The College Entrance Exam

In the month leading up to the College Entrance Exam, Luo Feng poured almost all his energy into reviewing. As his studies progressed and he aced one mock test after another, Luo Feng's confidence for the exam grew steadily!

"Getting into Jiangnan First Military Academy is a sure thing."

That was Luo Feng's thought.

...

June 7th marked the first day of the College Entrance Exam. The Huaxia Nation's College Entrance Exam spanned three days—June 7th, 8th, and 9th—just as it had before the Great Nirvana Period.

Yian District First High School.

According to the exam hall arrangements, Luo Feng, a student from Yian District Third High School, was scheduled to take his College Entrance Exam at this First High School.

"Daughter, you can do it!"

"Don't worry, Dad."

"Tian Tian, don't put too much pressure on yourself!"

...

Outside the gates of First High School, a dense crowd of College Entrance Exam candidates and their parents gathered. A line of police officers, armed with real guns and live ammunition, stood guard at the school entrance.

"Xiao Feng, relax during the exam. Even if you don't get into the First Military Academy, the Second Military Academy is fine too. Take it easy!" His father, Luo Hongguo, said with a smile, looking at his son.

"Mm." Luo Feng nodded with a smile.

"Beep—beep—" With a loud honk, a sleek, jet-black Mercedes-Benz S600, the latest model exuding an aristocratic aura, slowly approached the gates of First High School, escorted by police motorcycles. The surrounding parents and candidates immediately moved aside, their gazes fixed on the car.

The latest Mercedes-Benz S600 could accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour in just 1.6 seconds, with a top speed of 500 kilometers per hour. Of course, such performance was secondary; the Mercedes-Benz S600, a brand that had endured since the Great Nirvana Period, boasted a rich historical legacy that was its true appeal.

Three figures emerged from the Mercedes-Benz S600, chatting and laughing as they walked towards the school entrance.

"The bald man on the left is Director Zhang of our Yian District Police Bureau."

"The one on the right, isn't that Director Liu from the Education Bureau?"

"The one in the middle must be the Warrior in charge of overall security for the exam hall." Outside the exam hall, parents and candidates buzzed with discussion, most of their eyes fixed on the central figure, their gazes filled with excitement, admiration, and curiosity.

The battle between humans and monsters was ongoing.

Ordinary people were forbidden from leaving the city limits, and Warriors were the ones capable of fighting monsters one-on-one. Human society as a whole was deeply grateful to Warriors for their immense contributions. Naturally, ordinary people revered Warriors.

Warriors held a transcendent status within the human population.

"So that's a Warrior," his father, Luo Hongguo, also remarked, looking at the man. "Every year, the overall security commander for the College Entrance Exam is a Warrior."

"A Warrior."

Luo Feng looked over. The Warrior exuded an aura that made one's heart pound just by looking at him. His eyes were like a venomous snake's cold gaze, and he remained stern throughout. Facing the Police Bureau Director and Director Liu of the Education Bureau, the Warrior merely nodded indifferently from time to time, barely bothering to acknowledge them.

"In the near future, I will also earn the Warrior title!" Luo Feng silently vowed in his heart.

"Crrk—crrk~~~"

The gates of First High School slowly opened.

"Time to enter," a chorus of voices immediately announced.

"Xiao Feng, it's time to go in. Hurry up," his father, Luo Hongguo, urged. His mother, Gong Xinlan, also quickly added, "Go on, Mom will go back and cook for you later. Your dad and your brother will wait for you here until you're done."

"Mm."

Luo Feng smiled and nodded.

"Brother," his younger brother, Luo Hua, sitting in his wheelchair, raised his fist towards Luo Feng and smiled slightly, "You must do your best!"

"You too," Luo Feng replied, raising his own fist.

Luo Feng then turned and joined the stream of candidates, passing through the school entrance one by one after inspection.

...

Inside the examination room, exam permits and ID cards were placed on the upper right corner of the desks for invigilators to check, and the test papers were distributed.

"Jiangnan City College Entrance Exam Science Paper A, 2056"—a clear line of text at the top of the paper.

"The first subject is the Science exam!"

Luo Feng's gaze swept across the paper, then he looked at the last few major problems, which seemed familiar. "This year's questions don't seem too difficult. If the questions aren't hard, it'll be tough for me to leverage my advantage in science. I'll just have to be careful and meticulous, making sure I don't lose points on questions I know how to do."

Luo Feng immediately bent his head and began to write.

...

The College Entrance Exam consisted of three subjects: the Science exam, the Liberal Arts exam, and finally, the Math exam. Each subject was worth 250 points, for a total score of 750 points.

The Science exam combined Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

The Liberal Arts exam combined Chinese Language, History, Politics, and Geography.

The Math exam, naturally, was solely Math.

After the Great Nirvana Period, especially with the continuous battles between humans and monsters, humanity desperately pursued research in technology and martial arts. This made everyone more acutely aware of the importance of 'Math.' Anyone aspiring to achieve great things in fields like computers, biology, or physics needed a solid foundation in Math.

Therefore—

In cultural education, the status of Math was elevated significantly. Luo Feng was a bit weaker in Liberal Arts but had a huge advantage in Math.

...

June 7th, Science exam.

June 8th, Liberal Arts exam.

In the blink of an eye, it was June 9th.

...

Inside the examination room, the Math paper had just been distributed.

