It was 3:17 in the morning and the lights in the training room were still on.
Yun Zhongfei sat on the gaming chair, his back as straight as a razor blade, and his fingertips trembled slightly on the mouse. On the screen, the replay of the knockout match three years ago was playing in a loop - at 27 minutes and 14 seconds, the enemy commander briefly stopped behind the bunker on the left side of point A. Yun Zhongfei's sniper muzzle had already been locked, and he shot the head cleanly. But at the moment when the bullet left the barrel, the referee's red light came on, and the system popped up a warning: [Violation of interference with tactical signals, player Yun Zhongfei was sent off for ten minutes].
He didn't argue at the time. He just stared at the screen, watching his teammates lose ground after losing their core snipers, watching Huo Liaoyuan standing in front of the podium without saying a word, letting the score slide from 14:9 to 14:17, and finally defeated at 14:21.
The video ends and the screen goes black.
Yun Zhongfei did not move. His breathing was very light, as if he was afraid of waking up. The only sounds in the room were the low hum of the host fan and the subtle "squeaking" sound of the mouse when he squeezed it between his knuckles.
He reached out and clicked on the folder. Inside were three hundred and twenty-seven audio files, all named "2021.08.17_21:33".
He chose paragraph 128.
The audio sounded - it was a recording from the locker room after the game. Among the noise, Huo Liaoyuan's voice was extremely low, almost covered by the ticking of the faucet:
"... I can't bet on the entire team."
Yun Zhongfei closed his eyes.
