Every year, the people who represented Orient Country in thepetition were either Byron himself or someone close to him. So, eventually, he stopped trying and focused on his research instead.
"If you''re not entering, why did you create a new program for it?" Juniper moved the mouse, and a folder immediately appeared on the desktopbeled "World Programming Competition Entry."
But Tucker had never submitted it. Juniper had secretly taken a look earlier. It was excellent.
"Just for fun." A blush crept up Tucker''s face. He quickly snatched theptop away, feigningposure. "That''s enough for today. You should head to your lecture."
"Oh." Juniper pouted, stood up, and on her way out, her eyes fell on Tucker''s snack box.
Huh? Had Tucker bought a new brand? She didn''t think she''d ever tried that one!
"What are you doing?" Tucker''s guard went up instantly when he saw Juniper slowly shuffling over, her eyes glued to his snacks.
"Just trying one." With lightning speed, Juniper snatched a bag of snacks and grinned at Tucker. "I''ll trade you something else tomorrow."
By the time Tucker realized what had happened, Juniper was already gone.
...
Back in therge lecture hall.
Juniper opened herptop and navigated to the registration website for the Orient Country division of the World Programming Competition. After a few simple clicks, she sessfully submitted Tucker''s work, registering him for thepetition.
As for the judges...
Juniper''s lips curved into a smirk. She exited the registration page and pulled up the list of this year''s judges for the Orient Country division. There weren''t many changes fromst year. Just as Tucker had said, most of them had close ties to Byron.
Next, Juniper began digging into the judges'' financial records and personal lives. A lot of problems surfaced.
Tsk. It''s people like this who ruin the country''s future.
Juniperpiled all the information she found and created a new ount under the alias "A Concerned Citizen." She then bundled everything up and sent it to the national oversight bureau.
Their offenses weren''t minor; the judging panel would definitely be reced. With such a clear warning shot fired, she doubted any new judge would dare to cheat.
Now, all Tucker had to do was wait for the good news.
The first lecture ended. Juniper was resting her head on her desk when a heated discussion broke out among the surrounding students.
"What? This year''s WKL eSports tournament is going to be held in Era City?"
"For real? Do you think Demon willpete this year?"
"Demon''sing back? My idol is ying again?”
"No way! Demon retired two years ago and has never been seen in public since."
"What kind of prayer do I have to say to get Demon to make aeback?"
Demon was the legendary icon of the nation''s top eSports team, the "Neverfall Navigators," who had led the Neverfall Navigators from a small tocal team all the way to the national stage, and eventually to internationalvictory cementing their status as the undisputed kings of eSports in Orient Country.
But then, two years ago, Demon had unexpectedly retired from the team.
Some spected it was due to internal conflicts over money. Others whispered that Demon had betrayed the country taking a huge payout to coach a rival nation''s team.
Because of this, the country''s eSports scene had suffered major setbacks in recent years in a recent professional league match, they had even lost to the neighboring Country of Batonia.
And Batonia was insufferably smug about it, openly boasting that the WKL championship was as good as theirs.
Demon? Juniper, half-asleep, kept hearing the name whispered around her. She suddenly jolted awake. "Who the hell keeps calling my name? Will you give it a rest?"
The students in the middle of their fervent discussion stared at her, bewildered and a little hurt.
"No one," Hattie stammered, startled. "No one was calling you, Goddess. They were talking about the eSports legend, Demon."
Juniper froze, an indescribable expression on her face.
Oh, well, awkward. Because Demon also happened to be her.