Chapter 1

The night before the Global Finals, my boyfriend, our team captain, handed my starting spot to an academy trainee just to indulge her.

Every question I got wrong, I had to hand over a piece of gear that had carried me through championships.

But every answer had been rigged from the start.

In the end, he pulled my account key and gave my Finals seat to the trainee.

"Just let her play one match. You're twenty-six, stop being so petty."

I snapped my account card in half on the spot and signed the termination papers they'd drawn up.

The whole team expected me to crawl back to base.

But when the Finals lineups took the stage, I was wearing our rivals' starting jersey, standing on the other side.

They still had no idea who had really been carrying whom to those three straight championships.

第1章

The night before the Global Finals, Derek Cole proposed a dare with my starting spot on the line.

Tessa Quinn, an academy trainee, and I would take turns answering strategy questions. Every wrong answer meant surrendering a piece of gear.

Once the mouse, keyboard, and headset were all gone, the person sitting in my chair would be tomorrow's starter.

The coach and team manager, Marcus Walsh, were both there, and the session recording light on the wall was on.

Any change to the Finals roster required documentation, and this training room was set to auto-archive.

I thought Derek was joking until he slid my professional account key to the center of the table.

The silver card stopped right beside Tessa's hand. My registered tag, TIME, was engraved in the bottom-right corner.

Derek tapped the table twice.

"First question. What's Radiance's core strategy?"

"Protect-the-carry."

Every championship roster for the past three years had been built around bot lane. The answer wasn't up for debate.

Derek liked to keep bot lane pushed up. I calculated the enemy team's response times so he could chase low-health targets while I sealed off every escape route.

He never looked back in teamfights because I was always right behind him.

Tessa propped her chin on her hand and thought for a few seconds.

"I'd go jungle carry."

"Tessa's correct."

Derek raised his hand first. Joey Bennett and the others followed immediately.

The coach closed his tactics board and avoided my eyes.

"The new patch puts more weight on jungle control. Majority rules."

Three days ago, he'd told me to build the Finals roster around bot lane.

Now Tessa had brought in sponsorship money, Joey's contract renewal was in Derek's hands, and suddenly strategy was something that could be changed by a vote.

Derek held out his hand in front of me.

"Chloe. A bet's a bet."

I unplugged my mouse, and the cable tugged at the old injury on my wrist.

It was a limited edition model, custom-made after our first championship. The manufacturer had adjusted the weight for my hand and shifted the side buttons by about an eighth of an inch.

My name, Chloe Harper, was engraved on the shell.

Derek took the mouse and plugged it into Tessa's computer himself.

Tessa flipped it to the engraved side and covered my name with her palm.

"So light. No wonder you're so steady, Chloe. That gear must do a lot of the work."

"She's got a bad hand injury. She can't use a regular mouse for long."

Derek straightened the cable for Tessa without even asking if my wrist was hurting.

The second question asked who would make the call during a level-one fight in the deciding game.

I answered the shot-caller. Tessa answered the team captain.

Derek declared her the winner, and my mechanical keyboard was carried away.

The third question asked who decided a mid-game strategy change.

I said the shot-caller had instant decision-making authority. Tessa insisted on a team vote.

The others raised their hands again, and my noise-canceling headset ended up in her lap.

Tessa ran her fingers over the three championship stars on the headset.

"Will these count as mine now too?"

"Those are championships I won."

Her eyes reddened instantly.

Derek stepped in front of her, his expression darkening.

"She's playing for Radiance tomorrow. What's wrong with her wearing a championship headset?"

"So you've already decided she's starting?"

No one in the room answered. Derek walked over to my computer and gripped the account key.

"Last question. Who plays in the Finals tomorrow?"

Tessa settled into my gaming chair and spun around to face me with a smile.

"Me."

Derek pulled the key, and my practice account locked instantly.

That card was bound to my identity. Tessa couldn't compete with it even if she had it.

He placed it in her palm anyway, just to show me that this seat was his to give.

"Tess starts in jungle tomorrow. Joey, you're moving to support."

"You're handing a trainee the Global Finals?"

"Radiance has three titles in a row. You think we can't win without you?"

Derek leaned against the table edge, his patience spent.

"Your hand is wrecked and your champion pool's outdated. Sitting one out is the organization doing you a favor."

I looked at Tessa. Her academy evaluations covered only twelve matches, seven of them losses. She hadn't even memorized Radiance's basic callouts.

"She doesn't have what it takes for Worlds."

"Like nobody else ever has an off day?"

Derek squeezed the key.

"Chloe Harper, you're twenty-six. Are you seriously going to fight a nineteen-year-old rookie over a spot?"

Joey piled on.

"We can swap in any support and still win. Don't tell me you actually think Radiance can't function without you."

By now, I finally saw the game for what it was.

They wanted me to surrender shot-calling authority and the starting spot myself, then admit that seven years of championships had nothing to do with me.

Everyone assumed I couldn't bear to leave Derek. No matter how much they humiliated me, I'd stay and clean up their mess.

