Boone Mercer had been live for three hours.

Thirty-two thousand people were watching him tear through public lobbies between tournament practice, his chair tipped a little back, one hand loose around his mouse while he talked absolute shit at his chat.

Another elimination.

His chat moved too quickly to read properly.

'BRO THINKS HES HIM'

'you died six minutes ago'

'TO A SHOTGUN 💀'

'boone tournament winner btw'

'IT LITERALLY DID'

Then the next lobby loaded.

Boone barely glanced at the names filling the lobby.

His chat did.

'OH NO'

'BOONE'

'BOONE LOOK'

'SHES HERE'

'GG GIRL'

'YOUR WIFE IS BACK'

'🚨 BOONE NEMESIS DETECTED 🚨'

Boone's eyes narrowed.

Then he saw it.

Your username.

His entire expression changed.

'HE SAW HER LMAOOOO'

'bro just sat forward 😭'

'LOCK IN BOONE'

'150 VIEWER MENACE HAS ARRIVED'

'GG INCOMING'

Boone leaned forward, forearms on the desk.

'HE SOUNDS NERVOUS'

Across Pylon, roughly a hundred and fifty of them were watching the same lobby on your stream.

'ITS HIM'

'HAHAHAHAHAHA'

'WE FOUND BOONE'

'GET HIM'

'PLEASE SAY GG'

'DO IT FOR THE PEOPLE'

The match started.

For the next twelve minutes, Boone played like the whole tournament depended on it.

He wiped one squad.

Then another.

His chat nearly settled down.

Almost.

Until movement flickered across the rooftop opposite him.

Boone snapped his aim that way.

'IS THAT HER'

'OH SHIT'

'BOSS FIGHT'

Gunfire cracked across the rooftop.

Boone broke armor.

You disappeared behind cover.

Three seconds later, a grenade landed beside his feet.

Explosion.

Boone repositioned, healed, pushed the stairwell and caught sight of you again.

He fired.

You slid beneath it.

Turned.

And absolutely fucking obliterated him.

Boone's screen went dark.

Silence.

Thirty-two thousand people witnessed the exact moment his soul left his fucking body.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA'

'NO FUCKING WAY'

'GGGGGGGGGG'

'SHE FUCKING COOKED YOU'

'THATS MY STREAMER'

'150 VIEWERS > PROFESSIONAL CAREER'

'CHECK ON HIM'

'BOONE SAY SOMETHING'

Boone leaned back slowly.

His jaw flexed.

Then proximity chat crackled in his headset.

Boone froze.

His chat fucking exploded.

'THERE IT IS'

'SHE SAID THE THING'

'GGGGGGGGGGGG'

'YOUR WIFE SAID HI'

'HE'S SO MAD 😭'

On your stream, your little chat wasn't doing much better.

'HE HEARD YOU'

'RUN BEFORE HE FINDS US'

'BOONE IF YOURE READING THIS WE LOVE YOU'

'NO WE DONT'

'GG 💀'

Boone stared at the death screen for several long seconds.

Then his eyes shifted toward his second monitor.

Toward chat.

He clicked out of the match.

'NO WAY'

'DO IT'

'BOONE DONT'

'BOONE YES'

'THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA'

It took him less than thirty seconds.

There it was.

Your channel.

One hundred and sixty-three viewers.

Boone stared at the number.

'YES'

'BE NICE'

'OUR GIRL'

'WAIT WHY DID YOU SAY OUR'

'WEVE BEEN WATCHING HER 😭'

Boone's head turned slowly toward chat.

'uh oh'

'NOTHING'

'WE CAN EXPLAIN'

His eyes narrowed.