Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress

Chapter 1458: Meet and greet

The Next Day...

Even though Penny didn't make it to the semi-finals, she watched the competition through a live broadcast. She wasn't required to be present, especially since Yugi was there to ensure the event ran smoothly.

Now that the semi-finals were over and the finalists had been decided, the competitors were given three days to rest before the big event. Until then, Prime Group was providing them with accommodations, food, and everything else they needed for the duration of the competition.

It was also part of their schedule for each team to meet with Penny before the finals.

[TEAM A's Practice Room]

"Hey, are you sure T. Mouse is coming today?" one of the team members asked, casually playing on the computer instead of practicing. "He's going to be our boss, so should I prepare?"

"Why would you need to prepare?" another member smirked. "It doesn't matter if we meet the big boss or not. If we win, we're all walking out of here as millionaires."

"He's right," another chimed in, chuckling while gaming. "It's not like they can withhold our prize money just because we didn't meet the boss."

"But from what I heard, Prime Group has been scouting all the players." Unlike the others, the fourth person wasn't playing but instead watching stock prices on his screen. "Win or lose, they might offer us jobs. That wouldn't be a bad backup plan. Team D is pretty good. I played a round with one of their guys, and he finished coding in under half an hour."

The fifth team member, who had been quietly jotting down notes in a notebook, finally looked up. "It's not a rumor. It's true," he said flatly. "And don't get mad if someone brings up the worst-case scenario. This is a competition-ten teams are fighting for first place. Having a backup plan, like getting hired by Prime Group, isn't a bad idea."

He added in a quiet mumble, "The hacking market is tough. And illegal. Might as well make decent money doing something we're good at-legally."

The fourth person smiled and nodded. "Exactly. And from what I heard, Prime Group's cyber security and R&D departments are top-notch. Sounds like a solid deal."

other way around. Otherwise, why would they host this competition in the first place? Besides, how could they bow their heads to

the group ultimately agreed

opinions on the matter. Some were already thinking ahead, considering a job offer as a fallback plan. Others were solely focused on winning. A few wanted both—a championship

them were full-time hackers,

on one thing: they doubted any of the higher-ups truly understood their skills. In their minds, T. Mouse was just another capitalist. After all, being a good businessman didn't necessarily mean he had

out. Everyone agreed to

Two Hours Later...

here all the

At the hotel where

staying, a

set up

tables

offering food, while round tables filled the space for seating. But what immediately caught everyone's attention was the row of five old computers placed at

front of the venue.

one of the competitors asked, circling the table and eyeing the computers with curiosity. "They look

"I can already imagine the lag on these junk

of junk, but also a giant

they put

Maybe for

while others remained skeptical. A few, more analytical in nature, were already overthinking the presence of these outdated machines. Prime Group

seriously expecting us to use these in the finals, are they?" someone blurted out, drawing a mix of

in the finals, we'd be here for days. Just imagine running security-cracking software on these

wouldn't be that unreasonable. It wouldn't make sense." "Besides, these

they agreed-forcing them to use these outdated computers would only expose how little the event organizers actually