215: Absolute Rationality - Bonus Edition of <Huang Gu Ning Who Loves Rose Enzyme>

The warm light in the auditorium suddenly collapsed.

Darkness didn't descend; instead, it exploded directly from the center of the screen.

Countless silver-white data streams wildly twisted and stacked in the void. After a few seconds of agitation,

A giant silver eye composed of billions of nodes looked down upon the audience below.

Deep within the pupil, the words [Huayue 3.0] shimmered with a heart-palpitating cold light.

The host's voice rang out at the right moment, no longer as impassioned as before, but carrying a sense of calm.

"For this final, for the sake of even 0.1 points of fairness, the organizing committee has unleashed the strongest grading weapon—Huayue 3.0!"

The host stood beneath that giant silver pupil, exuding a mechanical calmness.

"Full-dimensional scanning across 128 dimensions, with forty doctoral supervisors conducting back to back blind reviews."

He stepped slightly to the side, revealing the giant eye behind him.

"Here, luck is a redundant word. It doesn't need personal favors; it only recognizes logic."

"Even if it's just a one-ten-thousandth structural collapse, in its eyes, it is a ruin."

The candidates below, who had still harbored some hope for luck, turned pale instantly.

This was comparable to using a microscope to look for bacteria.

"Unity of man and machine, absolute rationality."

The host paused.

"This is the threshold for this year's 'Fu Zhi Yao'."

The live stream's bullet chat instantly flooded the screen.

"Holy crap, no wonder it's called the toughest in history. Who can handle this?"

"If there's even a slight logical loophole, Huayue will just kill it off, right?"

"The prestige is still rising! Anyone who can fight their way out is a monster!"

Before everyone could digest this news, the host raised the microphone again, his voice suddenly jumping an octave.

"Of course, the most rigorous assessment corresponds to the top-tier rewards!"

The image on the big screen flipped, and a pyramid-shaped reward chart suddenly appeared.

"One hundred people made it to this final, and the top fifty will receive awards."

Among them, the top forty will be directly selected for the national-level literary reserve talent pool, the 'Qinglan Project' training camp!"

"And the top ten—"

The host took a deep breath, every word weighing a ton:

"Will directly obtain guaranteed admission to the School of Liberal Arts at Qingbei University!"

"Boom—!!!"

The roof of the auditorium seemed to be forcibly blown off by this wave of sound.

The top students, who had been sitting reservedly and maintaining their literary integrity, now had their masks shattered.

Someone gripped the back of the seat in front of them tightly; the wildfire in someone else's eyes instantly spread.

In this era where academic credentials are hyper-competitive, this direct ticket to the peak of life was enough to turn any teenager's reserve into nothingness.

As long as they made the top ten, they could say goodbye to the single-plank bridge of the College Entrance Examination.

"This is too ruthless..."

The water bottle in Chen Jiahao's hand had already been squeezed out of shape,

but he seemed completely unaware, just mechanically twisting the cap, unscrewing it and then tightening it again.

Lin Que, however, remained calm and continued to toss a mint into his mouth.

"Next, reading the list of Excellence Award winners, ranked 51st to 100th."

The atmosphere suddenly tensed up.

The names began to scroll on the big screen.

"100th place, She Hang from the Affiliated Foreign Language Middle School of Panyu, Guangdong Province."

"99th place..."

...With every name read, a commotion would ripple through the back rows.

Someone jumped up in surprise and pumped their fist; after all, winning an Excellence Award in a national competition was enough to brag about back home.

Others covered their faces and wept, clearly extremely disappointed with the ranking, feeling they had just been part of the background noise.

The camera panned across the third row.

Chen Jiahao's hands gripped his pant legs tightly, beads of sweat on his forehead trickling down his cheeks as he muttered under his breath.

"Don't be me, don't be me, please don't be me..."

"I have to hold on, I have to scrape into the top forty!"

Chen Jiahao's voice was trembling.

This comical look of worrying about gains and losses was accurately captured by the photographer and projected directly onto the big screen.

