Chapter 484 - 308: Mysterious Little Specialty from the East (Part 2)

Chapter 484: Chapter 308: Mysterious Little Specialty from the East (Part 2)

Breaks were precious.

They returned directly to their inn, and Craig’s spirits lifted slightly.

After all, he had crammed hard for math, physics, and the practical exam.

It wasn’t like the general language test, which he’d barely paid any mind to before the exam.

He was determined to make up for the points he lost on the language portion with the other three subjects!

「A day and a half later.」

After finishing his last test, the practical exam, Craig walked out of the examination hall.

He seemed to be in a decent mood this time. He wasn’t moping; he even managed a small smile.

It wasn’t because he thought he’d done well.

On the contrary, there were several sections he couldn’t complete.

He could still smile simply because he was used to it.

Used to bombing his exams.

’What could he do?’ In all his years of schooling, he had never encountered an exam this outrageously difficult.

His months of preparation seemed like preschool lessons in the face of this test.

’What kind of students did Zog want, anyway?’ Craig couldn’t figure it out.

Anyone his age who could solve all the problems on that exam had to be a genius among geniuses.

’A pity he wasn’t one of them.’

’If he managed to pass, it wouldn’t be because he did well. It would be because everyone else did just as terribly.’

The results would be announced in a week, with the list of accepted students posted online.

Most of the candidates started their journeys home early.

The accommodation expenses Zog reimbursed only covered the duration of the exams.

Craig, clearly not a man short on cash, figured he might as well explore the unfamiliar city since he was already here.

He had read a bit about Deepwater City online beforehand.

It was a place that could only be described as a miracle.

In an incredibly short period, it had transformed from a small village into a massive city.

Craig hadn’t believed it at first.

Without exception, every other city of significant size on the Continent had a long history, having developed little by little over time.

But after seeing Deepwater City with his own eyes, he had to admit it was truly a miracle—a real, tangible one.

Although many parts of the city were still active construction sites, he could already see how special this place was.

The incredibly convenient transportation, the clean and beautiful buildings all built in a uniform style, the streetlights that illuminated every road at night.

These were all things Twin Tower City lacked.

And the construction sites! Craig had never imagined a construction site could be so orderly and efficient.

He’d seen his family’s construction sites for their villas; even though they were much smaller than those in Deepwater City, they were always chaotic messes.

What astonished him even more was that, in their spare time, the workers here were all studying. They were learning to read and write, and some were even studying Magic.

’This place might become a city without a single illiterate person.’

’Why would Zog do this?’

For so many people to be learning, he must be the one actively promoting it.

This was completely different from the education Craig had received his whole life.

The elders in his family had always taught him not to let the lower classes get too clever, or they wouldn’t work diligently.

He’d always felt there was something wrong with his family’s approach, but he never knew how to argue against it.

After seeing Deepwater City, though, he knew for a fact they were wrong, even if he still couldn’t articulate why in theory.

The workers of Deepwater City were smart, and they weren’t lazy. On the contrary, they were incredibly efficient.

Craig liked this city.

It was novel and full of surprises, as if it were another world entirely, separate from Feilin.

The city was full of life. Every resident was vibrant, working with purpose, diligent and optimistic.

There were more Magic Items here than in all the other places he’d ever visited combined, and they weren’t for war. They were used in daily life, in construction.

And there were no nobles.

At least, Craig hadn’t seen any. Perhaps there were no nobles here to begin with, or perhaps they were hiding their identities, just like him.

He still thought he was doing an excellent job of hiding his noble status.

In reality, he turned heads everywhere he went; every passerby could tell he was a noble.

Craig had simply assumed the people here were very friendly, and that it was customary for strangers to greet one another.

Even Transcendents weren’t treated as anything special. He’d seen plenty of Mages and people of other professions mixing freely with the common folk.

The rumor was that as long as you could be taken down with a single gunshot, there wasn’t much difference between you and anyone else.

As someone who was an absolute beneficiary of the upper-class system, Craig found that he thought this was actually pretty nice.

This solidified his determination to study here.

