Full Marks

When Allen came to his senses, he heard Flag lavishing praise on Albert. "Teacher Albert is just too cool—he's great at magic, and he's great at boxing..." Potter, meanwhile, listened with wholehearted agreement to Flag's praise, clearly having become one of Albert's fans as well. There were plenty of classmates like the two of them. Allen could not help feeling a little envious. Being like his big brother made it far too easy to complete the task the system had just assigned.

"Aren't we supposed to be playing basketball? If we don't go now, class will start," Allen said. The moment he finished, Flag shouted, "Oh, my basketball!" and turned to run back for it.

Allen and Harry exchanged a look and burst out laughing. Nothing strengthened a friendship more than going through hardship together.

Breaks always passed much faster than class time. The math teacher was a short, middle-aged man with fair skin and small eyes. His voice was nowhere near deep and resonant, and he wore a red padded jacket. The moment he entered the classroom, he gave everyone a harsh warning.

"The pleasant holiday is over. I wonder how much knowledge is still left in your little heads. Let's have a quick in-class test and see how you've been doing." As he spoke, he waved the test papers in his hand.

It was truly out of nowhere, and groans filled the classroom. Unlike the other teachers and their cheerful approach to education, this math teacher was practically a sadist, always finding new ways to force them to improve their grades.

Math was such a torment. One careless mistake, and all the previous work could be wasted. The classroom presented every kind of reaction: some scratched their heads, unable to figure out the answers no matter how hard they thought, with Flag as the prime example; some looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone else's answers, like Moken; some kept their heads down and wrote furiously, pausing now and then to think—Harry's math was apparently not bad; and some answered every question at an astonishingly smooth pace, then carefully checked their work afterward. Allen was among the best of them.

"All right, time's up. The top student in each group, collect the papers and bring them up." Ignoring the miserable cries below, the respectable yet terrifying math teacher graded the papers on the spot, criticizing students as he went. Just like now!

"Eh? Dudley, what exactly is inside that head of yours? Six points! I have never taught students as terrible as you!" He had started by scolding Dudley, but by the end, he was attacking everyone indiscriminately.

"Eh? Allen Harris has improved tremendously. Full marks!" The sudden sharp pitch jolted many daydreaming students awake. They watched as the teacher turned Allen's paper over and over, checking it carefully. "Full marks, beyond criticism. Both the handwriting and the solution process are perfect. This proves that Allen Harris must have put in a great deal of effort. Stop wasting your time day after day—the role model is right beside you..."

The Invincible Scholar System kindly reminded you: You have gained the recognition of three teachers. You still need the admiration of 21 classmates. There are 13 hours and 14 minutes remaining before the task deadline.

Only one class had passed since the task was issued. This sudden task's timer had actually begun at midnight that day. Thankfully, there was still time; otherwise, he could only have given up.

The ringing bell brought sighs of relief from many students. The teacher had not gotten around to grading their papers, so they had escaped disaster. At least they had not been scolded with the teacher pointing right at their noses. Once class was over, they were lively heroes again!

"Next Monday, I'll test you again. Anyone who fails must copy every formula and definition from the textbook once." As expected of a demon teacher—he still had another trick up his sleeve.

Until school let out that morning, Allen had not found an opportunity to show off his intelligence and earn his classmates' admiration. At lunch in the cafeteria, Allen was gloomy and anxious inside. Yet usually cheerful Flag was silent too. Seeing that neither of his friends was in high spirits, Harry also fell quiet.

"Allen, you're just too amazing. I'm doomed next week," Flag said indistinctly as he took a savage bite out of his sandwich.

"Harry, your grades are pretty good. I probably won't ever reach Allen's level in my life. If I could be about as good as you, I'd be completely satisfied," Flag said.

Harry scratched his head, not knowing how to comfort Flag.

"Don't be discouraged. I can tutor you this week. Maybe next week, you won't get scolded." As a former excellent teacher, Allen was confident that helping strong students excel and struggling students catch up was his specialty.

"Really? Thank you so much, Allen," Flag said gratefully.

"Allen, can I listen in too?" Harry asked eagerly, feeling very envious.

"Of course. You're both my friends. But when would be the best time?" Allen agreed at once.

"Harry, Allen, I remember neither of you joined the school's extracurricular classes. Why don't we use that time? We can talk to Mrs. Kelly—she'll definitely agree," Flag suggested.

"All right, we'll use that time. Now cheer up and let's take a walk around campus." Allen wanted to take the chance to familiarize himself with the school grounds.

Harry and Flag both agreed with the good idea. Childhood worries were like clouds: a breeze came along, and they vanished as quickly as they had arrived.

As they passed the school's Great Hall, lively music drifted from within. Many students, tall and short alike, crowded around the entrance, craning their necks and shoving each other to watch.

"What's going on? Let's take a look." Overwhelmed by curiosity, Flag immediately pushed Harry and Allen through the crowd.

Inside was a large stage. Behind it stood an enormous display board painted with blue skies and white clouds, colorful balloons, and happy children playing all kinds of instruments on green grass.

A piano, accordion, saxophone, and other instruments stood on both sides of the stage.

Onstage, a little brown-haired girl with two braided pigtails sang a nursery rhyme. Her singing voice was crisp and beautiful.

Five teachers sat in the front row of the audience below the stage, watching the little girl's performance attentively. Some of them wrote notes on score sheets.

To the right of the stage stood a line of students. It looked as though they were waiting to register and prepare to perform.

"It's the preliminary round for the school talent show," Flag said with certainty. "The school holds this event every year. My clown act even won third prize last year!" Flag looked immensely proud.

"Only an idiot could play a clown." A particularly irritating voice sounded from behind them.