Zero to Hero: Outsmarting the System

Right before our final SATs, Delilah—our class's precious golden girl—announced she was using a scorestealing System to bind our entire senior class together. "I'm just so stupid.

I'll definitely bomb the exams…" Delilah sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "But you guys aren't like me.

You're all straightA geniuses." She bit her lip, looking up through her lashes. "If each of you just gives me ten of your points, I can get into the same Ivy League schools as you.

Then I can still be your favorite girl." She twisted her fingers together. "The System's activation rules are just a little strict.

It needs all thirty of us in the class to agree." Begging for other people's test scores was insane.

Yet, every single classmate practically jumped out of their seats to accept the System's binding. In my past life, I refused Delilah's binding at the very last second.

I couldn't stand by and let my classmates ruin their futures. Because of my refusal, the whole class easily got accepted into toptier universities. Only Delilah failed.

Unable to handle her garbage score, she threw herself into the ocean and committed suicide. The class lost their minds. My own twin brother, Cole, hated me the most.

He blamed me for Delilah's death. On the exact day I was crowned State Valedictorian, Cole teamed up with the rest of the class. They kidnapped me. Then, they slaughtered me.

As the blood drained from my body, their twisted faces hovered above my fading vision. "We all could have gotten into good schools anyway!

What's the big deal about losing ten points?" Cole stepped forward, his fists clenched tight. "Don't play dumb!

You were just terrified Delilah would steal your Valedictorian title!" "You selfish bitch! Delilah is dead! Pay for it with your life!" My soul floated above the dirt.

I watched them hack my corpse to pieces and feed me to stray dogs. And then, I watched Delilah step out from the shadows.

She cried perfectly timed tears, throwing herself into their arms. She pouted, sobbing about how she shouldn't have faked her death and made them worry.

They weaponized my dead Valedictorian fame. They fabricated evidence that I was a ruthless high school bully, painting Delilah as my ultimate victim.

Riding that wave of public sympathy, Delilah skyrocketed into a megainfluencer with millions of followers. I blinked.

The metallic scent of blood vanished, replaced by the sterile smell of whiteboard markers. I was reborn.

I was sitting right back in my high school classroom, witnessing the exact moment Delilah asked the class to bind to her System.

Those idiots didn't know the System's true exchange rate was tentoone. To give Delilah ten points, they had to sacrifice a hundred of their own.

I dug my nails into my palms until the skin split. This time, I wouldn't save a single one of them. I'd watch them torch their own futures until there was nothing left but ash.

Chapter 1 The exact same words echoed in my ears. A cold shudder ripped through me, the hairs on the back of my neck snapping at attention.

Delilah swung the class president’s arm back and forth. "I just can't bear to leave you guys.

Without you, college is going to be utterly miserable." She batted her eyelashes, pitching her voice into a sicklysweet whine. "If we all get into the same university, I can dance and sing for you!

I'll put on a show every single day just to keep everyone smiling, okay?" My fingers went numb. The water bottle slipped from my grip.

It shattered against the linoleum floor with a deafening crack. Thirty pairs of eyes snapped toward me. Cole, my own twin brother, shoved his chair back and stood up.

The muscles in his jaw ticked. His stare was a dead, hollow void—the exact same empty stare he had right before he drove a hammer into my skull in my past life.

He pointed at the mess. "Everyone else is on board, Veronica.

What’s your problem?" Delilah gasped, perfectly cueing the tears pooling in her eyes. "Veronica, I know you get straight A's and you've always hated me for being dumb. "But please…" She clasped her hands together. "I just can't survive without you guys." The classroom erupted into murmurs of sympathy.

A guy in the back row slammed his palm on his desk. "Seriously, Veronica? Do you have ice in your veins?

You and Cole share the same DNA, so how the hell are you so heartless?" "It’s literally ten points," a girl chimed in, rolling her eyes. "We're the AP Honors class.

Losing ten points isn't going to stop any of us from getting into the Ivy League. Just give them to Delilah!" "Stop being a total pickme, Veronica!

You're just jealous of her!" Delilah practically folded herself in half, creeping toward my desk with her head bowed. "I know test scores matter more to you than our friendship, Veronica.

