As per the rule, everyone's hand left their computer and they pushed themselves away from it.
This was to make sure none of them would be programming when the work of others was being inspected.
Sure enough, three experts with white hairs and beards, who looked to be in their early 60s, walked out from behind the curtains almost immediately.
They started from the last team as it was the closest to them and took their time going from one team to the other inspecting all five of their computers.
As long as one person got the task correctly, the entire team passed. That was the rule.
The people on Serbian's team weren't two surprised when they saw the proud beam on the first inspector's face.
Then came the second and the third, all three of them having the same beam.
They moved through the rest of the teams rather quickly before they all settled at the last team which was Kelsie's.
They had watched the contest from inside and knew the members of this team were the most idle and hadn't done anything the whole time except play with their phones.
In fact, was it not the rule of the group to make sure to inspect every computer, they never would've bothered with them.
As the first inspector went through the first three computers and found nothing on the screen just like he expected, he suddenly paused at the fourth one and frowned slightly.
"What is this? Do you think programming and coding nonsense would do the trick? Do you think the people upstairs have nothing better to do with their…" He abruptly stopped talking, his eyes trembling in disbelief when he went through the rest of the program.
Like though suddenly possessed, he grabbed the computer with both hands to take a closer look at the screen.
Without taking his eyes off it, he stuttered, "Wh-what is this? How is this possible?"
He picked up the mouse and proceeded to scroll through the program, his eyes trembling even more by the second.
"What is it? Is the gibberish so much that it rendered you so speechless?" The second inspector standing behind him joked.
Upon hearing him, everyone laughed loudly and began mocking Kelsie and her team.
"The poor inspector must be shocked at what he's seeing."
"He must've done this so many times in the past and hasn't seen such nonsense in his life before!"
The third inspector was getting impatient at the long wait and chuckled in amusement, "Why are you just standing there? If the nonsense the person wrote is too much for you to handle, move to the side so we can at least laugh!"
However, the inspector wasn't moving nor did he look like he heard a word anyone was saying.
Instead, his quavering lips parted slightly as he began babbling distractedly.
"I've never seen anything like this. A different method. Straightforward, simpler and faster. It has an even better approach. A fresh approach…"
As he continued mumbling incoherently, everyone glanced at each other in confusion, realizing there was something wrong.
At some point, he paused and scrolled some more before he raised his eyes to look at Kelsie and Zoe.
"Which one of you did this?"
Before either of them could say anything, all three of their teammates rushed to their side and barked at the inspector.
"Why? So you can punish them? I didn't know they could be punished for trying their best."
"Yes, why are you asking? So what if they wrote gibberish? They just did what they could for the team!"
"They even wrote something. For people who know nothing about the said task, they deserve all the praise they can get for attempting such a bizarre task!"
Kelsie raised her eyes to stare at their backs, the corners of her lips twitching slightly.
These teammates of hers may have been nonchalant about the task, but at least they knew about team work.
While she was thinking like this, the rest of the contestants were fuming.
"Hey, get out of his way! Do we look jobless to you that you had to waste all of our time this way?!"
"The inspector has better things to do too. If you were going to write gibberish and waste his time, you shouldn't have written anything at all!"
"I knew it was a bad idea to let them join this contest in the first place. We should've booted them out the second they did."
The corners of Laura's lips suddenly curled up into a mocking smile, but it was gone the moment she noticed it was there.
Putting away the joy in her heart, she leaned forward and began fidgeting with her fingers as she butted in softly, "Kelsie is trying her best. She doesn't know much about the task to begin with, but she was able to program a bit."
"It shouldn't also surprise any of you given that she did say she will be going home with the prize money."
Hearing her, her teammates were instantly irritated and didn't hesitate to chide her.
"Laura, don't keep taking her side all the time. She is wrong for doing this. No, she was wrong to have joined this contest in the first place."
"If the inspectors have to punish her for wasting everyone's time, then let them!"
Laura shook her head at their words and continued, "Everyone, calm down. We should hear the inspector out first. We should find out if what Kelsie programmed is really as bad as we think it is."
While it seemed like she was helping Kelsie, she actually said this so the inspector could tell everyone what the code was about.
Once he confirmed she really wrote nonsense, everyone would've come up with new insults by then.
Not only would she be bashed by them, but the reporters and media outlets taking down notes of this contest would be sure to talk about it tomorrow. Who knows, it might be the subject of the day.
Once Kelsie got a bad reputation, it would become easier for the Sutton family to boot her out. It'd also be easier for Laura to continue dominating her.
Unaware of the ploy going through her head as she made the suggestion, some people nodded their heads in agreement.
"Instead of telling us what she programmed, just tell us if she passed the test."
"We know the answer is obvious, but it won't hurt to hear it from your mouth."
The inspector suddenly returned to his senses, straightened up and pushed up the rims of his glasses with a finger.
"Actually, she passed."