The entire hall fell silent. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on her, stunned.


    What did she just say? Did they hear that right? This teenage girl had the audacity to im she was Miss Null? It was the most absurd joke they had heard all century.


    “Huh?” Tucker pushed his sses up his nose, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at Juniper in disbelief. Juniper was iming to be Miss Null? It was all a mess. But then again, he had to admit, there was a faint resemnce between Juniper and his master. Was this girl really trying to impersonate Miss Null?


    "You im to be Miss Null?" The judges exchanged nces, and after a few seconds, incredulous smiles appeared on their faces. They weren''t shocked that Miss Null might be alive; they were shocked that someone could be so foolish as to impersonate her in front of the entire international programmingmittee. What a fool!


    Byron couldn''t hold it in any longer and burst outughing. One of them giarizes Miss Null, and the other impersonates her. Truly, like master, like student.


    "Yes, I am Miss Null," Juniper repeated calmly, standing her ground.


    Herpleteck of nervousness threw the judges for a loop.


    “Miss Null died three years ago," one of them stated tly. “The news of her death was everywhere. Youngdy, I understand you''re with Tucker. But when you''ve done something wrong, you admit it. Don''t make things worse. Please leave. We have important matters to attend to."


    The judge had no more patience to waste on them. They had a chance to get the trophy back, and they were going to take it.


    "Indeed," Juniper said, not moving an inch. A casual smirk touched her lips. “I have no idea who started that rumor about my death. But if you want to know if I''m an imposter, why don''t you just let me prove it?"


    The judges frowned at her. "And how would you do that?" one asked warily.


    "I just need aputer." Juniper kept her hands in her pockets, her stance casual


    and rxed. With the lollipop she''d had earlier, she looked more like a curious bystander than a central figure in a major controversy.


    "You''re revoking Tucker''s award


    because you suspect the programming methods he used were inspired by Miss Null''s work," she continued So, ift can prove that Tam Miss Nut, this whole problem will be solved, correct?"


    "Of course," a judge responded immediately, certain that this young girl couldn''t


    possibly be the programming prodigy.


    Three years ago, a fifteen-year-old


    girl had stormed the World Programming Competition,peting under a neutral banner. She had dressed as a boy, and the presentations of her work were al pre recorded in a private room. Fewer than ten people had ever seen her face. She had blitzed through every round to win the


    championship with her breathtaking programming skills.


    But strangely, after seeing the final rankings, she had slipped out through a window, leaving the trophy behind. Themittee had tried everything to contact and recruit


    her, but she never budged. Then came the news of her death.


    This girl in front of them was supposedly a freshman at Era University. Did someone with Miss Null''s skills even need to atten university to studyputer science? She could teach the judges on thismittee a thing or two.