**Arc 2: Chapter 11 – A Rival's Move**
Jae-min woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing incessantly. Groaning, he grabbed it off the nightstand and squinted at the screen. It was a call from So-ra.
"Morning," he mumbled, voice still heavy with sleep.
"Check the forum," So-ra said without preamble. Her voice was sharp, laced with frustration.
"What forum?"
"The dev community. Just look!"
Still half-asleep, Jae-min pulled himself out of bed, opened his laptop, and navigated to the forum So-ra often mentioned. At the top of the page, a thread was blowing up with comments.
**"Leaked Mod: Cutting-Edge AI NPC System"**
Jae-min clicked on it, and his stomach dropped. The thread was full of screenshots and snippets of So-ra's work—her mod. Someone had leaked it.
"Min-jun," he said under his breath.
"Of course it's him!" So-ra's voice came through the phone, shaking with anger. "He uploaded my work and claimed it as his own."
"What do we do?" Jae-min asked.
"I'm already working on a takedown request," So-ra said. "But that's just damage control. I need proof—solid proof—that this was my work and that he stole it."
Jae-min frowned, his mind racing. "Can the system help?"
Elyra materialized next to him, her expression unusually serious. "Already scanning the forum for metadata. If the files have traces of So-ra's original code, we can use that as proof."
Jae-min relayed the information to So-ra, who sounded marginally relieved. "Alright. Let me know what you find."
---
By afternoon, Elyra had finished her scan. She pulled up a detailed report on Jae-min's screen, complete with timestamps and file paths.
"Here," she said, pointing to a line of data. "This shows the original code was created on So-ra's laptop and later altered on Min-jun's machine. It's a digital trail that's impossible to fake."
"Perfect," Jae-min said. "Let's send this to So-ra."
Elyra crossed her arms. "Not so fast. You need to play this smart. If you just confront Min-jun, he might double down and cause more trouble. You need to force his hand."
Jae-min nodded slowly, an idea forming in his mind.
---
Later that evening, Jae-min and So-ra set their plan into motion. They created a post on the forum, sharing a teaser for a "special update" to the mod, one that would supposedly revolutionize the AI system. The post was vague enough to pique interest but detailed enough to sound believable.
"This will bait him," So-ra said, her tone cold.
"And when he tries to claim credit again, we'll have everything we need to shut him down," Jae-min said.
---
As expected, Min-jun took the bait. The next morning, he uploaded another thread, claiming he was already working on the supposed update. This time, So-ra was ready.
With the evidence Elyra had gathered, she submitted a formal complaint to the forum moderators, attaching the metadata and screenshots that proved her ownership of the original mod. The response was swift.
Within hours, Min-jun's account was banned, his threads deleted, and an official post was made, crediting So-ra as the rightful creator of the mod.
---
That evening, Jae-min and So-ra celebrated with takeout at her apartment.
"To victory," Jae-min said, raising his soda can in a toast.
So-ra laughed, clinking her can against his. "To revenge."
As they ate, So-ra's phone buzzed with notifications. Messages of support and congratulations were pouring in from other developers in the community.
"You're a hero now," Jae-min teased.
"Not quite," So-ra said, but there was a hint of pride in her voice.
Jae-min smiled, watching her. She looked lighter, freer, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"You know," he said, "I think this is just the beginning for you."
So-ra glanced at him, her expression softening. "Maybe. But I couldn't have done it without you."
Jae-min shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good at being annoying."
So-ra laughed, and for the first time in a long time, Jae-min felt like he was exactly where he was meant to be.