Chapter One: The Erased Starter

At 8:09, the enemy jungler's brightest route led away from the Herald pit. Lin should have recalled. Instead, he deliberately circled through an unwarded fork and pinged Su Wanxing forward. The tree of futures convulsed. A formerly dim path flared. The enemy was forced toward Herald; Su sealed the river; Zhou teleported. They completed the kill within ten seconds. "Beautiful," Chen said. Lin did not answer. Pain speared through his temple, as if a red-hot needle had entered his skull and hooked something out. It lasted one second. He still knew the objective timer, every cooldown, every necessary input. But there was a small, smooth hole inside his mind.