Chapter One: The Man Who Lost Color

Before the light fell, the guard lunged toward Zhou. “Don't log in again! Number One is selecting people. We were only testing—” The basement returned. Only a minute had passed. Zhou's knee bled, and a black triangle marked his palm. His screen displayed a new rule: the next match required a permanent team of three. Refusal counted as defeat. Twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes. Zhou opened two contacts he had not called in years. One had said she trusted only data. The other had sworn never to take a court again. He called the first. “Su Qing,” Zhou said, “do you still want to win something real?”