Ethan’s P.O.V. (Continued)I released the modified response into the communication loop and watched the data carefully.For a few seconds, nothing happened.Hacker0 didn't immediately react.That alone told me something.He wasn't blindly sending commands, like our previous encounters.He was doing the same thing that both Lucifer and I were doing.He was observing the response of the program.In other words…..Three top hackers were studying the same program.The only difference was that two of us were playing defensively while he was attacking.“Do you really think that he will take this bait?” Lucifer asked me, his curiosity at its peak now.“I don’t know,” I answered honestly."If he accepts the response without questioning it, then we will know he was only searching for access.""And if he doesn't?" he questioned instantly."Then he is looking for something deeper." I sighed in the end, my fingers still moving as I was also noting every subtle change and other relevant facts for

Ethan’s P.O.V. (Continued)I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath.He couldn’t monitor us here because there was no camera inside this cell.“Are you sure that he didn’t see us slipping inside here?” I asked Lucifer, recording the differences between both the programs.“Well.” Lucifer answered hesitantly.I grimaced, but with Hacker0 skills, I was sure that he already knew that we were hiding.“The cameras outside…. They also have audio features, right?” I asked him again, calculating the time of my response for both versions of the program.“I switch off the audio whenever I come here.” He told me, and I took a deep breath.“Why did you ask?” Lucifer asked me curiously.“We talked about your version of the program, and our exchange out there is enough for him to interpret that I am also running your version in my laptop, another version.”“This is what happened earlier, right?” I asked him, and he nodded.“My version of program is not completely different from yours. So, let’s assu

Lucifer’s P.O.V.“What’s the use of spending so much to upgrade the security system and to hire the best security agency if anyone with weapons can enter the school premises without being noticed? Is this an internationally known academy or a flea market?” My father’s personal secretary, Nicole Kidman, asked Mr. Hayes angrily.Mr. Hayes wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Mr. Norton.“I really don’t understand whether you are the principal or Mr. Norton. Why does he have to answer for everything go wrong here, but you take the credit for everything good?” I glanced at her, the corner of my mouth slightly curling up.“It…. It’s not like that, Ms. Kidman. We are still investigating how they got so far in the school.” Mr. Hayes almost became breathless in the end.“It has been two hours since that attack, Mr. Hayes, and all you got to say is, 'We are still investigating ’?” I asked him coldly this time.I never took my security as a joke or a play.Ethan was right. They were

Ethan’s P.O.V.“Why did you call me so urgently? Did they find anything about the attack?” I asked Lucifer when I saw him sitting on my chair.I had to skip the next class because Lucifer asked me to come here.“Come here,” he asked flatly, ignoring what I asked.I felt annoyed because he refused to tell me anything earlier when I asked him through the messages, and now he was just ordering me around.I went to him and put my bag on the table.“Watch this.” He asked me, moving his laptop in my direction.I didn’t ask anything again and faced the screen.For the next few minutes, my eyes stayed glued to the screen.I flinched harder when the explosions turned the screen dark.For a few seconds, I heard my ears ringing sharply.Nothing that happened in the room was normal.Their bodies twisted in agony, but they just laughed as if they were numb to pain.And then that chant.“The Hunt has begun.”As if they were possessed or under someone else’s control.Lucifer didn’t speak immediately

Ethan’s P.O.V. (Continued)His abnormal behavior took me off guard, and I just stared at his back dumbfounded.He grabbed the knob but didn’t open the door instantly.He glanced at me over his shoulder.“Check the modified version on my laptop first, and also the firewall. See if you can find any information about him that can lead us to him.”I blinked, processing what he said.He opened the door and stormed out of the room as if an army of ghosts were behind him.I flinched when the door closed with a bang.He was as unpredictable as the people in the school described him.I just stared at the closed door for a few seconds before looking back at the screen.I couldn’t deny that his abrupt behavior unsettled me, but I wasn’t in a position to question him.So, I concentrated on the work in my hand.The folder was named “original settlement."I opened it and breathed out in relief when it opened easily.I guess the content inside it wasn’t important enough to put a password on it.The