Show Off Your Math Skills

Xu Lanlan was grinning smugly. She saw that her deskmate, Chen Zhao, had been scared witless.

But then, out of nowhere, Chen Zhao picked up his pen and started writing on the test paper.

His pen flew across the page!

He wrote at lightning speed!

Xu Lanlan froze, unable to understand what had gotten into Chen Zhao. In just over ten seconds, he had finished all twelve multiple-choice questions! He answered each one without hesitation, glancing at the question before slapping down an answer!

At first, Xu Lanlan thought Chen Zhao was just guessing. But when she looked down at her own test paper, she was the one who froze. The answers Chen Zhao had guessed matched the official answers she'd found with a homework-search app exactly!

Getting one question right by guessing had a one-in-four chance. You could chalk that up to luck. But getting all twelve in a row? What the heck was going on?!

Before Xu Lanlan could react, Chen Zhao had already blazed through all four fill-in-the-blank questions.

Just like before, every answer was right!

Multiple-choice questions had set options; you could just guess A, B, C, or D. But how could you guess the answers to fill-in-the-blank questions?

Four questions in four seconds? And every one was right?

Xu Lanlan's jaw nearly hit the floor. She stared in utter shock at Chen Zhao writing furiously, as if she were looking at a green-skinned alien.

Are you some kind of legendary immortal?

What the heck is going on?!

Without even looking up, Chen Zhao seemed almost possessed as he turned to the long-answer questions.

But just then, the students collecting the test papers reached their desks. There wasn't enough time to write out all those long answers.

Xu Lanlan suddenly sat up straight, her cheeks turning red. The student collecting the papers was Zhang Shucheng, one of the top students in the class, usually ranking second or third. More importantly, he was the class heartthrob: six feet tall, with fair, handsome features. Put him in something other than his school uniform, and he could play the male lead in a Korean idol drama.

"Stop writing, Chen Zhao. There are too many long-answer questions for you to copy them all," Zhang Shucheng said impatiently, with a hint of disdain in his voice, as if to say, "Why didn't you do that earlier?"

As a top student, he looked down most on slackers like Chen Zhao, who never tried to improve: always near the bottom of the class, sleeping through lessons every day, with none of the vigor and vitality a young person should have!

But Chen Zhao said nothing. He didn't even acknowledge Zhang Shucheng. He quickly scanned all the long-answer questions on the back of the test paper, then put pen to paper and started answering them!

He wrote only the final answers!

Scribble, scribble, scribble!

He finished all the long-answer questions in five seconds!

"This is the best I can do," Chen Zhao sighed, handing the paper to Zhang Shucheng.

Zhang Shucheng was dumbfounded. He took Chen Zhao's paper in a daze and glanced at it. It was covered in hastily scribbled answers. Had Chen Zhao really finished the entire test in a matter of seconds?

This was ridiculous! What was going on?!

The other students collecting papers had already finished and handed them to the teacher. Though Zhang Shucheng still hadn't processed what had happened, he gathered the papers and handed them to the homeroom teacher, then returned to his seat. Even after sitting down, he was still whispering with the students beside him. Several people turned to look at Chen Zhao. Zhang Shucheng was clearly telling them that Chen Zhao had finished an entire math test in a matter of seconds.

Chen Zhao stared blankly at his desk, his face expressionless. Inside, though, his thoughts were in turmoil!

The IQ Recharge System from last night was real!

His IQ really had shot up to 400!

He hadn't known how to solve any of the questions on the test before. He could only stare blankly at them. But just now, every question had suddenly become as simple as one plus one equaling two! He only needed to glance at a question, and the steps would flash through his mind in an instant. In less than half a second, he had the answer! Just like a computer!

This feeling... was incredible!

With a brain like this, he was invincible!

So this was what having a high IQ felt like?

Chen Zhao was secretly thrilled, trembling with excitement, when a furious roar suddenly rang out from the front of the classroom!

"Chen Zhao! Who are you trying to fool with this test paper?! You couldn't even copy the answers properly?! Get to the back and stand there!"

The homeroom teacher was red with anger. He slammed his desk so hard it sounded like a firecracker, startling the whole class. Everyone turned around and stared at Chen Zhao like searchlights, grinning with delight at his misfortune.

Chen Zhao froze, then frowned. I didn't copy anything.

I did every single question on this test myself!

It was true he hadn't shown his work for the long-answer questions, but the homeroom teacher had said before that if time was short, you could write just the answer or a rough outline for easy questions!

I wasn't trying to fool anyone! I worked through every question. Why am I getting punished again?

"Teacher... didn't you say before that if we knew how to do a question, we could write just the answer for the long-answer questions?" Chen Zhao asked, raising his hand.

"You know how? You know how to do all these long-answer questions?" The homeroom teacher glared at Chen Zhao and roared, "If you know how, why do you always score so poorly? Have you ever even passed math? Thirty or forty, maybe fifty points—and you expect me to believe you know how to do the long-answer questions? Who do you think you're fooling? Get to the back and stand there. Think about what you've done!"

Chen Zhao saw that every student in the class had turned to look at him. Their searchlight-like gazes were all fixed on him, and many had started whispering. Chen Zhao heard a few of them:

"Chen Zhao's done for!"

"What was he thinking? He handed in a test with only the final answers for the long questions. Was he asking to get in trouble?"

"Only the top five in class get to write just the answers for long questions. What's a bottom-ranker like him even thinking?"

"That's it for him. He can't even copy his homework properly."

As Chen Zhao listened, he couldn't take it anymore!

His grades had been poor before, but that didn't mean they could make such a snap judgment about him, did it?

They hadn't even asked him anything before accusing him of trying to fool them and copying!

He'd worked through every question. How was that trying to fool them? Sure, his handwriting was sloppy, but it was always sloppy! And hadn't they said before that you didn't have to show your work if you knew how to solve the question?

Cheating? His grades weren't good, but when had he ever cheated on a test? Why were they so certain he'd copied? This wasn't just questioning his ability to learn—it was an insult to his character and morals!

Wasn't anyone going to be reasonable?

Chen Zhao was seething when a familiar voice suddenly rang out in his mind. It was the voice of the IQ Recharge System from last night!

[Quest Triggered: Show Off Your Math Skills]

[Quest Description: Your homeroom teacher and the whole class think you're a math idiot. You can't let that stand! You have to prove yourself today! Let everyone know that you're Zu Chongzhi reborn and Qin Jiushao incarnate! Hua Luogeng will applaud you, and Gauss will praise how awesome you are! You're the best mathematician in this whole room!]

[Quest Steps: Say, "I can solve every high school math problem. If you don't believe me, test me right now, and I'll solve it on the spot!" Once the homeroom teacher calls you to the board, write down all the correct answers and prove your skills.]

[Quest Reward: Extend the High IQ Experience Period by one day]

Chen Zhao was stunned.

Was this... the legendary system quest?

Wasn't this quest a bit too bold? It was straight-up challenging the homeroom teacher!

System, are you trying to get me killed?!

But then he looked at the homeroom teacher, who was like a rampaging dinosaur, and at the dozens of faces turned his way, laughing at him. A nameless anger rose in Chen Zhao's heart!

They were just a few math questions! They all thought he was trying to fool them or had cheated? They looked down on him?

Chen Zhao stood up straight and spoke clearly, his voice carrying across the classroom:

"Teacher, I can solve every math problem at the high school level. If you don't believe me, give me a problem right now and test me. I'll solve it on the spot!"