The glow of Ethan's laptop cast long shadows across the walls of his room. It was past midnight, and the city outside had gone quiet, save for the occasional rumble of a distant train. Isabelle had gone home hours ago, leaving behind a sketchbook filled with UI refinements and a note that simply read: "Don't forget to sleep."
But Ethan couldn't sleep. Not yet.
StudySync's user base had grown to 23 testers—students from different schools, each recruited through flyers, forums, and whispered recommendations. The feedback was rolling in. Most of it was encouraging. Some of it was confusing. And one report was... wrong.
He stared at the bug log.
Bug Report #017
Issue: Timer auto-resets after 12 minutes
Device: Android 4.1
User: Anonymous
Ethan frowned. That wasn't possible. The timer was hardcoded to run in 25-minute intervals unless manually adjusted. There was no auto-reset function. He opened the source file, combed through the logic, and found something he hadn't written.
A single line of code, buried deep in the timer module:
if (elapsedTime == 720) { resetTimer(); }
Twelve minutes. 720 seconds.
He hadn't written that.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard. He checked the commit history. Nothing. No timestamp. No author tag. It was as if the line had been inserted manually, outside the version control system.
[System Alert: Code Anomaly Detected]
Origin: External
Risk Level: Moderate
Suggested Action: Investigate Source
Ethan's pulse quickened. Someone had tampered with the code. Not a tester. Not Isabelle. Someone with access. Someone who knew what they were doing.
He opened the System's Rival Tracker.
User #0461 — Kaito Murase
Status: Active
Assets: ¥3.1M
Ventures: 5
Influence Radius: Expanding
Recent Activity: Unknown
Could it be him?
Kaito had made it clear they were playing the same game. But Ethan hadn't expected sabotage. He'd assumed competition meant outbuilding, outthinking—not infiltration.
He scanned the rest of the codebase. Another anomaly appeared in the reward module—a conditional that blocked point accumulation if the user logged a negative mood. That wasn't part of their design. Isabelle had insisted on neutrality. No punishment. No bias.
Ethan deleted the lines, recompiled the app, and pushed a silent update to all devices.
Then he sat back and stared at the screen.
[System Update: Threat Response Logged]
New Module Unlocked: Code Integrity Monitor
Status: Passive
Function: Detect unauthorized changes, trace origin
The interface shimmered, and a new tab appeared—clean, minimal, with a single blinking alert.
Suspicious Access Point: IP Range — Sapporo East Campus Network
Ethan's breath caught. That was Kaito's school.
He leaned forward, heart pounding. This wasn't just rivalry. This was intrusion. And it meant Kaito wasn't just watching.
He was interfering.
The next morning, Ethan met Isabelle at the café. She was already sketching, her fingers smudged with graphite, her eyes tired but focused.
"You look like you didn't sleep," she said.
"I didn't," Ethan replied. "We had a breach."
She froze. "What kind of breach?"
"Code injection. Someone added logic to the timer and reward modules. Tried to sabotage the app."
Isabelle's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"I think it's Kaito Murase."
She leaned back, processing. "Why would he do that?"
"Because he's not building something. He's playing to win."
Isabelle was quiet for a moment. Then she closed her sketchbook. "We need to protect the code. Encrypt the modules. Lock the commits."
"I already started," Ethan said. "But we also need to be careful. If he's watching, he knows our pace. Our features. Our users."
She nodded. "Then we move faster."
[System Update: Venture Status — Defensive Mode Activated]
Suggested Action: Secure Infrastructure, Limit Exposure
Risk: Elevated
Reward: Rival Suppression Bonus
Ethan dismissed the prompt. He didn't care about bonuses. He cared about building something that couldn't be broken.
They spent the rest of the day rewriting key modules, encrypting sensitive logic, and setting up alerts for unauthorized access. Isabelle designed a new onboarding flow that masked user data and randomized session logs. Ethan built a firewall around the app's backend, using techniques he remembered from his first life—techniques that hadn't even been invented yet.
By evening, StudySync was stronger. Smarter. Safer.
But Ethan knew this was just the beginning.
Kaito had made his move.
Now it was Ethan's turn.