I Shut Down Her Cheat System

Just before the college entrance exam, I accidentally overheard my cousin's inner thoughts and discovered that she'd bound herself to a system that stole the rewards of my hard work. The harder I studied, the higher her scores soared. "Ella, all your hard work is worthless compared to my natural talent!" Little did she know that I had a system of my own, one that could shut hers down on the day of the exam. Chapter 1 Wendy Anderson, our college exam prep teacher, stood at the front of the classroom and praised my cousin, Millie Fitzgerald, with undisguised pride. "Once again, the top scorer on our third college entrance practice exam is Millie, with an impressive score of 678! Keep it up, Millie! "At this rate, you'll have no trouble getting into Hargrave or Westbridge!" Meanwhile, the moment her gaze fell on me, her expression turned cold, and her eyes filled with contempt. "Of course, someone else has been just as consistent as ever. Still dead last! "Ella, you never cease to amaze me! You scored 3 in math? That's barely above the minimum! I'd be too embarrassed to tell anyone if I were you! "Why don't you go lay bricks for a living? At least then you wouldn't drag down the class average! "You and Millie are cousins, yet you're worlds apart! One of you is up in the clouds, while the other is down in the gutter!" Wendy continued her tirade before angrily flinging my exam paper at my face to vent her frustration. My classmates wasted no time joining in the mockery. "I'm dead! 3? That's practically the lowest score possible! I could fill in random answers and probably score 30!" "Poor Millie! Imagine having a cousin like her. I'd be embarrassed to have someone like that in my family!" "She's got the brains of a pig and can't even pass a test! What makes her think she'd be any good at laying bricks? Give me a break!" Utterly mortified, I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear. Wendy spent a full 10 minutes humiliating me. Only after she finally grew tired of berating me did she allow me to return to my seat. Relieved that the ordeal was over, I picked up my exam paper and turned to leave the front of the classroom. Before I could walk away, Millie spoke up with a faint, amused smile. "Come on, everyone. Don't be so hard on my cousin! Sure, she only scored 3 in math, but that just means she has plenty of room for improvement. "Besides, she seems to work pretty hard. She often studies until midnight at home, and she even memorizes things while walking around..." Millie deliberately emphasized the words "3 in math" and "work pretty hard." Her remarks immediately drew everyone's attention back to me. Wendy raised an eyebrow in contempt. "She works hard? Please! I'd say she's just pretending to!" My classmates burst into even louder laughter, and their cruel remarks rang in my ears. "Exactly! If she really worked that hard, how could she score so poorly?" "3? Of course she's got plenty of room for improvement!" ... My face burned with humiliation, and a deep sense of injustice welled up inside me. I wasn't pretending to work hard. I paid attention in every class and took meticulous notes without fail. While everyone else ate, I worked through practice problems. While they rested, I memorized vocabulary. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I could never seem to earn a high score. Every time I took an exam, I felt confident that I'd done well. When I estimated my score afterward, I was always certain I'd earned at least 630. But my actual results were always a crushing disappointment. At first, I suspected the teachers had graded my papers incorrectly. Yet the handwriting on every paper was unmistakably mine. Worse still, after each exam, my mind would go completely blank. I couldn't remember what I'd written or even which questions I'd answered. Over time, I began to doubt my own abilities. I even wondered whether I was under some kind of curse. Desperate to ward off any evil influence, I'd even visited a temple to pray, but nothing had worked. Just when I was at my wit's end, I unexpectedly heard Millie's voice. 'Lol, that idiot Ella still has no idea! I've bound myself to the Reap the Rewards system! The harder she works, the higher my scores get! I hope she works even harder!' I froze and whipped my head around to stare at Millie. Her lips hadn't moved at all! Then what I'd just heard... could that have been her inner voice? Chapter 2 "Why can I hear her thoughts? And what exactly is the Reap the Rewards system?' I muttered. As I struggled to make sense of it all, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly echoed in my mind. [Ding! Harm detected. The Shield System has been activated. Once the user binds to this system, it will block harm caused by other systems and protect the user's rights and interests.] "The Shield System? Block harm?" As the system explained its functions, I finally began to understand what had been happening to me. It turned out that Millie had bound herself to the Reap the Rewards system. During every exam, she could siphon points from our combined scores and leave me with whatever remained. To keep me from suspecting anything, she'd used the system to erase my memories of each exam. That explained why I could never remember the questions afterward. Worse still, the harder I studied, the more points she gained, which meant even higher scores for her. All my hard work had done nothing but pave the way for her