Chapter Three: The Future Is Never Free

But Tang Ce was no practice bot. After reviving, he abandoned standard farming, avoided two of Lin's reads, and smothered mid with repeated pressure. Crimson secured the first dragon at seven minutes and dove Zhou at nine. Obsidian's advantage vanished. "That's the difference between starters and sparring partners," Zhou said over his gray screen. By fifteen minutes, Crimson led by two thousand. Tang doubled back at every junction, layering potential routes over one another. He did not know Lin's secret; professional instinct alone created enough noise to weaken it. Obsidian's core exploded at twenty-eight minutes. Lin's final score was 2/4/3—not a disaster, and nothing worthy of the words genius rookie.