Chapter 1274

“Impossible… this is completely impossible!” Phelps hissed, his eyes bloodshot with

rage.

He grasped desperately for excuses. “It was just a fluke. The algorithms must have favored their specific niches p>

“They won’t survive the next round. Their luck is going to run dry p>

But despite his frantic rationalizations.

His eyes drifted to the feed showing the eliminated international prodigies, who were visibly unraveling.

Some were already choking up, dropping their heads into their hands in utter devastation.

Watching the global elite having their egos entirely pulverized by Elyndor’s “cannon fodder p>

A cold sweat broke out across Phelps’s forehead.

Following a brief intermission.

The tournament advanced to round two.

This phase was designed to be significantly more brutal.

It was a Strategic Sandbox Simulation, framed as an all-out offensive and defensive siege.

Competitors were required to construct their nation’s Data Defense Perimeter from scratch within their isolated zones.

While building their walls, they were also permitted to exploit and assault the vulnerabilities in rival models.

It was a delicate balance of offense and defense.

If you breached an opponent’s firewall, you plundered their entire Phase One score and eliminated them instantly.

It was a digital bloodbath, ruthless and unforgiving.

But the most critical element of the Sandbox Simulation was that it elevated the stakes beyond individual survival.

It transformed into a national battleground.

Because while each student defended their own terminal, the incoming attacks

would invariably stem from hostile foreign competitors.

Every victory or defeat fed directly into their country’s aggregate standing.

The atmosphere in the arena shifted the second the timer started.

Gone was the sterile, academic vibe of Phase One; the air now crackled with hostility.

Every eye in the gallery was locked onto the Elyndor delegation.

Their flawless execution in the previous round had painted massive targets on their backs.

The crowd was dying to see if they could survive the inevitable retaliation.

Within the very first seconds of the round.

High-pitched klaxons shrieked through the venue.

Before the audience or the VIPs could even process the initial grid deployments.

The primary holographic display assigned to the Elyndor team.

Erupted in blinding, strobing crimson hazard warnings.

Elyndor’s The Azure Firewall was instantaneously swarmed by countless red attack vectors, converging from every possible angle.

A suffocating, impenetrable swarm.

An absolute digital bombardment.

What did this mean?

It meant that before Elyndor could even finish writing their baseline defense algorithms, they vere being targeted by a massive, coordinated strike from the rest of the world!

The rival nations had reached an unspoken, lethal consensus to focus fire entirely

on the Elyndor terminals.

Based on the sheer density of the

payload, no less than fifty

vel

international prodigies were simultaneously battering Elynd

gates.

Elyndor’s structural integrity metrics began plummeting violently.

The entire arena erupted in shock.

Elyndorian supporters, both in the stands and watching live back home, shot to their

feet in sheer panic.

Even the Elyndorian officials in the VIP gallery turned rigid with dread.

Chaos consumed the spectator stands.

“What’s going on? Why is Elyndor taking all the heat at launch p>

“This is insane! They’re getting gang-rushed straight out of the gate p>

“This has to be a premeditated slaughter p>

“It’s a completely blatant witch hunt p>

“They flew too close to the sun in Phase One. The tall poppy gets cut down. It looks like the rest of the world has decided Elyador needs to bentirely erased from the board.