But to me, numbers are just cold, meaningless things. Being together is all I care about." A laugh bubbled up in the back of my throat, tasting like copper.

If I hadn't crawled back from the grave, I never would have figured out the sickening math behind her precious System. A tentoone exchange rate.

She asked for ten points, but the System would drain a hundred from every single person who agreed.

In my past life, common sense told me trading SAT scores was pure insanity, so I opted out. I saved their futures.

I preserved the scores they actually earned, paving their way straight into elite universities. My reward was a brutal, agonizing death.

The memory of their twisted, bloodsplattered faces hovered right in front of me, blotting out the fluorescent lights.

I pulled my lips back into a wide, slow smile. "I'm in." I kicked the shattered pieces of my water bottle aside. "In fact, I think ten points is an insult.

We should each give Delilah forty." Losing a hundred points would still leave these AP geniuses with enough to scrape into a decent state college.

If they loved her this much, let them bleed two hundred points. Let the whole class enjoy a miserable ride straight to community college.

The classroom went dead silent. "Twenty?" someone muttered. "Isn't forty a bit steep?

That could tank our national rankings." Cole closed the distance between us in three long strides, his shadow falling over my desk.

He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing my face. "What game are you playing, Veronica?" he demanded, his voice dropping low. "Since when do you give a damn about Delilah?" The muscles around his eyes tightened, and his fingers twitched at his sides.

A freezing chill slithered down my spine. In my past life, Cole was always glued to Delilah's side, but he at least bothered to play the role of a supportive brother.

He kept the mask on until the final test scores were published. Chapter 2 The memory of that hammer cracking against my skull played on a loop.

Even as the blood poured into my eyes, I had still clung to him like a lifeline, wrapping my bleeding fingers around his wrist. "Cole, I'm your sister.

Please." I had tried to use our shared blood to make him drop the weapon. He just wrenched his arm away and wiped a speck of my blood off his cheek. "Sister?

That's exactly why you need to die." He stepped closer, the metal of the hammer dripping onto the floor. "Veronica, you didn't just block Delilah's path.

You're blocking my inheritance. "I heard Mom and Dad talking about the trust fund. A girl getting the exact same fiftypercent cut as me?

You deserve to die." The hammer had come down harder with every swing. The truth died right there in my crushed throat. Our parents had shielded him way too well.

He went to his grave never knowing he was just an adopted orphan. I snapped back to the present. I stared into his hollow, dead eyes and the tense set of his shoulders.

Cole was reborn too. He slammed a hand onto my desk. "Talk. I know exactly how your twisted brain works.

Since when do you play nice with Delilah?" I grabbed a thick AP History textbook. I smashed it straight across the side of his head. Smack. The entire classroom went dead silent.

Cole stumbled back. He touched his ear, stunned, before his fists balled up so tight his knuckles popped.

Delilah covered her mouth. "Oh my god… Cole, are you okay?" She turned her wide eyes to me. "Veronica, what is wrong with you?!" I tossed the textbook back onto my desk. "I'm disciplining my own brother.

Got a problem with that?" I held his murderous gaze. "You think you run things now, Cole? Watch your tone." A muscle feathered in his jaw.

He wanted to swing at me, I could see it in the twitch of his shoulders. But he needed my points for Delilah. He swallowed it down and took a step back.

I dismissed him and locked eyes with Delilah. "So? Are we doing forty points or not? "We all know your SAT practice scores barely scrape a six hundred.

You only survived in AP Honors because everyone slips you the answers." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk. "If you actually want to make it into the Ivy League with us, forty points is the safe bet.

You could literally leave two entire sections blank and still cruise straight into Harvard." Her smile faltered at the cheating comment, but the sheer greed flashing in her eyes couldn't be hidden. "That's a brilliant idea!

Veronica, you really mean it?" I gave her a slow, deliberate nod. "Absolutely." Delilah spun around and started working the room.

The class's little princess didn't even have to try hard.

A few pouts, a few tugs on some sleeves, and she easily secured the fortypoint pledge from every single person. "I'm counting on everyone for the exams tomorrow!" She beamed.

She sold them the sweetest smile, executing the most ruthless scheme imaginable. She was perfectly happy building her bridge to Harvard using the ashes of everyone else's futures.

