Chapter Five: Beyond the Price Tag

Redplain attacked relentlessly. Vaughan made two consecutive saves; on the second, his toes opened outward and the knee remained stable. 【Second reaction: awakening, seventy-four percent.】 Late on, Redplain won a penalty. Gu stared at the taker. White text overlapped into snow, a spike drove through his skull, and blood fell from his nose. He caught half a line: 【Fatal flaw: under pressure, habitually…】 “Left or right?” Vaughan waited. Gu could not know. He abandoned their signals and opened both hands. Your choice. Vaughan watched the standing foot instead of guessing, waited until the final instant, and dived right. He saved it. Lanhaven reached the quarterfinals one-nil. Vaughan ran past the scorer and caught his pale manager.