Chapter 5

It took a long time before I finally came back to my senses.

Most of the left side of my body was scraped raw from the ground. The pain, mixed with sweat, drilled straight into my flesh.

However, what was strange was that the car that had just exploded was now standing there intact.

Only the half-open door reminded me that everything had been real, that I had jumped out of it myself.

I clenched my fist, then loosened it.

My girlfriend’s words, “You’ll die,” kept echoing in my mind.

Was it my life, or taking one last gamble for my ideals?

My answer had never changed.

Thinking of that, I immediately called Grayson over to help me with some quick bandaging. Then, despite his attempts to stop me, I limped my way to the hotel.

10.50 p.m.

The organizer’s room was brightly lit, and excited shouts from a card game could be heard inside.

After listening for a moment, I confirmed that Jasper was in there as well.

Had the organizer leaked my data to him?

Only the first time had my car gone through their inspection, though. What about the second and third times?

Thinking further was pointless. I made a decision and knocked on the door.

Seven or eight knocks later, there was still no response.

They didn’t answer calls either.

Left with no choice, I went straight to Jasper’s comment section and called him out publicly.

[Jasper, you changed one set of data three times. Which backer is protecting you this hard? You might as well just ask the organizer to hand you the trophy.]

The internet exploded instantly.

Even though the posts were deleted quickly, screenshots spread everywhere.

But my question wasn’t taken seriously at all. Instead, it was turned into all kinds of memes and circulated widely.

[So you finally realized you’re worse and got anxious? Totally cracked.]

[This guy is hilarious. I’ve never seen someone rush so hard to become a clown. Look, does Jasper even acknowledge you?]

I ignored all of it because the door in front of me finally opened.

The organizer held a laptop, smiling politely. “Jasper only submitted his data once, on the first day of the competition.

“As for you, you’ve taken so long without producing anything. Have you run out of ideas? It’s fine. Go back and practice more. There will be chances in the future.”

Every word he said was immediately uploaded online by Jasper.

Watching the comments scroll past, I knew I truly had nowhere left to retreat.

Fortunately, I had records of every data change.

I immediately pulled out the photos and handed them to the organizer.

He only glanced at them before laughing.

“Three screenshots of a website under maintenance, and that’s your evidence for slandering Jasper?”

Jasper stood there with a confident, assured smile. At some point, he had turned on a livestream, the camera pointed straight at me.

“Finn, are you under too much pressure?

“But accusing me like this won’t make you feel any better, will it?”

I stared at the screen in disbelief.

There really was only a single line: Website under maintenance.

A chill ran down my spine.

I quickly entered his livestream, hoping some quick-handed fans had saved screenshots from earlier.

But there was nothing, only insults.

[Desperate to win? Looks like a plagiarist who couldn’t copy the data in time and started blaming others.]

[This guy is still living in the Stone Age. I can’t believe I used to like him for his skills. Turns out it was probably all hype. Refund!]

[What’s with all that blood on him? Don’t tell me he just started training now?]

My hands trembled so badly that I could barely hold my phone.

However, in their eyes, that only became proof of guilt, and the insults rained down even harder.

The more you tried to hide, the more suspicious you looked.

So I didn’t back down.

I stared straight at the organizer and demanded an explanation. “What can Jasper give you that you’d even crash the website just to protect him? What everyone wants is a fair race!”

At that moment, Jasper smiled considerately.

“Since you insist on thinking this way, why don’t we just wait for the website to be fixed and let everyone see the truth for themselves?”

I couldn’t tell what he was plotting. I ignored him and kept my eyes locked on the organizer.

“All set!”

A technician suddenly walked over with a laptop and turned the screen toward me.

The data Jasper had submitted was unmistakably my latest version!