Messing With Her? Are You Crazy! novel Chapter 1274

"Impossible... this is completely impossible!" Phelps hissed, his eyes bloodshot with rage.

He grasped desperately for excuses. "It was just a fluke. The algorithms must have favored their specific niches."

"They won't survive the next round. Their luck is going to run dry!"

But despite his frantic rationalizations.

His eyes drifted to the feed showing the eliminated international prodigies, who were visibly unraveling.

Some were already choking up, dropping their heads into their hands in utter devastation.

Watching the global elite having their egos entirely pulverized by Elyndor's "cannon fodder."

A cold sweat broke out across Phelps's forehead.

...

Following a brief intermission.

The tournament advanced to round two.

This phase was designed to be significantly more brutal.

It was a Strategic Sandbox Simulation, framed as an all-out offensive and defensive siege.

Competitors were required to construct their nation's Data Defense Perimeter from scratch within their isolated zones.

While building their walls, they were also permitted to exploit and assault the vulnerabilities in rival models.

It was a delicate balance of offense and defense.

If you breached an opponent's firewall, you plundered their entire Phase One score and eliminated them instantly.

It was a digital bloodbath, ruthless and unforgiving.

But the most critical element of the Sandbox Simulation was that it elevated the stakes beyond individual survival.

It transformed into a national battleground.

Because while each student defended their own terminal, the incoming attacks would invariably stem from hostile foreign competitors.

Every victory or defeat fed directly into their country's aggregate standing.

The atmosphere in the arena shifted the second the timer started.

Gone was the sterile, academic vibe of Phase One; the air now crackled with hostility.

The rival nations had reached an unspoken, lethal consensus to focus fire entirely on the Elyndor terminals.

Based on the sheer density of the payload, no less than fifty international prodigies were simultaneously battering Elyndor's gates.

Elyndor's structural integrity metrics began plummeting violently.

The entire arena erupted in shock.

Elyndorian supporters, both in the stands and watching live back home, shot to their feet in sheer panic.

Even the Elyndorian officials in the VIP gallery turned rigid with dread.

Chaos consumed the spectator stands.

"What's going on? Why is Elyndor taking all the heat at launch?"

"This is insane! They're getting gang-rushed straight out of the gate!"

"This has to be a premeditated slaughter!"

"It's a completely blatant witch hunt!"

"They flew too close to the sun in Phase One. The tall poppy gets cut down. It looks like the rest of the world has decided Elyndor needs to be entirely erased from the board."