178: I have an idea

Smoke curled upwards, shrouding Teacher Gao Zhengguo's weathered face in a haze.

The glowing red tip of the cigarette, flickering in the dim conference room, became the sole focal point.

The chaotic arguing, as if choked by an invisible hand, abruptly ceased.

Everyone looked at him.

They looked at the old man who had spent thirty years on the examination committee, sending off generations of College Entrance Examination candidates.

"Have you all argued enough?"

Teacher Gao Zhengguo held the cheap cigarette between his fingers, flicking off non-existent ash.

"Every single one of you is a senior teacher, an expert professor, yet you scatter like startled grasshoppers at the slightest issue."

The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses adjusted his spectacles, being the first to calm down, but he still stuck to his point.

"Leader, this is no small matter. Two hundred and eighty-eight stars—this isn't an exam, it's murder! We cannot approve an application that guarantees death."

"That's right, Leader, we are responsible for the safety of the examinees!"

"Reject it, just use 'system anomaly' as the reason, no one will say anything."

Everyone chimed in, agreeing.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo ignored them and looked at the Young Teacher.

"Xiao Wang, pull up Lin Yu's academic file, the page with the deferred examination records."

Though the Young Teacher was puzzled, he immediately complied.

An electronic file was projected onto the central screen.

Name: Lin Yu.

First application date: Five years ago.

Deferred examination application records: ...One, two, three, four, five.

Exactly five entries, one each year, without interruption.

"See?" Teacher Gao Zhengguo exhaled a thick plume of smoke.

Everyone exchanged glances, not understanding what their leader was getting at.

"'College Entrance Examination Implementation Regulations' Supplementary Rules, Volume Three, Article Nineteen, regarding difficulty adjustments for deferred examinees." Teacher Gao Zhengguo read slowly, as if stating a fact unrelated to him, "To prevent examinees from using deferred examinations to circumvent normal assessments and accumulate super-standard resources, a punitive adjustment will be made to the subjective difficulty selection."

"Defer one year, final difficulty coefficient multiplied by two."

"Defer two years, multiplied by four."

"Three years, eight times."

"Four years, sixteen times."

"Five years... thirty-two times."

With each sentence Teacher Gao Zhengguo spoke, the temperature in the conference room seemed to drop a degree.

When the number "thirty-two times" left his lips, the entire room fell into a dead silence.

Everyone understood.

So that's how it was.

It wasn't a system bug.

It wasn't some peerless prodigy actively challenging the limits.

Instead, it was an unlucky fellow forced into a corner by the rules.

That blood-red "288" instantly transformed from a symbol of madness and ill omen into a huge, ironically humorous joke.

"Pfft."

Someone, no one knew who, was the first to burst out laughing.

Immediately after, suppressed laughter rose and fell throughout the conference room, eventually converging into a roar of laughter.

"Hahahaha! So that's what this was all about!"

"I thought some immortal had descended, turns out it's just an idiot killed by the rules!"

"Deferred for five years? What's in his head? Isn't this just digging his own grave?"

"This kid is a genius! In the literal sense."

The earlier panic and shock were completely gone, replaced by a sense of absurd superiority.

They had reverted to being the high-and-mighty examiners, looking down on all living beings.

And Lin Yu, too, had changed from a "monster" who made them fearful, back to the familiar "mascot" they spoke of.

"Crazy, truly crazy." The Young Teacher shook his head, laughing and sighing, "Now he's really done for, it'll be hard not to die."

Only the Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses stopped laughing after a while.

He pushed up his glasses and suddenly said something.

"Have you ever considered why he didn't choose a one-star mission?"

The laughter paused.

"What's the use of choosing one-star?" Someone scoffed, "One star multiplied by thirty-two is still thirty-two stars! Do you know what thirty-two stars means? Ten years ago, the final assessment for the Linzhou Military Region's special forces selection was a solo thirty-two-star mission!"

"For an ordinary examinee, is there a difference between thirty-two stars and two hundred and eighty-eight stars?" the Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses retorted.

Everyone fell silent.

Yes.

Either way, it was death.

Either way, it was an impossible mission.

Rather than dying ignominiously on a thirty-two-star mission, it would be better to make a spectacular name for himself under the difficulty of two hundred and eighty-eight stars.

At least, when future generations mentioned him, they would say he was a madman who challenged the limits, not a fool killed by the rules.

"What an... interesting fellow." A female teacher murmured.

"Interesting?" Teacher Gao Zhengguo stubbed out his cigarette, letting out a cold snort, "The problem now is, what do we give him to test? Who among you can conjure up a two hundred and eighty-eight-star examination venue for me?"

"He can play his games, but we need to set up a proper exam."

"Just fudge it." Someone suggested softly, "He won't pass anyway, just find a nine-star mission location, let him go in and fend for himself."

"No!" The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses immediately countered, "Unequal difficulty is a violation! It's dereliction of duty! If it gets out, our entire examination committee will be finished!"

"Then what do you suggest? Are we really going to apply for a meteor?"

"I..."

Just as everyone was on the verge of arguing again, Teacher Gao Zhengguo slowly stood up.

He walked to the large floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the bustling city below.

"I do have an idea."

Everyone's gaze once again focused on him.

"Put him... into a real team." Teacher Gao Zhengguo said, enunciating each word.

"What?"

"Does the leader mean... to have him participate in a real combat mission?"

"That's too dangerous! And which team would want a burden?"

Teacher Gao Zhengguo turned around, a flicker of unnoticed shrewdness in his cloudy eyes.

"The 'Fangs' Special Operations Team, you should have heard of them."

"Fangs!" the Young Teacher exclaimed, "The military region's top special operations team?!"

"Their captain is my former student." Teacher Gao Zhengguo said indifferently.

A stir went through the conference room.

"But... even if you have connections, why would they want a burden? This is real combat, people die!" The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses still felt it was inappropriate.

"It's a mission, after all."

Teacher Gao Zhengguo sat back in his seat, a mysterious smile on his face.

"Gaining the Fangs Team's approval is itself part of his mission. If he can't even earn the trust of his teammates, then he shouldn't even think about completing a two hundred and eighty-eight-star assessment."

"This..."

Everyone exchanged glances, all thinking the idea was crazy, but it also seemed to be the only viable solution at the moment.

It solved the resource problem, met the difficulty requirements, and kicked the ball back to Lin Yu himself.

Clever, truly clever.

"Alright, Lin Yu's matter is settled then." Teacher Gao Zhengguo clapped the table, sounding a bit impatient, "I'll handle the follow-up coordination."

He paused, scanning his subordinates, who had run out of temper.

"As for you, you'd better figure out how to handle the remaining four solo nine-star missions."

Saying that, he picked up the red internal communicator on the table and began searching for a number he hadn't dialed in many years.