success! It was no wonder Millie, who barely ever studied, always managed to score so highly. Her grades kept improving with every exam, and she constantly broke her own records. I'd genuinely believed she was naturally gifted. I'd even envied her intelligence. But now I knew the truth. She was nothing but a thief who'd stolen the fruits of my hard work! Fury surged through me at the realization. Just as I was about to lose my temper, the system spoke again. [Host, would you like to bind to this system?] Without a moment's hesitation, I agreed to bind myself to the Shield System. "Yes!" [Binding successful!] The system then went dormant, but not before instructing me to call on it again on the college entrance exam's day. Once I'd regained my composure, I ignored the contemptuous looks from everyone around me and returned to my seat. A smug glint flashed in Millie's eyes. I merely let out a cold, silent laugh. She had no idea that I'd just acquired a system of my own. "Just wait until the college entrance exam's day, Millie. I'll make sure you regret ever crossing me!" … For the rest of the day, Millie basked in everyone's admiration and attention. She seemed to relish every moment they spent praising her as a "genius." I paid them no attention and devoted myself to solving practice problems. Without Millie's system interfering with my scores, I was confident I could consistently score 630 or higher. If I pushed myself a little harder, even Hargrave might be within reach. After completing two practice exams, I headed home in high spirits, eager to enjoy a nice, hot meal. Instead, my mother informed me that we had a family dinner to attend and insisted that I accompany her. Truthfully, I had no desire to go. I couldn't stand the sight of those relatives, especially my uncle Leonard Fitzgerald and his family. They'd never liked us. Leonard resented my mother because she'd achieved far greater success in life despite having less education than he did. My aunt envied my mother for marrying such a wonderful husband and raising a daughter like me. As for Millie, she'd always resented me for outperforming her academically. Before high school, I'd consistently ranked at the top of my class. I was the golden child whom all our relatives loved to praise. Even my grandmother, who had always favored boys over girls, treated my mother a little better at family dinners because of my academic achievements. We'd completely stolen the spotlight from Leonard's family. Ever since then, they'd made no effort to conceal their hostility toward us. But everything changed when Millie and I entered high school. Despite barely studying, Millie suddenly began ranking first in every exam, while I went from being an outstanding student to the worst performer in my class. Now that I thought about it, that must have been when she'd bound herself to the Reap the Rewards system. With Millie's sudden academic success, her family became the center of attention. Every family dinner turned into another opportunity for them to belittle us with their snide remarks. … By the time we arrived at the dinner, Leonard's family was already there, seated at the head of the table. The moment Leonard spotted me, his expression darkened. He slammed his cutlery onto the table. "Ella, who do you think you are? How dare you keep all your elders waiting!" At his outburst, Millie immediately jumped to my defense. "Dad, don't blame Ella. She was busy working on practice problems at school. That's why she's late. I'm sure she didn't mean to keep everyone waiting! "She really does work so hard. Sometimes, I wish I knew what it felt like to put in that much effort!" Chapter 3 On the surface, she was praising me, but in reality, she was mocking me for being stupid. My aunt Lilian Bloom chimed in from the sidelines, "Unlike you, she doesn't have any talent. You barely have to study, yet you get everything right! "Ella, I heard you only scored 3 in math. Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't start working harder, you won't even get into community college!" Lilian turned to my mother with a smug expression and feigned concern. "Honestly, you really need to pay more attention to Ella's grades. She's come in last several times now. How can you let that happen? "She used to get better grades than Millie, but now she's fallen so far behind. Millie came in first again this time, with a score of 678! I guess that's the difference between hard work and natural talent! "Millie was just too playful before. Now that she's finally settled down and started taking her studies seriously, her grades have naturally improved." As Lilian continued to praise her own daughter and belittle me, the other relatives joined in, showering her family with compliments while mocking me. "With a daughter as outstanding as Millie, you've got a bright future ahead of you!" "3 in math? After doing that badly, you still have the nerve to show your face here? Aren't you ashamed?" ... Eventually, my grandmother had enough and stepped in to silence everyone. All I wanted was to finish my meal and head home as quickly as possible so I could get back to studying. But these people wouldn't even let me eat in peace. At the dinner table, my aunt Natasha eagerly piled ribs onto Millie's plate. "Millie, eat more! You've got to feed that brilliant brain of yours! Once you get into Hargrave, don't forget how well I treated you!" My uncle Leroy refused to be outdone. He ladled gumbo into Millie's