Before the final bell rang, I marched straight into the guidance counselor’s office. I sat down and officially reclaimed my fullride early acceptance to Stanford.

In my past life, I had been naive enough to reject it. I wanted to prove I could conquer the national exams with my raw score. Pure stupidity. I signed my name on the dotted line.

A heavy, ironclad sense of relief anchored in my chest. That night, Cole caught me in the hallway.

He blocked my path to my bedroom. "You better actually agree to the binding tomorrow, Veronica," he whispered. "Or you're going to die a very ugly death." I met his stare without blinking. "You too, Cole." The dead certainty in his posture confirmed everything.

We had both crawled out of the exact same grave. The next morning, I sat at my designated desk in the exam hall.

A glowing blue text box materialized in thin air right above my test booklet. [Host, do you consent to providing 40 points to Delilah?] I tapped my pencil against the desk. "I want to donate my entire final score.

Give Delilah six hundred points." The screen glitched, flashing a string of red question marks. [Request acknowledged.

Warning: This action will permanently reduce your final SAT score to zero. Do you confirm?] "Confirm." I flipped open the test booklet and began shading in the bubbles.

I took my time, filling out every single section perfectly. Let the System drain every last point. I already had my golden ticket. Chapter 3 Delilah wanted a high score?

Well, this time, she was getting enough points to shatter the maximum limit. Right after the final bell rang, Delilah confirmed the point transfer with her System.

But the System clearly only notified her that everyone agreed. It conveniently left out the part where I dumped six hundred points straight into her lap.

Delilah’s cheeks flushed a bright cherry red. She spun in a circle. "Yay! I knew you guys loved me the most.

Meeting you all was the best thing that ever happened to me." She clapped her hands. "Once we get to college, it's my turn to take care of you guys!" The entire class practically melted.

Cole couldn't peel his eyes off her. "So, where do you want to go, Delilah?" Cole asked, leaning against a desk. "We're following you, obviously." "Yeah, wherever Delilah goes, we go!" "Harvard is great, Delilah.

Have you thought about it?" a guy in the back called out. "Or MIT?

Honestly, if you want MIT, I can just bomb a few placement tests so my score drops to match yours." Delilah tilted her head, tapping her chin as if genuinely weighing her Ivy League options.

I turned toward the window, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing out loud. Tank their scores? Harvard? MIT? Sure.

These idiots had garbage personalities, but their academic records were flawless. They had the raw numbers to walk onto any elite campus in the country.

They just didn't realize their precious little flower was a parasite. I grabbed my backpack and walked out the door.

When results day hit, these geniuses were going to experience a freefall straight into the gutter. Three years of blood, sweat, and AP classes, all incinerated by Delilah's greed.

When I got home, Mom and Dad had graduation gifts waiting on the kitchen island. Two identical sets of the highestend MacBooks and iPhones on the market—one for me, one for Cole.

Cole wasn't home yet. I traced the edge of the sleek packaging. "You guys really do treat Cole like he shares our blood." Mom and Dad exchanged a quick glance.

My tone gave it away. "What's wrong?" Dad asked, frowning. "You used to forbid us from even mentioning his adoption.

Why bring it up now?" "We took Cole in," Mom added softly. "Of course we treat him as our own." I paused, meeting their eyes. "And what if Cole gets ambitious?

What if he decides he wants to tear me down to take everything?" My parents didn't build a multimilliondollar real estate empire by being stupid.

They caught the subtext instantly. The kitchen grew quiet.

Dad squared his shoulders. "If he stays in his lane, he splits the trust fund fiftyfifty with you," Dad stated, his voice turning hard. "But if he ever bares his teeth at you, I'll strip him of the family name and throw him out on the street." The knot in my chest loosened.

An hour later, the front door clicked open. Cole walked into the kitchen and spotted the matching gifts. The muscles in his face instantly went taut.

He pointed at my boxes. "Mom, Dad, Veronica is an absolute idiot with tech.

Getting her a Pro model is a total waste." He stepped closer, reaching for my laptop. "Just let me take hers.

I have a friend who could really use it." Mom's expression frosted over. "No." She stepped between Cole and the island. "We treat the two of you as absolute equals.

We don't play favorites. Check your attitude, Cole." Cole’s jaw snapped shut. He slowly pulled his hand back.