I pulled the key from Derek's hand and snapped it in two.

A sharp crack. The card split right through my name.

Derek grabbed my right wrist, his palm pressing directly on the old surgical scar.

"Chloe Harper, have you lost your mind!"

Pain shot from the bone up to my fingertips. I pried his hand off and tossed the broken card into the trash.

"Tomorrow's Finals? You can play support for her yourselves."

Derek chased me to the door.

"Walk out of Radiance and what team is going to want a twenty-six-year-old washed-up support?"

"Go ahead and leave, but don't you dare come crawling back!"

I went back to my room, locked the door, and pulled up a message I'd received three days ago.

Nathan Pierce had asked if I'd be willing to call the shots for a team that actually respected me.

I sent back two words.

[Signing tonight.]

The call came immediately.

"Nightfall's starting support has acute appendicitis. The League approved the emergency free agent clause."

"But you still have a year left on your Radiance contract."

I opened the League's evidence preservation portal.

"They'll let me go willingly."

Outside my door, Derek was still soothing Tessa.

"Her tantrum won't last through the night. She'll come crawling back to apologize in the morning."

I submitted the training room recording for evidence preservation.

They wanted more than anyone to prove I was worthless without Radiance.

第2章

I'd lived at the Radiance training house for seven years, but everything I truly owned barely filled one suitcase.

A few changes of clothes, two strategy notebooks, and a bracelet my mother had left me.

The matching mugs and championship rings stayed where they were. I had no intention of touching them again.

I'd barely finished packing when Derek pushed through the door.

He kicked the suitcase wheel.

"Running away from home again?"

"Move."

"Chloe Harper, you're twenty-six years old. Threatening to break up and quit the team? Really?"

I pulled my suitcase toward the door, but he blocked the way.

"You leave Radiance, where are you going to go?"

Seven years ago, Derek couldn't afford the entry fee for the city qualifiers. I was the one who split my prize money with him.

When the organization wanted to drop him, I put my career on the line to vouch for him.

Now he stood high enough to look down and see the three scars on my hand, but he no longer cared to look.

"You're right. So I'm leaving."

Derek didn't get the begging he was waiting for. His face grew uglier by the second.

"When the match is over tomorrow, you can come begging outside the training house and I still won't give you the starting spot back."

"Fine."

What he wanted to see was never me walking away.

He just wanted to wait until I came crying, admitting I had nowhere else to go but him.

Tessa appeared in the doorway carrying a late-night snack, bumping her shoulder against the desk.

The framed championship photo fell. A crack in the glass cut through the two clasped hands in the picture.

Only a little hot broth splashed onto Tessa, but Derek had already pulled her close to check.

"Did you get burned?"

"I'm fine. I wasn't paying attention."

He turned and blamed me.

"Why was the frame sitting so close to the edge?"

Tessa picked up the photo, then looked around my room.

"The light in here is amazing. The academy dorm fits eight people. I couldn't sleep at all last night."

Derek decided for her on the spot.

"You're staying here tonight."

He pointed at my suitcase.

"Chloe, go cool off in the academy dorm for the night."

"This is my room."

"The room belongs to the organization. If you're so set on leaving, why are you still taking up space?"

Tessa tugged at his sleeve, claiming she'd be fine in the hallway even as her feet drifted to the edge of my bed.

I swept the cracked photo into the trash and wheeled my suitcase toward the door.

As I brushed past her, Tessa leaned close to my ear.

"Thanks for the spot. I'll take good care of the mouse and the room."

"Hold on tight."

I glanced at her hands, unmarked by any wear from years of professional play.

"Tomorrow when you fall, it's going to hurt."

At 1:00 a.m., I walked out of the training house and dropped the key down a storm drain.

Behind me, Joey asked Derek what they'd do if I really didn't come back.

"She jumped in front of a falling light rig for me. She'd risk her life for me. How could she ever leave me?"

Seven years ago at a city qualifier, a ceiling light came loose. I shoved Derek clear and blocked the metal frame with my right hand.

After the tendon snapped, I went through three surgeries. I could never again play a position that demanded high-speed mechanics.

I retrained as a support, trading mechanical skill for game sense and shot-calling.

Derek turned that sacrifice into leverage to keep me under his thumb.

Nathan's car was parked at the end of the street. He loaded my suitcase without asking why I'd brought only one.

"Legal and the League examiner are both waiting."

Once I was in the car, my phone buzzed with a new post from Tessa.

She was sitting in my chair, holding my custom mouse.

The caption read, "Tomorrow I'll prove Radiance doesn't need an outdated protect-the-carry."

Every Radiance player had liked it.

Derek had even commented, "Just charge forward. I've got your back."

He'd said those exact words to me once.

In the end, the person who always had his back was me.

I turned off my phone. Nathan handed me the contract.

"Nightfall doesn't need you to clean up anyone's mess."

"We're bringing you in to decide where this entire team goes."