bowl and even brought her a plate of crawfish, her favorite. "Millie, we're all counting on you to take care of us in the future!" When I reached for a piece of meat, however, they knocked my cutlery aside and glared at me with utter disdain. "What do you think you're doing? With grades like yours, you still think you deserve to eat?" "Someone like you should stick to vegetables!" My mother couldn't stand it any longer. "Stop putting so much pressure on Ella. I've seen how hard she's been working. She only did badly because she was nervous. I believe she'll do exceptionally well on the college entrance exam. All her hard work will eventually pay off—" Before she could finish, Lilian cut her off. "Like mother, like daughter! Honestly, didn't you drop out of school in middle school? Maybe Ella inherited your genes. That would explain why she's so stupid!" Leonard sat there with a cold expression, his silence a clear sign that he agreed with his wife. My mother's eyes reddened with humiliation, and she bit down hard on her lower lip. The sight broke my heart. She didn't deserve any of this. Wasn't Leonard the very reason my mother had dropped out of school in the first place? Back then, when Leonard wanted to continue his education, the family couldn't afford to keep them both in school. My mother had been forced to drop out and help support the family. The truth was, she'd always been an excellent student, more than capable of qualifying for one of the country's top universities. If she hadn't been forced to leave school, she could have attended an elite university herself! Instead, she'd given up her own future so Leonard could continue his education. Over the years, she'd sacrificed so much for him. And what had she gotten in return? Nothing but ridicule from his family! Anger simmered inside me. Meanwhile, Lilian continued running her mouth. "How about I have Millie tutor Ella? We're family, after all. I'll only charge you 70 dollars per lesson!" I nearly laughed out loud. Back when Lilian had asked me to tutor Millie, she hadn't paid me a single cent. To make matters worse, their family still hadn't repaid the money they'd borrowed from my mother to buy their house. And now they had the nerve to demand more money from us? Not a chance! Right then, I decided it was time to make them pay. I pinched my thigh hard, then burst into tears and pretended to have a complete breakdown. My mother started to rise from her seat, but I gently pressed her back down. "Aunt Lilian is right. I'm stupid! I've worked so hard, yet I still scored so few points. What's the point of even taking the college entrance exam? I might as well give up and go work in a factory!" Millie, who'd been thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, instantly panicked. She knew how much the college entrance exams meant to me. She knew I'd poured everything I had into my studies and would never give up so easily. That was precisely why she'd felt bold enough to mock me so shamelessly. Chapter 4 Naturally, Millie had never expected me to break down and threaten to drop out of school to find a job. She was still counting on me for the exam! What was she supposed to do without me? "Ella, how can you just give up on the exam? If you don't take it, how am I supposed to—" I shot Millie a piercing glare. "What difference does it make to you whether I take it or not?" Realizing she'd let something slip, Millie hurried to cover her tracks. "Ella, I'm just upset for your sake. You've worked so hard for so long. How can you give up now? Wouldn't all your efforts go to waste?" What a load of nonsense! She just wanted to keep leeching off my scores! I sneered inwardly, but I put on a heartbroken expression and cried even harder. "Millie, I want to take the college entrance exam too, but my family needs money. You still haven't repaid the money we lent you for your house. I might as well get a job..." Millie grew even more frantic, while Leonard and Lilian's faces darkened. My mother was too softhearted to demand repayment, so they'd assumed they could put it off indefinitely. They'd never expected me to bring up the debt in front of the entire family. Desperate to keep me from giving up on the college entrance exam, Millie urged her parents to transfer the money to me. But they had no intention of paying us back. Instead, they protested. "Pay her back? That's 100,000 dollars!" Millie tugged at their sleeves and pleaded with them in a whisper, careful not to let anyone else hear. "Mom, Dad, you'd better pay her back. What if Ella makes a scene at school and it affects my college entrance exam's results?" Leonard had no choice but to transfer the money to me, though his displeasure was written all over his face. The moment the money landed in my account, my tears stopped. "Thanks! Now I won't have to drop out of school and get a job." Millie's family looked utterly miserable, as though parting with that money had caused them physical pain. Meanwhile, my appetite returned with a vengeance, and I dug into the food with gusto. - At the sight of their miserable expressions, the relatives hurried to console them. "Millie's so smart. She's bound to land a great job someday. She'll have plenty of money then!" "Yvonne's being far too petty! You're all family. Why make such a fuss over money? Besides, isn't it only right for an older sister to help her younger brother?" Their words lifted Millie's spirits. A smile returned to her face, though she secretly sneered. 