SSS-Rank Corporate Predator System

The air in the prep room still seemed heavy with Miles's unease.

He had won the first match without even breaking a sweat, a fact that seemed to annoy him more than it pleased him.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," he thought, his internal monologue a low, sarcastic grumble. "I was promised a grand stage, a fight for the ages."

"Instead, I got three guys whose primary combat skill was tripping over their own feet."

"I've had more challenging fights with a stuck vending machine."

Clara was looking at a data tablet, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Don't get cocky," she said, not looking up. "That was just the warm-up."

Leo, their lanky, tech-savvy third member, was leaning back in his chair, spinning a small, high-tech screwdriver on his finger. "She's right, you know," he said, a lazy grin on his face. "The preliminary rounds are just to weed out the cannon fodder."

"Speaking of which," Leo added, gesturing with the screwdriver towards the large screen on the wall. "Looks like we're up next."

The screen flickered, displaying their team name, "Revenant," next to their opponents, "The Longshots."

Below it was the name of the next arena.

"The Forest of Echoes."

Miles groaned. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

"A forest?" he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "What's next, a lava level? An underwater escort mission?"

"This isn't a tournament; it's a badly designed video game."

Leo chuckled. "Hey, I like a good forest level. Lots of trees for cover. Good for ambushes."

"You would like a forest level," Miles shot back.

Clara stood up, her face all business. "Enough," she commanded. "Let's go."

The transition to the arena was disorienting. One moment they were in a sterile, metallic hallway. The next, they were standing in a forest so real he could smell the damp earth and the pine needles.

The sky above was a perfect, artificial blue, dotted with fluffy, synthetic clouds.

"Wow," Leo said, looking around with genuine appreciation. "The render distance on this is amazing. The textures are incredible."

Miles just snorted. "It's a box with trees in it," he said. "Let's not get too excited."

Across the clearing, their opponents materialized. Three of them, all dressed in sleek, high-tech camouflage gear, each holding a long, wicked-looking energy rifle.

The one in the center, clearly the leader, gave them a smug, arrogant smirk.

"See what the heavens sent to me," the leader said, his voice amplified by a speaker in his helmet. "A bookworm, a geek, and the school librarian."

"This should be over quick."

"I hate this guy already," Miles muttered.

A loud buzzer echoed through the forest, signaling the start of the match.

Instantly, the Longshots scattered, disappearing into the dense trees with practiced, professional speed.

"Okay, new plan," Leo said, his lazy grin gone, replaced by a look of sharp focus. "Let's not die."

He pulled a small, handheld device from his pocket that looked like a modified smartphone. He tapped the screen, and a holographic map of the forest floor appeared in the air in front of him.

"These guys are snipers," Clara said, her eyes scanning the treetops. "They'll try to pin us down and pick us off from a distance."

As if on cue, a searing bolt of red energy ripped through the air, hitting the spot where Miles had been standing a second ago, leaving a smoking, molten crater in the ground.

"No kidding," Miles said, his heart hammering in his chest. He had used a micro-[Echo Step] to dodge, a pure, instinctual reaction.

"Okay, the loud one gets to go first," Miles growled.

Leo's device beeped. "Trap," he said, pointing to a spot on the holographic map twenty feet to their left. "Pressure plate. Probably connected to an energy net."

He tapped another button. "And another one over there. Tripwire."

He looked up from his device, a grim look on his face. "This whole place is a minefield."

"This isn't just a sniper's nest," Clara said, her mind working at a furious pace. "It's a hunting ground."

Another energy bolt whizzed past Leo's head, close enough to make his curly hair stand on end.

"Okay, new new plan," Leo squeaked. "I am officially not a fan of this hunting ground."

They were trapped. Pinned down. The forest was filled with invisible dangers, and the enemy had them surrounded.

Miles felt the familiar, cold logic of the system begin to assert itself. He started mapping attack vectors, calculating angles, preparing to launch a one-man assault. It was his default setting. Punch the problem until it stops being a problem.

But then, Clara put a hand on his arm.

"Wait," she said, her voice a low, steady whisper. "Don't just charge in. Watch them."

