From Sneers to Cheers: Anthea’s Ascent ( Anthea )
Chapter 304

Anthea pulled out her smartphone once again, diving into the depths of the internet to trace the origin of a certain post. The IP address she found was peculiar, reminiscent of something out of a sci-fi movie—a kind of high-tech, Al-driven system known more commonly in her circle as a "cheat code."

Anthea herself was one of the masterminds behind its creation. But with this cheat code in play, people stopped striving for excellence. They leaned heavily on the system, allowing their intellects to dwindle, turning them into mere puppets. Realizing the dire consequences, the creators, including Anthea, decided to dismantle the system to save humanity from becoming slaves to technology.

But now, how could this system possibly resurface in her world?

Anthea's brows knitted together as she traced the breadcrumbs back to Rebecca. Considering the post targeted her, and Rebecca stood to gain the most, could it be that Rebecca was now a host for the cheat code system?

Shutting down her browser, Anthea bypassed the firewall to access a secure database effortlessly, pulling up everything there was to know about Rebecca. Until she turned 16, Rebecca was just your average Jane, but something changed dramatically at 17. She went from being a struggling student to topping her class and even became a grandmaster at chess-a game she previously knew nothing about, without any formal training.

The evidence was stacking up; Rebecca definitely had the cheat code system.

"If Rebecca wants to play games, I'll make sure it's a game she won't forget," Anthea thought to herself, knowing all too well the dangers of mishandling such power.

It suddenly clicked for Anthea-the reason Rebecca lost her shine at RealTime Flow's anniversary gala was because Anthea had outsmarted her, forcing the system to downgrade and retract its benefits, including Rebecca's artificially enhanced beauty.

Narrowing her eyes, Anthea deleted Rebecca's information, deciding to address the rumors circulating on RealTime Flow about her supposed cosmetic surgery. The best rebuttal was proof from the past. Anthea dug up her old social media accounts, only to replace the photos had been wiped clean-a preemptive strike by Rebecca, no doubt.

But Anthea wasn't deterred. "A tech guru worried about a delete button? Please."

Soon enough, she restored the deleted photos from the digital recycle bin and uploaded them to her RealTimeFlow account.

"Introducing my younger self to all my lovely followers! Who else went through an emo phase? Let's agree to forget my 'unique' teenage fashion sense, shall we? And as for the cheating accusations, just wait for my SAT results! Spoiler: I'm only applying to Capital University because, yes, I'm that confident [/smirk]!'

ThorHammerStriker: "Ann, you've always been a knockout! Lol, I had my emo phase too!"

Pupper: "A true angel from the start! Emo was quite the trend back then."

LoveAnnie1: "Checking in for Ann!"

LoveAnn77: "Capital University would be lucky to have you!"

WhoAre You: "Capital University? Isn't that a bit too ambitious? Afraid of a reality check?"

"

AyyAyy1063: "Only applying to one university? That's not confidence; that's arrogance! You're flying too high!"

WindSweeper999: "FYI, the acceptance score for Cloudcrest at Capital University is 690. Can't wait to see a crash landing!"

After posting her statement, Anthea logged off, leaving a digital bombshell in her wake.

Rebecca, who had been closely monitoring Anthea's moves, frowned upon seeing the photos. "How did she manage to retrieve those? I thought the system had destroyed them all..."

Even the system panicked, encountering a formidable human for the first time in three years, capable of recovering what it had eradicated.

"Host, now's not the time to worry. We need to upgrade first. Only then can I access more information and tackle this problem."