'Whatever. I'll just consider that money charity for Ella! Go ahead and laugh while you can. You won't be smiling for much longer!' - For a while after that, Millie reined herself in and stopped bothering me. She was afraid that one wrong move would push me to give up on the college entrance exam altogether. I took advantage of the peace and quiet to work through practice problems and sharpen my skills. On the other hand, Millie spent her days getting manicures, sleeping, and playing video games. She did just about everything except study. Wendy was as biased as ever and turned a blind eye to Millie's blatant disregard for the rules. She even worried that Millie wouldn't be comfortable sleeping with her head on her desk, so she let her nap in her office instead. Meanwhile, I was exhausted from staying up late to study. One day, I accidentally yawned in class, and Wendy immediately singled me out for a harsh scolding. She even forced me to stand at the back of the classroom for the entire period. Eventually, she grew so fed up with me that she kicked me out of the honors class and transferred me to a regular one. On my last day, she bought drinks for the entire class to celebrate finally getting rid of the class' biggest underachiever. But I couldn't have cared less. Just wait until the college entrance exam's results came out. She'd regret everything! … Before long, exam day arrived. That morning, my mother and Lilian showed up in red dresses, a color that symbolized a victorious start and success in exams. When Lilian noticed that my mother was also wearing red, she sneered, "Honestly, you shouldn't get your hopes up too high. You'll only set yourself up for disappointment!" My mother was gentle by nature, but when it came to protecting me, she never backed down. At Lilian's snide remark, she immediately shot back, "All I know is that pride comes before a fall. Things can take an unexpected turn when someone gets too complacent." Just then, Wendy stepped in to put an end to their argument. She shoved my mother aside with a look of utter disgust. "Move aside, Yvonne! Don't let your bad luck rub off on Millie!" My mother's face flushed with anger. She was about to confront Wendy, but I stopped her. "It's okay, Mom. Don't let people who don't matter ruin your mood." Chapter 5 Besides, we didn't even know who the real bad luck charm was! After my mother and I were sent away, Wendy lavished Millie with advice and encouragement, pinning all her hopes on her. "Millie, do your best! You've practically got this year's top score in the bag!" Her classmates crowded around her, eager to flatter her. "Hey, genius, shake my hand! Let some of your good luck rub off on me!" "Oh, mighty scholar, bless me with the wisdom to answer every question and guess correctly when I don't know the answer!" Meanwhile, everyone kept their distance from us, afraid our bad luck might rub off on them. Millie was so smug that she could barely contain her grin. While everyone else ignored us, Brenda Williams, one of the teachers, approached. She came over and gave my shoulder a gentle pat. "Ella, just do your best! Don't be nervous. Focus on what you can do! No matter how you perform, you'll always be one of my best students!" Brenda had become my teacher after I transferred to the regular class. She was always gentle and patient whenever I needed help with a question. She never hesitated to praise or encourage me, a stark contrast to my former teacher, Wendy. I smiled at her. "Thank you, Ms. Williams. I'll make sure to bring home the top score for you!" Wendy overheard me and sneered, "You? The top scorer? Don't make me laugh! You really don't know your place!" With that, Wendy casually thrust Millie's pencil case into my hands, her voice laced with a thinly veiled threat. "Carry Millie's pencil case for her. She's a future Hargrave student! Once you're inside, make sure you look after her. Got it?" Brenda couldn't stand it any longer and stepped in to defend me. "Ms. Anderson, Ella has an exam to take, too. Don't you think it's inappropriate to order her around like this?" Wendy whipped her head around and glared at her. "Brenda, you're nothing more than a glorified pack mule for your students! What gives you the right to lecture me? "Don't forget, I teach the honors class, and Millie is a future Hargrave student! If anything happens to her, can you afford to take responsibility? "Someone like Ella was born to be a workhorse. I'm just preparing her for the real world! You should be thanking me instead of interfering! "Keep running your mouth, and I'll report you to the principal!" Wendy was notorious for her vicious temper. I couldn't bear to watch Brenda endure any more abuse, so I accepted Millie's pencil case without protest. Millie looked even more pleased with herself, her expression saying, "Come on, my little sidekick! All your hard work means nothing compared to my natural talent. But if you keep at it, maybe one day you'll reach the level I started at..." Just before I left, I overheard Wendy mutter to herself as she watched Millie walk away. "My promotion and pay raise are riding on you!" Well, Wendy was in for a rude awakening. Without her system's help, Millie was completely useless! ... As luck would have it, Millie and I ended up in the same exam room. She looked supremely confident and even mouthed a taunt at me. 