This scene amused many nervous viewers, and the bullet chat was filled with "The fat guy is literally me checking my grades."

Lin Que ignored the camera and glanced boredly to his right.

In the seat to his right sat the boy in the black shirt.

From the moment he entered until now, this person hadn't looked up once.

Lin Que's gaze shifted downward.

The person's hands were very pale and slender, with almost no color.

At this moment, those five fingers were rising and falling alternately on his knee at a very high frequency.

Da, da-da, da.

Though there was no sound, the rhythm of those fingertips rising and falling was terrifyingly precise,

not like tapping, but more like... inputting code, or solving an unsolvable problem.

This mixture of extreme anxiety and extreme precision carried an indescribable eeriness.

Interesting.

Lin Que withdrew his gaze and tossed another candy into his mouth.

It seemed that among the candidates this year, besides a "madman" like himself, there were quite a few freaks.

"The reading for the 50th place is complete!"

The host's voice trailed off.

From the guest seats in the first row, Zhou Wenyuan straightened his suit and stepped onto the stage.

As the Vice Chairman of the Writers Association, even if he was just presenting the "Excellence Award," his presence was formidable.

He took the certificates from the hostess and symbolically handed them to a few representatives.

During the photo session, Zhou Wenyuan didn't look at the camera; instead, he tilted his head slightly, his gaze passing over the crowd and landing precisely on the third row.

That was Lin Que's seat.

Their eyes met briefly in the air.

Zhou Wenyuan's gaze was complex, containing three parts appreciation, three parts helplessness, and four parts profound meaning.

Lin Que responded with an innocent smile.

"Next, presenting the Rising Star Creation Award for ranks 30th to 50th!"

The host's voice rose again, the allure even stronger this time.

"The contestants who win this award, though they unfortunately missed out on the 'Qinglan Project',"

"will receive a publishing contract fully funded by the National Publishing House!"

"The initial print run will be no less than ten thousand copies!"

The audience erupted in an uproar again.

For high school students, publishing a book was a massive honor.

Many people write for a lifetime without ever getting an ISBN; now, as long as you're in the top fifty, the state takes care of everything!

"50th place..."

"49th place..."

The list scrolled quickly.

Chen Jiahao's face grew paler and paler, his lips trembling.

"It's over, it's over... Still hasn't reached me, and they're already at 35..."

To the right, Xu Changge kept his eyes closed to rest throughout the entire process; even upon hearing the words "publishing contract," he didn't even twitch an eyelid.

This was confidence.

Any book from the Xu family's study was more significant than these rewards; he looked down on these "consolation prizes."

"30th place, Zhao Lei from Shangdu No. 1 Middle School, Henan Province!"

As the last name was read, Chen Jiahao slumped completely into his chair, his eyes hollow, looking like his soul had left his body.

"It's over... it's all over..."

On stage, the guest for this award presentation changed to Vice Minister Zhang of the Propaganda Department.

The strength of the official endorsement was visibly escalating.

The winning students on stage were so excited they were incoherent.

Lin Que watched this scene, sighing inwardly.

Although the cultural soil of this world was barren, it was precisely because of this that

the authorities gave enough sunlight and rain to every seed that might grow into a towering tree.

As long as you had talent, the country would dare to lift you to the heavens.

The awards ceremony ended, and the lights suddenly dimmed.

The originally impassioned BGM suddenly became grand and solemn, like war drums beating.

Everyone knew the main event was coming.

The host took a deep breath, his voice no longer excited but becoming solemn.

"The Great Waves wash away the sand, only then is the true gold seen."

"Next, we will read the list of the 11th to 30th places!"

"They will be directly selected for the 'Qinglan Project', becoming literary sparks cultivated by the state, shouldering the future hope of the Huaxia literary world!"

A spotlight hit the side of the stage.

The host turned sideways and made an extremely respectful gesture.

"Before that, let us welcome with the warmest applause the initiator of the 'Qinglan Project',"

"the Minister of Education of Huaxia—Mr. Ding Huaijin,"

to the stage to deliver a speech!"

...