Borrowed Talent at Number One

At 11:59, Spark opened one minute early. A system message awaited her. [SPECIAL CHALLENGE: DEFEAT RANK 27 TO SEIZE THEIR PATH SIMULATION SLOT.] Rank twenty-seven was OBSIDIAN-ZD. Zhou Duo’s initials. She accepted. The map was Sunken Harbor. Lin Zhou did not know who controlled Zhou Duo’s account, but the opponent clearly expected ZERO. Three players sealed the waterways while two held the lighthouse, forming a flawless pocket. “Caught you,” someone wrote in public chat. Lin Zhou checked the tide timer. Ten years ago, Sunken Harbor had contained a four-second water-level error, later patched on live servers. Fewer than ten people had ever known it. “Did you?” she replied.