"The games of kings: Rise of the underdog"

Chapter twenty three

I sat in the campus cafeteria, a half-eaten sandwich sitting untouched on my tray. My body still ached from the Elliot incident. My knuckles were bruised, my ribs sore, and the pulsing injuries beneath my skin hadn’t quite faded. Every breath felt like I was inhaling needles. Still, I couldn't rest. Not now.

I was on edge—every passing student could be a gamer. Anyone could be next. That uncertainty was the most dangerous part of this twisted game. If I didn’t find a way to identify the players, I might as well start digging my own grave.

No more surprises.

I needed control.

I needed names.

I needed to know who was in the game and who wasn’t.

The system was unforgiving, and from the look in Derek’s eyes, he had no plans of letting me rest easy too. I had to stay three moves ahead, maybe four. That’s when it hit me—if I couldn’t see the gamers with my eyes, then maybe I could find them through their digital footprints. The system had to have some kind of digital tether to each user, ri