Borrowed Talent at Number One

Ten years later, that designation belonged to Obsidian’s most secretive training project—Project K. At ten that morning, Obsidian livestreamed Zhou Duo’s debut scrimmage. Gu Chen needed a new god to replace the old one, so he invited North America’s sixth-ranked team to serve as a prop. The host repeatedly praised Zhou Duo’s “age-defying map foresight,” as though its value had never dropped the night before. Lin Zhou watched from the corner of a convenience store. In game one, Zhou Duo sealed the northern lane before the enemy rotated. In game two, he predicted a grenade through a wall. The chat filled with the word genius. But before each prediction, Lin Zhou noticed a small blue light blink at Obsidian’s coaching station.