I was a top student in America.

During the latter half of the exam, Li Ao was so engrossed in the symbolic derivation of the weighted HH two-sided extension that he stopped paying attention to the other candidates.

When the bell rang and he walked out of the examination room, he found that there was a scene of utter despair outside.

Standing at the exit of the examination hall, almost all the people walking down the stairs were candidates with bitter faces.

Several girls in groups even had red eyes and were wiping away tears.

"Is it really necessary?"

Li Ao watched this scene with a puzzled expression.

It was just a math competition.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, several boys walked past him, complaining in hushed tones.

"Did the person who set the questions this time accidentally hand out the USAMO exam papers by mistake? The AIME isn't that difficult!"

"Don't even mention it. I had half the time left after finishing the first 10 questions, but the 11th question alone took me half an hour."

"There's no hope this time, so let's just consider it early training."

"Take the test again in 12th grade."

"..."

Li Ao watched them walk away, somewhat incredulous.

"Were the questions this year much harder than in previous years?"

But when he thought back to the questions on the test, they weren't much different in name from the past exam questions he had done. He even wondered if he had answered the wrong test.

Just then, someone in the diagonal front suddenly shouted "Leo".

Li Ao looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Sam. He greeted him and went over.

Jason is a student at the University of Chicago Lab School.

As soon as he left the exam hall, he found his friend Aiden and began to pour out his troubles:

"Brother, how are you? I'm done for. I only managed to make nine this time."

Aiden and Li Ao were in the same exam room and came out one after the other.

He turned his head at the sound, his face equally grim.

"Don't even mention it, I didn't perform well either."

"Forget it, we're all in the same boat. I don't know which freak set the test, it's fucking hard."

Jason felt a little better after hearing this and patted Aiden on the shoulder.

He hired a tutor for intensive training before the exam, hoping to make a name for himself, but he got stuck on the sixth question today.

Fortunately, when he came out and saw that the faces of the people around him were all looking rather grim, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

However, Aiden clearly didn't recover his composure as quickly as he did.

He pointed ahead and lowered his voice:

"Did you see the Asian guy talking to that blonde beauty? He was sitting in front of me just now. He started spacing out halfway through the exam. I guess he's mentally broken down and just given up."

"Are they younger students here to experience the atmosphere?"

Jason looked curiously in the direction Aiden was pointing.

Upon seeing this, their eyes widened in surprise:

"SHXT! Isn't that the 'Wyndham sharpshooter'?"

"Huh? That guy who hit the game-winning shot from center circle in the South Division Round of 16, eliminating our school?"

Aiden was also taken aback and quickly confirmed it.

Jason nodded repeatedly: "It's him, there's no doubt about it! I watched that game from the front row, I remember it clearly, I even dreamed about him shooting super long three-pointers for days afterward."

"Before that guy went on stage, he was holding a math book and writing math problems. I thought he was really awesome, but it turns out he was just a newbie."

"They got incredibly lucky and beat us in the final moments; they deserved to have their mentality collapse."

After such a barrage of verbal sparring, the lingering effects of the recent exam seemed to have faded considerably, and Jason was in a great mood.

Jason was finally in a much better mood.

As I was complaining, a girl from the same school suddenly stopped and retorted:

"Jason, what nonsense are you talking about? That guy is the top scorer in this year's state competition, a genius with a perfect score of 320! Haven't you heard of him?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jason and Aiden froze, looking at each other in bewilderment.

First place with a perfect score in the state competition?

Can Wyndham High School really produce such amazing people?

As students at the University of Chicago's affiliated experimental school, they were used to seeing all kinds of math prodigies, but the perfect score from Wyndham in the South District was completely beyond their comprehension.

Their first reaction was: This girl must have mistaken me for someone else.

Just then, Li Ao and Sam walked closer side by side, and their conversation was overheard by Jason and Aiden.

Li Ao cut to the chase: "How did the exam go? Were the questions difficult this time?"

"How did the exam go? Were the questions difficult?"

"FXXK," Sam cursed, "Of course it's hard. I almost didn't finish. I was rushing to finish the answers in the last few minutes."

She frowned again as she spoke: "And there are several questions I'm not very confident about. I'd be lucky to get eleven or twelve right out of fifteen."

After listening to Sam's words, Li Ao pondered to himself.

Sam is quite capable. Although she didn't do well in the state competition, her usual grades speak for themselves. If she says it's difficult, then it must really be very difficult.

It seems that after my intelligence broke through 110 and I received a new attribute bonus, my abilities are now more than one level higher than those of ordinary competition students.

To him, the questions in this exam were no different from the practice questions he usually did, just like 1+1 and 3+5.

After complaining, Sam asked curiously, "Leo, how did you do?"

"It took me about an hour and a half to finish."

Li Ao came to his senses and answered truthfully.

"An hour and a half?" Sam exclaimed instinctively.

Although she had already guessed that this test paper wouldn't be difficult for Li Ao, this answer was still too infuriating.

Compared to Sam's surprise, Jason and Aiden, who were not far away, looked as if they had been struck by lightning.

Who would have thought that the "Wyndham sharpshooter" who eliminated them was actually a top student?

"So he was spacing out for an hour and a half... because he finished writing a long time ago?"

Aiden was speechless for a moment.

"Forget it, he's a perfect scorer in the state competition, we can't compete with him."

Jason patted Aiden on the shoulder, as if to comfort him, or perhaps to comfort himself.

Anyway, he accepted his fate.

Aiden took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together:

"You're right. AIME is over, preparing for USAMO is the priority."

"You're still thinking about USAMO?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I finished answering the questions right before I handed in the paper, and I didn't even have time to check them. But I think I got about 10 questions right, so I still have a good chance of getting into USAMO."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jason froze, his hand still on Aiden's shoulder frozen in mid-air.

No, buddy... you just said you got a few questions right?

After a long pause, he finally realized that the clown was himself.

Jason sighed, his expression extremely resentful:

"Aiden, our friendship is over..."

……

the next day.

It's a workshop at Whitney Young High School.

After arriving at the classroom, Li Ao continued to read quietly without mentioning the exam.

Ryan, on the other hand, was in a good mood, checking his answers with everyone he met, estimating that he could answer thirteen or fourteen questions correctly.

The next USAMO only selects 500 people nationwide, which is out of reach for most people here.

For them, this year's competition is over.

Therefore, although some people inevitably complained that the questions were too difficult, the atmosphere was not so gloomy.

Li Ao was confident that his qualification for USAMO was secure this time.

The bonus promised by Wyndham High School should be substantial, so I guess I'll have to find some time to open a bank account.

Since this was the last workshop with everyone participating, Ryan suggested that everyone go out for lunch together to wrap up the weekend training.

Everyone agreed.

After all, university applications will begin in the second half of the year, and no one can say for sure whether we'll be able to get together again.

……