My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 55

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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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Episode 55
“Of course I found out. You were viewing the students’ Applications to Stay during that exact time.”
Ivy went to find Bennett with Cyrus.
“Tiffany Vance’s application is in there. Look at it carefully, please. If I remember correctly, I opened Tiffany’s application, the session expired, and I logged back in. That was around 8:58.”
“Ivy.”
The teacher looked at her with startled eyes, as if asking how she knew that time.
“I’m sorry. I saw the documents when I came to pick up my phone. I felt like I had to do something.”
Ivy simply told the truth.
“Good heavens, that was my mistake…….”
Bennett pressed her forehead for a moment.
“Please trust us teachers, Ivy. And since you’ve brought this up, I’ll look into it.”
The teacher picked up the Internal Phone on her desk and pressed a button.
“Whitmore?”
It seemed Whitmore, who handled IT matters, had taken on the case.
I’d never attended her class, but I remembered upper-level students complaining about her a few times. They’d said she taught the worst kind of class—just reading straight from the textbook.
“No, I’m not rushing you. I just wanted to ask you to verify something. Yes, it’s about Ivy’s matter.”
A heavy sigh from the other end of the phone faintly reached Ivy’s ear.
“You’re saying Ivy clicked on Tiffany Vance’s Application to Stay in the Dormitory Shared Cloud just before that? Could we possibly see those records too?”
Bennett’s voice grew increasingly polite. It seemed annoyed responses kept coming from the other side.
“What?”
A moment later, Bennett repeated softly into the phone.
“There’s no record?”
The voice coming through sounded slightly higher. She seemed exasperated, as if asking how many times she had to explain this.
“Ivy, there’s no such file in the cloud…… Are you certain of your memory?”
The teacher held the phone away and asked, and Ivy answered quickly.
“Of course! If you look at the list of remaining students I submitted, Tiffany’s name will be there.”
“But Ivy…….”
Bennett, who had been about to explain something, stopped. It seemed another conversation had started on the other end.
“That won’t be direct evidence, though.”
In the meantime, Cyrus spoke softly.
“I know, but surely I didn’t write down an application I’d never seen?”
“Either way, that’s insufficient proof the document existed.”
Ivy turned to Cyrus with a frustrated expression, but she knew his words weren’t wrong.
It was simply…… aggravating.
“Does that mean what Ivy was viewing at that time was Quinton’s file?”
“……!”
The teacher glanced at Cyrus standing behind Ivy, then held the phone to her ear again and spoke quietly.
“Yes, first we need to request the device be submitted. I’ll contact you again shortly.”
Click.
The call ended. The silence of the Faculty Office felt unusually loud.
“For now.”
Bennett smiled.
That irritating expression of forced reassurance.
“The file you mentioned doesn’t exist, Ivy. We even checked the Deletion Records, and nothing remains. In fact…….”
Her gaze turned toward Cyrus standing behind Ivy.
“Just a moment, teacher. Quinton is…….”
Before Ivy could finish, Cyrus cut in and answered first.
“My laptop is in the Dormitory. I’ll bring it.”
The fallout from him submitting the laptop was obvious. Thomas Harris would immediately start making noise like he was about to throw a party.
“Let’s go, Ivy.”
He grabbed Ivy’s arm, which hadn’t moved, and left the Faculty Office.
As she was led out, Ivy briefly turned her head toward Bennett. The teacher was quietly whispering with another staff member.
It wasn’t difficult to guess the content. They were probably suspecting Cyrus just like the students were.
‘How could it possibly come to this?’
Tiffany’s file doesn’t exist, and the records point to Cyrus.
One thing she could deny, one thing she’d have to keep silent about.
The worst possible combination.
“I’m sorry.”
As soon as they left the Faculty Office, Ivy apologized immediately.
“If I hadn’t opened your file at exactly that time…….”
“Is that something to apologize for?”
He released Ivy and began walking toward the Dormitory.
“You just did your work in order.”
“Still.”
Ivy hurried after him, staying at his side. Following Cyrus’s faster pace than usual was a bit of a strain.
“If we’re going to talk about timing, this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t forged the signature in the first place. Right?”
As Ivy continued to follow, he deliberately slowed his pace slightly.
“……If you put it that way, then yes, but…….”
“No point wasting time on pointless things.”
He said nothing more and headed straight for the Dormitory.
In the Dormitory Hall, students were gathered in small groups, talking about something. But the moment Ivy and Cyrus entered, the hall fell silent as if by magic.
It didn’t take much to guess what they’d been discussing.
“Let’s go.”
When Ivy hesitated, looking around, Cyrus urged her in a low voice.
Cyrus paused at the floor where Ivy’s room was. His eyes seemed to ask, ‘Why aren’t you going in?’
But when Ivy stubbornly stayed put, he shook his head and went up the stairs once more.
“Quinton, are you really going to submit your laptop right now?”
“That’s what they asked me to do.”
“Don’t you think the teachers will just find what they want to find?”
“I do.”
At that unconcerned answer, Ivy wanted to scream.
The room was empty.
On the desk sat a single silver laptop. The apple logo gleamed clearly.
Ivy quickly squeezed through the doorway, grabbed the laptop, and hugged it to herself.
“What are you doing?”
Cyrus, who had come up behind her, asked.
Ivy tightened her grip on the laptop. Her knuckles turned white.
“Submit it later.”
“Will that make a difference?”
“At least after we find some clue that can keep things from tilting entirely against you. Then we submit it together.”
Cyrus answered in a cold voice.
“That’s pointless.”
“Why?”
“Because dragging your feet like this only gives them more certainty that you’re guilty.”
“……You’re right.”
Ivy wanted to argue back, but she had nothing to say.
Cyrus extended his hand.
Ivy’s body instinctively stepped back. Her back touched the edge of the desk.
“No.”
“Ivy.”
He narrowed his eyes and closed the distance further. Their feet were nearly touching.
She tensed her hand, thinking he might forcibly take the laptop, but he didn’t.
He simply gazed at her face quietly and waited.
His breath was close enough that she could feel it tickling her forehead.
“Give it here.”
His tone was like coaxing a child.
“There’s nothing on that laptop. Whatever I opened and uploaded, no guilt is going to suddenly appear from it.”
“I know. But why at exactly that moment…….”
“That alone isn’t enough for any punishment or disciplinary action. There’s no clear evidence.”
He added firmly.
“So submitting it won’t cause me any problems.”
Ivy shook her head.
No problems? Not a chance. Countless things would happen to him.
The same hell he’d already been through in middle school.
“If the same thing happens again, what then?”
“The same thing won’t happen.”
“How can you know that?”
Ivy gripped the laptop tighter and looked up. The moment her eyes met his, she froze.
He was smiling faintly.
As Ivy’s gaze wavered, that smile deepened ever so slightly.
“Because already…… everything is different.”
She couldn’t tell exactly what was different. But the strength drained from her hands holding the laptop of its own accord.
Even her breath faltered.

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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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