infodatos Chapter 17 The Holdout - Did They Win? Su Chen Bullied Me!
Chapter 17 The Holdout - Did They Win? Su Chen Bullied Me!
[Group B members, please enter in an orderly manner. Group C members, please wait in line outside.]
The announcement came on again.
Su Chen and Zhang Yan stood up at the same time and walked towards the check-in area.
The two were close by, and Su Chen asked as they walked, "By the way, there are ten people per team. Which team are you in Group C?"
"Team One," Zhang Yan said. "And you?"
"Hey~ What a coincidence, I'm on the same team too."
Zhang Yan paused, turned around and stared at him: "Really? Show me the lottery code!"
"Haha~" Su Chen laughed and handed over the phone.
Zhang Yan glanced at it, and her expression changed.
"Why are you looking like you've swallowed a fly?" Su Chen laughed. "Are you worried about losing to me?"
"Hehe~!" Zhang Yan shoved the phone back into his hand, tilting her chin up. "Have you ever beaten me?"
"I've never won. But why are you so nervous?"
The two walked side by side to the check-in area, neither looking at the other.
As Su Chen walked, he was thinking about something else.
Wang Yichuan's third task is: to fight and win.
He set a goal for himself to surpass him in any of the six martial arts disciplines!
"If I form a contract with Zhang Yan, will I also have a similar mission?"
For example, math, language arts... can also be calculated!
She has a serious imbalance in her studies, but she's actually quite easy to manage.
But what if...the mission requires me to be stronger than her?!
If that's the case, with only a 5-7 day contract period, it's impossible for me to complete Task Three on my own.
The contract expires, and the mission rewards are something I can only look at but not claim—how frustrating!
"From this perspective, the difficulty of the task should be much lower for students with lower talent levels who are more likely to be contracted."
"Although the skill levels they can provide are not high, the learning machines have limited effectiveness."
"But... what about the mission rewards? Can we farm them?"
"Those pills, skill stones, and pet equipment are quite valuable!"
"Moreover, when I form contracts with these people, I can accumulate pet energy points. During this time, I can learn Xiao Zi's skills! Xiao Zi's elemental skills can all be considered minor spirit skills."
The more Su Chen thought about it, the more he felt this was a new approach!
It can be used to farm a lot of resources.
Maybe we can give it a try later.
.......
A moment later, the results for Group B appeared on the big screen.
Exclamations of surprise erupted from the crowd from time to time.
"Holy crap! Jiang Wei! 6 minutes 28.49 seconds!"
Su Chen looked up at the big screen.
[Class 6 - Jiang Wei: 28 minutes 49 seconds]
"Six and a half minutes! That's incredible! That's an 11-second improvement over the joint exam. And it's only been a few days!?"
"In previous years, the perfect score for the college entrance exam was only around five minutes and forty seconds, right?"
"Hey~ Every prospective student from the nine academies has top-notch speed. She's only just absorbed her first spirit orb. Once she absorbs speed-related spirit orbs, she won't even need to take the exam!"
"Exactly! Three years ago, in the first month of the senior year, someone absorbed a spirit pearl from the Nezha system, and wow, gained the power of the Wind and Fire Wheels! Not only did their combat power skyrocket, but their speed was also incredible! They broke the three-minute mark in the first month's monthly exam. After that, they didn't even need to take the speed test anymore; they got full marks!"
"Speed is only a factor in high school; in university, it's not even an assessment! Those who get into the top nine universities all have perfect scores in speed. For students at top-tier universities, getting a perfect score in speed is a piece of cake!"
While listening to the discussions around him, Su Chen was thinking about something else entirely.
In the past, he was just like these people, looking up to, envying, and discussing top students.
My first thought at that moment was...
There was a nearly two-minute difference between him and Jiang Wei.
"It should be able to be shortened to around ninety seconds now!"
.......
"Team C, enter the field!"
