?Chapter 467:


    Their wager — once a private challenge — had spread like wildfire. It was all anyone could talk about, from ss One to ss Three. Now, the entire grade buzzed with anticipation, waiting to see how it would all unfold.


    As soon as the final bell rang, Ethan wasted no time. He bolted home and tore through his homework with single-minded urgency.


    Maia showed up at Marvelous Garden like clockwork. Today wasn’t just another training session — it was their final prep before the showdown.


    Ethan had sharpened noticeably over the past week. Strategies that once puzzled him now fell into ce, and he had begun to y with the kind of intuition that made Maia, stoic and hard to impress, give the asional nod of approval.


    Just as they wrapped up an intense match, Ethan leaned back to catch his breath. But then his eyes widened, catching something on his phone screen. He pped the table with a loud smack. “Maia! Look at this!”


    “What?” Maia blinked, nearly choking on her water at his sudden shout. She wiped her mouth and leaned toward his phone.


    Ethan pointed at the glowing screen, barely able to contain his excitement. “Look at the leaderboard! The yer in second ce now — it’s someone named Justiceze!”


    Maia’s eyes followed his finger.


    The second-ranked yer had previously trailed far behind the top spot — more than ten points, a chasm few could ever hope to bridge. But now? Justiceze had surged forward, closing the gap to less than two points. It was shocking.


    At this pace, it was only a matter of time before this yer caught up — or even overtook — the reigning number one.


    Maia arched an eyebrow.


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    As one of the game’s original developers, she had never seen anyone reach a tier this close to her own. The realization was both startling and — if she admitted it — strangely thrilling.


    Genius was no casual pastime. It was a brutal, strategy-heavy battleground where every point was a war.


    Especially after entering the top ten, even a one-point difference could signify a huge gap in skill, requiring at least two to three extremely challenging levels with an SSS rating to catch up. Yet, Justiceze had managed to achieve this level.


    “Maia,” Ethan asked, his eyes shining with curiosity, “could this be the same person who spoke up for you on Twitter that time?” The name triggered a flicker of recognition in Maia’s mind.


    “I don’t know,” she said slowly, staring harder at the ID.


    It tugged at her memory with a sense of déjà vu. She had seen it before, somewhere that mattered.


    Ethan sat still, uncertain. But deep down, he doubted anyone else would choose that exact name. Something told him that it had to be the same person.


    After training, once Maia had left, Ethan couldn’t resist. He unlocked his phone and opened Twitter, firing off a message to Justiceze along with a screenshot of the leaderboard. “Is this you?”


    The reply came quickly. “Of course. Impressive, right?”


    Ethan practically bounced in his seat. “So it really is you! Amazing! Are you joining the offline tournament tomorrow?”


    Silence followed.


    A few minutester, a new message appeared. “Are youpeting?”


    Ethan’s fingers moved fast. “Yes! I’m aiming for first ce. But if you show up, then that top spot might be yours instead.”


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