All Chapters of THE STRATEGIST: Monster of the game : Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
12 chapters
The World Notices
The moment Lyra Ashveil stepped onto the platform, the noise died.Not slowly.Not reluctantly.Instantly.It wasn’t fear at least not on the surface. It was recognition. The kind that came from knowing exactly how far below someone you stood.Soren felt it too.Not pressure.Expectation.The kind that weighed heavier than killing intent.Lyra rolled her shoulders once, loosening her arms like this was a morning warm-up rather than a public duel. The faint crackle of mana around her didn’t flare. It didn’t need to. It was contained, disciplined, dense.She wasn’t leaking power.She was holding it back.“So,” she said calmly, eyes locked on Soren, “you’re the civilian.”A few people flinched at the word.Soren tilted his head slightly. “Is that a problem?”Her lips curved not into a smile, but into something assessing. “It is when civilians don’t move like hunters.”The arena’s barrier shimmered as it sealed. Cameras adjusted automatically, drones hovering closer. Somewhere above them,
The First Move
Soren did not sleep.Not because he couldn’t but because he didn’t need to.Old habits lingered. Even in a world with soft beds and locked doors, his awareness never fully shut down. He lay on the couch, eyes half-closed, breathing slow, listening to the city breathe around him.Traffic far below.A neighbor’s television through concrete.The hum of electricity in the walls.And beneath it allMana.Thin. Diluted. Scattered.But unmistakably real.[System Notice]Observation Status: ActiveThe translucent message hovered near the ceiling, as if trying to be polite.Soren ignored it.That, more than anything else, was his first move.Most people panicked when the system spoke. Others tried to negotiate. Some begged. Some flaunted power.Soren did none of that.He simply rolled onto his side, adjusted the blanket, and closed his eyes.Let them watch.The next morning, the Hunter Association acted like nothing unusual had happened.Which meant everything had.News feeds were strangely re