"The last-place contender from today couldn’t possibly turn things around and beco the first-place winner now, could they?"
Holy freaking exciting!
These scores are like a rollercoaster!
Shawn Norton glanced at the scores on the screen, then turned to Mr. Avalon beside him, "You didn’t already know Nathalie was going to make it into the top three, did you?"
Mr. Avalon, too, fixed his gaze on the refreshed scores on the screen, and fell silent: "..."
He knew Nathalie Quinlan was unlikely to be the very last, but top three... he hadn’t even considered the top ten!
Only Giordano Yancey among them remained the most composed. He had never studied dicine and couldn’t grasp the authority and difficulty of this dical competition; he just watched Nathalie’s ranking changes. To him, it seed pretty normal. It wasn’t the first ti Nathalie had done this — she had participated in Tsinghua University’s Joint Entrance Exam before, and he had even considered pulling so strings for her then. But in the end, Nathalie still clinched first place.
Trouncing the top students from high schools all across the nation.
This ti, he also believed Nathalie could trounce everyone, except for Evelyn Quarles... Mr. Yancey narrowed his eyes, quietly waiting for the next score update.
*
On the stage, Evelyn Quarles had just finished the last question.
She missed a minor one halfway through, losing 1 point. Previously unconcerned about losing that point, now, having seen the rankings, she took to writing the remaining questions with the utmost seriousness.
Luckily, she answered all correctly in the end.
The last three minutes.
Also, the screen’s final score tally. Evelyn Quarles looked at the 59 points on her computer and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The rest either gave up or had finished and guessed wrongly, pretty much everyone had stopped.
Only Nathalie Quinlan continued on. Every eye in the venue focused on that figure, with reporters’ lenses aid at the stage.
Just the last ten seconds left.
The final eight seconds.
Nathalie hadn’t put down her pen and was still answering questions.
Every nerve in the audience was strung taut, the tense atmosphere perated the entire venue as everyone awaited the final results — who would be the King of the first round!
The last five seconds.
Three seconds.
The Girl seed to stop writing, even taking ti to twist her stiff neck and slouch with her hands in her pockets, looking utterly unconcerned.
With her carefree deanor, she hardly seed to be earnestly competing with Evelyn Quarles for the first place. Caryn Zachmann just now had been clenching her teeth so hard that her temples bulged.
Nathalie might be serious, but people in the venue really couldn’t tell she was nervous.
Compared to Evelyn Quarles’ showy and domineering arrogance, Nathalie’s attitude was also arrogantly satisfying.
One second!
Everyone looked up at the LED big screen overhead, the screen tily refreshed with the final tallied scores.
Evelyn Quarles had held the first place firm.
No matter how the rankings shifted, she hadn’t budged.
But this ti, with the refresh of the big screen, her na flickered then dropped to second place — 002, Evelyn Quarles, Overseas dicine, 59 points.
The venue erupted.
In the judges’ seats, Master Carloska’s Face color darkened, unable to contain his impatience any longer.
The na arrogantly placed above Evelyn Quarles read — 001, Nathalie Quinlan, Qing University’s Traditional Chinese dicine Departnt, 60 points.
The first round’s perfect score of 60 points, the difference between the two only 1 point, but first is first!
Qing University’s Traditional Chinese dicine Departnt, triumphantly overshadowing all participating students, the departnt’s na firmly occupying first place!
Sadam Vinson turned his stiff neck to look at Alfred Garland next to him, voice hoarse, feelings complicated beyond words, "Didn’t you tell Ms. Quinlan hadn’t even finished reading the introductory books Mr. Avalon gave her?"
Alfred Garland: "..."
He hadn’t lied; Ms. Quinlan hadn’t finished reading Mr. Avalon’s dical books. She’d even skipped breakfast this morning to go read them backstage.
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