The world dissolved and reformed in a dizzying flash of blue light. One moment, I was in the sterile white of the Safe Zone. The next, I was on the edge of a skyscraper, and the wind was trying to throw me off.
It was a physical blow. A hard, cold wind that pushed against my body and roared in my ears. The sound was immense. Below me, hundreds of meters below, I could see the tiny lights of cars moving on city streets. It was a long, long way down. My stomach lurched. A powerful wave of vertigo washed over me, and I had to take a step back from the edge. My legs felt weak. This was District 7. A place where a single misstep meant falling to your death.
Anya materialized beside me, landing with a soft thud. She was completely calm, her eyes already scanning the horizon. Three other players, our teammates, appeared a moment later. They looked as terrified as I felt.
Anya did not waste a second. She took command instantly. Her voice was sharp and clear, cutting through the roar of the wind.
"Listen up!" she shouted. "This is a sniper's map. The sightlines are huge. Stick to cover. Move fast. Red Team has an Ouroboros squad. That means they'll be coordinated and they'll be hunting for easy kills."
She pointed. My HUD lit up, showing the objectives. Three control points, marked A, B, and C. Point B was in the center of the map, on a long, exposed bridge that connected two of the tallest buildings. It was a death trap. Points A and C were on lower rooftops to our left and right. They looked slightly more defensible.
"You three," Anya said, pointing at the random teammates. They were staring at her like she was a drill sergeant. "Go for Point B. But be careful. Move from cover to cover. Draw their fire. Create a distraction for us."
She then looked at me. "Leo, you're with me. We're going for Point A. It has better cover. We can hold it."
She did not wait for an answer. She started running, her movements efficient and practiced. I followed her, my heavy boots pounding on the gritty rooftop surface. We came to a gap between our building and the next one. It was about three meters across. A terrifying, empty space with a deadly drop below. Anya leaped across it without hesitation, landing easily on the other side.
I swallowed hard. I took a running start and jumped. For a terrifying second, I was flying through the air. Then my boots hit the concrete on the other side. I stumbled but did not fall. My heart was pounding.
My S-12 shotgun felt heavy and useless in my hands. The rooftops were a wide, open battlefield. The distances were immense. My shotgun, my trusted lifesaver, was nothing more than a dead weight here.
We were halfway to Point A when the first shot came.
CRACK.
The sound was sharp and incredibly loud. It was a powerful, angry noise that echoed across the rooftops. It was far louder than any gun I had heard yet. It was the sound of a high-caliber sniper rifle.
I looked over at the three teammates who were heading for the central bridge. One of them, a man in standard blue armor, just… dropped. He did not cry out. He did not stumble. He just collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. He was dead before he hit the ground.
A notification appeared in the corner of my vision. [BLUE TEAMMATE ELIMINATED].
Anya's voice was a sharp yell. "SNIPER! GET DOWN!"
She dove behind a large, metal air conditioning unit. I did the same, my mind numb with shock. I landed hard on the concrete, scraping my knee. My heart was a frantic drum against my ribs.
I cautiously peeked out from behind our cover. My eyes scanned the distant buildings. And then I saw it. On a rooftop far, far away, a tiny glint of light flashed. The sun reflecting off a sniper's scope. An enemy sniper. He had a perfect line of sight on the entire area.
It had to be one of the Ouroboros members. They were already set up. Already hunting.
I felt completely helpless. I raised my shotgun, a foolish, desperate gesture. It was useless. I could not hit anything from this distance. I was a liability. Anya had a partner with a shotgun on a sniper map. We were in trouble because of me.
CRACK.
Another shot. This one was closer. The bullet slammed into the metal cover just centimeters from my head. The impact was a deafening PANG. Sparks flew. I flinched back, my ears ringing. He had our position pinned down. He was zeroing in on us.
Anya laid down a burst of fire with her assault rifle. The bullets sparked uselessly against the distant building. Her weapon was better than mine for this range, but it was still not enough. Her bullets were not accurate enough to challenge a real sniper.
"They have us locked down!" she shouted over the wind. "We can't move forward, and we can't go back! He'll pick us off!"
She glanced at me, then at the useless shotgun in my hands. Her face was grim.
"Your shotgun is a joke here!" she yelled, her voice filled with frustration. "I saw your loadout! Use the other one or we're both dead!"
Her words hit me like a physical blow. She was right. I was going to die. We were both going to die if I did not adapt. My fear of the new weapon was less than my fear of death.
My hands were trembling. I let go of the shotgun, letting it hang on its strap. I reached behind my back and unhooked the Phantom SR-90.
The rifle was long and heavy. It felt awkward and unfamiliar in my hands. It was a complex machine, covered in knobs and dials I did not understand. It was not a simple tool like the shotgun.
I took a deep breath. I forced myself to move back to the edge of our cover. I peeked over the top.
The glint of light was still there. A tiny, distant star of death. The enemy sniper was watching us, waiting for one of us to make a mistake.
It was aimed right at us.
I had to learn how to use this weapon. And I had to do it right now.