The two new red dots on my minimap were moving fast. They were advancing on our position, using the large vents and solar panels on the next rooftop as cover. They knew exactly where we were. We were trapped.
Anya cursed under her breath. She checked the ammo counter on her HUD. It was flashing a dangerous red.
"I'm low on ammo for my rifle!" she said, her voice tight with tension. "I fired too much at that first sniper. I can keep one of them busy, but I can't fight two."
She looked at me. Her expression was grim. "You have to take the other one," she said. "You're our only long-range support now. No more lucky shots. You need to do it again."
The responsibility landed on me like a physical weight. Just a few minutes ago, I was a useless liability. A newbie with the wrong gun for the job. Now, I was our only hope. Anya was counting on me. My life, and hers, depended on my ability to use this new weapon.
I nodded. There was nothing else to do. "I'll try," I said. My voice was steadier than I expected.
We split up. Anya moved to the left side of our cover, preparing to engage the first enemy. I moved to the right, setting up the Phantom rifle again. I had to find my own target.
This time, I was not just reacting. I was thinking. I remembered my skills. My Acoustic Sensor was Level 3 now. The red dots on my minimap were bright. And when they stopped moving, a faint "ghost" image of their last position remained for one second.
I watched the map. I saw one of the red dots stop behind a large, square ventilation unit. Then, the dot disappeared, but the ghost image remained. He was hiding there. I knew his exact position.
I focused my scope on that spot. I saw the edge of the unit. I waited. This was the game now. Not a wild, panicked shot. A calculated one.
The Ouroboros player peeked out. He was trying to get an angle on Anya.
I was ready for him.
I held my breath. The scope steadied. I squeezed the trigger.
BOOM.
The rifle roared. I missed. The bullet hit the metal vent right next to his head, creating a shower of sparks. He was fast. He ducked back into cover immediately. But I had him pinned. He knew I could see him.
The duel began.
It was a deadly game of cat and mouse, played across fifty meters of open air. He would pop out from a different side of the cover, fire a quick burst from his rifle, and then hide again. I would fire back, my powerful shots forcing him to stay hidden. Bullets cracked back and forth over our heads.
I was no longer the panicked student. I was a player. My gamer brain was fully engaged now, reading the patterns. He was aggressive. He wanted to push forward. I was defensive. I was the wall he could not get past.
Anya was in her own fight. I could hear the pop-pop-pop of her assault rifle, followed by the louder cracks of the enemy's gun. She was holding her own, but she could not do it forever.
My target was getting impatient. He was not used to being stopped. He was an Ouroboros. He was a predator.
He made a mistake.
To get a better angle on Anya, to try and help his teammate, he decided to move to a new piece of cover. He broke from his position and ran.
He was fast, but I was ready. I was already tracking his ghost image on the minimap. I knew he was going to move.
I swung my huge rifle, following his movement. He vaulted over a low wall, his upper body exposed for just a single, fatal second.
I did not have time to think. My body acted. Hold breath. Lead the target. Squeeze.
BOOM.
The Phantom roared one more time.
It was a clean hit. The bullet struck him in the chest. The force of the impact was incredible. It threw him backward, his body going limp in mid-air. He landed in a heap on the rooftop and did not move.
The notification was crisp and clean. [ENEMY PLAYER ELIMINATED].
I had won. I had won my first real duel.
With his partner gone, the other Ouroboros attacker was now in a two-on-one fight. He was smart enough to know those were bad odds. We heard a final burst of rifle fire, and then Anya yelled, "He's running!"
I looked at my minimap. The last red dot was retreating, disappearing from my sensor range. We were safe.
We had a moment of respite. I let out a long, shaky breath and lowered the sniper rifle. My shoulder ached from the recoil.
"We need to check the score," Anya said, her voice tired. She was already reloading her rifle with her last magazine.
I brought up the match status on my HUD. It was a disaster.
[BLUE TEAM: 150 | RED TEAM: 700]
They were crushing us. While we were pinned down fighting three of them, the rest of their team had been capturing the other objectives. They held two of the three control points. They were earning points at a massive rate.
A small kill feed notification was scrolling in the corner of my vision. It showed a list of the most recent eliminations in the match. I saw one name appear over and over again.
[Viper eliminated Player_73]
[Viper eliminated Player_12]
[Viper eliminated Player_73]
The name was Viper. The Ouroboros leader. The one Anya had warned me about. He was single-handedly tearing our team apart. He was a monster.
Just as I read his name, my HUD flashed.
It was a white box. A direct message. Just like the one I had received from the pack leader in Dustgate.
This message was from "Viper."
My heart stopped. The message contained only two lines. They were not a generic taunt. They were personal. They were chilling.
[I TOOK YOUR TEAM. YOU TOOK MY BROTHER.]
[NOW I'M COMING FOR YOU.]
A cold dread, deeper and more terrifying than anything I had felt before, washed over me. "Brother." The word hit me like a physical blow. The man I killed, the leader of the pack, was Viper's brother.
I instinctively looked up from my scope. I scanned the rooftops, the skyline, the entire district spread out before me. My eyes searched for a new threat.
And then I saw it.
On the very top of the tallest skyscraper, the central building that overlooked the entire map, a tiny glint of light flashed.
It was the reflection of the sun off a sniper's scope.
It was aimed directly at me.
I did not need a notification to tell me who it was. I knew, with absolute certainty, that on the other end of that scope was Viper. He had finished with the rest of my team. Now, he was here for me.
The real hunt had just begun.