I glanced down at my watch; it was already 3 AM. Taking advantage of the fact that the Smith family was sound asleep, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and left.

I found a nearby hotel to stay in.

Since high school, I had been passionate about programming, teaching myself multiple programming languages.

When I went to college, I resolutely chose a computer science major and developed a strong love for hacking techniques.

I had prepared extensively for this hacker competition, and I certainly wasn't willing to give up so easily.

After the plagiarism incident in my past life, I was immediately kicked out of the Smith household. I had repeatedly checked my computer under the bridge where I had been living, and there was nothing wrong with it. So, I suspected that Sophie must have installed surveillance in my room.

Now that I was in a strange hotel, I didn't believe Sophie could steal my code again. I pulled out my laptop and began coding furiously.

With the experience from my previous life, I debugged at lightning speed and quickly completed the first step.

Looking at the program's output on my screen filled me with a sense of accomplishment, and I stretched out lazily.

Just then, Mrs. Smith called me. "Emma, why did you leave without saying anything? I haven't even compensated you properly yet."

I felt a bit helpless, but since everything was still unclear, I had to continue pretending. "I'm just a country girl; I really can't get used to such a nice house, so I decided to stay somewhere else."

After hanging up the phone, I logged onto the forum to see what Sophie might be posting now that she couldn't access my code.

But when I saw her new post, chills ran down my spine. She had included a screenshot of the last line of code from what I had just completed.

I couldn't believe it was real. Rubbing my eyes vigorously, I compared it over and over again—it was exactly the same, down to the last detail.

Trembling with fear, I looked back around the room, wondering if this hotel also had hidden cameras. In a panic, I began searching everywhere but found nothing.

I checked my computer again but still found no signs of tampering.

All I could do was reopen the webpage and scrutinize Sophie's post for any clues.

Her post read, [Today's ideas became so much clearer.]

The comments below were filled with her sycophants fawning over her. [Goddess is indeed a goddess; she managed to solve such a difficult problem in such a short time!]

[Even though she isn't Smith's biological daughter, with her skills, she'll be sought after anywhere!]

[I heard that the true daughter of the Smiths moved out today; could it be that her absence allowed our goddess to progress so quickly?]

Sophie only replied with one line, [Please don't say that; after all, it was the Smith family that raised me. They've done me a great favor. Regardless of what the true daughter wants, my adoptive parents and I will compensate her. Plus, she's participating in this competition too; I hope she can achieve good results.]

Sophie's post painted her as a kind-hearted yet pitiful young lady, giving off an impression of being both strong and tragic.

In my past life, she had used these posts to crush me completely. But after years of studying programming and consistently winning awards in competitions each year, how could I just admit defeat now?

I felt like an ant on a hot pan, sweating with anxiety.

I kept replaying the situation in my mind, trying to figure out where things had gone wrong.

Since there were no cameras in the room, the issue had to be with my computer.

I couldn't believe that Sophie was also a skilled hacker. But if she could steal my code without me noticing, why didn't she just write her own and compete fairly?

I pushed those thoughts aside for now. I added an extra layer of login authentication to my code and then set up a trap using some hacking techniques.

Next, I continued coding along the lines of my previous life's strategy. If she wanted to steal my code, she would need to bypass the new permissions I had set up. Any login attempt would leave a trace, allowing me to track her down through her IP address.

After completing these tasks, I couldn't help but feel like a genius. I logged onto Sophie's forum to see if she would try to copy my new code.

During this time, Mrs. Smith called me again, still crying on the other end. "Emma, please come back! Mom misses you; I haven't even compensated you properly yet."

Her words made me incredibly impatient, and I rolled my eyes three times.

In my past life, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, and Kyle never gave me a chance to explain; they just pinned all the blame on me. I always felt that they were involved in this whole mess too.

Even though Mr. and Mrs. Smith acted like they were taking care of me after I returned home, my gut told me they had ulterior motives.

Frustrated, I bit my nails and made an outrageous demand, "If you want to compensate me, then write me a check for 5 million first to prove your sincerity."

Mrs. Smith gasped at the other end of the line, and then Kyle quickly snatched the phone away from her. "5 million? Who do you think you are? If you come home now, we'll pretend nothing happened. But if you keep causing trouble, don't bother coming back—we'll act like you never existed!"

"Fine! That's what you said! Don't call me again!"

With that, I hung up and refreshed the webpage again to check Sophie's forum.

Her post had been updated as if it were a direct challenge to me; the code in the image was identical to what I had just written.

She captioned it. [My sister has run away from home; seeing our parents so downcast makes me sad too. This is probably all I can write today.]

[PS: Everyone help me think of ideas! My sister has run away from home, and I don't want our parents to be sad. What can I do to persuade her to come back? Do I really have to leave?]

[Since Mr. and Mrs. Smith didn't let you leave, why don't you just stay there? Why is Emma being so dramatic? Does she even understand what it means to prioritize those who came first?]

Soon after, someone commented anonymously, [What if she wants to win the championship in this hacker competition?]

Sophie didn't reply.

But her sycophants couldn't hold back.

[How shameless! She still wants to win the hacker competition? That's our goddess's hard work!]

[I heard that the true daughter of the Smiths just returned and is competing in this hacker competition too; they say she plans to learn everything in 30 days—how ridiculous!]

[Oh my gosh! Does that anonymous commenter know some insider information? Goddess, be careful! Don't update anymore; protect your hard-earned results!]

People began digging into who this newly recognized village girl from the Smith family was and why she was so malicious.