'I'm going to be the top scorer!' So, she wanted to be the top scorer, huh? I clenched my fists. The moment the exam papers were distributed and we received permission to begin, I immediately called upon my system. "System, block Millie's system." [Confirmed!] Let's see how she planned to become the top scorer without her system! With her system blocked, I calmly turned my attention back to the exam. Without Millie's system interfering, my mind was clearer than ever. My fingers flew across the keyboard and mouse as I worked through the questions, one answer after another. Thanks to my strong academic foundation and the countless hours I'd devoted to studying, I completed the entire exam with ease. I reviewed my answers one last time and smiled with quiet satisfaction. Meanwhile, Millie occupied herself with examining her nails, fiddling with her eraser, and doodling on her scratch paper. She hadn't entered a single answer. She could afford to be so carefree because she trusted her system to steal my total score and swap our exam results at the very last moment. What she didn't know was that I'd already blocked her system. Chapter 6 I couldn't wait to see the look on Millie's face when she discovered that her system had been blocked! Twenty minutes before the exam ended, Millie began calling out to her system. But no matter how many times she tried, she received no response. Panic slowly took hold. She fidgeted in her seat, scratched her head, and squirmed with anxiety, all while screaming in her mind, 'System! Where the hell are you?! Come out already! I want to collect my rewards! I want those points!' Unfortunately for Millie, I had already blocked her system. How could it possibly respond? Just then, the proctor announced that only ten minutes remained. Millie hadn't answered a single question. With no other choice, she forced herself to tackle the exam. She frantically flipped through the pages, her frustration mounting with every question. 'What's the answer to this one? A? B? C? Or D?' 'What comes after "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"?' 'How am I supposed to write this essay? I can't think of a single thing!' 'What idiot came up with these questions? They're so damn hard!' I watched Millie make a fool of herself and secretly sneered. In truth, the exam wasn't difficult at all. Many of the questions were so straightforward that they practically handed students free points. But Millie had never bothered to study or build a solid foundation of knowledge. Naturally, she couldn't answer them. After reviewing I work three times, I calmly submitted answers and left the exam room. When Millie saw me turn in my paper, a vicious glint flashed in her eyes. Before Millie could finish answering all the questions, the proctor instructed everyone to finalize their submissions. Millie's system didn't return to normal until the Reading and Writing section was over. Furious, she immediately lashed out at it. 'Where the hell have you been?! I've been calling you forever, and you never answered!' The system claimed it had no idea what had happened either. Perhaps it had experienced a malfunction. Millie's fury intensified. 'You useless piece of junk! Of all days, you just had to malfunction on the day of the college entrance exam?! You let Ella get through an entire section without me stealing her answers! How am I supposed to maintain my reputation as a genius now?!' The system repeatedly assured her that it had repaired itself and that the connection wouldn't fail again. Only then did Millie finally let the matter drop. I sneered to myself. 'Let's see if you can still steal my scores now!' For the Math section, I activated my Shield System the moment she entered the exam room. Millie's system kept going offline, which drove her to the brink of desperation. With no one to rely on, she had no choice but to guess her way through the questions. Meanwhile, I worked through every problem with ease. Just as I had expected, there was no substitute for genuine ability earned through hard work. By the time I finished the exam and walked out of the room, Millie looked utterly exhausted. Wendy and Lilian immediately crowded around her, eager to know how she'd done. "Millie, how did the exams go?" Desperate to maintain her image, Millie could only offer a vague reply. "About as well as usual..." Technically, she wasn't lying. This was her true level of ability, after all. Every achievement she'd claimed before had been stolen! But Wendy and Lilian were overjoyed. They embraced each other, tears of happiness streaming down their cheeks as they celebrated Millie's supposed success. "Wonderful! Hargrave is within reach!" "Millie, you did great! I'm so proud of you!" Lilian was so thrilled that she wanted to throw a lavish banquet to celebrate Millie's acceptance into Hargrave before the results had even been released. Millie's face turned white. She hurriedly tried to stop her. "Mom, there's really no need for a banquet..." Before she could finish, I interjected, "A banquet sounds great! Aunt Lilian, why not hold it on the day the results come out? You can check her scores right in front of everyone. It'll be such a grand celebration!" Lilian readily agreed. With everyone watching, Millie couldn't very well object. She had no choice but to go along with the plan, though she cast me a thoughtful glance. - Before long, the day of the banquet arrived. Eager to show off, Lilian decided to check Millie's scores in front of all the guests. My lips curled into a cold smile. The real show was about to begin!