When he shifted his gaze to me, the sheer venom in his eyes was palpable. I stared right back.

Even without Delilah whispering in his ear, this rabid dog would have lunged at my throat eventually. I was given a second life. I'd die before I let him get close enough to bite.

Chapter 4 Ever since finals ended, Delilah paraded around town with the rest of the class. My social media feeds were choked with their group selfies.

Delilah’s family was dead broke, but she had Cole—her personal ATM—footing the bill for every iced coffee and shopping spree.

Burning through my family's money wasn't enough; she had to dance right in front of my face. "Veronica, are you seriously not going to hang out with us?" she pouted, twisting a strand of hair. "We're going to be classmates for another four years.

Isolating yourself is a massive red flag." She sniffled. "Do you… hate me?" I hadn't even blinked, yet her little act painted a target on my back.

The rest of the class glared at me, whispering behind their hands. I met their hostile stares and poured a bucket of ice water over their parade. "Scores drop tomorrow.

Can you guys actually stomach partying right now?" That shut them up. They were honors students, but the countdown to the final SAT release was enough to make anyone sweat.

The next morning in the computer lab, everyone sported heavy, dark bags under their eyes, buzzing with an unnatural, manic energy. "My mom already promised!

If my score is high enough, she's paying for a twoweek trip to Hawaii!" "I need this," a guy muttered, bouncing his leg. "If I secure a fullride merit scholarship, I can finally clear my dad's gambling debts." "Same.

My dad swore if I break a 1500, he’ll leave his new trophy wife and marry my mom again. I tracked my answers. I'm sitting at a 1560. Even losing forty points drops me to a 1520.

My mom already picked out her wedding dress." A laugh slipped out of my throat. Their pathetic little dreams were about to go up in smoke. Actually, it was worse than smoke.

They were about to be buried alive. A girl snapped her head toward me. "What the hell is so funny?" She stepped into my space. "I am so sick of your superiority complex, Veronica!

You’ve looked down on Delilah since freshman year just because she doesn't live in a gated community. You're the rich princess, and we're all bottomfeeders, right?

Do us a favor and don't pick the same college as us. Looking at your face makes me sick." Her barking didn't even scratch me. I gave a slow, calm nod. "Don't worry.

I never planned on going to the same school as you." My indifference choked her.

Cole immediately stepped up to fan the flames. "Drop the act, Veronica," he said loudly, making sure the whole room heard. "At home, all you do is complain that our classmates smell poor and drag down the grading curve.

Can't you at least pretend to be a decent human being in public? You're crossing a line." His lie poured gasoline on the fire. The class practically snarled at me.

Delilah stepped right into the center, puffing out her chest, using her sickeningly sweet baby voice to deliver her lecture. "Veronica!

Money and test scores are just one tiny part of life. Connections are what actually build a future.

If you make enemies out of everyone here, it doesn't matter how rich or smart you are. You're going to crash and burn." I glanced at the Apple Watch on my wrist.

The release window just opened. The high of impending revenge washed out any irritation. "The portal is open," I announced. "You can check them right now." That broke the spell.

Everyone scrambled for a computer. The frantic clacking of keyboards echoed off the walls as they punched in their student IDs.

I stood perfectly still in the center of the room, taking in the wide, eager look on every single face. In my head, the countdown began.

Three… two… one… Chapter 5 "What the actual fuck?! A 1070?!" "Is this damn portal glitching? I tracked a 1520! How am I looking at an 1120?!" "Wait. I'm in the eleven hundreds too.

That's literally impossible." All the color drained from Cole's face. He snapped his head up, locking his eyes straight on me. "Veronica. What's your score?" Right.

He had to compete with me until the bitter end. What did my score even matter? I already signed my early acceptance to Stanford. I ignored him.

I covered my mouth, feigning shock. "How did everyone bomb this badly? With scores like these, forget the Ivy League.

You guys won't even make the waitlist for a community college." I let the silence stretch for a halfsecond. "Our class average is over a 1500.

Did everyone just collectively black out during the exam?" The sheer panic swallowed them whole. They forgot about tearing me down.

A girl two rows over buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "No. I need a manual recount. "My entire family is counting on me.

