Chapter 14 — Guess, MVP Heiress Has Returned

Three days after receiving the notice of suspension, the Organizing Committee sent the Bach Ung Gaming team a copy of the "evidence" attached to the anonymous complaint. Bach Khang and Yen Chi sat in a private meeting room, opened the file and reviewed it carefully with an independent data analyst that the team had urgently hired to assist.

The file contains a match log presented as a complex table of data, marking several time periods in the match on the seventh with the note "unusual reaction, high possibility of software intervention". At first glance, those numbers look suspicious — Yen Chi's reaction times in several tackles were marked as significantly faster than the human average.

"This is exactly what I'm worried about," Bach Khang said, his voice serious, pointing to the highlighted numbers. "If one only looks at this log without any evidence, one can completely believe that this is real evidence of fraud."

The data analyst, a middle-aged woman named Technical Specialist of the independent testing company the team hired, took a closer look, frowning. "Let me check the source code of this log file. Sometimes, edited data will leave traces in the code structure even though it looks very natural on the outside."

She spent nearly two hours reviewing each line of code, comparing it with the standard structure of the official logging system used by the Organizing Committee. Finally, she looked up, her eyes full of confidence.

"I found something unusual," she said. "The timestamp structure in the marked log segment has a very small phase shift, only a few milliseconds, compared to the system's standard timestamp. This is a typical sign of data being extracted, edited with an external tool, and then inserted back into the original log file. If it were original data that had not been tampered with, this phase shift would not exist."

Yen Chi breathed a sigh of relief, but Bach Khang still remained cautious. "This is an important finding, but we need more evidence to strengthen the argument before the technical committee. Relying on technical analysis alone may not be convincing enough for those who do not have an in-depth understanding of technology."

Yen Chi took the hard drive containing the full video recording that she had stored and gave it to the expert. "This is a video recording from three independent sources of the match on the seventh day — the grandstand camera angle, the official live stream channel, and a third-party live stream channel. If we compare the actual timing of the plays marked as abnormal in the fake logs, with the actual images in these recordings, we can prove that my reactions were completely within the range of normal human ability, and there was nothing abnormal like the fake logs deliberately showed."

The expert received the hard drive, his eyes full of appreciation. "This is exactly the kind of golden corroborative evidence we need. I will start analyzing it right away."

While waiting for the results of detailed analysis, Bach Khang continued to investigate the traces of the person behind the set-up. He contacted his old friend in the public relations industry again, asking to learn more about Bui Dac Long — the person he suspected was the technician who performed the data editing.

A few days later, that friend provided Bach Khang with important information: Bui Dac Long, in addition to his official job at the communications department of Anh Kim Group, also had a sub-account on a specialized technology forum, where he once posted questions about techniques for exploiting vulnerabilities in the logging system of online competition platforms - just a few days before the anonymous complaint was sent.

"This could be an important link," Bach Khang told Yen Chi when sharing this discovery. "If we can verify that the forum account belongs to Bui Dac Long, combined with the fact that he has direct contact with Y Nhi and Anh Kim Group, we will have a chain of logical evidence strong enough to present to the technical council."

Yen Chi nodded, a feeling of relief gradually replacing the worry that had weighed heavily over the past few days. "So what do we need to do next to verify identity?"

"I asked an independent cybersecurity expert to assist in tracing the IP address and other digital traces related to that forum account," Bach Khang replied. "This is a legal process, not an undue invasion of privacy, only for the purpose of collecting evidence for the upcoming hearing."

The investigation continued quietly in the following days. Yen Chi, although unable to participate in official training during the suspension, still maintains a strict personal training schedule, not letting himself lose form while waiting for the results of the investigation. She also spent time reviewing everything she remembered about the relationship between Y Nhi and the parties involved in her past life, looking for any clues that could be useful in the present.

The night before she was scheduled to receive the final analysis results from the technical expert, Yen Chi sat alone in her room, looking out the dark window. She clearly felt that, unlike her previous life when she had to face a slander machine alone without any tools to defend herself, this time she had built a solid foundation — scientific evidence, trustworthy allies, and most importantly, an unshakable determination to protect the truth and herself.

There was a light knock on the door. Bach Khang stood outside, holding a cup of hot tea. "I thought you might need this," he said, handing her the cup of tea as she opened the door.

Yen Chi took it and invited him into the dorm's small living room. The two sat across from each other in silence for a while, the only sound being the steady ticking of the wall clock.

"Are you ever afraid that we won't find enough evidence?" Yen Chi asked, her voice rare and soft, revealing a bit of weakness that she rarely allowed herself to show in front of others.

Bach Khang looked at her, his eyes softer than usual. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. But I believe in what we have gathered. The truth, once proven by rigorous science and logic, is difficult to completely refute, no matter how sophisticated the slanderer is."

"Thank you," Yen Chi said, her voice sincere. "Not just because of what you did to help me, but because you were always here, even when I felt my weakest."

Bach Khang smiled slightly, a rare and warm smile. "I believe in what I saw in you from the first practice session — not just talent, but also tenacity and integrity. Someone like that deserves to have someone on their side when times get tough."

The two sat and talked for a while longer, no longer about investigative work or competition pressure, but about simpler things - personal interests, memories of Bach Khang's professional playing days, and the dreams Yen Chi once cherished before all the incidents happened. In that rare moment, amidst all the storms that surrounded her, Yen Chi felt a small but precious peace, a silently growing feeling that she did not dare to name, but no longer wanted to deny.

When Bach Khang left the room, it was very late at night. Yen Chi stood at the window, watching his shadow disappear in the hallway, feeling a warm feeling in her heart that she had never felt in her previous life - the feeling of being understood, of being trusted, not because of obligation or blood relationship, but because of her true self.

She returned to her desk, reopened the tracking file that was gradually thickening day by day, skimmed through each recorded item: the meeting with Lam Dac Uy, Y Nhi's unusual visited to and from the corporation's office, the name Bui Dac Long, the phase difference in the fake log file. Each fragmented puzzle was now gradually connecting into a complete picture. She closed the notebook, turned off the desk lamp, and let sleep come with a rare peaceful state of mind, ready to accept whatever tomorrow brought. Outside, the city was still awake, the lit in the distance seem to be silently witnessing a war without gunshots, where truth and lies were quietly confronting, waiting for the day of resolution. Yen Chi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and told herself that no matter what the outcome was tomorrow, she would never regret choosing to stand up for the truth, instead of bowing her head and accepting an unjust accusation like before.