The Man Who Is Always First

Suffering alone did not make practice effective. “Stop chasing the lights,” Su called. “Watch the whole field. Predict the change.” Lu relaxed his focus. After twenty minutes, the Imprint confirmed valid training. Sweat soaked him, though his score had improved only six percent. At 6:08, Jiang entered early. She raised an eyebrow at them, then put on a visual-response headset. [Target locked: Jiang Bailu. First-mover condition fulfilled.] [Copied: DYNAMIC VISION.] The world slowed. Dust, the arc of Su's eyelashes, the return path of distant bags—everything separated into clean trajectories. Lu entered the light grid and struck eight targets in succession, breaking the gym record.