Chapter 600 - Intentionally Scoring Low?
...…
Inside a certain conference room of the Magical Ace Academy, Professor Jennifer and her fellow professors were checking the exam papers of the examinees earlier.
"Looks like this batch of students are not only good at fighting, they also have a good head on their shoulders," said one of the professors as he saw the scores on the papers that he was checking.
Hearing that, the other four professors who were also inside the room nodded their heads in agreement; this included Professor Jennifer who witnessed Shin and the others' battle capabilities personally inside the lecture hall.
Not long after, they checked all of the exam papers and nodded their heads in satisfaction since none of the examinees failed. And based on Professor Jennifer's report, their performances during the written exam were quite good too.
"Alright, good job everyone! That should be it for today, let's meet again two days later at the next part of the exam," said one of the professors who seemed to have a higher authority than the others.
"Too bad, no one managed to score perfectly on this exam. I guess that bonus points and extra rewards will not go to anyone yet," he added while standing up and preparing to leave.
They were about to wrap everything up when one of the professors suddenly opened his mouth. "Wait, Professor Valor! Can you take a look at these exam papers first?"
"What is it, Little Toru? Don't tell me that someone actually perfected the exam?" said Professor Valor sneeringly as he walked over.
"That's not it, Sir. It is just that there seems to be something odd with this kid's exam papers," replied the other professor while raising the papers that he was holding.
Taking those exam papers, Professor Valor looked at Professor Toru with a skeptical expression on his face. But that look immediately changed the moment he saw the score on that exam paper. "Ninety? This is the lowest score that I've seen so far. He even barely gets the passing score of the exam."
"I know right?" said Professor Toru noddingly. But immediately after that, he suddenly said, "But that is also the odd part of it. Go take a look at the other subjects."
Hearing that, Professor Valor further knitted his brows before turning the pages of the exam papers one by one. And with each flip of the paper, the expression on his face was tuning heavier, especially when he saw the scores on each subject were all the same.
"What is the meaning of this?" said Professor Valor with an even deeper frown.
In the meantime, the other professors walked over as they became curious about what they were talking about. Not long after, they also learned what happened.
"Maybe it is just a coincidence?" said one of the professors, trying to convince the others. But it was clear that he was also quite doubtful with his own words given the tone that he had.
"You are telling me that it is just a coincidence that the ten easiest questions are left behind while the hardest ones are answered correctly?" said Professor Valor with a sharp glare.
"Yeah! Look here, most of these questions are quite related to the next questions. And if you fail to answer them, then it is impossible for you to answer those harder questions. But this kid does it the other way around!" commented the other professor who was standing behind Professor Valor.
"The heck? This kid even skips answering the first ten questions on this subject and perfectly answers the rest," said another professor who snatched one of the exam papers from Professor Toru earlier.
The more they read the more they felt strange about it. They didn't know whether to laugh it out or became furious about the fact that this particular kid seemed to be messing with them by answering his exam papers that way.
"Is this kid looking down on us? What is his name? Let me take note of him!" said Professor Valor while flipping the papers on his hands, looking for the name of the owner of those exam papers.
"Shin Kinghad," said Professor Toru as he read the name written on the exam papers. And after a brief moment of hesitation, he suddenly muttered with a soft voice. "Why do I feel that this name sounds familiar? Where have I heard it before?"
"Hear? More like read it before," said Professor Valor from the side while wearing a deep frown.
Hearing that, the others turned their heads at him before Professor Jennifer asked. "Do you know this kid, Sir?"
The corner of Professor Valor's mouth twitched all of a sudden when he heard her question before answering with an even deeper frown. "If my memory is right, then this is the kid who was the last applicant for the Research Department before."
When Professor Toru heard that, he immediately came to a realization before speaking. "Oh! That kid who emailed us about the passing grade to enter the Research Department! I remember him now!"
"Yeah! That arrogant kid who answered the exact number of questions which are enough to pass him and get accepted to our department," said Professor Valor as the expression on his face turned heavy.
"But that is not the worst thing that he did to insult us! This kid even dared to cancel his application at the very last minute before the school year starts!" he added while clenching his fists.
"Now, this is surprising. To think that he is going to apply for the special program of our school after canceling his previous application? Is this kid mocking us or something?" commented the other professor standing behind Professor Valor.
"Do you think that is important right now? No matter what he did, it is still all according to the rules so we can't do anything about it," said Professor Jennifer before collecting the papers that they were holding.
"I'm taking these to Professor Henry now, so if you guys have some problem with the kid, you guys can directly raise your concerns to him," she added after making sure that she collected all of the exam papers.
"What do you think, Sir? Should we teach this kid a lesson? How about disqualifying him on the next exam?" said the professor behind Professor Valor.
Hearing the suggestion, Professor Valor nodded his head repeatedly. "You think so? Should we ask Professor Henry about it?"
"Why are we going to it? The kid didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I find his way of doing things rather interesting," said Professor Toru before turning his head at the other professor beside him before asking. "What do you think, Professor Michael?"
That professor nodded his head when he heard that before saying. "Yeah, I think keeping a low profile is the best thing for now."
Hearing that, Professor Jennifer suddenly raised one of her eyebrows especially when she heard the words 'low profile'. She then recalled all of the things that Shin did up until now including his performance during the first three parts of the exam.
After that, she started giggling before mumbling with a soft voice. "Low profile, huh? I'm not sure about that."
Then she left the group to argue with each other as she took her to leave. "If that is all, then I will be taking my leave. But make sure not to act as sour losers and punish that kid for not doing anything."
She was about to step out of the room when she suddenly thought of something. She quickly turned around before saying to them. "But if you want to really teach him a lesson for giving up that precious spot that you are planning to give him, then I suggest you pair him with some troublesome opponent in the next round."
"I'm pretty sure that Professor Henry will not only support you, but he will also not get angry for such a suggestion," she added before hopping out of the room.
Hearing those words, the other professors seemed to become enlightened and started grinning from ear to ear.
"That is not a bad suggestion. Should we give it a try?" said Professor Valor while nodding his head repeatedly.
"Yeah, that kid is thinking too highly of himself, so there shouldn't be any harm in humbling him a little bit," said the other professor behind him.
Even Professor Toru, who somewhat liked Shin, seemed to agree with the idea. "The next part of the exam will not affect them even if they lose right. Of course, aside from the Point Standings is what I mean."
"There are four Crown Emblem bearers in this batch, right?" asked Professor Michael while stroking his chin.
Hearing that, Professor Valor immediately suggested. "So, how about we pair them with each other? It is still going to be fair if we did that, am I right?"
After that, the three of them exchanged glances with each other before wearing a huge grin and nodding their heads in agreement.
"It is decided then, we are pairing up the crown emblem bearers with each other," said Professor Valor, finalizing their plans.
"Looks like the next part of the exam is going to be an interesting one," muttered Professor Michael as he became excited to watch the upcoming matchups.
...…