Harem Stealing System-Chapter 68: Who did it ?

Eiden reached his home rather quickly, mostly due to him rushing back without sparing much thought on the way. As soon as he entered, he made a beeline for his room, ignoring everything else. Without wasting a second, he pulled out the pendrive he had received from the professor, the same one that contained his group project, and plugged it into his laptop. The screen lit up, and he opened the folder labeled with his group’s name.

With narrowed eyes, he went through each file in detail, his gaze sharpening with every passing second. What he found left him dumbfounded. The project followed the same structure, same base layout, and the same key ideas that he and his group had worked on, but something was different. It had been cleaned, polished, and perfected to a point where it almost looked like a new creation.

It wasn’t just touched up. It had been rewritten with a level of finesse that none of his group members, including himself, could’ve pulled off. Not even on a good day. Whoever worked on it didn’t just improve the presentation, they understood the core concept so well that they elevated it. It looked like something worthy of being archived in the university records. It was that good.

Eiden leaned back on his chair, arms crossed, eyes fixated on the screen. No wonder the notoriously strict professor had praised it in front of everyone. That man didn’t hand out compliments like candy, and yet he spoke as if the project was something extraordinary. Now Eiden could see why. But the question was who did it? 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

His thoughts began spinning. The original pendrive, he had dropped it. That much he remembered vividly. It was when he fell off the tree trying to check on the cat with the questionable accessory. A glowing plug up its butt, of all things. Could it be that someone found the pendrive after that?

Someone who opened it, saw his name on the project, and out of some godforsaken goodwill, decided to finish the entire thing? And then, not just that, but submitted it to the professor? Which meant that person had to be from the same college. But who would do something like that? And more importantly, why?

There were no answers. Just more questions piling up like a tower of uncertainty. Eiden stared at the screen, blankly, as if the files might magically whisper the answer to him. The silence in his room made the ticking of the wall clock feel louder. His mind ran through names, people he’d met, interactions he might have overlooked.

As he was swimming in his thoughts, his phone buzzed on the desk, breaking the silence. The caller ID read: John. Eiden picked it up. "Hello, hi, what is it?" he asked with his usual disinterested tone. John, on the other end, seemed to hesitate for a bit. Then, in a roundabout and awkward manner, he started, "Hey, so, um, about that... study session I mentioned a while back? I was thinking maybe I could drop by your place soon... Exams and all, you know?"

Eiden raised an eyebrow. Study session, my ass. He knew exactly what John was aiming for, and it had nothing to do with textbooks. More like a chance to "accidentally" bump into Sasha, who often visited Eiden’s place. That guy along with Deuel was head over hills for Sasha . Eiden didn’t even try to play along.

He replied bluntly, "Sasha hasn’t visited for a while. We’re kind of fighting over something." There was a moment of silence on the line. Then John’s voice came back, flustered, stumbling. "O-oh... i-it’s not like that at all..." His voice dropped an octave, obviously defeated. And then, click, he hung up.

Eiden scoffed. "Yeah, right," he muttered to himself. He found the whole thing mildly amusing. John really thought he was being slick. If Sasha had actually been around, Eiden was sure John would’ve shown up in a three-piece suit carrying ’accidental’ flowers. The mental image made him snort a little.

Feeling a bit stuffed up and restless, Eiden decided to head out for a walk. He needed some fresh air anyway. The room felt a little too tight, like it was pressing down on him. He went downstairs, slipping his phone and earpiece into his pocket. As he reached the living room, he spotted his mom, Dally Mores, busy folding some laundry.

"Ohh, you’re back already, Eiden?" she said with a surprised tone, raising her head. "That was quick, I didn’t even hear the door." Eiden smiled casually. "I just wanted to come back home as quick as possible to meet my world’s best mom." Dally rolled her eyes, lips curling into a grin. "You’re not getting anything out of me with that line," she said, shaking her head, amused.

He chuckled in return. "I’m going out for a while. Just for a walk." "Okay, then. Try not to come back too late." "I’m not a kid anymore, Mom," he replied with a small smirk as he reached for the door. "Okay, okay, you aren’t," she said, the smile never leaving her face.

Eiden stepped outside. The late afternoon air was pleasant, a gentle breeze brushing against his skin. He put in his earpiece and hit play on his playlist. Some relaxing lo-fi mixed with jazz beats filled his ears, accompanying his footsteps. He didn’t have a destination in mind. Just walked aimlessly down the familiar streets, letting his thoughts flow alongside the music.

Twenty-one minutes passed. He was just about to turn back and head home when something made him stop. A strange prickling sensation ran down his neck. The kind you get when you think you’ve seen a ghost, or when you recognize someone you absolutely did not expect to run into. Eiden turned his head slowly to the left.

Not too far away, standing and looking around was someone who looked incredibly familiar. The sharp eyes. The way he carried himself. That ridiculous ’main character’ posture. It was Ruel !!!??