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"You must be Jack Hayes, the Ghost, huh?"
Jack looked up from his plate of grilled chicken. The voice was sharp, confident, and laced with just enough venom to make his ears perk up. Across the restaurant, a man approached, wearing a designer suit with a smug smile plastered on his face.
"And you are?" Jack asked calmly, his fork never pausing as he took another bite.
"I'm Riku Nakamura. Ranked 99th in the world." Riku paused, letting the number linger in the air as if it carried weight. "You've heard of me, haven't you?"
Jack gave him a blank stare. "Should I have?"
Riku's smile twitched, but he quickly recovered. "Maybe you've been out of the game too long. I'm a two-time national champion in Japan. Won the Rising Sun Cup three years in a row. Oh, and I've never been knocked out. Ever."
"That's impressive," Jack said, his tone flat. He took another bite.
