Chapter 44

Nora looked at Elise. “Who’s the esports legend?”

Dylan glanced at her, and Elise blinked back at him, confused. “What?”

Why was he looking at her like that?

Dylan looked just as baffled. How could Elise not know who Fin was? Theo was her brother, wasn’t he?

“Fin captains SK,” he said. “They’ve won the national championship three years in a row. Last year they went to Europe and placed second. They would’ve taken first if one of his teammates hadn’t made a mistake. What a waste.”

Dylan shook his head, still lamenting the loss. He played games himself and followed the esports scene.

Back in middle school, he’d played with Miles and learned by accident that Miles’s older brother was Fin. Dylan had been thrilled. Fin was the best marksman in the country, a PUBG player whose aim was famously steady. No one could touch him.

He’d even asked Miles to get him VIP tickets to one of Theo’s matches. Miles had told him that, although they were brothers, he and Theo saw each other perhaps once a year and barely spoke. There was no way he could ask for tickets.

Dylan had given up, though he’d complained about it for days. Esports players really did think differently from everyone else. They could spend the whole year away from home and not seem to mind.

Elise truly didn’t know who Fin was.

She’d learned that Theo played professionally only after the Whitmores went bankrupt in her previous life. She hadn’t known he was Fin.

Back then, Theo had taken every sponsorship and advertising deal he could get to help pay off the family’s debts. He streamed for hours on end, day after day, until the strain caught up with him. His performance slipped at a tournament, and the team’s manager seized the chance to turn the blame on him. Theo was accused of exploiting his teammates to pay his debts and abusing his authority as captain for his own benefit. The scandal spread online. People said the esports star had lost his way, chasing money at the expense of his reputation and dragging down the whole team. After that, he fell from the top almost overnight.

With public opinion against him, the team’s management ended his contract and kicked him out.

He’d already sold his car and home to pay debts. He’d been living in the team dorm, and once he was thrown out, he had nowhere else to go.

Elise had brought him home. Theo never mentioned esports again, so she’d never learned that he was Fin.

Even after he moved under the same roof as their other brothers, he barely spoke to any of them. She’d never understood why. Whenever she asked, he shut down the conversation.

He’d kept strange hours, let his hair fall over his eyes, and smoked as soon as he woke.

She couldn’t stand watching him disappear into that life. Every time she saw him like that, she’d drag open the curtains and let the sun into the room, as if the light might drive all the gloom away.

His bangs had covered half his face. The sudden brightness made him squint; when his eyes adjusted, he flicked ash from his cigarette.

His eyes were naturally narrow and focused, and one corner of his mouth lifted as if he were trying to charm her. “Ellie, you have no taste. Haven’t you heard of the beauty of looking worn-out?”

Elise never fell for that line. She knew he still wanted to play, so she bought him a new computer and gaming equipment and set them in front of him.

At first, he barely looked at them. As the days passed, his gaze began to linger on the screen.

One night, she found the computer on. Theo was staring at the game menu without moving.

The next morning, he was gone. He left her a note saying he was going back to esports.

Later, she heard he’d joined a new team and fought his way back to the top.

Nora’s eyes brightened as Dylan finished the story. “Could that be Fin himself?”

“No way,” Dylan said. “Fin hardly ever plays this game.”

Fin competed in PUBG. Dylan had watched his streams and had seen him play this game a few times, but only a few.

“It can’t be him. Forget it.”

Jade studied the white rabbit avatar. At first glance, it looked like a woman’s account. “Maybe it’s a fan. Fine. But if they lose with that name, it’ll be embarrassing.”

Dylan grinned at his phone. “Right? Fin almost never loses. I finally get to see what it feels like to crush him.”

Elise had no idea what they were talking about. SK, Fin, all of it meant nothing to her.

He sounded impressive, but she was just here to play a game. Winning didn’t matter. She’d follow Dylan’s lead and try not to make a complete mess of it.

Once the match began, Dylan and Elise took the bottom lane. Her mage, under the name elisewhitmore, stayed close behind his character as they cleared the minions.

An enemy with a red name edged nearer, then backed off, testing their range.

Dylan’s eyes lit up. He saw Fin’s name above the character and tapped the screen rapidly. “There you are.”