The gate at the check-in area opened, and ten people walked onto the track one by one.
Su Chen was standing on lane 7, and Zhang Yan was on lane 9.
There was a running track between them, but Zhang Yan's gaze kept drifting in his direction.
Su Chen could sense that she was very nervous.
Afraid of losing!
Su Chen chuckled to himself: Haha~ Am I, a resident of the top class, putting that much pressure on him?
He bent down and tightened his shoelaces.
Instead of looking at Zhang Yan, he immersed his consciousness in the pet space.
Shadowless Step, activated!!!
He had originally planned to test his true skill level this time without using Wang Yichuan's level 5 Shadowless Step.
This is just to avoid the grades improving too dramatically, which would make explaining it even more troublesome.
But the moment he stood on the starting line, his competitive spirit triumphed over everything.
"Just do it!"
.......
"On your marks—"
The starter's voice echoed across the runway.
Ten people squatted down at the same time.
Su Chen took a deep breath and focused her attention on her legs.
That familiar flow of energy rose from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of my foot...
"preparation--"
"Bang!"
Ten figures were launched out simultaneously.
Zhang Yan was at the very front.
Her starting explosiveness was amazing; she surged into first place in her group within the first 200 meters.
Her ponytail swung in an arc behind her head as she walked quickly and heavily.
Su Chen didn't rush to chase after him.
He ran at his own pace, with a steady stride and even breathing.
Wang Yichuan's psionic trajectory was repeated again and again within his body. Under the pull of this force, his body automatically adjusted the landing point, angle, and force of each step.
500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 2000 meters...
Zhang Yan's speed began to decrease.
She has great explosive power, but she sprinted too hard in the first two kilometers, which disrupted her rhythm.
My pace slowed down noticeably, and my breathing became rapid.
The distance between Su Chen and her is shrinking.
Twenty meters!
Fifteen meters!
Ten meters!
With 500 meters to go, Su Chen passed by her.
Upon seeing Su Chen, Zhang Yan's breathing became noticeably more rapid.
But she still gritted her teeth and pulled tightly.
After a stalemate of about ten seconds, Zhang Yan clearly couldn't hold on any longer and was pushed back.
.......
off the field.
The big screen flickered.
[Class 02 - Su Chen: 8 minutes 44 seconds]
It flashed again very quickly.
[Class 03 - Zhang Yan: 8 minutes 50 seconds]
"What's going on! Su Chen from Class 6? Isn't that the worst student, the holdout?"
"Yeah! How could he possibly run faster than Zhang Yan! Zhang Yan ranked 67th in the grade this time in the joint exam."
"The holdout won against Zhang Yan? Shouldn't Zhang Yan break his legs?"
"That's normal. Zhang Yan in our class is a pure muscle loli; speed isn't her forte! This holdout seems to be pretty good at speed."
"There's no way they could achieve that time!!"
「我记得他联考速度是36分，那就是8分18秒~8分24秒。」
"Holy crap! At least a 16-second increase? That's insane!"
...
In a corner outside the venue, the homeroom teachers of the eight key classes gathered together, awaiting the results.
Su Chen's results did not cause much of a stir when they were announced.
Eight minutes and two seconds is nothing to make a fuss about among the teachers.
However, when the homeroom teacher, Zhou Qingguo, saw these grades, he was clearly taken aback.
He checked the name again and again.
"What's going on with this kid?!"
"Did Brother Guoliang feed him some kind of treasure? Or did he put a horse hoof in his food?"
A full 21 seconds improvement is absolutely incredible.
The homeroom teacher of Class 7, a middle-aged man in his forties with a goatee, didn't seem to react much.
But his constantly furrowed brow and the way he rubbed his mustache clearly revealed something.
After a while, he flipped through the report book in his hand and looked at Zhang Yan's scores in this ten-school joint exam.
Speed: 39 minutes
Detailed result: 8 minutes 05.66 seconds
Progress!
