Deep Within the Living-Chapter 44: Semester Evaluation

[Jupiter City No. 4 High School]
The new spring semester began.
After completing the routine morning run, the senior students remained on the field to hear the principal announce the final semester's academic plan.
“Students! This upcoming semester marks our final sprint. I believe most of you have already prepared yourselves.
While the current curriculum remains unchanged, the dismissal time for senior students will be extended from 5:40 PM to 9:40 PM.
The school will provide you with free nutritious dinners and optional dormitory accommodations. Students whose commute exceeds 40 minutes are encouraged to stay on campus.
After dinner, from 6:30 PM, evening courses will commence.
First, there will be two hours of night sports training. Following a ten-minute break, the last hour will consist of specialized courses tailored to your strongest subjects.
Today, we will conduct a baseline assessment for all senior students using a format similar to the Graduation Exams.
During the day, cultural and logic subjects will be tested in the classroom through written exams. In the evening, there will be a major physical examination.
The results of these assessments will determine your evening course arrangements.”
The principal’s words were concise and straightforward. Most students of No. 4 High School had adjusted over winter break and were prepared for the intense six-month sprint ahead.
The morning featured cultural exams, encompassing subjects like history, geography, humanities, and psychology. These were Luo Di’s weakest areas, where his scores usually hovered around the middle tier.
Although cultural subjects only accounted for 20% of the Graduation Exams, scoring in the city’s top 100 in this area could secure admission to university for further academic pursuits.
Once the assembly ended, students returned to their classrooms, ready to begin the three-hour cultural exam.
Gao Yuxuan sat calmly at his desk, resting with his eyes closed. This was his strongest domain. With a good performance, he could secure not just first place in his class but rank in the top three of the entire grade.
Due to the significance of this exam, invigilators were not teachers from the students’ classes.
A male teacher carrying an exam packet walked into the room. His slightly sunken eyes and pale complexion contrasted with his well-fitted and tidy attire. His heavy footsteps suggested that even holding the packet seemed to weigh him down. People with such frail builds were a rarity in this era.
As the teacher prepared the exam materials, whispers arose among the students:
“Isn’t that the cultural teacher from Class One?”
“I think his surname is Guo. I’ve heard from their class that his teaching style is weird, which is why their cultural exam scores are consistently low. And they often have their cultural classes taken over by PE sessions.”
Sitting by the window, Luo Di didn’t join the chatter and wasn’t interested in the topic.
Instead, he found this teacher unusually peculiar in a way he couldn’t describe.
As Luo Di observed Mr. Guo’s incredibly thin frame, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the class monitor was gesturing at him with an exaggerated thumbs-up.
The exam began.
Five papers covering various cultural knowledge domains had to be completed in a tight three-hour window.
Shortly after starting, Luo Di’s habitual tic emerged as he focused intently on answering questions.
Click!
A distinct tongue-click echoed in the silent, sealed classroom, startling even Luo Di himself.
It was then he remembered that, due to this habit, his exams last semester had all been conducted in the teachers’ office. This time, he had forgotten to make similar arrangements.
As several classmates glanced his way, the invigilator walked over to his desk. Luo Di quietly explained his situation, planning to take the test in the office again.
However, just as Luo Di was about to get up, a hand gently rested on his shoulder.
In crisp, authoritative Mandarin, Mr. Guo spoke:
“I noticed last semester you always took your exams alone in the office. Is this habit uncontrollable?”
“Yes.”
“No need to move. Continue your test here.
After graduation, you will face all sorts of environments. Many situations won’t offer a quiet, controlled space like this one. You’ll need to extract knowledge from your brain quickly, even amid noise or urgency.
If you can’t handle such minor distractions, it’s better not to take the exam at all.
The same goes for everyone else. You don’t need to worry about posture or forcing yourself into a rigid state. If you feel like coughing, cough. If you need to shout, go ahead, as long as it’s not intentional disruption.
But if anyone cheats, I’ll be the first to deal with them.
Now, focus on the exam.”
The students in Class Five were bewildered; it was their first time hearing such a “standard” during an exam.
However, as they gradually adapted to Mr. Guo’s approach, the physical and mental tension eased. It felt like returning to the free-spirited atmosphere of winter break, allowing their deeply buried knowledge to surface.
As for Luo Di’s tongue-clicking, his classmates had grown used to it last semester, treating it as part of the ambient noise.
By the end of the exam, everyone felt less exhausted than usual, with some even thrilled by their unexpectedly strong performance.
When the papers were collected, Luo Di watched Mr. Guo’s departing figure, suddenly curious about attending his classes.
“What are you staring at? Think Mr. Guo is that good-looking? Come on, let’s go eat!”
