Chapter One: The Last Shot Before the Window Closed

[Bond established. Legendary Echo can briefly restore the target's peak competitive state. It cannot heal injury. Fatigue is doubled afterward. One activation per match.] [First unlock condition: before Gu Chenzhou enters the match, the team must complete twelve consecutive passes without passing back to the goalkeeper.] [Failure locks the Echo for that match.] Shen nearly laughed. Cape City averaged 4.7 consecutive passes. Against the league's most aggressive pressing side, twelve might as well have meant asking the goalkeeper to score from his own box. “Sign,” he said. The contract was uploaded at 11:59:21. Registration cleared at 11:59:58. A harbor horn sounded in the distance, a final warning to a sinking ship.