of-3.Distance: 400 meters.Weapons: Only Kar98k, 6x scopes, and smoke grenades.
Wanqing passed the first two matches with clinical precision. Her third match against a ranked pro named XWShadow went to sudden death.
Final bullet. Wind shifted. She adjusted 3 degrees.
Bang.
WINNER: QingQingSnipes.
The crowd behind the soundproof glass burst into quiet awe.
She didn't smile. She couldn't afford to.
Observation Room - Above the Arena
Lu Zeyan watched from behind tinted glass, flanked by Coach Duan.
"She's precise," the coach said.
"She's calm," Zeyan replied. "Even under pressure."
"You see something in her," the coach added, "that reminds you of yourself?"
Zeyan didn't answer. But his mind drifted to five years ago.
Flashback Seoul Grand Finals
18-year-old Lu Zeyan.Playing under his real name, not Reign yet.His team: aggressive. Cocky. Youngbloods with nothing to lose.
His closest friend, their IGL (in-game leader), betrayed their strategy to a rival sponsor for a guaranteed personal contract.
They lost. Spectacularly. Publicly, Lu Zeyan took the fall.
And from the ashes, he was reborn.
He disappeared from the scene for 8 months. Then re-emerged with a new name: Reign. Cold. Silent. Surgical.
He built a reputation on detachment, sponsors controlled him. No teammates were ever close enough to betray him again.
Until now.
Back in the Dorms – That Evening
Wanqing sat by the vending machines, nursing a protein bar. She wasn't watching the leaderboard. She didn't need to.
She'd qualified. Barely.
The sound of footsteps. Soft, deliberate.
Reign.
He stood beside her, hoodie up, hands in his pockets.
No one else was around.
"You flinched at 17:31," he said without greeting.
"Wind shifted," she replied. "I corrected."
"You hesitated. You usually don't."
Wanqing didn't look at him. "Was thinking about betrayal."
A pause.
"I didn't always play alone," he said quietly.
She turned.
He met her gaze. Unmasked. Honest for the first time.
"They were my friends. I thought."
Silence.
Then she asked gently, "Have you ever thought about trusting again?"
He looked at her for a long time.
"You make me consider it," he said.
Wanqing's breath hitched. Just slightly.
Then he pulled a small flash drive from his pocket. "Watch this."
She took it.
"What is it?"
"The real Reign. Before he was a ghost."
And with that, he turned and left, disappearing down the hallway like a shadow at dusk.
That Night, Her Room
She plugged in the flash drive. Clips. Old footage. Lu Zeyan is laughing. Calling out shots. Taking insane flicks while joking with teammates. A different man. A younger one.
Then… silence. The final clip: a recording of the betrayal. Someone is selling out their drop zone mid-tournament.
Her hands clenched.
She understood now. The weight he carried. Why he played like trust was a weapon.
And maybe…Why did he look at her like she was something he didn't know he needed?