The access to the building had yet to open since there was still some time before the commencement of the International Quiz Contest.
The teacher gathered everyone and went over the rules and things they should take note of, one last time. He looked a lot more solemn than he did during the National Quiz Contest.
Since it was an international competition, it was not just a matter of their abilities but also, their national pride. In an instant, the teacher triggered a sense of competitiveness in the participants.
Huo Yao looked at the Olympic symbol at the top of the building once more. She smiled subconsciously. On closer scrutiny, her eyes were ablaze with immense fighting spirit.
She had studied a lot of unusually complicated questions, and it was time to inspect the result of her efforts.
At 9:00 am sharp in Country M, over 100 contestants from all over the world entered the exam hall in an orderly manner.
Out of the ten exam halls, Huo Yao was assigned to hall number ten. Yi Lianfan and the other three contestants were also placed at the same location. However, it seemed mighty odd for all of them to be assigned to the same hall.
Huo Yao sat on her seat as she twirled her pen gently. It made no sense for them to get sent to the same hall.
Suddenly, she overheard the conversation between two neighboring foreign students and found out how the seating had been arranged.
They were assigned to each hall based on their country’s previous performance at the International Quiz Contest. Only the countries that did poorly or did not even make it into the finals got assigned to the last two halls.
In other words, the students in halls nine and ten belonged to countries that did not get ranked in the previous International Quiz Contest.
Hence, it did not matter to the organisers that the students from the same country got assigned to the same hall.
Huo Yao leaned against her chin, wondering how they could look down upon them in this manner.
The competitive streak in her eyes blazed even more wildly.
Before long, an invigilator with blonde hair and blue eyes came in with the test papers. She looked cold and seemed to treat all the contestants with contempt.
Huo Yao scanned the paper quickly after receiving it. Sure enough, it was over two times harder than at the national level.
Huo Yao exhaled before she picked up her pen and started.
She adored doing tricky questions just like she liked treating tough illnesses. Otherwise, it felt boring.
The test was three hours long. There were a total of 200 points, and the passing marks were set at 160. The standards of this contest were considered to be extremely high.
During the last International Quiz Contest, almost 300 people had participated, and less than 80 contestants made it into the finals, let alone get a rank.
Three hours went by swiftly. The moment the bell rang, the invigilator told them to put down their pens and got them to leave.
It felt as though they could not stay even a second longer.
After Huo Yao exited the hall, she followed the signboard and found her way to the bathroom before she went downstairs.
Everyone was waiting for her downstairs.
Huo Yao walked over unhurriedly to see everyone looking dejected, even Yi Lianfan looked a little sullen. She touched her nose as she wondered if everyone botched the quiz.
“Huo Yao, do… do you think you can make it into the finals?” asked the teacher hoarsely in low spirits.
He had already asked the students about the contest. Although results had yet to be released, other than Yi Lianfan, there was basically no hope for the rest of them.
