Linda grew very nervous after receiving the papers.
Because,
although the questions were somewhat harder than those in the earlier five-hour competition,
still,
the difference actually wasn't that great.
If the difficulty of the five-hour speed competition had been 3X, this competition was at most 4X.
It was one difficulty level higher,
and while that certainly made it harder,
it probably wouldn't mean much to the team that had solved five problems in five hours, with excellent solutions to every one.
Of course,
she wouldn't admit that she was any less capable, either.
That was her pride as a future scientist.
I have to work hard. I have to give it my all! Linda thought, just as she heard a teammate beside her speak.
"We won't be able to take first place this time, will we?"
"No, we have to fight for first place. Nothing less than first is our ultimate goal!"
Likewise,
a hint of dejection hung over the United States team.
No matter how they looked at it, first place seemed completely out of reach this time.
Of course,
the competing teams weren't limited to these few countries.
More than a dozen teams were competing here.
The other teams were clearly full of fighting spirit.
For instance, the captain of one of the Nihon teams was giving his teammates a pep talk.
"We've kept our strength hidden all this time just to make a splash in this competition! Guys, this competition is our springboard to becoming unbeatable."
"Understood, Captain!"
"Don't worry, Captain!"
Then there was the India team,
which was even more fired up.
"Guys, we bear noble surnames! We must win the ultimate glory for our India team."
"That's right, it's not about the prize money!"
"Yeah, we can do it! Take down Eagland, defeat the United