"Remember, you have just one hour in there. The whole system will shut down by default after the time elapses, so I'd advise you to rush through—don't waste time."
Derek glanced at the door one more time, clenching his fist again, clearly tense.
Without much talk, Miss Elizabeth opened the gigantic door leading to the Mind Grid. And just like its name suggested, it was massive and complex. Inside, a tightly packed line of twenty thousand chambers stretched before them—each assigned to its designated candidate.
"When you're ready, just step into your chamber without delay. I'll be going now so you all can finally begin."
With that, Miss Elizabeth exited the room, leaving the candidates to their fate.
By now, Derek's face was flushed red. He was visibly anxious. He still didn't believe he could do this. His fists remained clenched, as if the room was cold—but it wasn't.
As usual, everyone stood still after Miss Elizabeth left, paralyzed by fear of the dreaded Mind Grid. Tension thickened the atmosphere. Then suddenly, Thompson burst forward into his mini chamber.
Thompson was the only child of a poor family. His dad had passed away when he was just five, and his mother had singlehandedly raised him ever since.
But three years ago, his mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer. It struck Thompson like a blow—just when his life was finally improving, and he had begun giving his mother the better life she deserved.
He had to learn to be tough. He loved his mother deeply and couldn't bear the thought of losing her. He remembered the day he held the report paper in his hands—the doctor's words echoing that she had only four more years to live.
After that day, Thompson became withdrawn, emotionless. He stopped interacting with others. All he wanted was to save his mother. He began reading and researching ten times harder than ever before.
Now she had just six months left to live, and she was unresponsive, making him fear the inevitable. Earlier that year, he had thought of many ways to make money to extend her life—and that was when he stumbled on this competition. He knew he had to win.
He had been going through so much lately. He had even nearly lost the Universal Math Competition to Stella. But once he saw the prize money for this contest, he realized he must win. That money could either cure his mother completely—or at least buy her more time.
Derek watched in awe as Thompson confidently walked in and began the trial.
Soon, with Thompson leading the charge, other candidates started joining one by one. By now, most had entered.
Derek remained frozen, still shivering in fear. But then, his mother's words echoed in his mind—he was a mistake. He had been abandoned by many, even his own mother, but a few people still believed in him and loved him for who he truly was.
He looked up, staring at his own mini chamber. He wasn't going to let those people down.
Derek took a deep breath and finally stepped into his chamber.
---
The audience hall remained full, the atmosphere boiling with tension.
On the right side of the holographic screen, the live rankings of the players were displayed, while the center screen showed the ongoing action.
There was full coverage of all twenty thousand individual candidates, though by default, the holographic screen displayed Thompson.
After all, he was the favorite to win the competition.
A man dressed completely in black sat silently in his chair, sipping his coffee, as the screen lit up on the podium.
He slowly opened his laptop and pressed the power button. Within seconds, the screen lit up, displaying Cyberbunk on its interface before transitioning to the homepage.
He glanced at the holographic screen again.
"It's about to go down," he thought quietly.
---
Derek stepped into his chamber, and almost instantly, a holographic screen appeared before him.
Zone 1: 10 levels. You have just three minutes per level. Click the green button to begin.
Derek looked up and instinctively pressed the button. The trial began. The holographic screen lit up again. It read:
Level One — 2:00, 1:59...
The timer began to tick down as three doors slowly came into view.
---
Meanwhile, the game had fully begun. The audience could clearly monitor the leaderboard. As expected, Thompson was already in the lead, creating a noticeable gap between himself and second place.
Miss Alison and Mr. Austin had their eyes locked on the screen. Derek and Lucy were still far down the leaderboard—and at the rate things were going, they might end up even lower.
Mr. Austin turned to glance at Miss Alison. She was slouched in her seat, hands pressed against her cheeks. It was clear she was nervous. She definitely didn't like what she was seeing.
Mr. Austin shifted his gaze back to the screen. One thing he knew for sure—Derek's intelligence was far from ordinary.
Mr. Austin had previously researched Derek's most recent IQ score. And if his findings were correct, they might be witnessing an SSS-ranked genius.
He had kept this discovery to himself. His claims were extreme—even AI wasn't ranked that highly in intelligence.
Mr. Steve, the man with the highest known IQ in the world—or perhaps the second highest—Lucian Graves, was only ranked S. Graves came close to SS but was still officially labeled S.
Mr. Austin leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. There was only one way to prove his theory.
---
Derek stepped forward, squinting at the three doors now fully visible. Each had a complex equation engraved on it.
The holographic screen lit up again. Derek glanced at it.
Choose the correct answer and proceed.
Time left: 1:30