"Is that so?” Juniper tilted her head up slightly, slowly tying her long hair back. She spoke each word with deliberate rity. "How about me?"


    "Huh?"


    At her words, the members of Neverfall Navigators looked up, their eyes wide with disbelief. What? Was she serious? Did she just offer to be their substitute?


    "Look," the captain, MystiCat, said, clearly taken aback. He swallowed hard, keeping his tone gentle. "It''s obvious you know the game inside and out, and you''re incredibly skilled. But..."


    Mysticat hesitated, trying to find a polite way to refuse. "You don''t have any professional tournament experience, and you''ve never practiced with us. Team coordination would be a huge issue."


    He had to admit, the girl was a genius. Her brief advice during the semi-finals had turned the tide for them. But this was the finals. Digital Sabers was a stronger, more shameless opponent than any they had faced before. Throwing a random yer into the mix would likely create chaos.


    Besides, they had followed thepetitive scene closely for years, big and small tournaments alike, and they had never seen this girl on stage. She was probably just a talented amateur.


    "Is professional experience so important?" Juniper raised an eyebrow, her calm tone unsettlingly sharp. "Weren''t you the one Demon made an exception for, picking you up from a gaming cafe?"


    He hadn''t justcked major tournament experience; he hadn''t even yed in a minor one. Why the exception? Because of another power outage, she''d gone to a gaming cafe out of boredom, where she happened to see Mysticat ying. His movements were clean, his rhythm was precise, and he had strong leadership qualities. He was a natural.


    "You-" The captain''s face went pale, his pupils dting in shock. The story of Demon finding him in a


    gaming cafe was a secret knowet


    only tothe two of them. Not even his current teammates knew about it How could the girl possibly know? Did she... know Demon?


    "I''ll be on the stage, but I''ll bemanding, not ying," Juniper said, ncing at the countdown timer. There wasn''t much time to exin Mysticat might be able to adapt to her tempo, but the others might not. In this case, words were more effective than actions.


    "What?" The yers'' eyes widened even further.


    "We''re out of time," Juniper said, her eyes narrowing. "If we win, I get the eighteen- million-dor prize. If we lose, I''ll pay you that amount."


    She smirked, adding nonchntly, "But the chances of us losing are about the same as a snowball''s chance in hell."


    Such confidence! The five of them exchanged looks, considering her offer. Commanding, not ying? If her suggestions and strategies were solid, they could follow her lead f not, she could say whatever she wanted, and they could just ignore her and y their own game. It wouldn''t interfere with them.


    Besides, this girl clearly had some skills.


    "Deal.” MystiCat extended his hand to Juniper, his expression serious. “Pleasure working with you."


    “Likewise.” Juniper paused for a second before simply patting his shoulder, avoiding the handshake.


    MystiCat was even more bewildered. That was Demon''s signature move before a match. But Demon was a guy. It couldn''t possibly be her.