Chapter One: The Second the World Went Silent

“If it’s an equipment failure, why is a player deaf?” The room went still. Zhou Yan looked at Xu Duo. The coach’s right hand tightened beside his leg. Then Lin Mo heard a click. Soft. The sound of a mouse switch. His headset was not connected. Three seconds later, Su Cheng knocked her mouse off the desk. It struck the floor with the same click. Lin Mo froze. Then came four keystrokes, shattering glass, and Zhou Yan shouting, “Down!” The sounds layered over one another, rushing toward him from somewhere that did not exist. Three seconds later, someone punched a code into the corridor door. An unattended water cart crashed into the glass divider. Zhou Yan yelled, “Down!” The partition collapsed.