Chapter 64 High Achievement Academy (Twenty-Nine)

Chapter 64 High Achievement Academy (Twenty-Nine)

He TianTian's academic performance was not outstanding in the class, if Zhong DaoAn had not pulled out her admission scores, this girl would just be an ordinary student in the class.

But looking at her entrance scores — full marks in math, second in the class during admission, it's hard to believe that under the strict management of the High Achievement Academy, her rank slid from second to seventh, then to the current thirteenth... no, now third, as the top ten students in the class have already "been taken away by their parents".

At this moment, He TianTian stood in front of Zhong DaoAn, her head lowered in silence.

Zhong DaoAn opened her workbook, flipping to a certain page before passing it to her.

"This is where you guys were passing the message of the average score for this math test, right? Question twelve, the correct answer is D, but you marked A... 4+1? So the initially calculated average score for math was 125?"

He TianTian suddenly looked up.

"The school's management is very strict; there's no way for you all to communicate with each other. Trying to convey the confirmed scores to all the classmates in the class through one-on-one transmission is too slow and too dangerous, quite unrealistic. But there is one way to do it... intentionally answering questions wrong in the workbook. No teacher at the High Achievement Academy would allow errors to occur, they would call up the students who made mistakes during class and point out which question was wrong."

It was not as simple as just pointing it out.

Normally when these teachers questioned the students, the ones with lower scores would stammer and take a bit longer to respond, even if their answers were correct, they would still face humiliation from the teachers, let alone making mistakes in the workbook.

Zhong DaoAn flipped through the students' workbooks, each one had a terrifyingly high accuracy rate. Strangely, the workbooks of the students with poor grades all had a hundred percent accuracy rate. Instead, it was the students with higher test scores who would have a mistake in their workbook before the major exams, and this was true for every subject.

Sheng Dao'an also scrutinized the exercise books from other classes, and the situation was essentially the same.

This simulation is quite rudimentary, where the creator simply set a wealthy school background, admitting either affluent or academically excellent students, a concept not uncommon for "elite schools". The creator stipulated a fixed total score correlated with family wealth but overlooked the finer details.

The students are diligent in their regular studies, flawlessly solving practice problems and answering class questions correctly, even those lagging in grades. However, when it comes to exams, their scores invariably revert to the preset "total score mode".

If these students were merely programmed entities, they wouldn't engage so earnestly in learning, and the stark discrepancy between their regular performance and exam scores wouldn't exist; this bug should have been unnecessary.

Yet, the designer, too lazy to program some elements, chose to stuff existing departed souls into this crude simulation instead.

Such arrogance and cruelty, combined with stupidity and laziness.

In contrast, the students forced into this environment are exceedingly cautious and astute. While Sheng Dao'an managed to deduce their means of communicating the average scores through the exercise books, he still hasn't grasped how they communicate among themselves.

However, considering if he were in their situation—

"Are you communicating... through the school uniforms?"

The expression on He Tiantian's face told him everything.

What do all students possess that is inconspicuous and can convey messages? Ideally, an item that wouldn't draw attention even when discovered.

Textbooks and exercise books won't work, as these are essential to every student, especially in an institution like High Achievement Academy that overemphasizes academic performance. Losing such items would cause catastrophic consequences for the owner.

Among personal belongings, the most inconspicuous and commonplace, hence the best choice, is the school uniform.

The school uniforms, available in small, medium, and large sizes, appear identical, blending seamlessly whether in classrooms, dormitories, or study rooms, attracting no undue attention.

Furthermore, each person owns two sets of uniforms, which means that even if one isn't retrieved promptly, it won't cause unbearable repercussions for a while.

Despite being forcibly thrown into this simulation and reduced to restricted "programs", these students devised a way to protect themselves and their peers.

Even a gentle and seemingly weak girl like He Tiantian could willingly answer a question incorrectly, bearing the brunt of the teacher NPC's verbal abuse for the group.

At this moment, He Tiantian finally spoke her first words since entering the office, "How can we assist you?"

"Can you also make contact with students from other classes?"

"Yes."

Sheng Dao'an said, "We will be having continuous exams from now on. Can I ask you all to give your utmost in each one?"

·

Initially, the players had various concerns, especially with the departure of the top ten students, which caused a significant drop in the class's average score. If it weren't for Xie Fangcheng constantly brandishing his stick, some players might have started grumbling.

But soon, they lacked the leisure to harbor diverging thoughts.

"Damn, this is the fourth set of papers, isn't it?" Yue Haiyang exclaimed, tossing aside a red pen that had run out of ink for a new one.

Within two days, everyone frantically created and marked papers, distributing at least two sets of papers per subject daily for students to complete. The completed papers were collected and immediately graded, and the cycle continued.

In one class there are forty-five students, amounting to ninety in two classes. The students aren't overworking themselves, whereas the players and NPC teachers are burning the midnight oil daily.

Even prodigious talents from the mathematics department like Tong Xinxin are trembling.

"If I had been this capable of pulling all-nighters back in the day, wouldn't I have gone straight to pursuing a PhD?"

The only one not confined here is Xie Fangcheng.

Originally, while everyone was enduring this grueling process, Xie Fangcheng hesitated for a moment: "Should I help with the grading as well?"

However, he was declined by Zhang Dao'an.

"You should help us secure some external assistance instead."

