Genius Arena

A massive fountain stood in the center of the plaza.

Clear water sprayed in all directions, and as the sunlight pierced through the mist, it refracted into a beautiful, seven-colored rainbow.

Zhuge Linghao said with a hint of self-mockery, "I'm really curious, what kind of expressions would those so-called geniuses make if they were surpassed by someone in a certain subject?"

Uh, speak of the devil, and the devil appears.

Less than three meters away, a petite girl with white, medium-length hair and a beret was slowly walking toward Zhuge Linghao, leaning on a cane. Beside her followed a fierce-looking, bald man.

"Nice to meet you. You must be Zhuge-san, right? Please allow me to introduce myself."

The beautiful, white-haired girl looked like a fairy from a fairy tale, and her voice, as melodious as an oriole, was intoxicating.

"I am Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, and this is Katsuragi Kohei beside me. Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"Forgive my intrusion, but regarding the final question of the math quiz, was your answer 4?"

"That's incorrect. There should be 5 answers!"

"Hm? There's another scenario?"

Just as Zhuge Linghao and Sakayanagi Arisu were chatting happily, the top students of Class D--Horikita Suzune and Yukimura Teruhiko--also joined in.

Yukimura Teruhiko said very politely, "Hello, I'm Yukimura Teruhiko! Could you please explain how you arrived at that final scenario?"

Ichinose Honami, who appeared out of nowhere, also flashed over and introduced herself with a smile: "Hello, Zhuge-san, my name is Ichinose Honami, from Class B!"

Hey, hey, hey, pink-hair, don't come over here! Big boobs! Big boobs! They're about to touch my arm!

Zhuge Linghao's face turned slightly pale; he reached out to wipe away cold sweat and cautiously took two steps back.

"That, uh, how should I put this?"

"The last question was a comprehensive final problem involving geometry and algebra."

"We need to carefully analyze the given conditions and the graphical information."

"First, the concepts of classification discussion and the combination of number and shape must be applied!"

"Then, extract the special cases of the two moving points and draw a simple sketch."

"It doesn't matter if the sketch isn't accurate; we just need to draw it a few times and revise it until it is."

"Then, based on this relatively accurate figure, you can complete the problem by drawing five auxiliary lines."

"We need to construct two congruent triangles, two sets of similar triangles, and one rectangle simultaneously, then use the Pythagorean theorem and quadratic equations to calculate the result in detail."

"Since the midpoint is given in the conditions, we construct congruent triangles by doubling the median."

"After proving AB∥CD, we construct the two sets of similar triangles using the parallel-line A-type and X-type configurations."

"The rectangle is missing its diagonal, so connect one set of diagonals!"

"So, did you all understand?"

Half a minute later, a pleasant voice rang out!

"I see, I understand now."

The clever Sakayanagi Arisu was the first to react. She now urgently needed to return to the classroom to verify Zhuge Linghao's solution.

Before leaving, she left behind a chilling remark: "Zhuge-kun, I look forward to our next competition."

Don't, young lady, I'm not looking forward to it, don't come looking for me! Go find Ayanokoji! Arigato!

You geniuses, hurry up and go to the colosseum to fight each other to the death. If an ordinary, weak person like me gets dragged into it, I probably won't even have bones left to spit out, right?

As Sakayanagi Arisu and her group disappeared around the corner, the smiling Zhuge Linghao performed a light-speed face change, stopping his smile within 0.1 seconds.

But it wasn't time to relax yet; one wave had barely subsided when another rose.

Ichinose Honami squeezed forward without any guard, her face as bright as spring: "Um, Zhuge-san, I only got a 90-something on this math quiz."

"I still didn't quite understand it. Could I trouble you to teach me in the library after school this evening?"

"Of course, no problem! It's a piece of cake! Leave it to me!"

Unable to resist the soft temptation, Zhuge Linghao patted his chest with a loud thud and agreed immediately!

At this moment, Horikita Suzune sneered and mocked, "You guy, you're not completely useless after all; you're quite popular with the girls!"

However, always pursuing perfection, she eventually set aside her pride and said coldly, "When we get back to the classroom, teach me how to do it too."

Hearing this, Zhuge Linghao was ecstatic inside: Hmph, you dead tsundere, just wait until I bring you to heel! There will be a time when you'll be begging me!

One second later, Zhuge Linghao hurriedly 'bowed and scraped,' smiled 'flatteringly,' and said with 'hypocrisy': "Sure. In exchange, you teach me the other subjects too!"

"Deal."

When the people in the plaza had mostly dispersed, Zhuge Linghao spotted Kushida Kikyo jogging over from the opposite side!

Zhuge Linghao, who had just relaxed, involuntarily tensed his body.

Sigh, socializing is so exhausting!

She looked at Zhuge Linghao with starry, adoring eyes, sparkling as she said, "I never expected you to be so good at math, Zhuge-kun. Can I ask you for help with math problems in the future?"

[Keep pretending, why don't you? Asking about math problems? I bet you're just thinking about how to get me expelled, you little angel.]

However, Zhuge Linghao said one thing while meaning another; he tilted his head up at a 45-degree angle, put his hands on his hips, and laughed loudly, "Sure! I will definitely, thoroughly, teach you!"

After returning to the classroom, Zhuge Linghao deliberately bumped into Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's shoulder to probe him.

"Ayanokoji, actually, you knew how to solve the last part of the final question on the math quiz, right?"

Ayanokoji maintained his usual expression, saying flawlessly, "Huh? How could that be? Even with ten brains, I wouldn't be able to solve it!"

[Sigh, still acting. My dear brother, when will you ever open your heart to me?]

[Even just once would be enough...]

Meanwhile, under the constant urging of the cold Horikita Suzune, Zhuge Linghao had no choice but to stand at the podium and spend ten minutes demonstrating the solution on the blackboard.

Aside from Horikita Suzune, who understood it completely, several studious top students who had been eavesdropping also had their doubts cleared away.