For the first time in weeks, the world stopped shouting my name.
The next morning's feeds weren't about rumors or rivalries; they were about the comeback.
Headlines flashed "ECLIPSE Rises Again" and "The Heiress Has Teeth."
Inside the Lyra tower, the team moved quietly, focused.
Ashen apologized in his own way—by arriving early.
Luna smiled for the first time in days.
We were, for a fragile moment, a real team again.
---
I spent the afternoon in the strategy room, walls lined with glowing maps and notes.
The next tournament stage would be brutal—double brackets, live audience, no rest days.
When the door opened, I didn't look up.
"I said no interviews today."
"Good," Lao K said, "I'm not here for one."
I turned in my chair. He was holding a cup of coffee, plain and warm, and set it on the desk like a peace offering.
"You're supposed to be in team practice," I said.
"I am. This is… field research."
I raised an eyebrow. "On me?"
He leaned against the table. "On what winning looks like up close."
For a moment we just stood there, the quiet humming between us louder than the machines.
He studied the notes on my wall—layers of data, predictions, plans.
"You don't leave much to chance," he said.
"I don't like uncertainty."
He smiled faintly. "That's why you fascinate them. You make chaos look calculated."
The compliment landed softer than it should have.
I took a sip of coffee to hide the way my pulse stumbled.
"Tell me something," I said. "When you look at me, do you see an opponent or an ally?"
He thought about it. "Both. Depends on which one you need."
---
After he left, I stayed a long time staring at the maps.
The patterns were perfect—but perfection always cracks.
At 8 p.m., my assistant rushed in, breathless.
"Miss Qin, you need to see this."
On the main screen, a new headline blinked in red:
> LEAKED DOCUMENTS: LYRA TECH UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR MATCH-DATA BREACH
My stomach dropped.
The article scrolled: screenshots of Lyra servers, claims of insider access, whispers of ECLIPSE using privileged data.
False, but dangerous.
"Who leaked this?" I asked.
"We don't know. But the league's calling an emergency audit."
I closed my eyes for one brief second, the calm draining away.
The storm had arrived—and this time, it wasn't one I could outplay in a game.
---
✨ End of Chapter Ten — "The Calm Before the Storm."
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