"Ah? Where can we find external help?" inquired Xie Fangcheng.

Zhang Dao'an casually remarked, "Aren't they all in the villa area?"

Everyone paused, breaking into a cold sweat.

What does the villa area have, besides the vanished top students and a handful of the remaining "good teachers" who are still alive, other than some deceased teacher NPCs?

This person is truly relentless, exploiting both players and NPCs, not sparing even the deceased ones!

Xie Fangcheng agreed happily, setting off to seek external support.

His stack of papers was piled on Zhang Dao'an's desk, a testament to his prowess, capable of grading math as well as language papers.

Yue Haiyang was in utter misery tallying up the total scores, but to his surprise, he found Zhang Dao'an grading one paper every three seconds beside him, an astonishingly rapid pace.

Yue Haiyang couldn't help but lean in: "How are you grading so fast?"

Zhang Dao'an responded calmly, "I told the students they could lose marks on the multiple-choice questions, but not on the essay questions."

Yue Haiyang paused, then erupted in anger: "Why didn't you mention this great method earlier???"

These students are capable of controlling the score they receive for each subject; evidently, they can determine how many questions they get wrong on each paper.

Zhang Dao'an merely glanced at him: "You never asked."

Everyone internally cursed in unison.

Everyone was toiling over the grading, and even with knowledge of this excellent method, they could only apply it to the next examination.

Meanwhile, Zhang Dao'an moved onto grading the language papers after finishing with math, maintaining the same brisk pace.

Yue Haiyang couldn't help himself: "There aren't many multiple-choice questions in the language section, how are you still so fast??"

Zhang Dao'an replied: "The students in our class excel in language studies; they can afford to lose the marks allocated for the multiple-choice section."

Everyone continued to curse inwardly.

Tong Xinxin, however, could understand what he was up to. After the players finally ended a day of laborious work, most of them fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed.

If it were something like a fight, the players were used to it and wouldn't be so exhausted.

But creating and grading test papers - that's truly a mentally taxing task.

Before going to sleep, Tong Xinxin displayed a gloomy face: "Hey, are we even guarding against our own people now?"

Tong Xinxin had a reasonable suspicion that Xie Fangcheng had already found the "external help" but was lingering outside without returning.

This Zhang An deliberately exhausted the players.

With the fourth major examination approaching rapidly, everyone was still unsure about the precise strategy to clear the level. If they had nothing to do, some players, especially those who joined later, might possibly take unpredictable actions out of anxiety.

But those close to Tong Xinxin had absolute trust in Xie Fangcheng. If even Xie Fangcheng was willing to cooperate with Zhang An, they were naturally prepared to believe that this man could lead them to clear the level.

Zhang Dao'an just watched her silently: "I am merely respecting everyone's will to survive."

As death approaches, under the will to survive, the actions that humans are capable of can be increasingly unpredictable.

It's instinctual.

Zhang Dao'an's methods may seem somewhat cold, encompassing even his "teammates" within his defensive boundaries, but as he said, isn't this also a form of respect?

He is preventing the possible emergence of a grotesque struggle that could leave everyone stunned and disgusted.

This man is really...

Tong Xinxin fell silent.

When everyone eventually retreated to sleep, Zhang Dao'an continued to organize the scores of every student from each class, alone.

In fact, clearing this level wasn't that challenging. He had already managed to deduce each student's strengths and weaknesses. By allotting more points to subjects they excelled at and fewer points to their weaker subjects, and combining the top students from both classes into one, achieving a total score above 562 would be a breeze.

But that wasn't enough.

If it's only 562, then all the previous efforts would be in vain.

Clearing the level within the set rules held no value for him, nor for Xie Fangcheng.

Meanwhile, near dawn, Xie Fangcheng finally returned from his wanderings.

"Not yet?" he asked.

Zhang Dao'an shook his head: "Not so soon."

Tong Xinxin guessed right. Xie Fangcheng seeking external help was just a ruse, he had been playing pinball on the tabletop these past few days.

What Zhang Dao'an needed to do now was very clear.

The game developers were not meticulous enough, producing a rough and simplistic instance of the game, akin to a small game churned out by a cottage industry.

What would happen if, at this point, a massive data stream were to assault this minor game?

The students were originally assigned a set total score, with a week interval between major exams, making the frequency relatively relaxed; hence the game server could still withstand the load. What Zhang Dao'an plans to do now is to have the students continuously challenge this preset score in a short period, simulating a data flow attack on the frail server.

The arrogant game creator probably never dreamt that someone was attempting to breach one of his instances from within.

Zhang Dao'an intends to let the soul triumph over the program.

"There certainly will be," Zhang Dao'an commented, glancing at a class's score sheet.

Four days after the second major exam, in the fourth class — the one previously taught by the deceased Yu Hanfei, now temporarily taken over by Xu Xiuxiu.

Xu Xiuxiu was grading the papers in her hand as she had been the past few days when suddenly, she froze.

"Eh? How did this girl's Chinese score improve so drastically all of a sudden?"

Moreover, the answers on the exam paper were very articulate, showcasing some personal insights, almost as if... how should I put it, she had an epiphany.

"Who?"

"Let me see," Xu Xiuxiu looked at the name in the top right corner of the paper, pausing for a moment before saying: "She is the one who killed Yu Hanfei before. Her name is... Gu Yaoyao."