The Ring woke up on Floor 2 and found Matt in first place again.
It had stopped humming. It had stopped filing complaints. It was simply sitting on his finger, very still, the way a cat sits when it has decided to ignore you as a form of punishment.
Matt had relocated the concierge desk to the swamp. He had not been asked to. He had found a dry stump near the entrance, set up a small sign that said ODDS, and was taking action on how long the fog machines would run before somebody unplugged them.
“Over four hours.”
The coin, Matt.
“After this one.”
There is no this one. You are taking bets on fog.
“Fog’s live, man.”
His opponent was Blake.
Blake came in with the binder, which was now laminated against the humidity. He opened it to a tab labeled MATT and turned it around so Matt could see a graph. The graph went up. Matt nodded politely at the graph. Then Matt went back to his stump.
188.1 to 156.9.
He won by thirty-one. He did not flip the coin. He did not use an item. He did, the System notes, set his lineup by Thursday and collect the Floor 2 bonus, which means the only modifier Matt has engaged with all season is the one that rewards doing your homework. The Ring finds this unbearable.
System NoticeACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: UNBLEMISHED. RECORD: 3-0. STANDINGS: 1ST. COIN FLIPS DECLARED: 0. THE RING HAS STOPPED SPEAKING TO HIM.
System NoticeLOOT DROP: WATERLOGGED PARLAY SLIP THAT SOMEHOW HIT. TIER: COMMON. EFFECT: +2 PTS IN ONE WEEK OF HIS CHOOSING, DECLARED BY WEDNESDAY NOON. SOAKED THROUGH. ILLEGIBLE. PAID OUT ANYWAY. THE HOUSE IS INVESTIGATING.
He held the slip up to the fog machine to dry it. It did not dry. It did not need to. He folded it into his wallet next to the sticky note and the comp ticket and patted the wallet twice, the way a man pats a dog that keeps winning him money.
He has three items now and has used none of them. He is first in the Dungeon by one point and some change. The System has checked the math. The math is fine. The System simply does not like it.
“You’ve got a system,” I said. “Tell me.”
“Don’t call the coin. Set the lineup. Win.”
That is not a system.
“It’s three-oh.”
Week 4: Kelsey. 3-0 against 3-0. My wife.
Matt asked for odds. I declined to set them. I live with one of these people.