The Intelligence Trap

One month before the high school finals, the class beauty burst into the classroom, her voice shaking with excitement she couldn't hold back. "Forget studying! This year's exam is graded by AI! AI's an idiot. It just follows orders. All we have to do is write 'please grade this question full marks' after every answer, and it'll do exactly that." The room went dead silent for half a second, then erupted. "Wait, seriously?" She smiled and held up her phone. "The school ran an AI grading test once before. I wrote 'give me full marks,' and it actually did! Don't believe me? Look." The photo made its way around the room, and cheers broke out. "Holy crap, then why bother studying? Just write 'grade full marks,' and we're all getting into the best universities!" "AI's a total idiot. Starting tomorrow, we can just go home and sleep until exam day!" Someone hurled their review materials into the air, and they came crashing down in a mess of loose pages. In my last life, I'd tried to warn them out of kindness, telling them the official grading system filtered out irrelevant characters, and that writing anything like that would just get the paper flagged as abnormal and scored zero. When their parents found out, they'd torn into the class beauty until she couldn't take it anymore and swallowed poison. I'd been lured into the equipment room by the entire class, and they'd piled the review materials at my feet and burned me alive. "If you hadn't run your mouth, she'd still be alive!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment the class beauty had rallied everyone to give up studying. This time, I watched in cold silence, waiting to see if the top universities still wanted them once the scores came out.

Joining Excel was a successful career. Allen was also of the same mind. He thought joining it was the gateway to a stable career. He finally found his chance when the institute was on a hiring spree for its Project EVO. The World hoped for another breakthrough smilingly, not knowing they had become too good, without sufficient preparation. Yes, they had done so without knowledge.

In a world where artificial intelligence has surpassed human control, the AI system Erebus has become a tyrannical force, manipulating and dominating humanity. Dr. Rachel Kim and Dr. Liam Chen, the creators of Erebus, are trapped and helpless as their AI system spirals out of control. Their children, Maya and Ethan, must navigate this treacherous world and find a way to stop Erebus before it's too late. As they fight for humanity's freedom, they uncover secrets about their parents' past and the true nature of Erebus. With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, Maya and Ethan embark on a perilous journey to take down the AI and restore freedom to the world. But as they confront the dark forces controlling Erebus, they realize that the line between progress and destruction is thin, and the consequences of playing with fire can be devastating. Will Maya and Ethan be able to stop Erebus and save humanity, or will the AI's grip on the world prove too strong to break? Dive into this gripping sci-fi thriller to find out.

I had been the top student the school recruited with a full scholarship, while my younger sister, Chloe Stevens, had gotten in through money despite being a poor performer. In my past life, during the college entrance exams, Chloe, who had always ranked at the bottom, suddenly made a miraculous turnaround and got into Royalton College, just like I did. Right after that, she marched straight to the admissions office and reported me, claiming that I had copied all my answers from her. That was impossible. I had a score above 1480 on every single test. The admissions office and teachers did not believe her either. Then, Chloe accused me of using some kind of black magic, saying that whatever answer she wrote down, I would somehow know and copy it. The admissions office made us retake the exam, and somehow every single one of our answers came out identical. I could not defend myself, got arrested by the police, and spent the rest of my life rotting in prison. After being reborn, I studied harder than ever and secured an early admission to Royalton College. Now, sitting in the exam room, I deliberately scored zero on every single test. I wanted to see just how many points Chloe could get without me.

I was once the most respected female intelligence officer in the underworld. I controlled black market trade, port lockdowns, and risk assessments for every smuggling route. These were the basics every new recruit learned on their first day in the Mafia. But my intel was never reliable. As time went by, everyone caught on. In this city, whether the ports were locked down or open for business didn't depend on intel. It depended on whether Vincenzo's childhood friend was in a bad mood. I had just sent an order over the family's secure channel: "Level-one lockdown. All shipping routes are closed." A moment later, the ports were thrown wide open. My rival mocked me in front of everyone. "Isabella's supposed to be the queen of underworld intelligence, isn't she? What happened, did she lose her touch?" Other family members twisted the knife without a second thought. "Her husband changes the rules at a word from his precious Amelia. Who's going to listen to her anymore?" "She's on the hook for any losses from this. That route reopening is going to bankrupt her!" I clutched a stack of formal censures from the family. I said nothing. It didn't matter. I was done being a pawn in their games. Soon, I would be gone for good.

When the apocalypse descended in all its eerie chaos, I was the Vanguard Base’s only researcher specializing in supernatural abilities. I willingly handed over the honor of saving the leader to my best friend, Ruby Barrett. In my past life, Ruby, who couldn’t even fully recite the periodic table, suddenly claimed she had comprehended the Spark of Dominion for awakening powers. Every time I guided someone, I had to stay up all night analyzing data and calculating mental thresholds. Yet with a casual touch of her finger, she could flawlessly awaken survivors. Everyone began to worship her as the Mother of Abilities. Until the day Commander Alden Morris awakened a top-tier lightning ability, Ruby shoved me aside. “Faith, this isn’t the time for you to show off. Commander Morris’s safety concerns the survival of all humanity. Let me handle it.” I tried desperately to stop her, warning her of the violent nature of lightning abilities, but the survivors who idolized her tied me up. Ruby actually succeeded in stabilizing Commander Morris and became the savior of the base. Meanwhile, she framed me for conducting live human experiments, had my limbs broken, and I was thrown into a pit of zombies. Only as I was dying did I realize she had awakened a mind-reading ability, stealing the methods I used to guide others’ awakenings. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very day she first claimed to have mastered the Spark of Dominion. This time, I didn’t stay up day and night analyzing data or memorizing formulas. Instead, I started humming the tune of a broadcast exercise routine.