Chapter One: The Second the World Went Silent

His first bullet crossed a thin wall and struck a bot before it appeared. His second interrupted the charged ability. On his third turn, he moved half a second before the backstab. A kill chain flashed across the screen. No one spoke. Tang Ye’s contempt hardened into disbelief. But the fifth bot did not emerge where the echo promised. Lin Mo heard two overlapping paths, one left and one right. He chose left. A round from the right pierced his avatar’s skull. Defeat. The future could change. The future could lie. Lin Mo removed the headset as warmth ran from his nose. He wiped away the blood and saw a symbol flicker in the corner of the death screen, one that did not belong in Riftfront: a black wave cradling an open eye.