Ms. Gable marched over, arms crossed. “What. Happened.”

The Kernel of Truth wilted. The hologram vanished. And with it, every zombie outside crumbled into dry leaves. The lights snapped back on. The library doors closed normally.

“We need the big guns,” Leo said, scrolling through the seed selection. His eye caught a plant he’d never used before: The Kernel of Truth . Its description: “When planted, reveals the source of the glitch. Costs all your sun.”

The school library’s firewall was legendary. It had repelled every gaming invasion for three years: Cool Math Games, Krunker, even the dreaded flash archives. But today, a new threat bloomed.

“You’re going to get us expelled,” she whispered, eyes darting toward Ms. Gable’s office.

A pot of soil erupted from the floor. A green sprout shot up, unfurled its leaves, and aimed its snout-like pod at the nearest zombie. Pew. Pew. Pew.