He’d wanted to show off ever since the others agreed to play, especially in front of Elise. With a few girls watching, he was determined to prove he knew what he was doing.

“Stay back,” he told her. “Right under the tower.”

“Okay.” Elise moved her character beneath the tower. If an enemy came close, the tower would attack.

Dylan spotted an opening and rushed forward with a control skill. Fin dodged as if he’d seen it coming, then struck back with a skill of his own.

It happened in a blink.

“What the hell just happened?”

Dylan stared at the screen, unable to make sense of it. He’d gone in to hit Fin once, and now his own health bar was nearly empty.

Fin’s reaction time was ridiculous. Worse, he seemed to know where Dylan would move next. Every time Dylan shifted, another attack met him. With his health dropping, Dylan fled toward the tower.

Elise saw how low his health was and started forward, wanting to help.

Dylan panicked. She was new and hadn’t even bought any equipment. If she ran in now, she’d only give Fin another kill.

“Don’t come over! Stay there!”

But Elise had already reached him. Dylan was almost dead; she was an unequipped beginner. He could picture exactly how this would end.

His screen went gray. Elise was left alone in the lane.

While he waited to respawn, Dylan set his phone down and leaned over to look at her screen. “He’s coming for you. Run back!”

His urgency rattled her. “Right.”

She tried to move away, but the more hurried she became, the more confused she got. One wrong turn sent her straight toward Fin.

Dylan covered his face. He couldn’t watch.

She was practically handing over a kill.

He waited for her screen to turn gray, too. Instead, Elise made a small sound of surprise.

“Why isn’t he attacking me?”

Dylan leaned closer. Fin had stopped beside her character. He stood there for a long moment, then circled in place without using a skill.

Elise managed to get out of his attack range. Fin never went after her.

Dylan stared. “Why didn’t he hit you?”

Elise was just as puzzled. “I don’t know. He’s on the other team. Why wouldn’t he?”

“Did he freeze?”

She frowned at the screen. “No. He’s moving.”

“That’s weird.” Dylan couldn’t come up with an explanation.

As soon as his character respawned, he charged back in. Fin had dodged the first skill, but surely he couldn’t dodge everything.

Dylan had learned from his mistake. He hid in the brush and waited for Fin to come close. The moment he did, Dylan tried a control skill, but Fin dodged it. Before Dylan could follow up, Fin pinned him in the grass and took him out.

Elise saw Dylan’s portrait turn gray. “You died again?”

Dylan was ready to cry.

How was this fair? Why did a tank have more attack power than he did?

Fin moved too well. He dodged one skill after another and seemed to know exactly what Dylan planned to use next.

Elise was a beginner who hadn’t died once. Dylan had already handed the other team two kills. What kind of impression was that supposed to make?

He switched to her point of view. Elise’s character was not far from Fin’s. An idea came to him.

“Go see what happens if you walk up to him.”

She was curious, too. Slowly, she moved toward Fin. As soon as she reached his attack range, she stopped.

Fin had been heading toward the middle lane. He stopped as well.

Their two characters faced each other across the lane. For a moment, neither moved.

Elise felt a faint prickle of unease. “I’m close, and he still isn’t hitting me.”

Dylan was furious.

He was trying to flirt with Elise through the game. That had to be it.

How else would he know she was a girl? Maybe he’d guessed from her avatar. After the match, he’d add her as a friend, send her a private message, and ask to play again. Dylan knew that routine.

But that wasn’t the point. Fin had killed him twice and made him look useless in front of Elise. That was unforgivable.

Dylan pointed at the screen, glaring as if he could climb into the game himself. “Then hit him! Take him out!”

He wanted to flirt with a girl? Dylan’s little sister, no less?

He’d learn what that cost. At least twenty kills.

Elise gave a small nod. She wasn’t particularly invested in winning, but Dylan clearly was. Fin was on the other team, even if he hadn’t attacked her.

She tapped the attack command and sent a few skills toward him.

Strangely, Fin didn’t dodge. He circled in place twice and even moved closer, but he still didn’t attack her.

When Elise had taken all but one point of his health, he used a blink skill and vanished.

Dylan swore under his breath. That guy was unbelievable.

After that, Fin stopped going after Dylan directly. Dylan led Elise around the map, pushed towers, and picked off a few opponents. He slowly regained some confidence.

