Chapter 3

I stared at Daniel's face. He didn't look like he was lying.

However, the name of that vocational college was clearly displayed on the computer screen.

I let out a cold laugh. "You expect me to believe you?"

He grabbed my arm, panic creeping into his voice. "We grew up together. No matter how stupid I might be, I would never do something that cruel to you!"

I yanked my arm free and slammed my palm against the table. "Then why does the system say it's a vocational college?!"

Daniel opened his mouth, his face growing paler by the second.

"That can't be... It can't be..." he muttered, then suddenly seemed to remember something.

He hurriedly pulled out his phone and searched through it.

A few seconds later, he thrust the screen in front of me.

It showed a screenshot of his chat with Megan.

My college application page was visible in the screenshot. Under my first choice, it clearly read: [Caldwell University. Last modified at 11:06 p.m.]

The system had shown the last modification time as 11:39 p.m. the previous night.

The changes were 33 minutes apart.

My heart jolted. In that instant, I finally understood what had happened in my previous life.

After I reported the incident to the police, I'd seen a flash of guilt cross Megan's face.

However, when she learned that I'd been accepted into a vocational college, she'd visibly relaxed. She'd seemed completely at ease.

Thus, that was what had happened. She had asked Daniel to change my college preferences, and he had changed my first choice to Caldwell.

But afterward, someone else had altered my preferences a second time!

I'd thought I'd found the culprit, only to discover that the truth was far more terrifying than I'd imagined.

Who was the person who truly wanted to destroy me?

After leaving the convenience store, I began frantically suspecting everyone around me.

My school advisor?

He had access to all the students' application information. Maybe he'd secretly written down my password. Even so, that made no sense. He had no grudge against me.

A distant relative? That uncle who always made snide comments at family gatherings about how there was no point in a girl getting so much education?

One of my parents' coworkers?

Maybe Mrs. Wilson, who was always comparing her child to me and would turn livid every time her kid lost to me.

...

I sat on the edge of my bed, hugging my knees as I went over every detail from both my previous life and this one again and again.

There wasn't a single clue. Not one piece of evidence pointed to anyone.

The person who truly wanted to destroy me seemed like a shadow, leaving behind not the slightest trace.

I stayed awake the entire night, guarding the computer and refreshing the application page from time to time, terrified that someone would alter my preferences again.

Thankfully, nothing happened that night.

June 29 was the final day to submit applications for the first round of undergraduate admissions.

If I could just make it until 5:00 p.m. that afternoon, the application window would close, and nothing could be changed anymore.

…

The next morning, I hurriedly swallowed a few bites of breakfast before rushing back to my room.

I opened the application system.

I clicked Refresh.

The moment the screen updated, the blood in my veins turned to ice.

In the application section, my first choice had once again been changed to that vocational college.

Someone had changed my application again!

The modification had happened just one minute ago.

My entire body trembled, and I could barely breathe.

Who was this person?

The first time, both Daniel and this person had known my password.

But I'd already changed it. So how? How could they keep altering my college preferences over and over again?

I could no longer control the fear rising inside me.

I grabbed my phone and called the police. "I need to report a crime! Someone illegally changed my college application!"

…

I rushed into the police station with my computer clutched in my arms.

In the interview room, I sat in a chair, still trembling all over.

The officer across from me spoke calmly and opened his notebook. "Take it slowly. Tampering with someone's college application is a serious matter. We'll investigate it thoroughly."

I took a deep breath and told him everything.

Daniel had logged in with my initial password and changed my first choice to Caldwell University.

Afterward, a third person had changed Caldwell to the vocational college.

I'd changed my password in the middle of the night, only to wake up and discover that someone had changed my application back to the vocational college again.

"I'll open the system right now and show you the evidence!"

My hands trembled as I opened my computer and logged into the application system. It took me three attempts to enter my new password correctly.