The facility had finally grown quiet.
Most of the aspiring coaches had returned to their dorm buildings after the intense Matchday 3 battles.
Inside Building X, Daniel walked down the hallway toward Room 5.
His mind was still replaying the match against Harada.
The comeback.
The strange version of himself that had taken control.
He still didn't fully understand what had happened.
When he entered the room, Tunde was lying on his bed scrolling through the system tablet.
Ayo sat on the floor reviewing his match replay.
Chinedu leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
Tunde looked up first.
"Oho, the comeback king is here."
Ayo laughed.
"Five–four. That match was crazy."
Daniel rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Yeah… it got messy."
Chinedu shook his head.
"You're lucky."
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"Lucky?"
"Harada switched systems too aggressively. If she had stayed balanced, you probably wouldn't have recovered."
Daniel smirked slightly.
"Maybe."
Just then—
The system screen in the room flickered.
All four of them looked up.
That was strange.
System screens never glitched.
For a brief moment…
The screen showed something unusual.
A tactical data sheet.
But it wasn't Daniel's.
It was another candidate's player lineup.
Before anyone could read it fully—
The screen immediately corrected itself.
Returning to the normal interface.
The room went silent.
Tunde frowned.
"…Did anyone else see that?"
Ayo nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
Chinedu's eyes narrowed.
"That looked like someone else's squad data."
Daniel walked closer to the screen.
"That shouldn't happen."
The system had always been described as perfectly controlled.
No leaks.
No errors.
No outside interference.
So why had another candidate's tactical data suddenly appeared?
Daniel stepped back slowly.
"…That's weird."
Across the facility…
In another building corridor…
Farouk stood in a dimly lit corner.
Two unfamiliar candidates stood beside him.
Both looked nervous.
Farouk folded his arms.
"Did it work?"
One of them nodded.
"We managed to interfere with one of the room systems for a moment."
The other whispered.
"But we can't keep doing it. If the system detects us—"
Farouk interrupted coldly.
"Relax."
His eyes darkened.
"I don't need the whole system."
He smiled slowly.
"I just need information."
The two candidates exchanged uneasy glances.
Farouk continued.
"Player formations."
"Tactical tendencies."
"Match preparations."
He looked toward the window overlooking the facility grounds.
"And when the time comes…"
His smile widened.
"…we'll use it against Daniel."
Back in Building X, Daniel stared at the system screen one more time.
Something about that glitch didn't feel right.
A strange thought crept into his mind.
What if…
Someone inside the competition…
Was cheating?