Chapter Four: The Boy Who Remembered the Score

The referee called the players off. Exit signs lit, but every door opened into another part of the stadium. People from East poured out in West. A second-floor crowd fell onto the first. An upper exit opened beyond a railing on the opposite stand. Panic lasted seconds. Then the drinkers began to laugh. “If we can't leave, keep playing!” someone cried. The chant caught like fire. Tens of thousands turned back to the field, stamping in rhythm. A fifth white point lit beneath the scoreboard. The ritual had accepted the alarm as an even greater emotional peak. Through the confusion came a man in a gray facilities uniform. Han Duo wore a genuine director's credential now, not a silver vest.