You Mocked Me I’m The One You Fear Chapter 05
“Exactly. HIDE-AND-SEEK tore through simulated nodes from dozens of top security labs in a closed cyber range in six hours, then shut itself down.”
“My professor still studies samples from that test. Says the attack chain didn’t look like something a student could have written.”
“Too bad G’s account only showed up once and disappeared after that.”
Something flickered across Damian’s face.
Then he smiled again.
“If G is real, put them in a chair. Otherwise, I’m done hearing about it.”
Each sentence landed harder than the last.
A guy in the stands raked a hand through his hair.
“Come on. Seriously, there’s nobody? We just have to sit here and listen to this?”
The person beside him stared at the screen.
“Throwing some random competitor up there would only make it worse. We don’t need courage. We need someone good enough.”
“Yeah, but we can’t just sit here while he humiliates us.”
I stood at the entrance and listened to Damian keep going.
Westbridge was coasting on reputation, he said.
Not one person at the school was good enough to stand across from him.
I closed my eyes.
Grandpa, sometimes silence stops being restraint.
Sometimes it becomes permission.
I couldn’t keep letting G disappear.
I held out a hand to the nearest staff member.
“Can I borrow that?”
He blinked, then gave me the microphone.
I lifted it.
“They’re disguising probes as normal requests, and you’re accepting everything. Your perimeter’s already been bypassed. Core privileges are gone.”
I looked toward the Westbridge consoles.
“And you’re still waiting for a traffic alert. What, do you need them to send you a business card?”
No one spoke.
I pulled off my headphones and walked toward the main console.
“Move. I’ll do it.”
The Westbridge competitors nearest the stage looked up in disbelief.
Vanessa stared at me for two full seconds before finding her voice.
“Maya, hearing a few terms in the team room doesn’t mean you can compete at this level.”
Her tone rose.
“This is not the time to prove something. Don’t make this harder for everyone.”
The audience came out of its stunned pause in a rush of whispers.
“I thought someone real was stepping up.”
“She’s going to make Westbridge look even worse.”
“If she can’t compete, why is she doing this?”
I ignored them and kept walking.
Vanessa grabbed my arm hard enough for her nails to dig into my skin.
“Emergency substitutions are allowed, but you still have to pass competition verification. You either have to be registered this season or have recognized competition history, public vulnerability contributions, or a verified research record.”
She leaned closer.
“Your name isn’t even on Westbridge’s roster. What exactly are you planning to verify with?”
I pulled my arm free and sat down at the empty station.
Damian laughed out loud.
“Westbridge is this desperate? You’re pulling spectators onto the stage now?”
He leaned toward his mic.
“When she fails verification, this is going to be embarrassing for everyone.”
Vanessa’s voice went sharp.
“Maya, if you want to compete with me, fine. But don’t use an official match as your personal stage.”
Ethan lowered his voice, anger barely contained.
“Maya, you cannot drag our private problems into this. Get down.”
I didn’t look at either of them.
I entered a username.
A password.
The arena screen blinked.
A translucent profile icon appeared beside two lines of text.
ID: G
VERIFIED CONTRIBUTOR: G
COMPETITION CREDENTIAL: ACTIVE
The noise vanished from the arena as if someone had cut the power.
Damian’s smile disappeared.
Vanessa and Ethan stood absolutely still.
I settled my hands over the keyboard.
“From this point on,” I said, “you’re up against me.”