Slowly but surely, some started suspecting it was me while others defended that I had always been at the top of my department and had no need to plagiarize.

But immediately someone countered that being at the top of the department didn't mean much; this was a national competition after all—who knew if I had plagiarized?

No wonder everyone was so convinced it was me who plagiarized after the incident in my past life; it turned out there had been constant subtle manipulation behind the scenes.

Thinking back to when Ethan took me to the border and how the cold steel of a blade sliced through my skin sent chills down my spine.

I felt exceptionally restless; without realizing it, my palms were sweaty.

In a hurry, I checked the trap I had just set up—it clearly showed that only I had logged into my computer with no traces of anyone else.

My heart sank as confusion washed over me. How on earth did Sophie manage to steal my code?

I was so furious that I smashed my computer, suspecting it had been infected by a new type of virus that even the security software couldn't detect.

Every year, I received generous scholarships and won various competitions, so I had saved up enough money to easily buy a new computer.

But my mood was exceptionally heavy as I began to blame myself. How could I be so incompetent? Even with a second chance at life, I still couldn't outsmart Sophie.

As I walked down the street, I passed a dessert shop and saw a mother and daughter buying sweets. The mother looked at her little girl, who was reaching for a small cake, with so much love in her eyes.

But I had never seen that kind of affection on Mrs. Smith's face when she looked at me.

In my past life, when I was falsely accused of plagiarism, she ignored me completely and only comforted Sophie, who was claiming to be wronged.

When Mr. Smith kicked me out of the house, Mrs. Smith did try to stop him, but how much of that was genuine?

The thought made me even more agitated. To this day, I still didn't understand where things had gone wrong.

At the computer store, I met an experienced technician who pointed at my wristwatch and said, "Young lady, that's a nice watch. Is it mechanical?"

I nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention.

After purchasing a new computer, I hurried home with it in my arms.

Checking the date on my watch, I realized there was less than a day left until the competition submission deadline.

I forced myself to stay calm as I installed software on my new computer, scanning for viruses one by one. I was determined not to install any risky software—caution was key.

Once all the programs were set up, I tentatively wrote a couple of lines of new code.

Then I anxiously monitored Sophie's forum, refreshing the page repeatedly to see if she had posted anything new.

I waited for over an hour without any updates from her. My heart raced with excitement—could it really be that my computer had been the problem?!

In a hurry, I dashed downstairs and threw my old notebook as far away as possible; I didn't want it spying on me anymore.

Back in my room, I rolled up my sleeves and wrote a short segment of code before waiting again for Sophie's forum to update.

Another hour passed with no news from her.

Even her adoring fans began to get anxious and asked about her progress, but there were still no updates from Sophie.

I felt a sense of triumph; no matter how deeply she hid her actions, I had managed to uncover them.

But the painful lessons from my past haunted me—I feared making another wrong judgment could cost me my life again.

I raised my hand to check my watch; two hours had passed since then and still no updates from Sophie. A wave of joy washed over me—so it really was an issue with my computer!

With the memories from my past life, I was able to write the remaining code without much debugging, completing it in one go.

However, a nagging feeling of unease settled in my chest, prompting me to reopen Sophie's forum.

What I saw made my heart drop.

[Today's testing went very smoothly, and I've finished all my code. Tomorrow, I'll take my entry to the competition.]

The accompanying image showed the last few lines of my code, punctuation marks and all, perfectly intact.

The comments below were filled with her devoted fans praising her.

[Goddess, you're amazing! No matter what competition you enter, you always come in first. You're a true genius!]

[Hurry and hide your code! I heard that the village girl who just returned to your family is also competing; you need to be careful of her.]

Sophie replied, [No worries! This post is just for fun; no one will take it seriously.]

Then an anonymous user posted a picture that was a screenshot of me browsing Sophie's thread.

As soon as that image appeared, the comments exploded with outrage. [Isn't that a screenshot of that village girl? How disgusting! She actually found the goddess's forum! What if she really plagiarizes?]

Sophie didn't respond but instead created a new post with that same image, [Sister, looking forward to a fair competition with you!]

This post solidified the accusation of plagiarism against me, and my Instagram was flooded with unread messages.

[What a shameful person! That's Sophie's hard work; how dare you steal it!]

[Who do you think you are being Smith's biological daughter? You should have been sent to the mountains forever when you were lost!]

[People like you don't deserve to live!]

...

The feeling of being drowned in online harassment returned with full force.

I sighed deeply and checked my watch; tomorrow was the final day for submitting entries for the competition. No matter what I did now, it would be too late.

I decided to give up and bought a plane ticket to travel instead.

Although I felt reluctant, I couldn't think of any better options.

In my past life, my biggest regret before dying was not taking the opportunity to explore while I was young. Now, I had no choice but to let it all go.

When I arrived at the airport, my phone reminded me that the hacker competition I had previously signed up for was currently being live-streamed.

I immediately opened the stream and saw Sophie standing on stage with a beaming smile as she demonstrated my code.

The camera quickly panned to Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, and Kyle sitting in the audience, all looking proud as they watched her.

As Sophie showcased her code, the judges' expressions were varied and intriguing.

One older judge even adjusted his glasses repeatedly as he watched the code closely.

The entire venue was quiet, but the comments on screen were anything but crazy.

[Look at my goddess! Just a few lines of code and she has completely captivated the judges of this hacker competition!]

[My goddess looks stunning today; I can't wait until I see her in person!]

...

A few minutes later, police officers rushed in and quickly apprehended Sophie.