My Trillion Dollar System

Chapter 5. The Competition

Dan was already sweating so much even under the air-conditioned room as the pressure mounted.

“What the hell is he thinking? Won’t he start?” One black guy from the competitors said.

“He looks lost though. Poor guy. Thinking this was some high school competition.” Another white guy on the same team replied to him as they chuckled while their fingers tapped nonstop on their computers.

Dan raised his hand to press a key, but it felt like his whole fingers had become stiff. He bowed his head down and closed his eyes tightly. “You can do this, Dan. You were born for this…” he muttered to himself, but his hands were glued to his laps.

He could hear his heartbeat now and the continuous tapping sound on the keyboard from other competitors. He opened his eyes to look at his screen again. Just plain white. What was he supposed to do? Attack? Build?

He looked around. They were all waiting patiently to destroy him if he dared to build. They knew he didn’t have anyone to attack for him. Even a beast hacker couldn’t build and destroy at the same time. He could only defend. But then, that won’t give him the point to win.

Then he remembered August’s command not to start until he gives the order.

He looked up at the scoreboard. He was at the end of the board with zero points while the rest had their points piling up. And when you start talking of the time. Ten minutes were gone. Fifty minutes left. He exhaled sharply. Thirty minutes left now. His throat was now parched. “I can’t lose miserably like this.” He muttered to himself and placed his hand on the computer keys, but it felt like something was restricting him.

“That jerk, August. He said he had a fucking plan. I shouldn’t have trusted him!” He seethed in rage but not loud enough for anyone to hear him.

“I heard that, Danny boy.” August's voice came through the speaker as Dan’s eyes widened in shock.

“Where….” He almost shouted and realized that fact and lowered his voice. “Where the hell are you?! We just have ten minutes to go. I can’t do a freaking thing, August. My whole body is in….”

“Good thing you didn’t do a thing. Now you’re going to have a smooth win.” August chuckled from the other side.

“How can you still laugh in this situation? Ugh? What exactly is funny to you?” Dan almost berated loudly.

“Chill out, Dan. They have all been building for you.”

“What do you mean?” Dan asked while looking at the time.

“Watch and learn!” August said as the light in the hall went off immediately, then turned on again. The systems were rebooting again, but the other competitors were finding it hard to log in.

“Tell me, Dan. What is happening in there at this point?” August asked as Dan looked around with a confused expression.

“They are all finding it hard to log in back to their systems.” Dan said while observing the whole arena, finding it strange.

“Good. Now is your time to shine. Their territory is left unprotected. Do the needful, Dan.” August chuckled, but he was yet to grasp.

“How….”

“Only you out of the six contestants will be able to log in for the next five minutes. During that time, you will invade their territory and crush them!”

“What the….”

“5555888…That’s the password to the connectable Wi-Fi. My own specialized Wi-Fi created especially for you, Danny boy.” August chuckled with a narcissistic tone.

Dan scurried on his computer and found out that truly he was able to log in while the others were frantically looking for ways to do so. And also the tech guys in charge of the connectivity were also running around trying to fix the issue.

“How did you…”

“Quit talking and grab your trophy, Dan.” August disrupted, and immediately, Dan got to work and started to tap his keyboard furiously as the other opponents watched him in surprise.

“This…” They pointed at him shocked and helpless as they watched him invade their territory and destroy them. And higher, Dan’s point increased.

“This is crazy!” Dan cried in relish as he continued till the beep sound rang to signal the end of the competition.

“Yes!” He raised his fist in the air in happiness as he took his final point that made him get to the top.

“Congratulations, Danny boy!” A familiar voice sounded as a man came out from the back of the curtain as he clapped with a wide grin on his face as he approached Daniel.

August was dressed stylishly in grey slacks and a long-sleeved black shirt that was baggy on him and a diamond wristwatch on his hands, making his look classic.

“You did it, Danny!” August didn’t mind the attention he got from everyone in the hall as he walked up to Dan and drew him in a hug.

“You crushed them pretty well.” He rubbed his hair playfully while Dan had a wide smile on his face.

“How did you….” Dan stopped immediately he noticed all eyes were on them. It would be crazy to ask him how he had caused a disrupt in connection in front of the angry opponent because obviously, August knew something.

“Now…the competition has come to an end.” The host started to speak, diverting everyone’s attention to her. “Even though there have been some lapses on our side, Mr. Dan still managed to beat the odds and came out outstanding with the highest point.” She continued, and spoke as if she was unsure of what she said, owing to the incidents.

“I knew this. They won’t want to agree on their part that everyone has a disconnected internet connection due to their incompetence….” August tilted his head to the side as he stared at the host, who looked uncomfortable.

“What did you do?” Dan whispered to him.

“Just a little bit of tweak from my side.” August said with a cocky smirk. “You shouldn’t worry about flimsy things like that. We won! That’s the most important thing. Now listen for when they will call us for our prizes.” August nudged his head at the host and folded his arms confidently.

“The position of the chief hacker of Arizona group will be given to Mr. Dan Brian and also a prize of $100,000 will be awarded to his team.” The host announced much to the displeasure of the other participants.

“Yes!” August said happily.

Some murmurings were heard from the opponents on how unfair the competition has been while August and Dan jubilate. But at the peak of the moment, the man that had spoken earlier to let Dan participate climbed the podium.

“I beg to differ, but I will have Mr. Dan’s prize forfeited.” August turned at the mention of that to meet the eyes of the other man.

As both men's eyes met, August suddenly felt it in him. This man was no ordinary man. He was a big force to be contended with. The owner of Arizona Group, Dave Arizona.