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Chapter 18 - Input Lag

Invite: 2:12 AM

PRIVATE DUEL – CUSTOM MATCH

Player: RUIN#456

No team.

No warmup.

Just a message in the match lobby:

"They say you're perfect.

Let's see how perfect you are when the game doesn't respond."

Match Type:

• 1v1

• Custom latency room

• Input lag: randomized

• No crosshair

• No net graph

• No ping display

Blanco clicked ready.

MAP: SKEWLINE

Custom grid map

5 lanes

Zero texture

No ambient sound

All timing is muscle + feel

RUIN had set it all up.

Round 1 – Glitch Window

Blanco peeked right lane.

A full 300ms input delay hit mid-motion.

He shot too early.

Missed.

RUIN strafed and hit.

First death in a 1v1 in 7 matches.

[System Response Delay: Detected]

New trait suppressed: Sync Decay triggered

Blanco's aim now arrives after intention.

RUIN typed:

"Still silent.

But now you bleed."

Round 2 – Adjustment

Blanco baited peek.

Nothing.

He counter-jiggled.

Delay again — this time 120ms.

He fired where RUIN was.

Hit nothing.

RUIN played loud now.

Jumped.

Threw fake footsteps.

Moved like latency didn't exist — because he'd pre-trained on it.

Round 3 – Refocus

Blanco stopped shooting.

Didn't hold angles.

Didn't react to movement.

He stood still mid-lane — watching.

And then,

he began to aim ahead of the ghost.

He wasn't playing against RUIN's position.

He played against where RUIN would be 0.3s later.

Click.

RUIN died — mid-strafe.

His body hit the floor after the gun went silent.

Round 4 – Intent vs Impulse

RUIN flicked early, threw full recoil.

Blanco didn't peek.

Waited 1.2 seconds.

Peeked on RUIN's recoil recovery frame.

One tap.

[Trait Rebooted: Temporal Drift]

• Input delay mapped to visual offset

• New sync: aim precompensation active

"You're not late.

You're playing before delay."

Round 6 – RUIN Switches Tactics

RUIN doubled the lag.

400ms spikes.

Spray patterns unsynced.

Movement desynced.

No one should hit a shot.

But Blanco now walked with delay.

He let his own movement drift.

He built his rhythm around desync.

RUIN:

"You shouldn't be able to do this."

"You're reacting before the engine corrects."

Final Round – Locked Aim

Both players spawned mid.

No cover.

No util.

Blanco walked forward.

Didn't scope.

Didn't strafe.

He just watched RUIN flick too soon.

Fired mid-pullback.

One shot.

Match over.

10–4. Blanco wins.

RUIN didn't rage.

He just typed:

"It's like I made you stronger."

"You let the lag hit you…

then used it as timing."

[System Trait Unlocked: Ghost Delay]

• Input lag improves peek prediction

• Sync stabilizes at artificial delay

• Match delay weaponized as drift

"Even with broken timing, your presence hits early."

Ciscord leaks:

RUIN drops scrim logs.

People don't believe it.

"No one can play with 400ms spikes."

"No crosshair, no feedback, no sync?"

"Bro was shooting in the future."

"He doesn't need perfect servers.

He is the server correction."

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