The final seconds in the Safe Zone were the most terrifying I had experienced yet. The white room was no longer a sanctuary; it was a cage where I was the main exhibit. Every player stared at me. The members of my new team, Blue Team, looked at me with a nervous mix of awe and concern. I was their VIP, their key to victory. But they had also heard the stories. They knew I was a magnet for trouble.
And among them stood Kain. The Ouroboros player. The traitor. He stood with the Blue Team, but his cruel smile was directed at me, a silent promise of the betrayal to come. It was a suffocating, unbearable tension.
The teleportation was a welcome relief. The world dissolved and reformed, and we were somewhere new.
The air was thick and humid, filled with the smell of wet pavement and strange spices. We were in a labyrinth of neon-lit alleyways. Glowing signs in languages I did not recognize cast long, dancing shadows on the walls. The corridors were narrow, cluttered with pipes and trash. Above us, walkways and bridges created a complex, multi-leveled maze. This was Kowloon Labyrinth. A death trap designed for ambushes and close-quarters combat.
A golden crown symbol materialized over my name on the HUD. It pulsed with a soft, steady light, a beacon for both my allies and my enemies. A system message appeared, a stark reminder of the stakes.
[YOUR DEATH ENDS THE MATCH. SURVIVE.]
Our team spawned together in a tight, dark alley. Anya and the other three Blue Team players immediately formed a protective diamond formation around me. Their instincts were good. Their job was simple: protect the VIP. Keep me alive at all costs.
Kain, the traitor, stepped forward. He moved with a smooth, unearned confidence. "Alright, Leo," he said, his voice slick and authoritative. "You're the package. We can't stay here. It's too exposed. We need to find a good, defensible spot and lock it down. I know this map like the back of my hand. Follow me."
He tried to take command. He wanted to lead me. Lead me where? To a safe room, or to a pre-arranged killzone filled with his Ouroboros friends?
I was paralyzed. My mind raced. This was my first dilemma. If I trusted him, I could be walking my entire team into a slaughter. He would lead us into a trap, and the Red Team would wipe us out. But if I refused, if I challenged him here and now, I would create chaos. I would shatter my team's trust from the very first minute. They did not know he was a traitor. They would see me as a paranoid, difficult VIP who was refusing to cooperate.
I looked at Anya. She was watching me, her face a perfect mask of neutrality. She was waiting to see what I would do. She was testing me. Would I be a leader, or just a victim?
I had to make a choice. I could not show weakness. I could not show fear.
"No," I said. My voice was steady, much calmer than I felt. It cut through the alley's silence. The other players looked at me, surprised.
"We're not hiding," I continued, my confidence growing with each word. "Hiding is a losing strategy. We're hunting."
I brought up my HUD and pointed to the enemy VIP's marker. "Hydra. He's their VIP. Their leader. If we kill him, we win the match. We are not going to sit in a room and wait for them to find us. We are going on the offensive. We are taking the fight to them."
It was a bold, incredibly risky strategy. The opposite of what a VIP should do. A VIP was supposed to be the protected queen in a game of chess. I was choosing to be a pawn, leading the charge.
I turned my gaze directly to Kain. I met his eyes. "You say you know the map," I said, my voice hard. "Good. Then you can take point. Lead us to them."
I saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes before he masked it with another smile. I was turning his plan against him. I was forcing him to lead, but on my terms. By putting him in the front, I could watch his every move. I could see where he was taking us. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse, and I was giving the mouse a head start, just to see which way he would run.
"Aggressive. I like it," Kain said with a chuckle. He turned and started to move. "Alright, Blue Team. You heard the man. Let's go hunting."
We moved out. We plunged into the neon labyrinth. The atmosphere was incredibly tense. Every shadow seemed to hold an enemy. Every corner was a potential ambush point. The sound of dripping water, of distant music, of our own footsteps—it all felt amplified.
My focus was stretched to its limit. I was watching my minimap, looking for any sign of the Red Team. But my eyes were also glued to Kain's back. I analyzed his every move, his every turn. Was that alley the fastest route, or was it a deliberate detour? Was he checking his corners for enemies, or was he looking for a signal from his real teammates? The psychological pressure was immense. It was a new kind of warfare, fought not with guns, but with paranoia and suspicion.
Anya walked beside me, her rifle at the ready. She did not speak. She just watched. Watched me. Watched Kain. She was a silent judge, waiting to see if my gamble would pay off.
Kain led us deeper into the maze. The corridors twisted and turned. Finally, he stopped at the entrance to a small, open plaza. A broken fountain sat in the center, and several walkways and balconies overlooked the area from above.
"They'll have to cross this area to get to our side of the map," Kain said, his voice confident. "It's a major choke point. We can set up an ambush here. Wait for them to walk into our sights."
It sounded like a good plan. A solid plan. But it felt wrong. My instincts were screaming at me.
Then, my Acoustic Sensor went wild.
Red dots exploded onto my minimap. They did not just appear in front of us. They appeared from all directions. From the alleys behind us. From the narrow corridors to our left and right. And on the balconies above us. Bright red dots, pulsing with hostile intent.
It was a trap. A perfectly orchestrated, overwhelming trap. Kain had not led us to an ambush point. He had led us into one. The entire Red Team was closing in on us, sealing off every escape route.
Kain turned to me slowly. The friendly, confident mask was gone. In its place was the same cruel, mocking smile I had seen in the Safe Zone.
"Looks like your hunt is over, VIP," he said, his voice dripping with venom.
He raised his rifle. But he did not aim it at me. He aimed it at one of the other Blue Team members, a player who was still staring at his minimap in confusion.
Before anyone could react, Kain fired.