Capital was the premier city in the nation. They strived for first-place in every endeavor and set a stellar example for everyone.

The names Cao Tongtong and Zhang Yu were well-known in the mathematics world. After all, their appearance rate was impressive and they won many awards in various major provinces and cities. Everyone noticed them right from the beginning, but as for the other guy—no one recognized him at all!

"Capital is certainly a place where hidden talents lie. Could they have prepared a secret weapon? This kind of person is the most dangerous because we have no knowledge of him at all!" someone could not resist giving a warning.

"He looks very young. None of us heard about him before. The only thing you can say is that he's lying really, really low."

"It seems I have to prepare early this time."

At that moment, a participant looked at the phone and suddenly chortled. "I think I know who he is?"

"Who is he?"

"I have a friend who participated in a math contest with Cao Tongtong last time. She was the one who assembled the group, and now, Cao Tongtong is making fun of him in that same group." The boy laughed. "You'll never believe it, but that guy is a freshman from the language department! "

"WHAT?!"

"Impossible!"

"Capital has gone nuts! Did they really send this guy in as a participant?"

Everyone was stunned and their eyes widened in disbelief.

"It's the plain truth!" The boy continued, "Xu Wanqing insisted on recommending him. He might be involved with Xu Wanqing in some way and is simply here to ride along with the glory."

"Riding on their coattails in this kind of competition? Have Capital's standards fallen so low?"

"F*ck! Don't they want to win? This is ridiculous."

"Xu Wanqinq is that female math prodigy? I heard that her attitude toward math was unparalleled. How could she make such an error of principle?"

"If this is the case, there no need to be worried about the guy!"

An unending stream of gazes fell on Ye Lingchen, seemingly with convoluted feelings. However, Ye Lingchen appeared to be unmoved by them and remained calmly seated.

"The competition is about to begin, please prepare yourselves!" the emcee finally took the stage and proclaimed.

Voices in discussion ceased immediately. Everyone's face was serious and anxious at the same time.

Professor Bai pondered for a moment and whispered, "The both of you can step up depending on the situation."

He shot a glance at an insouciant Ye Lingchen who certainly could not be relied on. Capital's pride was at stake in the competition, and if they could stop Ye Lingchen from actually participating, they would certainly try their level best to do so.

After all, it would create a horrendous spectacle if he stepped forward—he would suffer a crushing defeat without being able to make any sense of the question and would simply sit there like an idiotic fool. Their only hope was that Zhang Yu and Cao Tongtong could get a good ranking.

"Also, the two of you must pay attention to these few areas: Xihai, Donghai, Nanhai, Beihai, Xiangjiang, and Nanking! They're the strongest opponents this time!" Professor An reminded.

Cao Tongtong and Zhang Yu nodded solemnly.

Toot!

With the sound of a whistle, the computer screens of all 19 tables lit up. The countdown to the competition was beginning!

Ten!

Nine!

...

Zero!

After the countdown, the computer screen started randomizing each region's name.

"Everyone can see that the competition has officially started. Now, which regions are going to kick start our competition this year?" The host then said suddenly, "Stop!"

The computer screen froze.

On the fifth table was Capital vs Qinchuan!

"Phew!"

Teachers and professors on Capital's side breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously. Lucky for them, their opponent was Qinchuan, so at least there was some stability. It was not as bad as having to face some of those OP brainiacs1.

"I'll go first this round." Zhang Yu stood up and walked to the corresponding seat on the fifth table. His opponent was a bespectacled boy.

"Qiu Luo is the only one among those OP brainiacs who came forward." Professor Bai looked at the eighth table.

Qiu Luo was a girl with neatly combed bangs. She was not much of a fashionista and looked somewhat rustic, even. Her face was also devoid of makeup.

The competition began!

Various questions began flashing wildly on the computer screen. Each table had a different set of questions, totaling ten written questions. Whoever answered the quickest and most accurately was the winner!

The difficulty level of those questions was competition-standard at the minimum. The problems had extremely tricky perspectives, and most graduate students would likely need a minimum time frame of one entire morning to calculate the answer. However, the contestants were all skimming through the questions quickly with their rapid thought processes.

Not long later, many people were already starting to draft their answers on the draft paper in front of them. They wrote at record speed, and upon closer inspection, they skipped a few steps when they wrote. Many processes were omitted, and an ordinary person would be unable to keep up with how their brains work.

Ye Lingchen noticed that Qiu Luo was not writing at all. All she did was look at the question. Her eyes lit up constantly and she was making silent calculations!

Moreover, she was the first to write down her answer!

Correct!

The computer automatically advanced to the next question. Her opponent failed the first question and was forced to go on to the second as well!

In eight minutes, Qiu Luo's side had already completed the 10 questions!

She steamrolled her opponent to victory!

That kind of speed shocked everyone, including the host!

Some teams were had only proceeded to the third question within those eight minutes, so one could imagine how much stress Qiu Luo's presence put on her opponents.

Everyone from each province and city were somewhat shocked. They stared in horror at the plain and unassuming maiden.

"An interesting opponent." Nanhai Province's Liu Yuan looked at Qiu Luo with interest. His fighting spirit was evident in his eyes.

"This little girl's mental arithmetic level is already comparable to that of a computer. You should pay more attention," one teacher reminded.

Donghai Province's Zhou Ran, who had been sulking, also looked up. "Looks like we're eliminated in the first round. Let me go forward next!"

"You're eager, eh? This... Okay then!"

Qiu Luo's appearance made it hard for all those geniuses to sit still. They were all ready to compete ahead of schedule.

At the eleventh minute, Zhang Yu defeated his opponent and lagged just three minutes behind Qiu Luo!

"She's too strong!" Zhang Yu returned to the team and palpitated as he stared at Qiu Luo. Deep down, he was feeling the pressure!

"She's stronger than we thought!" Professor Bai and Professor An looked at each other and sighed. There was nothing they could do except pray that they would run into such freaks as late into the game as possible.

The second round featured nineteen teams as well. Eliminated regions were allowed to send a second player to enter the field. It was also their second chance.

"Liu Yuan and Zhou Ran are also there." Professor Tang's eyes narrowed slightly. "They appear to be quite confident in facing Qiu Luo."

Everyone began feeling nervous when they looked at the continuously flickering screen.

Capital VS Xiangjiang!

"It's Miao Quan!" Xu Wanqing frowned slightly. "Xiangjiang actually sent Miao Quan to play?"

"Logically speaking, Miao Quan is Xiangjiang's best. I suppose he couldn't wait to play? Miao Quan aside, are they saving that other girl for last?"

"It's him! Let me face him." Zhang Yu smiled. He walked forward confidently after completing his sentence...

Although 變態 refers to 'perverted' or 'freak', the term 'OP brainiac' is used to refer to these uber-genius math prodigies'. Their sheer intellectual strength alone struck fear into other math geniuses.