Right after the exam, he had planned to follow Mr. Benz’s advice: study hard somewhere else first, and then try to enter the Deep Research Institute after graduation.

Now, he’d changed his mind.

’He had to study here.’

’If I don’t get in this time, I’ll just come back next year...’

While Craig was touring the city, all the exam papers were graded, and the university began ranking the applicants.

The average scores were just as Craig had guessed—most people hadn’t done well.

The difficulty level Zog had set was simply too high for the continent’s current standard of education.

With four subjects each worth one hundred points, for a total of four hundred, the final average score was only 162.

That was an average of just over forty per subject.

When the results were tallied, Zog came to review the situation. This was the first batch of students, after all; it was important.

The average score was within Zog’s acceptable range. He’d expected it to be as low as one hundred ten or one hundred twenty.

The highest score, however, was an unexpected surprise.

A young girl who had chosen biology and chemistry as her electives scored an incredible 377.

Zog wasn’t even sure he could score higher than that himself.

’How did she manage that?’

This score was achieved without any intensive test-prep drilling.

Zog also spotted a familiar name on the preliminary acceptance list: Craig. He was right on the cutoff line, having barely passed.

He made a point to confirm if this was the same young master from years ago, the one with money burning a hole in his pocket.

Upon receiving confirmation, Zog was taken aback.

’Who would’ve thought?’

And the kid had chosen physics, of all things.

’Physics is good,’ he thought. ’A theoretical field like this needs students from families that have been wealthy for generations.’

Besides high intelligence, a deep family coffer was the second-best talent one could have for theoretical studies.

Being rich meant not having to worry about making a living, which in turn meant one could better tolerate long periods without producing any tangible results.

The lives of the wealthy are filled with a high margin for error.

Many talented children from poor families would never choose the path of theoretical research; they would switch to other fields where it was easier to make money.

All candidates who passed the written exam would also have to undergo a simple remote interview.

He was recruiting high schoolers as if they were graduate students.

The main reason was the small number of students, which made the interview workload manageable. This allowed them to screen out anyone who, despite being capable of learning, had significant character flaws.

For example, potential aggressive bullies and the like.

During this period, the teachers who weren’t busy grading exams weren’t idle either.

They were tasked with referencing the sample exams Zog had provided to mass-produce similar test questions and write detailed solution guides.

This was all in preparation for future test-prep books.

Five Years of Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests.

Deepwater City Elite Academy: 33 Authentic Practice Tests.

Master Teacher’s Golden Standard Mock Exam Collection.

’It was time for the students of Feilin to witness the terror of the "drown-them-in-problems" strategy!’

The pedagogical system Zog introduced was a major shock to the local teachers.

It felt less like a school and more like a Factory—rigorous, efficient, mass-producing graduates.

They weren’t sure if this approach was a good thing.

One of them worked up the courage to ask Zog, "Headmaster"—Zog was the honorary headmaster of all schools in Deepwater City—"with this teaching arrangement, won’t the pressure be too great? It doesn’t seem conducive to the children’s independent development."

In the mainstream view on Feilin, learning was something one pursued out of interest.

Of course, nobles still forced their children to study, regardless.

In response, Zog called a general meeting for all teachers to address this question.

"The pressure is indeed high, and it will affect the students’ independent development to some extent, but these are acceptable trade-offs. For the vast majority of people, learning isn’t a pleasant activity. They need a certain amount of discipline and encouragement to ensure they acquire knowledge. Time will prove the effectiveness of this method."

If you were to ask Zog if he was happy during his school years,

he would have definitely said no.

But if you were to ask the adult Zog if all that studying had been necessary,

he would have just as definitely said yes.

This model was, without a doubt, the most effective way to raise the average level of education.

It was fine, as long as the pressure didn’t reach the pathological levels of sleeping only four hours a night and taking only one day off a month.

That would be truly unacceptable.

Furthermore, the Zog Group had a massive need for highly educated talent, which guaranteed that students who endured years of rigorous study would be able to find a suitable position.

They wouldn’t study for more than a decade only to find that their knowledge was useless.

And so, on an unremarkable autumn day, a brand-new type of school was born in Deepwater City.