The kings Avater

As the team moved through the vast desert zone known as the Green Forest, an eerie stillness settled over them. Despite its misleading name, the environment was nothing but scorching brown sand stretching endlessly in every direction. The only sounds came from the subtle rustling wind and the ambient camouflaged forest audio track humming softly through their headsets—designed to deceive under-leveled players.

"Guys, stay focused," Midnight said in a low voice. "I've got a feeling something's gonna pop out any second."

Everyone slowed their pace, avatars creeping cautiously through the dunes. Suddenly—three desert demons slithered silently from the shadows behind Midnight's character, barely visible against the sand. Before anyone could react, slash!

In one fluid motion, Chan Guo's avatar—currently controlled by Ye Qiu—executed a flawless triple strike. Each blade movement was clean, calculated, and deadly. The monsters disintegrated in seconds.

"Whoa! That was smooth, Cyb!" PhantomX exclaimed, clearly impressed.

"That was close, boss," Skull chimed in. "They almost got you from behind."

"Damn," Midnight muttered, "looks like Cyb really did go full Everstay mode today."

CyberDiva (Chan Guo) chuckled nervously. "You know me. Always full of surprises."

"That move was so clean," 7thsense9 added with awe. "Wait… was that the Cyptht Slash from Mirror Maze?"

"Yeah, it looked exactly like it," Midnight agreed. "But… how the hell did you acquire that? I lost mine back at level 18."

"Wait—you had it too?" Skull asked. "I heard it was a nightmare to activate."

"Couldn't even pull it off once before I lost the skill," Midnight admitted.

"Same," said 7thsense9. "It's almost like it was bugged or something."

Now all eyes—and mics—were on Chan Guo.

"How did you use it, Cyber?" Midnight asked, his tone genuinely curious.

There was silence. For the first time since the mission began, Chan Guo was at a complete loss for words. She kept darting glances at Ye Qiu, silently begging for help. But what could she say? She didn't even know what the Cyptht Slash was, let alone how she'd just used it.

"Uhh…" she stammered, buying time. "You know… instinct?" she added weakly.

The silence dragged. PhantomX was just about to say something when—

Rumble… rumble…

"Uh-oh," Skull muttered. The sandy ground beneath their avatars began to shake.

Suddenly, grotesque demons burst forth from the earth, their long arms clawing out of the sand like rising corpses. Dust flew everywhere, and in seconds, they were surrounded on all sides.

"Monsters!" CyberDiva yelled, instantly shifting into combat stance.

The team scattered into formation, weapons drawn, as the creatures charged.

Meanwhile, Ye Qiu—still quiet behind the screen—sat back slightly, brows furrowed. They had all just marveled at a skill he considered insignificant. The Cyptht Slash? That was a basic maneuver in his arsenal. One of many he barely paid attention to during his peak.

This team had no idea how to use it… and they were calling it a god-tier move?

If even that impressed them, then showing any real skill would set off alarms. He couldn't afford that. The last thing he wanted was to draw suspicion or have people start whispering: "Could this guy be Everstay?"

No, it was better to lay low. And not just the regular kind of low—he had to play past average. Underwhelming. Clumsy, even.

As the monsters closed in, Ye Qiu made a point to delay his next strike by a fraction of a second, letting Skull handle the first one. He missed a parry intentionally. Let CyberDiva take a hit.

'Just enough to stay relevant,' he thought. 'But not enough to stand out.'

Even holding back, it was still hard. Years of training had burned certain reactions into his muscle memory. Avoiding excellence required more focus than displaying it.

Back in the game, as the team fought hard to push back the wave, Midnight called out:

"Phantom, circle left! Skull, back CyberDiva!"

"I'm out of grenades!" 7thsense9 shouted.

"Hold formation! Don't let them split us up!" Midnight commanded.

And all the while, Ye Qiu played the part. Silent. Subdued. Controlled.

What none of them realized was that the Everstay they idolized was sitting right among them—struggling not to shine.

During the heat of battle, Ye Qiu intentionally slacked off.

He moved smoothly, dodging and weaving like a shadow—but barely lifted a finger to attack. His strikes were minimal, his presence in the fight barely noticeable. The demon count wasn't reducing, and the tension in the team chat began to build.

Chan Guo, still in her CyberDiva mode, kept glancing sideways at him with increasing confusion and frustration. She could practically feel her eyeballs twitch from how hard she was staring, but Ye Qiu ignored her. He had already sensed her burning gaze and decided to act like she didn't exist.

"What the hell, Cyb?!" Stormchaser's voice blasted through the headset after he barely dodged a demon that CyberDiva had aggroed and tossed right into his path.

"You're supposed to be fighting, not dumping your workload on us!" Skull snapped, panting as he swung wildly and hit nothing but air.

Their formation was unraveling fast. No coordination. No synergy. Just chaos.

Watching them flail reminded Ye Qiu of his early days—when he was still learning to balance dodging, aiming, and listening to his teammates at the same time. But that was level one behavior, maybe up to level 10… 13 at most. These players were level 23 and up. This kind of sloppy combat? Nah, something was off.

'What kind of team is this?' he thought, squinting at the screen.

He wouldn't even be surprised if someone told him they hacked their way into the game.

"Cyber, stay out of my face!!" Skull yelled again, completely losing his cool as he missed yet another strike.

"Just move back already, you're clogging the formation!" Chan guo snapped, her voice sharp with stress.

Then she suddenly muted her mic.

She turned to Ye Qiu beside her in real life, eyes blazing.

He didn't even flinch—he was lowkey enjoying the chaos like it was popcorn-worthy drama.