To Live Again, For the First Time!

While Emilin was observing, Theodore was getting more and more confused.

At some point, he had also noticed that the guy he was fighting against wasn't all that bad (Giovanni at the time).

Theodore reluctantly huffed in recognition of the man or woman.

Seeing as things were getting a little long, the other two in the room started working on their own stuff.

Stuff that Theodore didn't have to work on, mainly the 'optional' work for their hardest class, HL math (Higher level mathematics).

There was no such thing as 'optional' work... though the teacher didn't check it, it would all show on your test results.

In fact, the HL math teacher expected all the fails and half-baked scores at the beginning of the school year.

Too many people here were too accustomed to simply getting things with a few tries, and the fact was that, even if you did do the work assigned to you, you might still get a half-baked score.

HL math in a top university was no joke, even if this school was rather inclined to the arts.

Theodore had agreed to help Kayden and Jenna on this matter after a few days of, not so discrete nagging.

Kayden because he didn't stop bugging him, while Jenna joined in later in the name of 'helping a fellow disciple' and 'not wanting to drag him down in the future' when they would have to work together.

In the end, Theodore calculated that it would take more effort to reject them than to help them.

After all, these two were geniuses in their own right.

They didn't need that much help and so Theodore just sat by the side playing a few rounds of Mobba with the others.

Occasionally explaining the questions that Jenna and Kayden got wrong. 

Kayden would never make the same mistake twice, while Jenna had the habit of triple checking before asking, and so she didn't interrupt Theodore nearly as much as Kayden, who was innately less restrained.

Jenna also took clear notes, and so she referred to them first after getting a question wrong, meaning that if she got a question with the same fundamentals wrong a second time, she wouldn't have the need to ask Theodore.

Her analytical skills were not bad.

Meanwhile, Theodore had already gotten more familiar with BBAD, Gen, and the others.

They could be said to be around the level of friends, even though Gen was the only one Theodore had met in person until now.

Theodore often carried the others, and so even when he bailed mid-game today, they didn't mind too much after Kayden explained the situation, saying that Theodore had an important matter to attend to that suddenly popped up.

Inwardly, he still cursed Theodore for being a whipped sis-con.

As for the important matter, of course, that was what Theodore was currently dealing with.

A matter that left him more and more confused with each passing second.

The more he went against the opponent, the more he felt like their attacks and schemes were familiar to him.

He had immediately realized that the person he was against had changed.

The difficulty level dropped dramatically! Not to mention, the other side even seemed to be a little distracted.

Theodore smiled cruelly, getting even more serious.

'Does this guy make a joke of me? Does he not take me seriously at all?'

This hurt his pride, and like an injured cat, he was bound to scratch back with all his might.

Being looked down upon didn't feel good.

He even had an inkling that the other side had switched people.

Like heaven and earth, there was no comparison. Just the feeling of going against an unfathomable expert and someone below his level was different, even if the expert was holding back.

You could say that it was an innate difference between the two.

It was like when you climbed a small hill versus climbing a small hill that was a part of the mountain ahead of you. Just looking at the mountain ahead would give you some level of pressure, even if you had yet to reach the parts with a higher altitude.

There was a psychological difference.

The longer he went against the opponent the more sure he was of it.

They had swapped people mid-battle!

  Then, there was an aftertaste of déjà vu.

'This style feels familiar'

Theodore became more and more sure of it when other familiar moves and styles joined the fray.

***

On the other side.

When Serpent started releasing profanities and losing control over the battle, calling out familiar curses, Bear, Falcon, and the Captain made their way to watch the spectacle.

As for Sloth, he couldn't bother.

Bear, Falcon, and the Captain's eyes all widened in unison as they too had the urge to curse along with Serpent.

They had been fighting with TWO for who knows how long in secret.

Though they had only launched one large-scale attack, they had multiple small-scale battles to test the waters beforehand. 

This was something that even Theodore didn't know.

And these men had observed him for even longer.

If they couldn't tell who this was, then all their work could be said to have been in vain. They might as well just quit.