第3章

At 4:00 a.m., the League convened an emergency review session.

Nightfall had already submitted the surgical certificate for their starting support. As long as I regained free agent status before noon, I could be added to the emergency roster.

The only thing standing in the way was my Radiance contract.

Nightfall's legal team pulled up the breach clause.

"If you leave on your own, you'd owe an eight-figure buyout."

"Unless Radiance issues an immediate termination first."

"They will."

At 8:00 a.m., Radiance's team bus pulled out of the training house on schedule.

No one contacted me.

At 8:10 a.m., Tessa posted a photo of herself in the front row of the starting lineup bus.

My noise-canceling headset hung around her neck. The caption implied I'd overslept and held up the whole team.

Ten minutes later, "Chloe Harper Missing on Finals Day" began trending.

Radiance didn't issue a correction. Derek even added a line during an on-bus interview.

"When a veteran player gets taken care of for too long, showing up late now and then is expected."

At 9:00 a.m., Walsh finally called.

"Chloe, the organization is willing to give you one more chance."

A fully executed document appeared in my inbox moments later. The subject line read "Mutual Termination and Voluntary Surrender of Starting Position."

The document required me to acknowledge declining competitive performance, voluntarily withdraw from the Finals roster, and forfeit all prize money and commercial revenue shares.

In exchange, Radiance would not pursue liability for my departure or the damaged equipment.

"Sign by 11:00 a.m., or the organization will bench you for a full year."

"No need to wait."

I opened the electronic signature page.

Five minutes later, my signature and fingerprint scan were submitted.

The organization had already signed the document. The moment I added my signature, the contract was terminated.

I added one line: "Termination effective. Hope you enjoy getting crushed today."

Walsh paused for a long moment before speaking.

"That document was just Derek's bluff!"

"And I signed it."

"Don't throw your career away over a fit of temper!"

"You're the ones who sent it."

I hung up.

At 9:20 a.m., the League confirmed my free agent status.

At 10:00 a.m., I passed the competitive fitness test, then moved on to the conflict of interest review.

My two personal strategy notebooks were sealed in evidence bags. I wouldn't get them back until after the Finals.

The examiner reminded me that I was prohibited from sharing any of Radiance's unpublished training data with Nightfall.

"Understood."

"But you were Radiance's shot-caller for seven years. You must know their habits inside out."

"Habits aren't trade secrets."

I looked at the Radiance badge on the table.

"They're weaknesses that haven't been fixed in seven years."

At 11:50 a.m., the League approved the emergency roster and issued me a new black-and-gold account key.

The registered tag was still TIME. The team affiliation now read Nightfall.

Nathan handed me a silver-and-black jersey. The cuffs had built-in wrist support, and the fit was perfect.

"When did you have this made?"

"Three days ago."

"You were that sure I'd come?"

"I wasn't. That's why I had one made in every size."

I took the jersey. He held out his hand.

"Welcome to Nightfall, Captain."

On the Radiance bus, Walsh had just broken the news to Derek.

Derek crushed his coffee can but still refused to believe it.

"She left Radiance. Where else could she possibly go?"

"Nightfall filed an emergency free agent request."

Derek fell silent for a moment, then convinced himself I'd only be riding the bench.

What he didn't know was that Nightfall had spent the last three months studying the shot-calling system I'd published.

I didn't need to teach them how to play. I only needed to fill in twelve situational callouts.

On the way to the arena, I finished the final version of the battle plan.

Nathan tapped Derek's profile picture on the screen.

"Who do we target first?"

I drew a red circle next to the picture.

"We take down Radiance's brightest star first."

第4章

By the time I reached the backstage area, Radiance's pre-match interview was playing on the wall screen.

A reporter asked why TIME hadn't appeared with the team.

Derek sat front and center. Tessa wore the starting jersey, her seat right next to his.

"Esports needs fresh blood. Veterans who coast on past glory need to make way."

"The organization has optimized the starting roster."

The reporter pressed further.

"TIME is also your girlfriend of seven years."

"Personal feelings can't override professionalism."

The live chat exploded. Labels like "deserter" and "coasting on past glory" piled onto my name.

Tessa gave the camera a solemn nod.

"Chloe taught me so much. I'll carry that same drive forward for her."

As she finished, she held up my custom mouse and gave it a little wave.

When the interview wrapped, Radiance walked in from the other end of the corridor.

They hadn't spotted me yet. Joey was guessing whether I'd try to sneak backstage with a fake badge.

Tessa hugged the gear bag.

"After we win, she'll definitely regret it."

Derek pulled out his phone and started typing one last message to me.

Come to the east gate after the match. I'll let you ride on the victory bus.

Before he could send it, the door to Nightfall's lounge swung open.

Nathan and four starters stood on either side. I walked to the center of the corridor in my silver-and-black jersey.

The phone slipped from Derek's hand.

He stared at the temporary starter badge on my chest, his breathing ragged.

"Chloe Harper, why are you wearing a Nightfall jersey?"