WebNovels

Chapter 26 - chapter 26

MATCH CODE: Private Invite: SENTRY-117

Map: VERT-BASE

Mode: Ranked Showcase

Host: [DEV-VAULT]

Viewer Slots: *Hidden (12,376 active)

"This is just a showmatch," they said.

"No cameras," they said.

"We just need a fifth."

Blanco never asked for it.

A random invite pinged his lobby.

No message.

No voice chat.

Just a silent request from a "neutral third-party org."

Curious.

Unlogged.

Off-grid.

Exactly his lane.

He joined.

Match Loaded – VERT-BASE

Sharp corners.

High-ground peeks.

Smokes don't land evenly.

Flashes bounce wrong.

Purpose-built to mess with rhythm.

He could feel it instantly.

And the second he spawned in…

A killfeed appeared in the top-left.

View count: 12.3k

Sub feed: "BIRDTV | SENTRY SHOWMATCH | FEAT. MYSTERY PLAYER"

"You're live."

"But only they know it."

🎮 Team Loadout:

Team Blanco

• Streamer1 (4.6M followers)

• IGL-X (former pro)

• Anchor (support main)

• Flex (entry fragger)

• ??? (Blanco)

Streamer1 in voice chat:

"Bro's not talking?"

"This guy doesn't even buy."

"AFK?"

First round starts.

Streamer buys P250 and swings mid.

Gets smoked off.

Dies instantly.

"Yo what? He pre-fired me?"

IGL-X rotates late.

Dies.

Anchor panics and tries to solo site.

Then Blanco walks in.

• No armor

• Glock

• No utility

He taps twice.

Kills the planter.

One-taps the cover guy.

Catches flank with raw footstep prediction.

3K.

No reaction.

Killfeed explodes:

??? [Glock] Player1

??? [Glock] Player2

??? [Glock] Player3

Twitch Chat:

"WHO TF IS THIS"

"wait why glock tho"

"dude's not talking and he just aced the round"

"IS THIS BLANCO??"

"look at the crosshair movement — it's him"

Next Round.

Streamer calls full-buy.

Blanco doesn't buy.

He walks A main alone.

Swings underhand flash.

Fake peeks with strafe delay.

Headshots 2 behind box.

**Twitch clip goes viral within seconds:

"No crosshair shake. No sound. Just presence."**

By round 6, the streamer is quiet.

IGL-X starts giving Blanco space.

Someone in Twitch chat finds an old clip of Blanco vs devs.

Side-by-side comparison.

Same micro-flick.

Same silent cancel movement.

It spreads.

Reddit Thread:

"He's back."

"This isn't a player. This is a presence."

"He hasn't said a word and he's dismantling the entire lobby."

DEV LOG (backend):

[SENTRY MATCH = LIVE TRIAL SUCCESS]

User: BLANCO CONFIRMED

— Public response: euphoric

— Prediction interest: +14,000%

— Conversion spikes: 340%

"He never needed to go public.

We just had to trap him in a lobby that already was."

Round 9 – The Setup

Suddenly, the enemies start playing strange.

No utility.

No comms.

Just pushing one at a time… on purpose.

It's a script.

They're not playing to win.

They're playing to farm Blanco clips.

"Bait him into looking godlike."

"Let the ghost shine… then offer him a contract."

But Blanco notices the difference.

• They peek too shallow

• Don't swing hard enough

• Hold corners like bots

He stops shooting.

Lets them walk past.

Doesn't fire a bullet.

Twitch chat:

"Why's he throwing?"

"He's not throwing. He's not participating."

"He figured out it's a trap."

"OH MY GOD HE KNOWS IT'S STAGED"

Round 10 – Disconnect

He drops his weapon.

Buys nothing.

Sits spawn.

Round timer hits 0.

He doesn't move.

Game feeds this message:

"PLAYER ??? REMOVED FROM SHOWMATCH"

"DISCONNECTED"

"NO LOG FILE CREATED"

The devs don't panic.

They planned this.

Because the footage already went viral.

"Blanco aces BirdTV live stream match!"

"Mystery ghost breaks Sentry scrim with pistol only."

"THE LEGEND RETURNS."

But in the background…

something changed.

He didn't leave the match.

He left the system.

"USER REFUSED RECOGNITION"

"REJECTED PATCH"

"DELETED PRESENCE"

"THE SYSTEM NO LONGER OWNS HIM."

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