"Fuck, why is it him?" Falcon muttered under his breath, but in a situation where the only other sound in the basement room was Serpent's typing, his voice echoed like the sound of the keys being pushed down.

The Captain thought the same in his mind as his muscles subconsciously tensed and flexed.

Bear was just about to leave and escape when the Captain opened his mouth and gave his orders.

"Get to your stations and get started, you know your jobs. The enemy has come knocking on our doors, you don't plan to just give them the keys, right?"

His eyes narrowed with a sharp, murderous glint.

He had been working on this matter for way too long with no results, TWO had brought him countless troubles, and now that his teacher was here, he had nothing to fear.

It was about time they got some revenge and about time TWO got some retribution...

Who told him to come knocking when he was in a bad mood?

Bear groaned and reluctantly went to his station while Falcon's eyes darkened with a trace of trauma before he got to action.

And Sloth, well, you really can't expect him to move with just one call to his station, and the Captain knew that well.

He was already on it.

He leaned over and whispered a few words into Sloth's ear.

Sloth jumped up!

Out of nowhere, as if he had been injected with chicken blood, Sloth suddenly became faster than a leopard as he made his way to his seat.

Falcon and Bear also knew that the Captain knew of something that they didn't, something that could get the immovable Sloth to run faster than they could sprint.

Still, it could stun them every single time, watching the rock suddenly take flight on its own.

It could be said that even the law that they thought would stand until the end of time, Sloth's laziness, could be countered by something else.

They could only imagine that whatever the Captain had said would have to be Sloth's natural enemy!

As for Serpent, he didn't have the time to pay attention to any of this, but when he saw his allies join in, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

***

Do you want to know what the Captain said to Sloth?

Well... I guess I could reluctantly tell you, but you have to keep it a secret. After all, this is Sloth's big weakness! (U・ x・U)

The truth is... the only thing that Sloth has absolutely no resistance against, the thing that he likes more than sleeping (I know, I know, something Sloth likes more than sleeping... unbelievable right?!), the one and only thing is delectable sweets!

That is also the reason why he has a specific female cousin of his that he likes the most!

Apparently, that female cousin of his is being currently hacked, and if her private information is leaked, then her business may be in danger!

Who knows what will happen to those desserts of his?

If Sloth doesn't come help, who knows what will happen!

He really has no choice... or so the Captain says.

Hehe... sweets. (¯﹃¯*)

***

Master Giovanni, who sat on the sidelines this whole time couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at these kids who were not looking in his direction.

'Do these kids know the other person? Because they sure act like it...'

He rubbed his goatee, which was a habit of his when thinking.

'Should I ask them to introduce him to me? Maybe I can accept another disciple, the kid seems worth nurturing...'

Suddenly, he stopped rubbing and became somewhat serious.

'I'll ask after all this is done, they might even tell me themselves. There seems to be a grudge here that they can't deal with on their own... let's just see how this goes first.'

'If the other kid loses to my disciples, he might be more willing to join.'

Giovanni thought about this and nodded to himself.

'Oh disciples of mine, don't disappoint your teacher! Teacher promises you that he will bring you a good junior disciple if you perform well enough!'

He laughed inwardly to himself, thinking of what a good plan it was.

He already had quite a number of core disciples when compared to others, but he didn't mind too much.

His legacy and inheritance weren't something that could be kept by just anyone, even if he handed it over to them.

They had to be skilled enough to keep it, or else, even if he gave it to them, they would only lose it to the hands of another.

This was also why, though his nephew was also his disciple, there was absolutely no preferential treatment of any sort.

Giovanni strongly believed that in the world of hackers, only strength had a say.

Nepotism was only a form of self-harm here, and Giovanni felt like he would also be harming Sloth more than helping him if there was any preferential treatment.

That was one of the two reasons why Sloth wasn't a senior disciple nor captain.

To be honest, Giovanni didn't even really have to worry about that.

After all, the main reason why Sloth wasn't Captain or 'above the others' was simply that he wouldn't want such a tiresome role even if it was handed to him...

It was pretty clear when it was said that he was pretty much forced to learn hacking, right?

Sometimes, Master Giovanni would want to cry when he looked at this lazy nephew of his...

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