In 2045, countries have dissolved and humanity is organized by timezones. Global influence is decided by Half League, a mixed reality competition played in colossal urban portals where augmented reality, AI judges, and elite design teams shape both entertainment and politics.

Kay Taylor, a 26-year-old architecture student from Los Angeles (Timezone -7), has always dreamed of joining the League’s Timezone Design Team. When she’s unexpectedly recruited as the youngest player ever, she’s thrown into a world of power, spectacle, and intense pressure. Her sister Leyla works for the Advertisement Control Committee, the group that manages the portals’ commercial layer, and their family is pulled into the League’s murky politics when Leyla quits to protect Kay from exploitation.

Kay soon crosses paths with Jackson Miller, a brilliant scientist who helped create the portal tech and was cut out of the credit. Using Kay as leverage for revenge, he reveals a terrifying secret: new portals can do more than project virtual worlds—they can materialize them, turning games into real-world events. As Kay competes, bonds with teammates like Ethan, and develops a complicated relationship with Yuka from the Tokyo timezone, Jackson forces her to choose between her dreams and the safety of everyone in the arena. In a climactic live match between Los Angeles and Tokyo, Half League becomes a battleground over technology, control, and how far we’ll go when entertainment becomes the strongest political power on Earth.