Leanor tried shifting location, tried shaking the air with what magic he could muster, but nothing changed. The words hung there, fixed, as if carved into glass on the ceiling of his palace.

  Every other day the list was simple: each person who had cleared portals neatly lined up, no spelling mistakes, clear timestamps, exact location and portal rank. Everything filed perfectly so he could skim it at a glance, plug the numbers into his head, and use the information to increase his chances of winning.

  But today, the list was different. Wrong in some way he could not immediately name. The first time it had appeared he had frowned, blinked hard, and dismissed it as a visual bug, a momentary flicker in the interface. Yet now, after he reset it, after he moved and forced the system to redraw. There it was again.

  Amalia and an unknown person had cleared an E-rank portal at 2:41, in Melbourne, within 14 minutes and 15 seconds.

  The numbers were all correct, formatted exactly the way they should be. It was the word “unknown” that caught in his mind, a splinter he could not shake.

  He tried opening the detailed records on the unknown Jumper, but each time the same popup appeared: “Access denied.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  It became an itch behind his eyes; even when he closed them, he could still see the word. The feeling clung to him, a quiet whisper that one of his siblings was interfering again, stirring up trouble on Earth just to capitalise later. But for now, he had no proof.

  He shoved the irritation deeper, forcing himself to focus as he pulled up the scoreboard beside the portal records. Draken and the Gifted now sat tied at seven million points, widening the gap between them and the humans. Humanity had only just begun clearing D-tier portals, while the other species had already moved on to C-tiers and were steadily pulling ahead.

  Leanor knew something had to change. His plan needed to solidify faster. He had pushed for increased portal spawns in concentrated areas like New York, Nigeria, and Tokyo, yet nothing meaningful had shifted. The strategy was not working. He would have to reevaluate.

  Footsteps echoed along the crystalline halls of his castle. He flicked his head to the side just as his mother appeared, red dress flowing behind her.

  His heartbeat thudded in his ears and panic rose. Despite their supposed alliance, he doubted she would hesitate to sell him out if it meant a stronger position for herself with his father.

  With a sharp gesture, he swept his arm to the side, and the scoreboard and Jumper details vanished. He would have to examine them again later—more carefully, and alone.