My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 53
After distributing the guidance sheet to students in the dormitory, there was a summons from Bennett.
Not to the Counseling Office—to the Staff Room.
The tightly closed Staff Room door was heavier than expected. The moment I gripped the handle and pushed it open, I felt overwhelmed by the weighty atmosphere inside.
The aftershock of the Test Suspension must have seized this place entirely.
After all, it was the teachers who had to actually resolve the problem.
Gazes followed immediately—natural enough, since the door had opened, but the lingering eyes held far longer than usual.
It wasn’t difficult to divine the meaning behind them, so I lifted my chin even higher.
“Ivy, you’ve come.”
Bennett greeted me with his customary courteous smile.
I was, in a way, grateful for his effort to convey the message that he didn’t suspect me.
“First things first.”
I opened a drawer beneath the desk and retrieved my Mobile Phone.
It was inside a transparent ziplock bag with a seal sticker affixed to the edge. Bennett carefully peeled it away as he spoke.
“I’ll return your phone now.”
I accepted the bag and opened it, lowering my gaze.
On Bennett’s desk lay a neat stack of documents. The title of the topmost sheet caught my eye first.
[Report on Attempted Access to Test-Related Data Repository]
Below it ran a series of checkboxes, with a date and time stamped in the upper right.
Sat 20:58
I read those numbers once more without thinking. Saturday night, 8:58 p.m.
Bennett continued speaking, unaware of where I was looking.
“The Laptop and Tablet will come later. There are still a few things we need to verify for those.”
I took out my Mobile Phone and put it in my bag. As I hitched the strap onto my shoulder, I shifted my gaze back to Bennett.
“With your phone, you won’t have any real trouble getting through the school day, at least—you can receive communications and class materials and all that. It’ll be inconvenient, but bear with it just a bit longer, would you?”
Bennett tapped the stack of documents with his fingertips.
“If you can, avoid the public WiFi, and change your password as well.”
His voice remained measured.
“It’s not meant to frighten you—just to be cautious.”
“Yes, sir.”
I answered calmly.
“Is there anything else I should tell you to help identify the culprit?”
“Ivy, the fact that you’re cooperating is truly the right choice.”
Bennett, as he always did in difficult moments, was postponing the main point considerably.
“But before we focus on ‘who did it,’ we’re first thoroughly investigating how it was even possible. Trust your teachers and wait just a little longer.”
Just a little longer.
My breath caught short, but all I could do was nod.
All the while, the glancing stares continued.
That which I couldn’t even see was something I couldn’t ignore—its edges were far too sharp.
* * *
On the path back to the Dormitory.
That my steps faltered was perhaps inevitable.
No matter how much of a scene Thomas had made at the bulletin board, and though suspicion of Cyrus dominated the mood, there were still plenty of eyes regarding me strangely.
I’d felt this keenly while passing out the guidance sheets in the dormitory, and again just now receiving my phone in the Staff Room—I wanted rest, even for a moment.
Somewhere no one would look at me.
And fortunately, I knew of a place in this school where no one would ever find me.
The Gymnasium Broadcasting Room.
Except during sports day, it was nearly always empty—a place free from all eyes.
And it was Cyrus who’d shown me this place.
I felt a little guilty borrowing his secret refuge, but all I could do was hope he’d understand.
I passed through the empty Basketball Court and climbed the side stairs.
As I pushed open the door, the quiet beyond the soundproofing rushed in all at once.
I sank into the worn chair in the broadcasting room and leaned back deeply against the backrest.
<Trust your teachers and wait just a little longer.>
What I’d actually wanted to say in response was something different.
‘You already suspect me, don’t you?’
I couldn’t say that because I knew that meaningless friction would do nothing to help solve this incident.
“8:58 p.m.…”
That was when my account had accessed the teachers’ server.
‘What was I doing then?’
I’d been organizing a Dormitory Residency Permit Application, I think.
But even that wasn’t certain.
After all, I hadn’t stayed at my desk the whole time.
I’d left the Laptop there while I went to fetch water, and when friends asked about test questions, I’d answered them.
Which meant anyone could have used my Laptop while I wasn’t looking.
“Was there a camera in the Library?”
I pressed my forehead and tried to recall, but reached the conclusion that there probably wasn’t.
If there had been, the library theft report wouldn’t be updated with new missing books every month.
(Of course, replacing stolen books cost less than operating a camera system.)
“I’ll have to find a witness.”
Whether I could get a credible answer was uncertain.
Saturday had brought bad weather, keeping everyone occupied. And even if that hadn’t been the case, remembering what happened during a specific time window was the stuff of detective novels.
My head throbbed.
“God, I wish I could eat a strawberry crêpe right now. One loaded with whipped cream.”
I collapsed onto the desk where the broadcasting equipment sat.
“…I should at least contact Owen.”
Reluctant as I was, I’d promised to pass along every unusual detail.
I wondered how shocked he’d be this time.
No—that wasn’t the problem.
“What if he gets tired of me causing trouble every day?”
After my nanny left, Owen had become the only person I could really lean on.
He’d always doted on me in a way that made me think of how a kind uncle might be.
But there was a fact I couldn’t forget.
Owen and I were in an employer-employee relationship.
That meant the initiative in our connection belonged entirely to him.
If he decided he wanted to leave because of mounting work, I couldn’t hold him back.
The mere thought of such a situation terrified me.
As though I’d grown not at all from those days of competing with ‘that boy’ while yearning for my nanny’s love.
“If he asks me to return to the Palace again…”
Bang!
A sudden explosive sound—as if the broadcasting room itself were collapsing—thundered directly over my head as I lay slumped at the desk.
“…!”
I jolted upright and saw the dark glass of the broadcasting room shuddering in the lingering vibration. Something had flown through and struck it.
What was that?
I lifted my head. The Basketball Court beyond the window was empty.
As I slowly rose from my chair, a figure came into view.
It was Cyrus.
A Basketball was in one of his hands, and his gaze was fixed on me.
“Did you throw that ball?” I whispered, my voice bewildered.
Before my words had even finished, he pointed with a fingertip at a speaker mounted on the gymnasium wall.
“…?”
I looked toward the speaker he’d indicated, then, with a sinking suspicion, lowered my gaze.
A green light was lit, signaling that broadcasting was active.
When did that come on? No! If I pull the same stunt as the teachers, what happens then?
I reflexively swept my hand across the mixer on the desk. Too many buttons bore fingerprints, and none were helpfully labeled.
I pressed what seemed like the most plausible button, but the green light remained lit.
Not only that, a comically pompous march suddenly began to play.
I pressed the button again.
Instead of stopping the march, the music shifted to something far more dramatic and tension-filled.
“Seriously!”
Just as I reached for that button again—
“Stop.”
A low voice sounded directly behind my ear.
I felt warmth approach along my back without quite touching. An arm reached through that ambiguous gap and deftly pressed several buttons in succession.
The cacophonous music cut off at once, and the green light vanished.
Quiet returned.
But I couldn’t relax. My fingers gripping the desk pressed down harder instead.
‘Did he hear…?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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