Math League Second Round

"Detected host being humiliated by simple academic questions, one demerit recorded!"

"Detected host being humiliated by simple academic questions, one demerit recorded!"

"Detected host being humiliated by simple academic questions, one demerit recorded!"

The system suddenly sent three messages in rapid succession, appearing quite urgent.

"What do you want me to do then? Fight back?" Shen Qi looked at his remaining scholar points, over 4000 of them. If he forced it, he could immediately raise his History stat to Level 3.

A Level 3 History stat should be enough for him to have a lengthy discussion with the history teacher, but Shen Qi wouldn't do that, at least not yet.

System: "A powerful scholar knows everything, is capable of everything, excels at everything, and can do everything. Please remember, this is the host's ultimate goal."

Shen Qi: "Then give me 100 million scholar points, and I'll be invincible in all fields immediately."

System: "This system cannot give the host 100 million scholar points for free. This requires the host's effort to earn. If the host receives three consecutive demerits within a month, all remaining scholar points will be cleared."

"Damn it, you got me. You're setting trials for me everywhere."

Shen Qi checked his information in the system:

Math Level 3 (0/5000)

Physics Level 1 (0/1000)

Chemistry Level 1 (0/1000)

Biology Level 1 (0/1000)

Chinese Level 1 (0/1000)

English Level 1 (0/1000)

Sports Level 1 (0/1000)

History Level 0 (0/100)

Geography Level 0 (0/100)

Politics Level 0 (0/100)

Remaining scholar points: 4578

The system required him to become proficient, to raise one subject to Level 5 first, otherwise the punishment would be a wheelchair.

It also required him to be well-rounded, not to receive consecutive demerits in a short period, otherwise his scholar points would be cleared.

This is difficult!

Shen Qi's immediate goal was clear: to prioritize raising his Math stat to Level 5.

But he couldn't have any weaknesses.

As a precaution, Shen Qi spent 300 scholar points to raise History, Geography, and Politics to Level 1.

Math Level 3 (0/5000)

Physics Level 1 (0/1000)

Chemistry Level 1 (0/1000)

Biology Level 1 (0/1000)

Chinese Level 1 (0/1000)

English Level 1 (0/1000)

Sports Level 1 (0/1000)

History Level 1 (0/1000)

Geography Level 1 (0/1000)

Politics Level 1 (0/1000)

Remaining scholar points: 4278

Shen Qi needed to accumulate 722 more scholar points through natural means to raise his Math stat to Level 4.

The system said, "If the host receives three consecutive demerits within a month, all remaining scholar points will be cleared." I'll proactively clear my scholar points first. Even if you give me three consecutive demerits, you won't have anything to clear. Hahaha, system, can you outsmart me, Shen Qi?

The following days felt like years for Shen Qi.

During Chinese class, the teacher called on Shen Qi to answer a question: "This is a classic travel route that allows you to admire the ingenious beauty of nature and experience diverse exotic customs. Shen Qi, please identify the inappropriate word usage in this sentence and explain why."

Shen Qi nervously replied, "'Ingenious' is used incorrectly... This idiom refers to the exquisite craftsmanship of human artisans and should not be used to describe nature."

Chinese Teacher: "Correct. Sit down."

Shen Qi was conflicted. Is the Chinese teacher targeting me too?

During Geography class, the teacher called on Shen Qi to answer a question: "What is the main reason for the concentrated and continuous distribution of alluvial fans at the foot of the Helan Mountains? Shen Qi, please tell me."

"Concentrated rainfall?"

"Wrong! One more chance."

"Uh, let me think... Numerous rivers?"

"You got it right, sit down."

Shen Qi was conflicted. The geography teacher was targeting him too?

During English class, the English teacher called on Shen Qi to answer a question: "Shenqi, please tell me, when a solar still works, the cup from what?"

"Just a minute, I need to think, Miss Gao."

Miss Gao: "Right now! And speak English, please!"

Shen Qi: "Beneath the sheet?"

Miss Gao: "Just so-so, sit down."

Shen Qi was conflicted. The English teacher was targeting him too?

Shen Qi was about to break down. Chinese, geography, English, politics, physics, chemistry... every teacher was calling on him to answer questions, as if they had planned it.

If he answered incorrectly, he might get a demerit from the system.

Finally, when school ended, Shen Qi complained to Zhang Wanbang: "Teacher Zhang, they've gone mad, completely mad! For the past few days, every teacher has been calling on me to answer questions. I have nightmares every night and feel so depressed I want to die!"

"I never call on you to answer questions. In my math class, you can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't affect other students," Zhang Wanbang said casually.

"My life is so hard," Shen Qi sighed.

"If one day your other subjects could be as good as your math, they wouldn't call on you to answer any questions anymore, at least not in class." Zhang Wanbang handed Shen Qi a notebook and said, "It seems you've been tormented by the other teachers quite a bit lately. You've hit a snag in your deep understanding of Fourier transforms and Taylor series. Take this notebook and figure it out yourself."

Shen Qi took the notebook and went home to study it carefully. He studied until 11 PM when he suddenly understood.

"Host received guidance in the field of mathematics from a master, comprehended new professional skills, and gained 100 scholar points. Remaining scholar points: 4801."

After a day of hard work, Shen Qi finally had something to show for it. He was only 199 scholar points away from leveling up his math skill to level 4.

The next day, Sunday, there was no school.

Today was an important day for Shen Qi, as he would participate in the final round of the Provincial High School Mathematics League.

The exam venue was the headquarters of the Provincial Mathematics Society. After being screened in the First Test, over 1200 contestants from all over the province had been narrowed down to just 12, who were now at the headquarters building.

Before the exam, the 12 finalists were arranged in a waiting room.

All 12 finalists were male; there wasn't a single female contestant.

This wasn't to say women weren't good at math; history had seen famous female mathematicians, but compared to men, their numbers were still scarce.

Shen Qi sized up the other 11 opponents. He didn't recognize any of them.

"Hey, buddy, which school are you from?" Shen Qi asked the boy to his left.

"Does that matter?" The boy to his left had a cool expression.

"Nangang City Foreign Language School. Impressive, a prestigious school," Shen Qi found the answer from the logo on the boy's school uniform.

"You knew, yet you still asked?" the boy said arrogantly.

"What grade are you in?" Shen Qi asked again.

"Does that matter?" The boy from the foreign language school countered with a question, refusing to give a direct answer.

"Brother, don't make the atmosphere so tense. We have no past grievances and no recent enmity. Why bother? My name is Shen Qi, I'm a second-year student at Nangang Second High School. Nice to meet you," Shen Qi introduced himself politely.

The boy from the foreign language school: "Does that matter?"

Shen Qi: "Then what do you think is important?"

The boy from the foreign language school: "Winning the championship, getting into the provincial team. That's my only goal for being here. As for who you are and where you're from, it's completely unimportant to me."