Hey everyone,

I have a pretty stupid story from today's contest.

So, I was almost 1.5 hours late. At that point, I honestly thought my rating was already gone. I had nothing to lose, so I bought 6 bottles of Mountain Dew and started solving problems like crazy.

And somehow... it actually worked.

Before anyone gets the wrong idea, no, Mountain Dew is NOT a secret rating hack. Here's what I think happened:

1. No pressure. I was already late, so I didn't really care about my rating anymore. Somehow, that made me less nervous than usual.
2. Caffeine and sugar. Maybe all that sugar gave me a little boost. Or maybe I just wanted to believe that.
3. Placebo effect. I genuinely started thinking that those bottles were giving me superpowers.

But there's a downside.

By the end of the contest, my hands were shaking, my stomach was NOT happy, and I'm pretty sure I won't be doing this again anytime soon.

Anyway, 10/10 result, 0/10 experience for my stomach.

Has anyone else ever done something this stupid just to save a contest?