Chapter 234

Those who once claimed on the tech forum that Shermaine was just riding on her team’s coattails were now eating their words. She didn’t need a team. She was the team. Under the spotlight, Shermaine shone with undeniable brilliance. Clad in a sleek black dress, she stood tall, exuding effortless elegance and a commanding presence that made it clear she was born to lead. Her new fans were practically beside themselves with excitement. They couldn’t get enough of her unapologetic confidence. It was downright magnetic. Meanwhile, Kylie’s fanbase wasn’t taking the loss well.

This was defeat number two. And all they could do now was hope there wouldn’t be a third. If there was, all the mocking posts they’d thrown at Boa on the tech forum would come back to bite them hard. To make matters worse, Shermaine’s latest comment had rubbed some of the more self-important Moranta contestants the wrong way. The moment she made that proud, unflinching remark, hostility toward her surged, and Kylie, in particular, was fuming. She hadn’t come all this way to watch Shermaine walk away with all the glory. Her target was clear: first place in the individual round. ‘Fine, you got lucky in the team match,’ Kylie sneered inwardly. ‘But there’s no way you’re taking this one. Dream on, Shermaine.’ In the academic round earlier, Kylie had barely scraped a 90, just enough to meet the Al system’s passing threshold. It was a topic she didn’t specialize in, but since she had time, she stepped up. Honestly, she’d felt lucky to pass at all. But Shermaine had scored a 98. And that topic wasn’t even her area of expertise either. A perfect paper in a weak subject wasn’t just luck. That was suspicious. ‘No way she pulled that off without help. Digging through research papers? Gathering data? Please, she probably had someone feeding her the answers. If I couldn’t do it, how could she?’ Kylie’s thoughts spiraled, trying to make sense of it.

The host gave a knowing smile. “Up next, our individual knockout round. Let’s see who rises to the top!” As it turned out, just like Shermaine had predicted, she wasn’t leaving without that winner’s prize. The individual round was even more grueling than the team match. Players first had to draw a question from the S-level pool, then move up to SS and even SSS-level questions. And if they failed to solve the prompt within the time limit, they were out. It was the ultimate test, not just of intelligence and preparation, but of sheer luck. A single question from a weak subject could end it all. Above the expo center’s transparent ceiling, the night sky stretched wide. Stars glittered in clusters, a silver ribbon of stardust winding across the heavens, beautiful, electric, and timeless. But there was no time to pause and admire the view. There’d be no intermission, and the individual round began immediately. Twenty platinum-level experts took their seats. Before each of them sat a high-end workstation, and as the system prompted them to draw their questions, tension filled the air.

Shermaine didn’t even blink. She clicked to draw. As a woman with the kind of luck that could win her a car in a mall raffle, she ended up with one of the easiest problems in the S-level pool, one that also happened to be right in her wheelhouse. She glanced at the screen, then her fingers danced across the keys. Her speed was unreal. Within minutes, she’d submitted her answer. Bored of waiting, she casually opened up Minesweeper. The audience, along with everyone watching the live stream, watched her leisurely play the game on the big screen, stunned, and frankly, impressed. By the time she cleared her board, Round Ten had ended. Three contestants had been eliminated.