Chapter 468: Game

Stan pointed toward the screen, his attention drawn to the chaotic firefight playing out across the monitor. "What’s happening?"

Zack’s expression immediately darkened as though the question had reminded him of a personal tragedy. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "She looked at the map once."

Zoey, who was sitting nearby, immediately corrected him without taking her eyes off her own screen. "She looked at the map once and then killed you."

"She didn’t kill me," Zack protested.

Zoey finally turned toward him with a completely unimpressed expression. "You’re dead."

"I was strategically eliminated," Zack replied with complete seriousness, as though there were an important distinction that everyone else was refusing to acknowledge.

Camilla finally glanced away from the game for a moment. Her expression remained calm as she looked at Zack. "You ran into the open."

Zack stared at her in disbelief. "I was flanking."

"You were running in a straight line."

"I was flanking aggressively."

"You were shouting while doing it," Zoey added, her lips already twitching with amusement.

Zack immediately defended himself. "That was psychological warfare."

Camilla turned her attention back to the screen. "It did not work."

Zoey snorted, and Stan couldn’t hold back his laughter. The absurd exchange was made even funnier by the fact that Camilla delivered every sentence with the same cold, analytical tone she might have used while discussing something genuinely important.

Stan pulled out the empty stool beside her and sat down. The shop was relatively quiet compared to the noise coming from their screens, and the faint smell of warm electronics, dust, and sugary drinks from the refrigerator near the counter hung in the air. Several gaming stations occupied the room, their monitors casting a pale glow across the faces of the players. Somewhere behind the counter, the attendant was busy with something, occasionally glancing toward them whenever Zack’s increasingly dramatic complaints became too loud.

Stan rested one arm against the back of his chair and glanced at Camilla’s screen. "How long did it take you to learn?"

Camilla’s eyes remained fixed on the game as her fingers moved smoothly across the controller. "Twenty-three minutes."

Zack immediately turned toward Stan. "Twenty-three minutes to learn the controls," he clarified, clearly unwilling to let Camilla’s answer create the wrong impression. "Then she spent another forty minutes destroying everyone."

Camilla tilted her head slightly while continuing to move her character through the battlefield. "Not everyone."

Zoey looked at her scoreboard and then back at Camilla. "You’ve killed fourteen players."

Camilla paused for a brief moment before answering with complete seriousness. "Fourteen is not everyone."

There was a moment of silence before Zack muttered, "That’s exactly what a future psychopath would say."

The corner of Zoey’s mouth lifted as she tried not to laugh. Stan simply shook his head, amused by the entire situation. Camilla, however, seemed completely unconcerned by Zack’s accusation and continued playing as though nothing unusual had been said.

The attendant, who had been listening from behind the counter, finally called out, "She’s actually doing pretty well."

"Pretty well?" Zack immediately complained. "She has more kills than me."

The attendant shrugged casually. "That’s usually what pretty well looks like."

Zack stared at him as though he’d just been betrayed by someone he trusted. "I was promised a safe environment."

"You asked to play Warzone."

"I didn’t realize the enemy would be someone I came with."

Zoey laughed openly this time, while Stan leaned back and watched the exchange with an amused smile. Camilla continued to play without reacting to their conversation, her attention completely absorbed by the battlefield on the screen.

Then, without warning, her character stopped moving.

Camilla’s expression sharpened as she focused on something beyond the immediate area visible on the screen. Her fingers became still for a moment.

"Enemy."

Zack immediately leaned forward. "Where?"

Camilla lifted one hand and pointed toward the screen. "Behind that building."

Zoey narrowed her eyes and looked in the direction Camilla had indicated. "I don’t see anyone."

"He’s there."

Zack squinted at the screen, trying to find whatever Camilla had noticed. "How can you tell?"

"The grass moved."

Silence fell over the group.

Zack slowly turned his head toward Stan, his expression filled with disbelief. "She heard the grass."

Before anyone could respond, Camilla raised her weapon. A few seconds later, a player stepped out from behind the building exactly where she had predicted.

Camilla fired immediately.

The enemy dropped.

The elimination notification appeared across the screen.

Zack leaned back into his chair as though the game had personally offended him. "I don’t like this anymore."

Zoey grinned. "I do."

Camilla continued playing, seemingly unaffected by the praise or Zack’s growing despair. Her movements were becoming increasingly efficient, and Stan found himself watching her more closely.

When he had left the shop earlier, Camilla had still been struggling with the basic controls. She had walked into walls, wasted ammunition, and somehow managed to throw a grenade at her own feet. Now she was reading enemy movement, predicting positions, using terrain for cover, and recognizing subtle changes in the environment that the others had completely missed.

She hadn’t merely learned the controls.

She had understood the game.

And knowing Camilla, Stan suspected she wouldn’t stop there. Once she became interested in something, she tended to analyze it until she understood every detail. If she continued playing, it probably wouldn’t take long before she figured out the weapons, movement mechanics, map layouts, enemy habits, and every other system the developers had built into the game.

Stan leaned back slightly and smiled. "You’ve improved."

For the first time in several minutes, Camilla looked away from the screen and toward him. The coldness that had lingered in her eyes earlier hadn’t completely disappeared, but it had softened considerably.

"You came back."

"I said I would."

"You were gone longer than you said."

Stan’s smile faded slightly. He knew exactly what she meant. "I know."

Camilla’s gaze remained on him for another moment before she returned her attention to the game. "I noticed."

There was no accusation in her voice. She didn’t demand an explanation or ask where he had gone. She simply stated the fact, and somehow that made the words weigh more heavily than an angry confrontation would have.

Stan watched her for a moment before giving a faint smile. "I had something important to take care of."

"I know." Camilla didn’t ask what it was. She didn’t need to.