"This is the last Math exam," Luo Feng took a deep breath. "The Science paper wasn't hard, but I think I did well. I performed normally on the Liberal Arts exam too! That means my scores for both Science and Liberal Arts should be within my normal range. For the Math exam, as long as I don't underperform too much, I'm definitely getting into Jiangnan First Military Academy."

"Work hard!"

Giving himself a pep talk, Luo Feng lowered his head and began to solve the problems.

The entire examination room was quiet, but many candidates' brows were furrowed, clearly indicating the difficulty of the questions. Every year, the Math problems in the College Entrance Exam were generally quite challenging. After all, this was to select future talents for scientific research.

"It really is difficult," Luo Feng also felt the difficulty of the questions. "Even harder than previous years! But... the harder, the better!"

If the questions were easy, those weaker in Math might still score 220 points, while he might only get 230. The advantage would be minimal.

But if the questions were hard.

He might only score 210 points, but those weaker than him might only get 150. This would give him a significant advantage.

"Snap!" A crisp sound echoed.

The invigilator immediately looked over, only to see a candidate who had snapped his ballpoint pen in half. The candidate frowned, gritted his teeth, and stared intently at the paper. Clearly, the Math problems were incredibly difficult. The candidate then tossed the broken pen aside, took out another ballpoint pen, and continued answering.

"Judging by the candidates' reactions, this year's Math exam is very tough," the invigilator thought to himself.

Indeed, almost everyone in the examination room was frowning and deep in thought, and many candidates were so anxious that tears welled up in their eyes.

Students with a weak Math foundation felt like... they couldn't solve this problem, nor that one, nor the third one... Seeing such a paper, those candidates were on the verge of breaking down.

...

An hour later, inside the examination room.

The Math exam was two and a half hours long.

At this point, Luo Feng had finished the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, leaving only the calculation problems. The total score for multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions combined was only 90 points. The calculation problems, however, consisted of five major questions. These five questions alone were worth 160 points, as only large calculation problems could better assess a student's mathematical ability.

"It's really hard. I couldn't figure out two of the fill-in-the-blank questions," Luo Feng took a deep breath. "Next are the calculation problems, which are the key to scoring. Solving just one more question can mean a difference of thirty or forty points!"

There were five major calculation problems; the first four were each worth 30 points, and the last one was worth 40 points.

"Hmm?" Luo Feng encountered a hurdle right at the first calculation problem.

On his scratch paper, Luo Feng continuously calculated and pondered.

"Right, if I slightly transform this here, and reverse it, wouldn't it convert into the required equation?" Luo Feng's eyes lit up. Swish! Swish! Swish! Once this difficult point was broken, writing became easy. He wrote out the entire first problem in one fluid go, then carefully checked it.

"Alright, the first problem is done." Luo Feng glanced at the watch on his left wrist, his heart skipped a beat. "The first problem alone took me 20 minutes? I need to speed up."

Luo Feng lowered his head to look at the second problem.

At first glance, Luo Feng felt it was easy and immediately began to work it out on his scratch paper.

"Hmm, no, that's not right."

Luo Feng realized his approach was completely wrong and immediately frowned in thought. As time passed, Luo Feng delved deeper into the problem. "Yes, it should be like this. But how do I prove the next step?" Luo Feng's mind raced at this moment.

"Quick, quick, quick, I can't waste too much time on this problem. How exactly do I prove it?" Luo Feng felt anxious.

At this moment—

The 'pulse' reading on the watch Luo Feng wore on his left wrist began to rise.

120... 125... 130... 140... 150...

"Just a little more, and the proposition for this problem will be proven, and 30 points will be mine. How do I do this part?" Luo Feng grew increasingly agitated. Time management was crucial in exams, but each calculation problem in Math was worth a lot of points. Every College Entrance Exam candidate aiming for a good score couldn't afford to make too many mistakes on the major Math problems.

At this moment, Luo Feng, completely immersed in the exam questions, didn't notice the pulse display on his watch.

160... 170... 180...

Luo Feng felt his heart rate accelerate, but he merely attributed it to the anxiety and tension of the exam, paying it no mind.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" Luo Feng suddenly felt his heart pounding as if being struck, and his vision blurred. This startled him awake. "What's wrong with me? Why does my heart feel so uncomfortable?" Luo Feng looked down at the pulse reading on his watch—

230!

This number made Luo Feng's face change dramatically. Since he fainted at the age of twelve and bought this watch, Luo Feng had never seen his heart rate exceed 180.

"So uncomfortable." Luo Feng felt as if his heart was about to burst from his chest. As the 'power source' of his heart continuously expanded and contracted, a massive surge of blood flowed, and invisible, imperceptible energy poured into the depths of Luo Feng's mind. Instantly, an intense pain erupted in his brain—

"Ah, ah," Luo Feng couldn't help but cry out.

"Candidate, what's wrong?" The invigilator rushed over, looking at Luo Feng in shock.

At this moment, Luo Feng's face was flushed, as if it were about to drip blood. Veins bulged on his forehead and arms, twitching visibly, making him look grotesque.

"No, no—don't, slow down, slow down!" Luo Feng had a bad premonition, roaring internally, his eyes fixed on his watch.

"236... 242... 251...!"

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart was like a massive drum, emitting deep, booming sounds as blood surged rapidly.

As his blurred vision caught the number '268,' the excruciating pain in his head caused Luo Feng to instantly lose consciousness. As he fainted, he vaguely heard a voice—

"Candidate, candidate, wake up, wake up. Quick, call an ambulance!"