Chapter One: The Farewell Letter

【Beginner Mission: Identify an acquirable football club within seventy-two hours.】 【Reward: One due-diligence report; up to £250,000 in compliant investment capital, scaled to the target's real risk.】 Lin assumed stress had finally produced a hallucination. He closed his eyes, counted to ten, and looked again. “Close.” The pane became a tiny shield in the corner of his vision. “Open.” It unfolded. After a long silence, he called his agent. “Che, North County's terms are good. If you sign today—” “Reject all four offers.” Three seconds of silence. “Say that again.” “Find every English club from tiers seven through ten that is for sale or facing liquidation.” “For a trial?” “No.” Lin looked at the farewell letter. “I'm buying one.”