The class monitor walked over and nudged Luo Di’s shoulder, while Gao Yuxuan was already waiting at the classroom door.
“Monitor, do you know this teacher?” Luo Di asked.
“Not really. I’ve only interacted with him occasionally while helping in the office. Mr. Guo is a strange guy. His desk is piled with non-academic books. He doesn’t follow standard lesson plans or make PowerPoint presentations. He just teaches however he feels like it.
I heard he graduated from an excellent university but is a bit of a loner... kind of like you.”
“Oh.”
After a hearty lunch, the afternoon featured the logic analysis exam, also written. However, this test had a unique twist.
Each student received a specially crafted wooden box. They had to figure out how to open it to access the exam paper. Breaking the box resulted in an automatic 50-point deduction.
The test itself contained only one question:
Using the limited text and images provided, construct a comprehensive event analysis and profile the main characters involved.
Some students finished within an hour.
Others struggled to write anything significant even after the entire session.
Thanks to his recent experiences, Luo Di’s response was flawless.
Finally, the day transitioned into the most crucial part: the evening sessions.
Previously, by this hour, they would have been home. For many, staying at school late at night felt strange. But what stood out the most was the first-ever nighttime physical assessment.
This test, one of the most critical, was divided into three main categories: Speed, Strength, and Comprehensive Combat.
Even though the temperature was hovering around 10°C, most students wore lightweight sportswear. Among them, the most eye-catching was the class monitor’s black skin-tight suit, with a striking silver letter "I" printed near her chest.
There were 721 senior students across 17 classes. While Luo Di, Wu Wen, and Gao Yuxuan ranked in the top three within Class 5, their rankings shifted significantly when compared to the entire grade.
According to the results of the previous semester's physical assessments:
Luo Di ranked 3rd in the grade,
Wu Wen was 10th,
Gao Yuxuan was 31st.
Notably, Gao Yuxuan also held the top spot in the cultural exams for the entire grade.
The first test was Speed, evaluated through what students referred to as the "Thousand-Hundred Run."
The rules were straightforward: students had to complete a 100-meter sprint immediately followed by a 1000-meter run without stopping.
The time for the 100-meter sprint was recorded first, followed by the total time for the 1000-meter run. Both times were factored into the final score.
One critical note:
For both this evaluation and the Graduation Exams, students were allowed to use appropriate auxiliary tools under strict regulations.
They could consume or inject approved substances in limited doses that posed no harm to their bodies.
They could wear or equip supportive devices, including prosthetics, provided these were basic-level aids that wouldn’t hinder the growth and development of minors.
Given the dangerous scenarios students might face in the future, these tools were considered viable aids for combat preparation.
To ensure fairness, deductions were applied to final scores for auxiliary equipment or medication use.
The physical test proceeded in class order. Luo Di, Wu Wen, and Gao Yuxuan, with their closely spaced student numbers, were placed in the same group for the Speed test.
As Luo Di stepped onto the edge lane assigned to him, he immediately sensed an unusual atmosphere.
The class monitor, positioned in Lane 2, had already assumed a perfect starting stance. Her face shed its usual warmth, replaced by an aura of overwhelming intensity.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, she stiffly turned her head toward him. The stern expression vanished in an instant, replaced by a bright smile. She even waved and gestured at her specialized outfit, as if explaining it.
Meanwhile, Gao Yuxuan, sandwiched between them in the middle lane, had adjusted his sports glasses and, noticing their exchange, shrank back slightly.
At the starting line, the teacher raised the starting pistol slowly.
All the students immediately transitioned into crouched starting positions, muscles in their calves tense and coiled like springs.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out.
Luo Di reacted instantly, his muscles propelling him forward in a flawless start. The countless hours of nighttime running he’d endured showed their worth, enabling him to execute a textbook-perfect sprint.
Even Luo Di himself could feel the perfection of his start this time. He might even match the class monitor’s speed in the initial stretch.
However, the situation wasn’t as expected.
He had assumed that a near-perfect start would at least keep his competitors out of his peripheral vision for the first 30 meters. And indeed, he saw no one running parallel to him—except in his left peripheral vision.
There, an opponent appeared, running in a bizarre posture. This runner had already overtaken him in the first moments of the sprint.
The class monitor!?
The class monitor, dressed in her black skin-tight suit, was already more than three body lengths ahead of him.
Her running form defied every conventional standard: her upper body leaned forward at an extreme angle, and she relied on exaggerated strides that seemed to push the limits of what her legs could endure without tearing apart. Her sheer momentum kept her from collapsing face-first onto the track.
Whoosh!
The class monitor crossed the 100-meter mark first, the speedometer displaying an astonishing result: 9.55 seconds.