The weekend air was crisp and quiet. Most students took Saturday to sleep in or go out with friends, but Lin Yi was already back inside the AI Club's lab by 8 a.m., laptop open, headphones in, fingers moving steadily across the keyboard.
On his screen, simulation graphs flickered—green when a trade succeeded, red when it didn't.
He was building something new: an adaptive AI that could learn from market behavior in real time. Not just react—but predict trends like a human investor would.
It wasn't perfect yet. The virtual economy was unstable. Sometimes the AI got greedy and collapsed the entire strategy. But slowly, it was getting better.
[Code Development Progress: 34%]
[System Tip: Add sentiment data parsing to enhance predictive logic – Cost: ¥3,000]
He tapped confirm without hesitation. His wallet still held over ¥76,000, and investments like these felt worth every yuan.
[Upgrade Installed – Accuracy Boost: +12%]
[Reputation Bonus: +2 – Early Progress Detected in Club Project]
Lin Yi leaned back and sipped on a nutrition drink the system had delivered silently to his dorm that morning. High protein, no flavor, but packed with everything his body needed.
Suddenly, the lab door creaked open.
Yuan Peng strolled in, eyes bloodshot, carrying two cans of coffee. "Yo, you really came this early?"
"I wanted quiet."
He chuckled. "You got it. Only weirdos like you would choose algorithms over sleep."
Lin Yi just smiled.
Yuan Peng placed one of the coffees beside him. "Here. You earned this."
"Thanks."
As Yuan Peng turned to his desk, Lin Yi noticed something out of the corner of his eye—a figure watching from the hallway window.
It disappeared quickly.
He brushed it off at first… but something in his gut said otherwise.
That night, back in the dorms, Lin Yi reviewed his code one last time before logging off.
Except—
[Warning: Irregular Code Detected in TradeBot_AI_v2.3]
"What?"
He opened the file.
Several lines had been subtly altered.
A few variables changed. A key function disabled. The damage was small—but enough to crash the system under stress.
Sabotage.
Someone had tampered with his work.
And they'd been careful—leaving no obvious traces in the commit history. The kind of subtle sabotage that only someone skilled—and envious—would attempt.
[System Prompt: Do you want to restore previous backup and trace tampering source? – Cost: ¥1,500]
"Yes."
The screen glowed briefly.
[Code Restored]
[Trace Result: Tampering originated from user: Luo Bin]
Luo Bin.
A second-year member of the club. Known for his arrogance and messy code. Lin Yi recalled him glaring during the last meeting—when Li Shiyu had approved Lin's project without hesitation.
Jealousy.
Of course.
But Lin Yi didn't explode. He didn't report it to the club leaders. He didn't say a word.
Instead, he opened a blank notebook and wrote one line:
"Let results speak louder than revenge."
Then he dove back into his code.
He would make it better—faster, smarter, cleaner.
If Luo Bin wanted to play dirty, Lin Yi would answer with brilliance.
Two days later, the club held a progress check meeting.
Everyone was expected to showcase what they had so far.
Luo Bin presented first—a clunky, slow-reacting bot that overtraded and burned out by round five of the simulation. A few polite claps followed.
Then came Lin Yi.
He connected his laptop and let the bot run.
Trade after trade, decision after decision—the AI predicted dips, recovered from spikes, and rebalanced portfolios like a seasoned investor.
Gasps filled the room as the simulation ended with a 92% profitability score—far above anything anyone had achieved this early.
Li Shiyu looked at the screen, then at Lin Yi.
"What did you add?" she asked.
"Sentiment parsing. Adaptive layering. And restraint logic to prevent over-optimization."
Even she looked surprised.
The room broke into murmurs.
Luo Bin clenched his jaw.
[Reputation Increased: +7 – Club Recognition]
[Saboteur Exposed – Passive Defense Activated]
Yuan Peng walked over after the session, grinning. "You're the real deal, aren't you?"
Lin Yi shrugged. "I just follow the logic."
But inside, he felt it.
The climb was working.
And no matter how quietly he rose, no matter how much others tried to trip him—
He would not fall.