He looked at her, a flicker of his usual, solitary frustration rising. But he saw the calm, focused intensity in her eyes, and he stopped. He trusted her. He didn't know why, but he did.

So, he waited.

And he watched.

Another volley of energy bolts rained down on them, forcing them to duck behind a large, moss-covered boulder.

"Okay," Clara said, her eyes narrowed, her focus absolute. "The one on the left. The leader. He just fired his third shot."

Miles just looked at her, confused.

"His system has a two-second cooldown after every third shot," she stated, not like it was a guess, but like it was a fact she had read in a textbook.

"He's vulnerable. Right now."

Miles's mind reeled. How could she possibly know that? The system in his own head, his SSS-Rank, all-powerful ghost-in-the-machine, couldn't give him that kind of specific, real-time data on an opponent.

"Did she download the cheat codes for this fight?" he thought, a wave of baffled suspicion washing over him.

He didn't have time to ask. He just had to trust her.

"Leo," Clara commanded. "Distraction. Now."

Leo didn't hesitate. He pulled a small, circular device from his belt and threw it hard into the trees on their right. The device let out a high-pitched, piercing screech, and then erupted in a brilliant flash of strobing, disorienting light.

The snipers, their attention pulled by the sudden noise and light, shifted their aim for a fraction of a second.

It was all Miles needed.

He moved.

He didn't just run. He became a blur.

[Phantom Drift.]

He shot out from behind the boulder, a shimmering, ghostly afterimage hanging in the air for a split second.

He closed the distance to the sniper on the left, the leader, in the blink of an eye.

The man's eyes went wide with panic inside his helmet. He tried to bring his rifle around, but he was too slow. His system was still on its two-second cooldown.

Just like she had said.

Miles didn't use his blade. That was too much, too soon.

He just slammed his fist into the man's chest.

[Pulse Break.]

*THUMP.*

The sniper was launched backward, flying through the air to crash into a tree with a sickening crunch. He slid to the ground, his high-tech armor sparking, unconscious.

One down.

"The one on the right!" Clara's voice called out, sharp and clear. "His armor is a standard corporate model! The energy node is on his back, just below the shoulder blades! It's a design flaw!"

Miles spun, his eyes locking onto the second sniper, who was now aiming his rifle at him.

How did she know that? It wasn't a guess. It was a technical specification.

He didn't have time to think. He just acted.

He used [Echo Step], blinking out of existence just as the sniper fired, the energy bolt searing the air where he had been.

He reappeared directly behind the man.

He saw the energy node, a small, glowing blue circle on the back of the man's armor, exactly where she had said it would be.

He didn't hesitate.

He drove the heel of his hand into the node.

There was a sharp, cracking sound, and the sniper's armor went dead, the lights on his helmet flickering out. The man froze, then collapsed, his weapon clattering to the ground.

Two down.

The last sniper, seeing his two partners taken out in less than ten seconds, completely panicked. He stood up from his hiding spot and just started firing wildly into the forest, screaming in a mixture of rage and terror.

Miles let out a slow breath, the adrenaline starting to fade.

It was over.

He walked over to the last, terrified sniper.

The man stopped firing, his rifle shaking in his hands.

Miles just looked at him.

Then, he pointed back the way they had come.

The man dropped his rifle and ran.

Miles stood there in the silent, artificial forest, his mind a chaotic whirl of questions.

They had won.

But he hadn't won because of his power.

He had won because of her knowledge.

A knowledge that was impossible.

He walked back to the clearing where Clara and Leo were waiting.

Leo gave him a low whistle. "Dude," he said, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "That was awesome. It's like she's psychic or something. She was calling out his every move."

Leo was joking, trying to break the sudden, tense silence.

But it was the perfect opening.

Miles stopped in front of Clara.

The victory, the adrenaline, all of it faded away.

All that was left was the cold, hard, impossible question.

He looked her right in the eye, his gaze intense, unwavering.

"That wasn't a guess," he said, his voice low, deadly serious.

"That wasn't a strategy."

"You knew his system inside and out."

He took a small step closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"How?"