The round will be conducted as a 60-minute scenario-based quiz on Wayground. Each question is framed as part of a database-related investigation — a scenario, a clue, a suspicious query, or a system incident — that participants must analyze to reach the correct conclusion. Rather than purely theoretical questions, participants will be required to interpret a situation, read SQL output, debug queries, and identify the appropriate answer.

• 60-minute scenario-based quiz, hosted on Wayground
• 20 to 25 questions covering SQL queries, joins, subqueries, keys and constraints, normalization, transactions, database design, and debugging.
• Every question is framed as part of an investigation — analyze the scenario, interpret the clue, find the answer.
• Difficulty increases progressively through the round.
• Individual round — no collaboration.
• Tab-switching is monitored. Three warnings result in disqualification.
• Top-performing participants qualify for Round 2, based on organizers' discretion

Total Time Taken

Qualified participants move from analyzing scenarios to directly investigating a live database. Each participant is provided one system for the round. The investigation is structured as a sequence of interconnected levels — each level presents a piece of the story and a question that can only be answered by querying the database directly. Participants write and execute their own SQL queries against the investigation database to extract the clue needed for each level. A correct answer unlocks the next level and reveals more of the database to query; levels must be solved in order. The final level requires bringing together evidence from earlier levels to identify the culprit.

• Qualified participants get hands-on with a live crime database.
• Time limit for this round is 120 minutes.
• Progress through a series of levels by writing your own SQL queries to uncover each clue.
• Wrong answers cost you time. Hints cost you time too.
• Ranked by Effective Time: Time Taken plus all penalties. Lower is better.
• Solve every level, then name the culprit.
• Live leaderboard throughout the round.
• One system per participant, login provided at the venue.
• Fullscreen mode is mandatory. Exiting fullscreen or switching tabs is monitored. Three warnings result in disqualification.
• No internet access, no external tools, no outside assistance.
• Tie-break: fewer hints used, then earliest finish.

If two or more teams have the same effective time after completing the investigation, a Wayground quiz consisting of 5 DBMS/SQL questions will be conducted as the tie-breaker. The team with the higher score in the tie-breaker quiz will be ranked higher. If the tie remains, the faster response time in the tie-breaker quiz may be considered.