Mr. Hardy frowned and looked at Zeke. "Did I offend her?! She was the one who offended me! Anyway, regardless of who offended who, don't go easy on her! Do you hear me?!" Mr. Hardy stormed off, missing Zeke's pale face along the way.'I'm the one in trouble if I encounter her! It's hard to predict who will be the one showing mercy to the other! Nicole initially had no intentions of squaring off against me! Yet, Mr. Hardy had taken the liberty to screw it up for me! Ugh! This really pisses me off!' Zeke thought.Nicole and Mr. Zach had returned to their seat by then, with the latter saying to Nicole, "Thank you for earlier. Don't let this affect you later. Go and get yourself ready for the next round."Ryder nodded his head. "Alright."Nicole only nodded lightly, showing that she had heard him. Mr. Zach felt that Nicole was even more mysterious. The next round was in full preparation, and everyone was anticipating the duel between Zeke and Rowdon. This was essentially a competition
"Well, that's not true,' Edwin Bradford smiled wryly. "It's just that I'm also one of the members of this entourage, and if we don't make it into the semi-finals, it would be far too embarrassing..."'If I had not met Nicole, I bet I would be able to enter the semi-finals,' he thought."It's okay. Preston should be able to crack it easily. You're a part of our company, and we should have the pride of being so," Nicole replied.Edwin sighed. 'How can any of this be the same? This match is doomed from the start.'Nicole noted Edwin's look of discouragement, and thought for a moment before saying, "How about I give you a ten-minute head start. How 'bout that?"Edwin immediately raised his eyebrows. "Really?"Though Edwin had made Nicole feel very uneasy, it was also the only way in which he could secure a better chance at winning. He could not help wanting to try his best."Yeah, come on!"After the exchange had ended, Nicole leisurely took a sip of her drink and leaned back on th
Edwin slammed the 'defeat' button at once. At that juncture, Nicole immediately became the first person to secure a victory in the first round. This surprised the audience, who glanced at Zeke before turning back to look at Nicole."Who is she?""I don't know...but one thing is for sure, she's really good. Her opponent seems to be Edwin Bradford.""Yeah, he got fifth place last year.""I think so, but why did he admit defeat so easily?"People were talking among themselves; they could not shake off how amazing Nicole was, and some even went as far as to think that Edwin might have regressed.Yet, nobody present was aware that Edwin's technology and skill had progressed to great heights. He had thought that if he could secure a winning spot in this competition, he would be able to attract enough attention to promote his company and recruit fresh graduates along the way. He had not foreseen the idea that he would be crossing paths with Nicole and getting himself eliminated at such
Nobody had thought that the opposition would launch a counterattack on Rowdon so suddenly, and with such impressive speed that the second wave was unleashed shortly after the first, making it impossible for Rowdon to respond or recuperate."It's the same as before. You're still too slow in bringing up the defenses," Zeke sneered coldly, as he proceeded to roll out the third wave of attack.His movements were light, as if he had already made his mind up on what he was going to do.At that instant, a thought dawned upon Rowdon's mind, 'This...this attack...it seems familiar...'"You're...you're Specter?!" Rowdon's eyes widened in astonishment as he screamed Zeke's pseudonym.In return, Zeke frowned; he had never expected Rowdon to expose his pseudonym so loudly in public.His eyes suddenly darkened. "Cheets, as a webmaster, you've violated the customer agreement and disclosed customer information."It was only then that Rowdon came to his senses, realizing that he had loudly shout
Nicole raised her eyebrows as she looked at the commotion on the stage. 'Zeke is being way too careless with his effort in keeping his identity a secret. His life will not be peaceful in the near future.'Zeke's complexion became very pale as the host excitedly trotted over. As of now, Zeke was expressionless."It's no wonder Zeke here was so brilliant tonight! He's none other than one of the most well-known hackers in the international stage! This must be an easy competition for you, don't you think? Are you aiming to win first place?" The host bombarded him with compliments without missing a beat, while the other contestants sitting in the audience were demotivated by the sudden realization that Specter was in the competition.Director Monroe, on the other hand, had a ubiquitous expression on her face. In spite of the fact that she knew how capable Zeke was, there was no way in which she could have foreseen that he was one of the greatest hackers.'Come to think of it, both Ryder
"You!!" Ryder was flabbergasted as he did not expect Mr. Hardy to speak so harshly.He had to restrain himself while none of the others dared to step forward.Nicole raised her eyebrows and rubbed her ears before retorting, "This teacher here is swearing like a sailor. Talking much about keeping the rights of a quality a teacher should have and what not. He must be really shameless considering that he is one himself."Nicole's voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for everyone in the audience to hear it.When Mr. Hardy noticed that it was Nicole, he bellowed, "What right do you have to speak to me? This is all about skills. The Finley brothers have none, and you should remember that!"Zeke, who was still onstage, noticed that Mr. Hardy was going to provoke Nicole once more. He quickly rushed off the stage without an ounce of care for what the host wanted to say."Mr. Hardy!"Noticing that Zeke was coming toward him, Mr. Hardy's pride swelled to astronomical proportions."
While the students of Royal Creek were bummed out, the students of Northon Institute were celebrating. Everyone gathered around Zeke when he returned to his seat."Zeke, why didn't you tell us you were Specter!?""That was one crazy competition!""I heard you've partnered with the number one hacker!""Have you met her in person?"Many in Zeke's entourage bombarded him with question after question. The barrage left him with a headache, and he silently looked at Nicole's direction.'These people are already excited to know that I'm ranked second. If they knew that Nicole is here, wouldn't they all sh*t their pants? I guess Mr. Hardy will be in for it later, Nicole seems to be seething...,' Zeke thought to himself.The competition progressed on, followed up by contestants completing their turns, with more than half being eliminated. On the main seat, Sebastian was spectating the entire competition where he often peered over to look at Nicole from time to time.'This girl seems to
"Won't you just look at who's on my team?" Gary said from the bottom of his heart.Ryder thought that Gary was talking about him, and so, he mustered an affectionate smile. "You jerk. You've finally come to your senses. Don't you worry, I'll do my best to bring you guys to the next round."Gary was stunned as he realized that Ryder had misunderstood what he just said.He was about to explain himself, but Ryder had already put on his pair of earphones, prompting Gary to shake his head and give up on the idea.'I guess it's good for him to regain some of his confidence first,' he thought to himself.Nicole was already by then, casually waiting for the contest to begin.Then, Ryder said, "Even though our opponents aren't from Northon Institute, they're still very capable. So, we can't underestimate them. I'm going to be very aggressive in the beginning. All you guys have to do is support me."Gary looked at Nicole awkwardly. 'It's sad that Ryder still doesn't know what's going on.'