Upon seeing this, the homeroom teacher of Class 7 put his hands behind his back and shook his right leg.
.......
Inside the venue.
Zhang Yan supported herself on her knees, panting for a while before straightening up, pointing at Su Chen, her face flushed red.
"You! You—"
"What's wrong with me?" Su Chen straightened up, looking completely innocent.
"You forced me to run too fast at the beginning!" Zhang Yan's voice was both anxious and annoyed. "You were following behind me the whole time, how could I not be anxious? My rhythm was completely disrupted! I couldn't keep up with the stamina later on, so my speed dropped! I'm not happy about it!"
"Haha~ What does it have to do with me? That's just your bad attitude." Su Chen laughed.
"Aaaaah! No way! I'm going to bite you to death!"
Zhang Yan made a move as if to pounce, but Su Chen took a step back.
"Do you still want the training fee?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan immediately suppressed her temper.
She stood there, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly, like a fish with its gills pinched.
Finally, he let out a heavy "humph" through his nose, turned his face to the side, and stopped talking.
"Hahaha~"
Su Chen couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Zhang Yan immediately covered her ears, squatted down, hugged her knees, and buried her face in her arms, like a wronged cat.
Lin Xiyue walked over at some point.
"What's wrong?" Lin squatted down next to Zhang Yan and asked softly.
Zhang Yan lifted her face from her arms. Her eyes weren't red, but her lips were pursed, and she had an unhappy expression.
"Sister Xiyue, Su Chen bullied me!" Zhang Yan pointed at Su Chen.
Lin Xiyue glanced at Su Chen, then at Zhang Yan, and her lips twitched slightly.
"You two were on the same team just now, right? I watched, and you were evenly matched. It looks like... Su Chen won?" Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly carried a hint of a smile.
Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment, not expecting Xi Yue to undermine her.
"Waaaaah~ Sister Yuzuki! Which side are you on?!"
"Stand on this side of reason," Lin Xiyue said, standing up and brushing the dust off her sweatpants. "Su Chen has indeed improved a lot!"
Zhang Yan pouted and remained silent.
"snort!"
Lin Xiyue looked at Su Chen again.
She didn't know Su Chen and Zhang Yan's specific scores yet.
But the outcome is already clear.
Su Chen won, which surprised her.
Liu Xiangdong from the fourth team also walked this way after finishing his run, his pace neither hurried nor slow.
"What are your plans for the rest of the evening?" he asked casually as he walked up to them.
Zhang Yan said resentfully, "I want to practice running!"
Then she stormed off, deliberately bumping into Su Chen as she passed him.
Her ponytail swung back and forth behind her head, and even her back view exuded a sense of defiance.
Liu Xiangdong looked at Lin Xiyue with a puzzled expression: "What... happened to her?"
"It's probably... that he didn't run very well," Lin Xiyue said softly, her tone gentle.
"Hey~! Keep a positive attitude, everyone has off days." Liu Xiangdong waved his hand, clearly not taking it to heart, then looked at Lin Xiyue, "So, Xiyue, what about you? I want to practice my shooting, and I've invited a few friends. How about a little match?"
Firearms handling is also one of the six martial arts disciplines, and there are many aspects to be assessed.
Lin Xiyue hesitated for a moment, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards the playground, as if she was considering something.
"I've almost finished my training today," she said. "I want to go to the meditation room to adjust my breathing and check if my acupoints have loosened up after such a vigorous workout."
Martial arts training emphasizes a balance of tension and relaxation!
After exercise, the body is in a highly active state, and the flow of Qi and blood in the meridians is much faster than usual.
When you sit quietly and regulate your breathing at this time, you can often feel the relaxation of acupoints that you wouldn't normally feel.
Activating more acupoints is the key to improving grades!
Liu Xiangdong nodded: "Okay, then I'll go find someone else."
After saying that, he glanced at Su Chen, smiled and nodded as a greeting.