I can't have an 1100." "My mom is going to kill me," someone else choked out. "What do I do?" "Even if we gave Delilah twenty points, it shouldn't have dropped us this much!" Amidst the wailing, Delilah kept her head down.

She bit the inside of her cheek so hard her jaw visibly twitched, desperately fighting back a massive grin. Just as I thought.

She never planned on setting foot on the same campus as these losers. These idiots spoiled her rotten for three years, and she just used them as a bloody stepping stone.

I leaned casually against the nearest desk. "Everyone's score dropped by exactly four hundred points. It almost feels like we didn't give her twenty.

It feels like we gave her four hundred." The frantic typing stopped. Thirty pairs of bloodshot eyes snapped directly to Delilah.

The guy relying on the merit scholarship pushed his chair back. He marched straight up to her monitor. "Delilah.

What did you get?" Even with her thick skin, the crushing weight of the room made her flinch.

She instinctively threw her arms over her screen. "I—I haven't loaded it yet." "Bullshit!" He grabbed the edge of the monitor and yanked it toward him.

He stared at the screen, the blood draining from his lips. "Her score isn't here. It says her results are blocked!" Delilah was their precious princess, sure.

But nobody was saintly enough to watch the class idiot steal their futures and soar into the Ivy League while they rotted. The atmosphere turned suffocatingly toxic.

I stepped right into the dead silence. "You know, the College Board only blocks a score when someone gets a perfect 1600.

It triggers an automatic manual review for cheating." Delilah lost all control of her facial muscles.

A wide, manic grin split across her face. "A perfect score? "I can get into Harvard!

I might actually be the national Valedictorian!!" The guy gripping her monitor leaned down, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Why does the dumbest girl in class have a perfect score while the rest of us are sitting in the gutter?" The rest of her loyal subjects finally caught on. "Yeah, Delilah.

What the hell happened? Why did our scores tank the second yours skyrocketed?" A room full of absolute idiots. Her score wasn't blocked for being a perfect 1600.

She absorbed so many stolen points that she shattered the maximum limit. The system didn't flag her for brilliance. It flagged her for a massive, impossible glitch.

Chapter 6 Delilah shrank back, desperately playing the victim card to dodge the crossfire. "I don't know what happened!

Maybe you all just panicked during the test?" She forced a sob, wiping her dry eyes. "Does everyone just hate seeing me succeed? Was all your kindness fake?

You just want me to be a failure?" Faced with the reality of their ruined futures, her little act finally cracked.

The guy who needed the scholarship slammed his hand on the desk. "Save the tears! If you actually earned a perfect score, I'd shake your hand.

But you stole our points!" He pointed a shaking finger right at her face. "Forty points from thirty people! That's at least twelve hundred points!

But why did we all lose four hundred?! Delilah, you—" I leaned against a chair, perfectly content watching the ship sink.

Cole suddenly stepped in front of Delilah, his jaw tight. "This isn't Delilah's fault." He scanned the room. "Someone is playing us." He snapped his dead gaze to me. "Veronica, I don't care if you're my sister.

I'm not covering for you anymore." He jabbed a finger in my direction. "I heard you at home, whispering to some 'System' about points!

You stole everyone's scores, didn't you?!" A harsh, metallic laugh scraped my throat. To protect his little investment, Cole didn't hesitate to throw me to the wolves.

His lie pivoted the mob. Thirty pairs of bloodshot eyes locked onto me. "Veronica!" a girl yelled, her face twisting. "You already have money!

Why do you have to destroy us in the dark?!" "Can't you just let normal people live?!" "Give my points back, or I swear to God I'll kill you!" I crossed my arms, holding Cole's stare without flinching. "You just open your mouth and let the garbage fall out, don't you?

Where's your proof, Cole?" With every eye glued to me, nobody noticed the sheer, greedy relief lighting up Delilah's face.

She seized the perfect chance to frame me. "The only way to prove it is to check your score!" Delilah yelled from behind Cole. Cole’s eyes darkened with venom. "Exactly. Log in.

Let everyone see your screen." He stepped closer, crowding my space. "We all tanked. If the College Board blocked your score too, it proves you stole everything!" "Yeah!

Show us!" I let a small, tight smile slip.

