There Was Actually a Move Like This?

Shen Qi's Math Level rose by two levels in a single day, reaching Level 2, the advanced level.

According to the system's explanation, compared to Level 1, the practical effect of a Level 2 math rating was that Shen Qi's ability to derive, observe, judge, and memorize in the field of mathematics had greatly improved.

The explanation was easy enough to understand. To excel at math, the key abilities were deduction, observation, judgment, and memory.

Shen Qi continued working on math exercises, using a highly classified exam paper from Some High School.

The paper was very difficult, but Shen Qi rose to the challenge. He found that his problem-solving logic had suddenly become exceptionally smooth and clear.

Auxiliary lines he'd once been unable to draw now came to him effortlessly, and the graph of y=tanx danced beneath Shen Qi's pen.

A kind of inspiration he'd never experienced before welled up inside him. It was the feeling of having divine inspiration at the tip of his pen.

It took him less than an hour to finish the 150-point mock exam. He hadn't opened a book or copied any answers; he'd simply worked through every problem with exhilarating ease, cracking them one by one as if slicing through melons.

When he checked his answers, Shen Qi was stunned. "Holy crap, is this for real? I only got one multiple-choice question wrong—145 points!"

Shen Qi's highest math score had been 82, his lowest 17, and his average 67.5.

A score above 140 had once seemed like an unimaginable, lofty achievement to Shen Qi, a symbol reserved exclusively for top students.

Tonight, Shen Qi had scored 145 in just a few dozen minutes—and on an exceptionally difficult math exam, no less.

He thought it seemed too good to be true, so he tried another new exam paper.

On the second math paper, Shen Qi scored 149. He'd left one point on the table for fear of getting conceited.

"Advanced Math Level 2 means having the ability of a top math student in practice!"

Shen Qi had discovered the joy of studying. Going straight from a useless nobody to a top student felt fantastic.

Over the next few days, Shen Qi earned 7–10 Academic Ace Points per day by listening attentively in class, doing exercises, studying on his own, and so on.

It was worth noting that math wasn't among the subjects that provided 7–10 Academic Ace Points.

Shen Qi's math rating had reached Level 2. Studying high school math textbooks and doing high school math exercises no longer earned him Academic Ace Points.

So Shen Qi moved into a new field: Advanced Algebra.

Advanced Algebra was a required course for undergraduate mathematics majors. Shen Qi bought a textbook on the subject at a bookstore.

He bought Advanced Algebra because the book was on sale. It was originally priced at 32 yuan, but the discounted price was only 6.4 yuan. Buy three, get one free—it was practically being sold by the pound.

With his deduction, observation, judgment, and memory all improved, Shen Qi found that studying Advanced Algebra on his own wasn't as arduous as before. Of course, it wasn't easy, either.

By studying Advanced Algebra for more than three hours each day, Shen Qi could steadily earn 8–12 Academic Ace Points, almost as many as he got from all his other subjects combined.

By early April, the system had activated ratings for ten subjects in total:

Math Level 2 (0/3000)

Chinese Level 0 (0/100)

English Level 0 (0/100)

Physics Level 0 (0/100)

Chemistry Level 0 (0/100)

Biology Level 0 (0/100)

History Level 0 (0/100)

Geography Level 0 (0/100)

Politics Level 0 (0/100)

Sports Level 1 (0/1000)

Remaining Academic Ace Points: 1127

These ten subjects made up the entire curriculum for the second year of high school. Apart from math and sports, Shen Qi was at Level 0 in all the other eight subjects.

Shen Qi hadn't invested a single Academic Ace Point in sports. The system had activated his sports rating after his last PE class, and his default rating was Level 1.

In other words, the old Shen Qi had been at the average high school level in sports, but below average in every other academic subject.

But things were different now. Shen Qi had at least invested enough in math to reach Level 2, the highest level among high school students.

Shen Qi also faced a serious challenge. Even though he was studying undergraduate math textbooks on his own, he was still earning Academic Ace Points too slowly.

He worked himself to the bone earning points every day. The most he'd ever gotten in a single day was 22. Including the 1127 points he had left, Shen Qi still needed to earn more than 16,000 points to raise math to Level 5. The process would take over two years. He'd have to grind every day without a single day off for more than two years straight.

Yet Shen Qi had only fifteen months left before graduating from high school.

"The road to becoming a top student is so tough."

Just as Shen Qi was feeling down, the class bell rang. Zhang Wanbang walked into the second-year Class 2 classroom with a stack of exam papers in his hands.

"Test," Zhang Wanbang said concisely. They were having an in-class math test that period.

"Another test?"

"Tests, tests, tests. This is so annoying!"

The students complained one after another.

"I feel like second-year students have it even worse than third-years!" said a girl named Chen Xiaoting. The entire class agreed with her.

By this point in April, the third-year students were actually having an easier time. With the college entrance exams only two months away, their grades were basically stable. No matter how hard the teachers pushed them, it was difficult to make any qualitative leap. At most, they could make a final push and maintain their form. But if the second-years were pushed for another year, they might pull off a miracle. So at this point, the second-years had it the worst.

"Wait, isn't our next class history? Math isn't a double period. How could we possibly finish a whole exam in just a few dozen minutes?" A boy spotted the problem.

"That's right, next period is history!"

The students suddenly understood. They clung to a glimmer of hope: perhaps Teacher Zhang had gotten the schedule wrong. He also taught math to the second-year Class 3, so maybe it was their double math period today, and they were the ones taking an in-class test.

"I played cards last night, and Teacher Ma from history lost her next class to me. So next period is math, too. We're having a test over two consecutive periods. Any questions? If not, let's begin." Zhang Wanbang cleared up their doubts and asked the math class representative to hand out the test papers.

"There really is a move like this?"

"You can bet class periods when you play cards?"

"Teacher Ma, that wasn't very sensible. You're a history teacher—how could you beat a math teacher at cards?"

"Don't people say teachers aren't allowed to gamble?"

The classroom erupted. The students had seen teachers trade class periods, but they'd never heard of anyone gambling them away.

"What's all the noise? Quiet!" Zhang Wanbang pounded the podium. "Teachers are allowed to play cards in their free time. We weren't betting money, so it doesn't count as gambling. You chose to study at Nangang Second High School; that's your fate. If you don't want to take the test, you can leave. Suit yourself."

Despite what he said, not a single student dared to leave. They were furious with Teacher Ma. Her card skills were so bad—if only she'd managed to beat Teacher Zhang!

Shen Qi didn't say a word. In the past, he would definitely have joined in the commotion, but right now he was unusually calm.

It was just an in-class math test. Heh.

Shen Qi spread out his scratch paper, a ballpoint pen already in hand, ready for the challenge.

Soon, the math test papers had been handed out to every student, and the in-class test began.

Scritch, scratch.

The classroom was very quiet. The only sound was pens rubbing against paper.

The students in second-year Class 2 had complained, but once they were done complaining, they still had to face the test and prepare for the college entrance exams. That was their fate, and there was no escaping it.

Zhang Wanbang stood on the podium with his hands behind his back, surveying everything from above. Every few minutes, he'd step down and pace through the classroom, stopping at random behind a student to watch them closely.

Having a short-tempered math teacher standing behind them made the students nervous. They trembled with fear.