Thomas Keller froze.

Everyone had been watching Target Twelve.

Grant Holloway’s assigned lane.

But several meters away stood Target Eleven.

Thomas lifted his binoculars.

His pulse quickened.

Five tiny marks sat near its center.

“Hold the line!” he shouted.

Nobody reacted at first.

Grant was still laughing with the spectators.

Thomas stepped forward.

“HOLD THE LINE! CEASE FIRE!”

The range officer immediately raised the red flag.

The laughter weakened.

Grant turned toward him.

“What happened?”

Thomas didn’t answer.

He walked straight toward Mara.

“Do not touch the rifle.”

Grant frowned.

“What is this about?”

Thomas pointed toward the bench.

“Nobody touches anything.”

Mara slowly stood.

Her expression remained calm.

Grant gave an uncertain laugh.

“She missed five times.”

Thomas looked at him.

“Maybe.”

That single word changed the entire atmosphere.

Thomas turned toward an assistant referee.

“Pull the electronic logs for Targets Eleven and Twelve.”

The assistant blinked.

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

A murmur moved through the crowd.

Grant stepped closer.

“There’s nothing to check.”

Thomas ignored him.

Instead, he looked at Mara.

“Which target were you aiming at?”

Mara glanced downrange.

“Center reference.”

Grant scoffed.

“That means Twelve.”

Mara looked at him.

“No.”

The range became silent.

Grant’s face hardened.

“My lane is Twelve.”

“I know.”

“Then what were you shooting?”

Mara said nothing.

Thomas answered for her.

“Target Eleven.”

Grant stared at him.

“What?”

Several officials raised binoculars.

One of them suddenly stopped moving.

Another adjusted his focus.

Then Grant grabbed a pair himself.

He found Target Eleven.

And his face changed.

Five impacts.

An extraordinarily tight group near the center.

From a distance, they almost looked like one single dark mark.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Grant whispered.

Thomas looked at the rifle.

“It does if the optic wasn’t aligned with the assigned target.”

Grant immediately shook his head.

“The rifle is zeroed.”

“For your lane?”

“Yes.”

Mara finally spoke.

“Not anymore.”

Every camera turned toward her.

Grant stared.

“What are you talking about?”

She pointed toward the scope.

“The windage turret is offset.”

“No.”

“It is.”

“You fired at the wrong target.”

Mara held his gaze.

“I fired exactly where your rifle was configured to fire.”

Silence.

Thomas inspected the optic.

Another official joined him.

Together, they checked the settings.

Thomas’s expression became serious.

“Grant.”

Grant swallowed.

“When did you last verify this rifle?”

“This morning.”

“Personally?”

Grant hesitated.

That was enough.

“My team handled the final setup.”

Thomas looked at him.

“Who adjusted the optic?”

Grant didn’t answer.

Mara looked toward the distant targets.

Thomas turned back to her.

“You noticed the offset before firing.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

For the first time, Mara looked toward the crowd.

At the people holding phones.

At the people who had laughed after every shot.

“They had already decided I didn’t know what I was doing.”

One by one, several spectators lowered their phones.

Grant’s jaw tightened.

“So you deliberately shot another target?”

Mara shook her head.

“I tested the rifle exactly as you handed it to me.”

Thomas studied the five impacts.

No correction.

No panic.

No hesitation.

Mara had known exactly where every shot would land.

She hadn’t been missing.

She had been proving something.

Grant gave a short, bitter laugh.

“This proves nothing.”

Thomas turned toward him.

“It proves she understood your equipment before you did.”

Grant’s face flushed.

“She got lucky.”

Thomas pointed toward Target Eleven.

“Five times?”

Nobody laughed.

Then Grant stepped forward.

“If you’re really as good as everyone suddenly thinks, use a properly verified rifle.”

Thomas raised a hand.

“This is no longer entertainment.”

But Mara was already looking at Grant.

“You want another five?”

Grant nodded.

“I want everyone to see what happens when there’s no excuse.”

Mara studied him.

Then she nodded once.

“Fine.”

And suddenly, the crowd understood that the real competition had not even started yet.