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.'
Ryder was all set to begin his invasion as he was about to signal Nicole and Gary to back him up. However, it was then that he realized that Nicole was already a few steps ahead of him! Suddenly, Nicole had taken the lead!Ryder was shocked. "Nicole! What are you doing? Don't act rashly!"Gary looked at him awkwardly and thought to himself. 'Does he still think that he's the best among us?'Nicole swept her gaze across Ryder. "I don't really like these three people. Just sit there and catch a break.""What?!" Ryder was stunned. 'What does she mean? Did she just ask us to do nothing in this team battle?'However, Gary did not listen to her. He could not just sit there and do nothing when he finally had the chance to work with his idol."No way. Nicole, please tell me what to do. I'd like to help you!" he protested.Hearing that, Ryder had no idea what was going on. "Gary, what are you doing?"'Is he cracking a joke? Why does he wish to back Nicole up?!' he wondered.Gary looked
Ryder asked with a curious look on his face without stopping what he was doing. He began cooperating with Nicole, using the data from his analysis of the master hacker's style, and... it actually worked!'God, what's happening!?' he asked himself.Gary turned around and looked at Ryder. "Have you only gotten to know about this now? How dim-witted of you."Ryder widened his eyes as soon as he heard what Gary had said. "No way... H-how is this possible?"As it turned out, Ryder and Gary had been looking up to the same person. They had also been trying very hard to learn and analyze their techniques, and that person...was one of the best hackers in the world!Ryder could not believe that the person in question was in their school, let alone sitting beside them."I thought so too. I feel like I'm dreaming!" Gary mused as he supported Nicole passionately.Ryder could not help but look at Nicole curiously after noting the excited look on Gary's face.Suddenly, he felt as though he co
Gary and Ryder looked very thrilled.Ryder thought that they could only win by way of a meticulous plan, but unexpectedly, Nicole had actually secured the victory for them in just about ten minutes.By then, he was even more convinced of who she was. 'Nicole... is Lucifer!'He looked at Nicole as he thought about that, and his eyes lit up a little.However, the only thing Nicole did was look at them and said, "Not bad."Gary smiled. "Won't you look at who our leader is!?"It was then that Ryder finally realized that Gary's praise was for Nicole, not him.He could not believe that he had actually thought that he was better than Nicole.Scratching his head awkwardly, he asked, "Gary, why didn't you tell me about her real identity earlier?!"Ryder felt extremely humiliated as he had repeatedly embarrassed himself, and it was all because Gary had concealed the truth from him.Gary smiled. "I only knew about it today. Nicole's identity is a secret. I couldn't tell you about it if
Zeke was at a loss for words, and there, he gave up on the idea of telling Mr. Hardy the truth.Even though he knew that his chances of winning were not high, Mr. Hardy was right. He was representing Northon Institute.'It seems that I've got to be serious this time,' he concluded."I got it, Mr. Hardy," Zeke said.Mr. Hardy heaved a sigh of relief when he had finally received some reassurance from Zeke's eyes. "Do your best if that's the case. Don't let me down."However, Zeke sighed after hearing Mr. Hardy's words.He had started out hacking for fun, and he was not expecting pressure like this at all.Undoubtedly, Nicole had gained a lot of attention after her performance at the semi-finals, so much so that even Rowdon became a little curious. 'The way she codes looks really familiar...'However, he did not dare to think any further than that. He had already met a master in Zeke, and he could not afford to go up against another genius in this contest.Rowdon then took a deep
Zeke did not look as laid-back as last year anymore. Instead, he became very serious.On the contrary... Nicole was smiling faintly without moving her hands, looking very unperturbed.Mr. Zach's heart dropped upon seeing that."Nicole... hurry up!" he reminded Nicole softly.However, Nicole was not feeling nervous at all. Instead, she began observing her opponents' progress.Ryder and Gary, who were working in peace, had switched to the mode of attacking their opponents aggressively. Because they knew who Nicole was, they decided to give the battle their all. Even though they could never be a match for her, it was an honor for them to be able to compete alongside their idol!Nicole swept her gaze across them and teased, "You guys are too slow."A cold chuckle issued from her, and that was when she started typing away on her keyboard. Lines of codes began appearing on her screen, and the flow of the game changed at an instant.The nine finalists were supposed to be battling one
Such an invasion had left her opponent no way to fight back. Even the host had never seen such an intense competition before. "In our past competitions, most people just crashed their opponents' computers. This is the first time someone has blacked out their opponent's computer directly."The atmosphere was exhilarating! Just as the host and the crowd were cheering, Gary could not hold on any longer and shouted, "I can't take it anymore!"Immediately, his computer blacked out. However, unlike others, his face showed no sense of defeat. Instead, he felt a sense of satisfaction. "Sheesh! This match was spectacular!" Gary exclaimed. He finally fulfilled his long-awaited dream to compete until he was worn out while taking on his idol. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, Gary turned to look at Ryder.Ryder was typing very intensely and quickly on the keyboard. His forehead was littered with sweat too. However, he was doomed to failure with no power to turn the tables. After two minutes, Ry