𝐄𝐱 𝐖𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞

33. The Hacker Competition

Are you ready? Ha!
It's time for me to take it
I'm the boss right now
Not gonna fake it
Not when you go down
'Cause this is my game
And you better come to play

Nadir was shocked. She was going to... the Hacker Competition?

Back at the competition venue, the competition was going on smoothly. All the CEOs and representatives from the participating companies were there.

An area was sequestered for the VIPs and VVIPs who would occasionally glance towards the competition floor to check out the situation. Right opposite the VIP area was a giant TV screen.

On it were names of the different security software and the respective time taken by different hackers to hack through them. The very last column showed each of the software's time average.

The longer the time average, the better the software because it meant that the hackers needed more time to get through its defense. By now, most of the software produced by smaller companies had been eliminated.

This happened every year, the first to go were sacrifices from these modest companies.

As city's most famous security software, everyone expected Mirza Corps' product to survive until the end.

Selim was beaming with confidence. After all, it had been 30 minutes since the competition started. His product was still undefeated. All the other software had been hacked at least once... with the exception of one!

"CEO Mirza, don't you think there are many hidden experts among this year's participating companies? The obvious increase in technology aside, look at that 'X PC Manager', it still hasn't been hacked yet, it could rival your King Internet Security. Furthermore, I heard that this software was a creation from a brand new company. Maybe it is time for us old geezers to retire from this computer scene and hand it over to the youngster."

A senior CEO who sat beside Selim sighed pointedly. His hidden message was a new and unknown company could have your supposedly established software beat.

King Internet Security had been dominating the sales chart for so long, so every single one of Selim's competitors would love to sneak in a snide comment whenever the chance presented itself.

He himself had noticed this 'X PC Manager'. For some reasons, he had a feeling it had something to do with Murad. He scanned the crowd and his gaze eventually fell on Murad who was in the middle of the competition. His gaze turned sharp and frigid.

"CEO Wajid, while it is true that our juniors are quite talented, it doesn't mean that our established position can be so easily toppled. You might fear them but we, at Mirza Corps, don't mind them one bit," Selim offered as a retort.

CEO Wajid took the verbal hit like a champ and said, "Does this mean CEO Mirza has absolute certainty that his product is unbeatable?"

Selim Mirza's overbearing pride was a known fact within the community, plus he was truly confident with his own product.

He knew CEO Wajid was being facetious but he still answered arrogantly, "Of course!"

"Then, I would like to first congratulate CEO Mirza. After CEO Mirza wins the first prize, remember to treat the rest of us to a meal," CEO Wajid said candidly.

"What meal?" The few other CEO who overheard their conversation asked curiously.

CEO Wajid turned to explain. Of course, he didn't forget to sneak in a few compliments about King Internet Security.

The other CEOs were internally envious of Selim but they too chimed in with the praises. It was as if Mirza Corps had already won the competition.

Selim took the compliments to heart. After all, he wouldn't settle for anything less than first place! But... the software called 'X PC Manager' did plant a single seed of unease in his heart.