6:12 a.m.
Central City University.

The sun had not fully risen.

The campus was quiet.

Wind through trees.
Leaves shifting.
Light slowly climbing across glass buildings.

Everything—

looked normal.

“Normal places are the least normal.”

Chang Hsin-Yan stood at the entrance.

No uniform.
Dark jacket.
Hair tied back.

She looked ordinary.

But her eyes—

were not.

She was watching people.

Not faces.

Patterns.

“Target list confirmed.”

Tan Chih Lin’s voice in her earpiece.

“Filters applied:”

“Female.”

“Age twenty-one to twenty-three.”

“Computer Science.”

“Participants of Beta project.”

“Still active in system.”

“How many?”

“Seven.”

The wind shifted.

“Send me the list.”

Her tablet vibrated.

Seven faces.

Seven names.

Seven paths.

She didn’t scroll.

Just looked at the first.

Stopped.

“Her.”

Lin Yuqing.
22 years old.
Central City University.
Computer Science.

Beta participant.

“Where will she be?”

“Schedule synced.”

“08:00 Data Structures class.”

“Estimated campus entry 07:30.”

Hsin-Yan glanced at the time.

06:13.

“Too early.”

“She arrives early,” Tan said.

“Past two weeks—forty minutes early daily.”

“Habit.”

Hsin-Yan repeated.

“Habits are easiest to exploit.”

She moved.

Into campus.

Cut.

Lee Wai Hing.

Across from the building.

Holding coffee.

Waiting—

but not.

His eyes moved constantly.

“Perimeter set.”

“Four exits covered.”

“I’m north.”

“West side ready,” Yim Bing said.

Hidden in shadow.

Seeing everything.

“Overwatch online,” Kim Min Jung.

Drone feeds active

.

The campus—

was a net.

“I’m inside systems,” Tan said.

“CCTV, access control, WiFi—integrated.”

“Good.”

Yong Tin Kei’s voice entered last.

Low.

Steady.

Heavy.

“Remember.”

“We are not here to catch.”

“We are here to find.”

Silence.

“Find who?” Lee asked.

Yong said:

“The watcher.”

They understood.

They weren’t hunting prey.

They were hunting—

a hunter.

07:12.

She appeared.

White top.
Black pants.
Steady steps.

Lin Yuqing.

“Target confirmed.”

“Biometric match 98.7%.”

Hsin-Yan didn’t move.

She watched—

everything around her.

Who was watching her?

A man passed.

Too normal.

Dismissed.

A girl caught up.

Classmate.

Natural.

Dismissed.

A guard.

Routine.

Dismissed.

“Too clean,” Hsin-Yan said.

“What do you mean?” Lee asked.

“No one is watching her.”

Silence.

“That’s wrong.”

“If she’s a target—”

“Someone should be waiting.”

“Unless—”

Her eyes shifted.

“They’re already inside.”

Everything changed.

“Tan.”

“Running contact analysis.”

“Three-day proximity mapping…”

“Anomaly found.”

“Speak.”

“No fixed individual.”

“But—”

A map appeared.

“She passes the same location every day.”

Zoom.

A stairway.

Silence.

Again—

a stairway.

“Distance?” Yong asked.

“Eighty meters.”

“Time?”

“Less than one minute.”

Hsin-Yan moved.

Not running.

Faster.

Controlled.

Like wind.

Lin Yuqing approached.

Step.

Step.

No awareness.

“Sixty meters.”

“Any movement?” Lee asked.

“No anomaly.”

“Too quiet,” Yim Bing said.

“That’s not good.”

“Twenty meters.”

The air shifted.

“Ten meters.”

Hsin-Yan entered visual range.

Lin Yuqing stepped toward the stairs.

Then—

the wind moved.

The scent—

appeared.

Faint.

Light.

Familiar.

Hsin-Yan’s pupils tightened.

“Stop!”

She shouted.

Lin Yuqing froze.

Turned.

Time stretched.

Hsin-Yan surged forward.

Grabbed her—

Pulled her back—

hard.

At that instant—

She saw it.

Beside the pillar.

Behind the stair.

A figure.

Still.

Watching.

Next second—

gone.

“Where is he?!” Lee demanded.

“Gone,” she said.

She stood still.

Breathing steady.

Eyes changed.

She smelled it.

Not residue.

Fresh.

“We were watched.”

Silence.

Yong Tin Kei spoke.

“Good.”

Pause.

“Now we know—”

“They’re looking too.”

Wind passed over the stairs.

No one died.

But everyone knew—

The game—

had begun.