I sat down at the nearest terminal, punched in my student ID, and slammed the Enter key. [Final SAT Score: 0] The guy hovering over my shoulder choked. "A zero?

A literal zero?!" The hostile energy in the room wavered, dissolving into pure confusion. "Her score is even worse than ours… maybe she really didn't do it…" Cole froze.

He stared blankly at the glowing monitor. "How…" To keep the act going, I gripped the edge of the desk, swaying slightly as if the zero had physically crushed me.

While everyone was distracted by my screen, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and fired off two quick texts.

Less than five minutes later, a stampede of heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway.

A crowd surged through the classroom doors, shoving massive camera lenses and microphones into the room. "We got a tip from the administration!

The national perfect scorer is in this room!" A reporter shoved a mic forward, scanning the stunned teenagers. "Who is Delilah?

Delilah, can we get an exclusive interview?!" Chapter 7 The exact same classmates who once teamed up to strip me of my academic scholarship just to make Delilah happy were now dead silent.

Shocking. They only felt the sting when it was their own blood being spilled. But Delilah would never let a spotlight go to waste.

She practically leaped out of her chair, waving her hand frantically. "I'm Delilah!

I'll do it!" The reporters swarmed, shoving past desks and shoving a dozen flashing camera lenses right into her face. "Delilah, as the state Valedictorian, how did you motivate your peers?" "Do you have any study secrets you can share?

You're the absolute pride of our district!" With every question the reporters fired off, the surrounding classmates' faces darkened into a bruised, ugly purple.

Delilah stood there, shamelessly rattling off generic study tips.

But when she caught the murderous glares burning into her from the rest of the class, she smoothly pivoted, throwing the crosshairs right back onto me. "Honestly, my score was just a normal performance.

But my classmate, Veronica… her score is absolutely mindblowing.

Guess what she got!" The reporters exchanged confused looks. "Veronica… did you get a perfect score too?" Delilah let out a loud, theatrical snort. "A perfect score?

She got a literal zero! "I worked so hard to pull up our class average, and she completely dragged it into the dirt." She tilted her head, playing the innocent, concerned friend in front of the rolling cameras. "It's just so weird.

Veronica always got straight A's on our practice exams. "How did she bomb the real SATs so badly?" She gasped softly, covering her mouth. "Do you think… her old scores were faked?" The reporters lunged, shoving their microphones inches from my nose.

Before I could even open my mouth, Cole let out a heavy, disappointed sigh. "Veronica, I warned you," he said, shaking his head for the cameras. "I told you to stop sneaking out to hang out with those gang dropouts.

Are you happy now? How are you going to explain this to Mom and Dad?" A cold smile crept onto my face.

Cole really wouldn't miss a single chance to bury me. "Name them," I fired back, my voice slicing through the noise. "Which dropouts?

What are their names?" I locked eyes with him, closing the distance. "You’re eighteen, Cole. Slandering me on a live broadcast carries real legal consequences.

Keep talking." Cole’s jaw snapped shut. He swallowed hard, stepping back from the mic. Right on cue, our guidance counselor burst through the door, totally out of breath.

She looked baffled that Delilah of all people was the Valedictorian, but the sheer prestige of the cameras washed it away. "Congratulations, Delilah!" she beamed. "With a perfect score, recruiters from Harvard and Yale are probably on their way here right now to fight over you!

Do you know what you want to major in?" Delilah puffed out her chest without an ounce of shame. "I want to study the hardest major available, so I can give back to my country." The counselor clutched her chest, practically in tears.

The reporters pivoted to the cameras, going live. "We are standing right here with the national Valedictorian, waiting for the legendary Ivy League bidding war to begin!" Standing entirely outside the camera frame, I let a genuine smile stretch across my face.

A perfect 1600? Please. Try a 2400 on a 1600point test. I couldn't wait to see this. The classroom waited with bated breath.

Half an hour later, the distinct echo of heavy footsteps marched down the hallway. Delilah smoothed down her skirt, her hands trembling with excitement. "They're here!

They're here!" a reporter shouted to the live feed. The heavy wooden doors swung open. But it wasn't the Harvard admissions board standing in the doorway. It was the Principal.

And flanking him were three uniformed police officers. Chapter 8