When Fin killed Jade for the third time, she could no longer sit quietly. “Where did this guy come from?”

Nora lowered her phone with a sigh. “I died again.”

The other team had two obvious beginners who didn’t know how to choose or use their characters. Their side should have had the advantage. But Fin had appeared out of nowhere and turned the match around. He’d kept Jade pinned down after she’d been cutting through the enemy team.

Fin seemed unstoppable. He killed anyone who challenged him, except Elise. He hadn’t attacked her once.

At last, his teammates started filling the in-game chat.

JustWantOneWin: Dude, I’ve been watching you. You pick an esports legend’s name and think that means I won’t call you out? Figure out whether you care more about the girl or the match.

ZenAndAllThat: Obviously the gi— I mean, winning matters more!

ZenAndAllThat: I’ve been there, so take it from me. I used to feed kills to a girl and couldn’t bring myself to hit her. You know what happened? She had more chest hair than I did. Anyway, let’s leave that in the past.

GiveRedToJungle: Esports and romance don’t mix.

HandsOffMyMid: I’m not trying to start anything, but could you stop making the soft play so obvious?

HandsOffMyMid: I’m about to start swearing. :)

A long while passed before Fin replied.

Fin: Want me to make it less obvious?

HandsOffMyMid: ...

ZenAndAllThat: ...

Elise followed either Dylan or Jade. Whenever one of them attacked someone, she added a skill or two. She didn’t die often and didn’t drag the team down.

That was her standard for playing: don’t be a burden.

By the time the towers on both sides had been pushed close to their bases, the teams clashed in a full fight. Elise followed Dylan’s instructions and stayed out of the thick of it, attacking anyone who got separated from the others.

The screen kept announcing that Fin was on a killing spree. He had more kills than all his teammates combined.

JustWantOneWin: Insane!

HandsOffMyMid: He wins easily when he stops going easy on them.

HandsOffMyMid: That’s pro-level, right?

ZenAndAllThat: Your mechanics are great. Want to queue together next round?

The match was going badly for Elise’s team, but they’d already pushed the towers. If they could destroy the enemy crystal, they might still turn things around.

Dylan and the others spotted an opening and rushed toward the enemy base.

The opposing team had set an ambush near the entrance. The two sides crashed together. Jade and Dylan took down four opponents, but their own screens went gray one after another.

Fin claimed several more kills. Bodies littered the ground around his character.

Only Fin and Elise remained standing.

If Elise could destroy the crystal, her team would win. The problem was that Fin was there, too.

Then Fin stopped moving. His character froze in place.

ZenAndAllThat: ???

HandsOffMyMid: Why’d he stop?

JustWantOneWin: What’s going on? Did he disconnect?

Fin was motionless again, and the match was at its turning point. Dylan, Jade, and Nora had all been taken out and were waiting to respawn. They gathered around Elise’s phone.

“Go!” Dylan urged.

Most of the enemy team was down. If she destroyed the crystal, they could win.

Still affected by the team fight, Elise felt tense. Her fingers seemed stiff around the phone as she guided her character forward with a series of small hops.

Should she take Fin out first, then attack the crystal?

She wasn’t used to the controls. Her thumb slipped, and her character’s ultimate shot past Fin’s side.

Dylan made a strangled sound.

“Forget him. Hit the crystal! Hurry!”

If the other team respawned, they’d lose their chance.

Elise nodded. Fin moved without warning, making her jump. His character took two steps toward her, then two toward his own crystal, repeating the motion.

Elise had the oddest feeling that he was pointing the way, telling her to go for the crystal.

She pushed the thought aside and tapped the crystal. Her character began attacking automatically. By then, she had a full set of equipment and much more attack power.

Fin’s teammates watched the crystal’s health drain. They had just respawned and were still inside their base when it hit zero.

The word VICTORY appeared. Elise stared at the screen for several seconds.

They’d won?

Dylan exploded. “He fed you the crystal? What kind of play was that?”

Jade frowned at Elise. “Do you know him?”

Elise shook her head, completely lost. “I just made this account.”

How could she know him?

They looked at one another. They’d thought they were about to lose, but Fin had thrown the match so openly that there was no other explanation.