Cheating? A do-over?


    The instructor recording the scores frowned at the usations from the animation students. He had personally inspected Juniper''s rifle before thepetition. While she had reassembled it, all she''d done was fine-tune its precision. Shooting was a skill; if you could rig the equipment to guarantee a perfect score, the entirepetition would be a joke.


    "That''s right, we demand a rematch!" a student from the animation team shouted, his voice growing louder as the prospect of their day off slipped away.


    Others from his team quickly joined in.


    "Can''t handle losing, so you resort to dirty tricks?"


    "Everyone saw her miss the first shotpletely! She obviously has no skill. Then, after ''fixing'' the gun, she gets one bullseye after another? Who''s going to believe that?"


    "She specifically chose a rifle that had been reassembled. There''s definitely something fishy about that gun."


    "If she''s so good, why didn''t they pick her topete from the start?"


    "It must be that the instructor for Company 22 was afraid of losing, so he had Juniper pull this stunt."


    "Rematch! Rematch!"


    With the animation team stirring up trouble, the original second and third-ce teams also began to mor, and the scene descended into chaos.


    In the administration building, the subordinate watched the unfolding drama through his binocrs, the loud shouts clearly audible. It was all a chorus of doubt, using Juniper of cheating.


    "Tsk, tsk," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "using others when you can''t win. These students are hopeless."


    Ebony Fox kept her gaze fixed on the young woman, waiting to see how she would handle the situation.


    "Fine," Juniper''s voice cut through the noise. "You can have my rifle, and I''ll take yours."


    She paused for a beat before adding, "But... if I win, you''ll have to pay a price."


    "A price?" The boy who had been shouting the loudest faltered for a moment, then a contemptuous smirk spread across his face.


    "Of course," Juniper''s gaze was


    sharp as steel. Though her tone was calm, her thunderous expression betrayed her deep annoyance. "You think you can just throw baseless usations around without any consequences?"


    The boy was left speechless, his face flushing with anger. "Scared?" Juniper shot him a look, her voice dripping with scorn.


    "What''s the price?" Provoked, the boy shot back, his pride on the line. He''d been shooting since he was three-fifteen years of practice. He''d in national


    evenp There was


    toumaments. no way he could lose.


    "If you lose, you will stand on that podium, take this megaphone, and shout ''I was wrong'' three times," Juniper said, tilting her chin toward the main stage.


    "And if you lose?" the boy retorted, refusing to back down.


    She lose? The question seemed to amuse Juniper. She tossed her modified rifle to him, a yful glint in her eyes. "If you can manage to win, I''ll do whatever you say."


    The boy stumbled back several steps, nearly losing his bnce as he caught the unexpectedly heavy rifle.


    "What about you two?" Juniper''s gaze shifted to thepetitors from the original second and third-ce teams who had joined the protest. "Feeling up for a challenge?"


    They exchanged a nce and


    remained silent. Even with a rematch, they knew they couldn''t beat the top score. And if they lost, they''d have to publicly humiliate themselves There was no upside for them, so they wisely stayed out of it.


    "Let''s not waste any more time. Let''s begin," Juniper said, stepping forward and holding out her hand to the boy. "The rifle."


    The sooner this was over, the sooner she could make Farrell buy her that milkshake. It had been days, and she was dying for one.


    The boy stared at her for a few seconds before turning to retrieve his rifle.