Chapter Five: The Shadow Victory Leaves

“Maybe.” Shen Yan backed up the recording in three places. “Or the card wants me to think so.” Investigation had to wait. Undertow's professional qualifier began that evening. It was single elimination; one loss meant another six months outside the league. Their opponent, Redwake, specialized in jungle invasions and publicly promised to make the “retired old man” surrender his keyboard in ten minutes. The coach started Shen Yan at support for an unromantic reason: his judgment of unseen movement in scrimmages was terrifyingly accurate. At nine minutes, four Redwake players disappeared. The commentators predicted a bottom dive, and Undertow began to retreat. Four gray routes appeared in Shen Yan's vision.