Who Won The Latest Valorant Tournament?

My esports team is engaged in a practice match at midnight. Suddenly, my coach hands a phone over to me. On the other end of the line, my dad cries hysterically. Amid his sobs, he tells me that my mom is currently unconscious in the hospital, and that the doctor has issued him a critical notice. Apparently, my mom's funeral is being prepared in advance, so my dad wants me home immediately. As I stare at the match-up diagram of the final round of the national-level competition as well as the seven-figure prize money, I reply icily, "I'm not going home. I must participate in the final round tomorrow. During the competition, my phone will be turned off. Don't disturb me no matter what."

I have been secretly dating Abigail Zimmerman, a female esports player, for three years. During a match, she openly flirts with an esports commentator named Nolan Carter. On my birthday, she shows up with her arm around him and asks to break up. She says, "How could a loser like you, who can't even play games, possibly understand my inner world?" I try to change her mind, but she mocks me mercilessly. "You can't hold a candle to even a strand of Nolan's hair. Get lost!" she barks. I am disappointed and give up on her completely. Right away, I remove her from the club. Abigail has no idea that I am the one who invests in the club she plays for.

Julian Vale—the undefeated actuarial prodigy—finally lost. In an international match, he got taken down by an intern who had just come back from overseas. The story blew up that same day. Reporters swarmed the training room entrance. "Ms. Clermont, Mr. Vale once said if anyone beat him even once, he'd marry her. Now that he lost to an intern, what do you think?" "Ms. Clermont, we heard the intern is his ex from overseas. Did you know?" My head buzzed. I thought about the five years I spent with Julian. I gave everything every match—and never beat him. I used to think he was just respecting the game. Thought I just wasn't good enough. Not until today—when he threw the match to that intern. That's when it clicked. The girl he wanted to marry was never me. I faced the mics and forced a smile. "That match was rigged."

To pay off my student loans, I started doing spicy streams online. I never thought I'd actually blow up. Every night, my audience floods the chat, fawning over my face and my body. I love the attention, and I work hard to give them what they want. Until I was dropped into a horror game. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a rotting corpse. And for some reason, my livestream was still running. When the game’s Boss told us all to pick a weapon to die by. The other players all chose to die of old age, or peacefully in their sleep like a baby. I turned my phone to face the boss. "My fans think you're hot," I stammered. "They want me to be killed by... well, by the weapon between your legs. They said 'deeply.' Is that... an option?" The other players whispered among themselves. “This woman must have a death wish.” “Just watch. The Boss is about to tear her to shreds.” But no one expected the Boss to blush.

He was the only man Adrian Vale could never beat. For years, Adrian and Lucien Moreau stood at the top rivals in power, money, and control. When Lucien’s empire suddenly collapses, Adrian finally gets what he’s been waiting for: the chance to watch him fall. But Lucien doesn’t beg. He doesn’t break. And worst of all… he agrees to every demand Adrian makes. Determined to prove his dominance once and for all, Adrian pushes further than he ever has blurring the line between control and something far more dangerous. What starts as a game of power turns into something neither of them planned… and Adrian soon realizes he may not be the one in charge after all. Because Lucien isn’t losing. He’s waiting. As secrets come to light and the truth behind the “collapse” unfolds, Adrian is forced to face the one thing he never expected: his own feelings. Pride turns into obsession. Control turns into surrender. And the man he wanted to destroy becomes the one he can’t walk away from. In the end, there’s only one question left: Was Adrian ever winning… or did Lucien let him believe he was? A sharp, addictive rivals-to-lovers romance filled with power, tension, and a love that refuses to lose.

After my family and I are dragged into a roguelike horror simulation, they favor my cousin, Julian Clark, over me. In a lobby of blood-soaked players, he always manages to stay spotless, earning their praise as someone who has "kept his humanity". He's unlike me, the brute who willingly throws himself into melee combat and hacks down monsters just to keep everyone else alive. During one dungeon run, a terrifying entity targets my younger sister, Millie Larsson. I draw my blade and move in for the kill, but Julian stops me with a sorrowful smile. "Every creature has a soul. Gabriel, if you kill it, you'll only enrage it and burden Millie with the sin of bloodshed." Millie believes all the nonsense he says and begins resenting me for interfering. Later, when a veteran player steals Julian's life-saving loot drop, I nearly die reclaiming it for him. Instead of thanking me, he takes pity on the woman robbing him and hands the item back to her. He condemns me for being too ruthless, claiming I know nothing about showing mercy to women. Then comes the advanced raid. Cornered by the final boss, I beg Julian to activate the high-tier talisman I've given him, buying me just one second to escape. He recoils from my bloodstained hand in disgust and turns to my parents instead. "Gabriel provoked the boss himself. He's too violent. I can't risk wiping the whole party just to save him." In the end, I die in the boss' jaws. Julian steps over my shattered bones and blood to clear the raid, eventually becoming the server's most celebrated player for being the Untainted Saint. But fate grants me a second chance. I awaken once more in the game's central lobby, right before everything begins. This time, I want to see how long their precious humanity lasts in a world overrun by horrors when the blood-soaked blade that always carries their party is no longer there to protect them.