Late Spring, Early Summer.
The weather had begun to turn stiflingly hot.
In the classroom of Class 36 at Lingzhou City First High School, a middle-aged man with glasses stood holding the results of the third district-wide mock exam.
This mock exam was of paramount importance—it could practically determine the outcome of the upcoming college entrance examination in twenty days!
The students sat with tense expressions, anxiously watching their teacher.
"Chu Ruoxi, total score: 710, ranked first in the entire school!"
"Wow!"
A wave of astonished admiration rippled through the room.
"Zhang Sanfeng, total score: 673... Liu Yihang..."
"Jiang Fan, 300 points, ranked last in the entire school!"
Upon hearing Jiang Fan's score, the entire class burst into laughter, and many began whispering amongst themselves.
"Jiang Fan is probably the hardest-working in our class, yet every time he's at the very bottom. Even our class's 'King of Naps' scores higher than him—what a waste of a brain!"
"Yeah! A total score of 750, and he scores only 300. How could a school like ours, a key high school, be embarrassed like this?"
"..."
Hearing the murmurs of ridicule, the teacher on the podium shook his head in resignation. However, Jiang Fan's lips curled into a faint smile, and a voice echoed in his mind.
"Ding: The tester has completed the eighth 'score control' exam. Completing the final test will activate the technology system. Failure will result in the system's disappearance."
Yes, Jiang Fan was a reborn soul, reincarnated into a parallel world, back to when he was a 17-year-old second-year high school student!
Along with his rebirth came a dormant technology system in his mind.
In his past life, Jiang Fan had been a researcher. From the system's description, he learned that the system contained scientific knowledge spanning 500 years of advancements from his planet.
As a researcher, he knew exactly what acquiring this knowledge would mean.
But to access the system, he had to complete a test given by the system.
The task seemed simple at first glance, but it was extraordinarily demanding!
The task was to score exactly 300 points on nine consecutive exams during his high school years to activate the system.
Many of his classmates might think, "Scoring 300 points isn't hard, is it?"
Exceeding 300 points would be easy, but scoring exactly 300—neither more nor less—on nine consecutive exams was no simple feat. If any test resulted in a score not exactly 300, the whole count would reset.
As a science whiz in his past life, Jiang Fan initially thought this would be easy. However, he soon realized how wrong he was.
At first, his scores would always deviate by one or two points, either above or below 300.
It wasn't until after days and nights of rigorous studying and reviewing every high school topic that he managed to stabilize his score at exactly 300 points.
Now, having completed eight tests with a score of 300, only one more exam remained before he could activate the system.
With just twenty days left before the college entrance exam, and with one more test standing between him and the system, Jiang Fan felt a surge of excitement.
However, his excitement lasted less than a minute, as the class teacher's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts.
"In twenty days, the college entrance exam will take place. According to the district education bureau's decision, the exam scheduled in ten days... has been canceled..."
Jiang Fan's smile froze, and he stood dumbstruck, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. It took several minutes before he could even begin to process the reality of the situation.
He couldn't accept this fact. He had endured an entire year of relentless study, pushing himself day and night. With only one last exam left, he had been so close to activating the system, but now the teacher was telling him that the final exam had been canceled!
No one could accept this.
"Bang!"
Jiang Fan suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over in his agitation.
"The exam... the exam can't be canceled!"
He trembled as he shouted at the teacher, gasping for breath in his excitement.
The teacher, taken aback by Jiang Fan's sudden outburst, responded sarcastically.
"What? With your 300 points, do you need another exam to prove your intelligence?"
The classmates laughed, looking at him as though he were a fool.
But Jiang Fan, seemingly lost in his thoughts, muttered to himself.
"The education bureau... How could... they say something like that... No, it can't be, there must be an exam..."
The teacher and students exchanged confused glances.
"Jiang Fan, what's wrong with you? You're the bottom of the school. What gives you the right to speak out?"
Jiang Fan's heart burned with frustration. He was so close to activating the system, which held the key to technologies from 500 years in the future.
500 years of technological knowledge!
For a researcher, this meant he could develop countless advanced technologies.
Jiang Fan was certain that if he could obtain this system, he would be able to drive technological progress in his country, and even the world.
Currently, his country was constrained by technological limitations imposed by foreign powers. As a patriot and researcher, Jiang Fan was determined to break free from this predicament.
He had dreamed of using the system to develop ultra-powerful chips, controllable nuclear fusion, mechas, aircraft carriers, spacecraft, or even futuristic innovations like space elevators and time-travel machines.
But all those dreams seemed destined to be dashed by the education bureau's sudden decision to cancel the exam, a reality he could not accept.
The teacher, seeing Jiang Fan's clenched brow and red eyes, became equally furious and shouted.
"Jiang Fan, sit down!"
Jiang Fan, as though driven mad, yelled back.
"Your decision... will ruin the entire country's future in technology, leaving us forever subjugated by foreign powers..."
The student sitting next to him instinctively shifted away in fear.
Everyone thought Jiang Fan had lost his mind.
He simply couldn't accept that after a year of relentless study, he was still ranked last every time.
Anyone who had worked so hard, only to see no improvement in their results, would probably experience a breakdown.
The classmates looked at him with pity, sighing helplessly.
The teacher quickly called Jiang Fan's parents.
After venting his frustration, Jiang Fan realized that the students were all looking at him strangely. Knowing that he could no longer change this reality, he sat back down, defeated.
Chu Ruoxi turned around and looked at the boy who had worked a hundred times harder than she ever had. There was something about him that seemed different.
She had always been curious about Jiang Fan. He never interacted with any classmates, never listened to the teacher's lessons, and only read his own books.
One day, Chu Ruoxi secretly picked up a math paper Jiang Fan had discarded in the trash. On it, the answers to all the major questions were written, but there were no steps—just the final answers.
She ran through the problems herself and found that every single answer was correct.
Even the final bonus question was perfect.
That was when she began to take notice of Jiang Fan.
...
Jiang Fan's parents arrived at the school and immediately took him home.
As he left, his eyes were vacant, almost as though he had lost his mind.
But only he knew the truth—his hope had been shattered.
In his past life, Jiang Fan had spent five years researching nanomaterials, with the country investing 3 billion yuan annually. Yet due to numerous technological constraints, there had been no breakthroughs.
He understood that producing new technologies required vast amounts of manpower, resources, and funding.
But with the system, everything could change.