Lian was walking through campus with Nox beside him, one arm around Lian's shoulder. Nox pointed ahead with his other hand as he explained something with a serious expression.
"Dude, I'm telling you, you have to try this new game I found. It's a zombie game, but instead of shooting them with guns, you plant plants in your garden. Each plant does something different. One shoots peas, another works as a shield, and another one just explodes."
"There are tons of different plants. You place them around your garden and use them to stop the zombies. Trust me, this game is so good."
Lian replied, "I already played Plants vs. Zombies."
"Then how about Zombie Shooter 3?" Nox said. "It's a first-person shooter where you fight zombies with guns, bows, crossbows, chainsaws, all kinds of weapons."
Lian looked at him. "Dude, what's with your obsession with this whole zombie apocalypse thing?"
As they walked and talked, they noticed Kair and his group bullying a student nearby.
They had cornered a thin, nervous-looking student. He kept insisting that he didn't have enough credits, but Kair didn't seem convinced.
"I'm only asking for ten percent of your monthly credits," Kair said calmly. "Did I ask for more?"
Kair wasn't stupid about it. He didn't try to extort the whole class, since doing that would quickly get him reported to the principal. He kept his list small and never targeted girls. He had his own principles.
He only extorted credits from a few students who were scared of him, along with a few others whose secrets he had found out and used as blackmail.
Lian and Nox watched for a moment before looking away.
Lian thought to himself.
I almost forgot. Today is the first of the month. Time really does fly.
All students received monthly academy credits, which could be spent on food, books, runes, and other resources.
Most used them on runes, ether crystals, or anything that helped them get stronger.
The amount varied by class. The Class A students received the highest allocation, and it decreased with each lower class. By the time it reached Class D, the amount was barely enough to be useful.
These credits determined your access to academy resources. Higher grades meant more credits and better access to resources, ranging from basic supplies or components to full Sequence-2 runes.
Nox looked at Lian with a smirk. "Bullying is pretty common in Class D. If he ever bothers you, just tell us. We can beat the fuck out of him again."
Lian shook his head. "It's not really bullying. Most of them are just trying to get extra credits from other students because they don't have enough themselves. I've even thought about doing the same, but everyone in this class is too broke to be worth extorting."
Nox raised an eyebrow. "Broke as in no money, or no academy credits?"
"Both. I'm running low on both, so I need to find a way to make some money first."
Nox grinned. "I've got a brilliant idea. If you want to get rich, we could just go to a casino and gamble."
Lian stopped walking and thought about it for a few seconds before continuing with a smile.
"That might actually work. Let's skip class and go right now."
Nox's grin disappeared. "Bro, I was joking. You actually sound like you want to try it. Casinos are rigged. You'll probably lose all your money."
"Not if I cheat," Lian replied.
That evening, the two of them were already inside a casino, walking around and looking over the tables, slot machines, and other games.
Nox looked at Lian. "Dude, are you seriously going to gamble?"
"Not today. I just came here to check something out."
"Check what?"
Lian walked over to one of the slot machines and crouched beside it. He leaned closer, trying to get a look at the back of the machine without drawing too much attention.
He pulled out a pen and paper and handed them to Nox.
"Write down what I say."
Nox looked at him suspiciously. "What are you planning?"
"Just write."
Lian began reading out the information he found on the machine, including the manufacturer, model, serial number, and a few other details.
Nox quickly wrote everything down.
They repeated the same process with a few other machines, quietly collecting notes before finally leaving the casino.
As they walked back after leaving the casino, Nox looked over the notes they had taken earlier.
"So, are we trying to find these exact machines? Like, you want to get one, open it up, and find some loophole to cheat after figuring out how it works?"
"Pretty much," Lian replied. "But the hardware isn't as important as the software. If we can find an old slot machine they're throwing away or something, that would still be useful."
Nox thought for a moment. "I think I can get you a scrap slot machine. My uncle works for a company that makes these machines. I'll see what I can get."
"Alright. You get the hardware, and I'll try to get my hands on the software."
A couple days passed.
Nox's uncle eventually helped them find someone selling an old casino slot machine. Since Nox had enough money to spare, he bought it and had it delivered.
Lian looked over the machine and nodded. "We have the hardware. That's good progress. I'm still working on a way to get the software, though. It might take a week."
Nox looked confused. "Isn't the software already inside the machine? Can't you just open it and get the code?"
Lian stared at him for a moment. "You really think it's that easy?"
He opened up the old slot machine and removed its storage chip. After connecting it to a computer, he managed to dump the firmware and load the data onto the screen.
The monitor filled with lines of binary.
Nox stared at it. "So... that's the code?"
"No. We can't understand this binary and hexadecimal bullshit. We need the actual source code."
Nox frowned. "Can't you just decode it? Like when you decoded that bracelet's signal during the exam?"
"That's different. Back then, I was breaking an encrypted signal. This is reverse engineering an entire software."
Lian pointed at the screen.
"Think of it like food. The binary is the finished dish, and the source code is the recipe. Reverse engineering is like going to a five-star restaurant, tasting a dish, and trying to figure out every ingredient and the exact steps they used to make it just from the taste."
Nox stared at the screen again.
"So how are you going to get the code, then?"
"I have an idea. It might take a while, though," Lian replied.