Legend of the Mythological Genes
chapter-8

The questions on the projection gushed down like a waterfall. Data streamed across Feng Lin’s eyes. His fingers flitted across the screen like butterflies weaving through flowers, swiping across questions naturally and without pause, unhurried and pleased.

Others were engrossed with their own examination and hence, no one noticed the strange sight.

It wasn’t long before two hours were up, and the examination concluded. Feng Lin shut down the screen in silence.

The performance he had unleashed in this exam far surpassed any of his previous. He had an idea of how many questions he answered correctly and that scared even himself.

Work hard in silence, let your success make the noise; that was the virtuous way.

Feng Lin didn’t proclaim his efforts intentionally.

However, once the exam concluded, the class’s top students in the front row roared into life.

“Wow! Zhao Kai, you managed to answer 250 questions! That’s amazing! That’s at least two questions per minute on average!”

“As expected from a prodigy with a vitality of more than 2! Your intelligence received a great boost, and your line of thought is at the speed of light. You’re a superhuman existence. It’s truly impressive, how you are able to correctly answer such difficult questions!”

“A genius indeed. We’re not a match!”

…

A burst of startled gasp rang out from the side just as the exam results were out.

A huge-statured, 1.9 meters tall boy was surrounded by others. While he kept an aloof façade, he still couldn’t help the satisfied smile from forming at the corner of his lips.

This rascal was still too inexperienced.

Feng Lin shook his head.

That person, Zhao Kai, was the top of their class. It was said that he had already awoken two formidable genes, Flame Gene and Metal Gene. Not only that, he had strengthened it several times. As for his vitality, it was rumored that it surpassed 2, becoming the class’s well-known prodigy.

The reason why he could reach such a state was due to his wealthy family background. They feasted on the meat of interstellar monsters, drank top-grade gene potions, and relied entirely on the accumulation of their resources.

If a true prodigy had access to such resources, they would have long been an impressive Interstellar cultivator.

That said, being born into a good family was also their competence.

Feng Lin wouldn’t reduce himself to the level of losers who felt indignant at others, who envied and grew jealous, and who was full of hate.

Although his abilities didn’t compare to Zhao Kai’s yet, he possessed an unbelievable ability: genetic equation. Feng Lin was confident that his prospects weren’t something which Zhao Kai could measure up to.

He already had a spacecraft, why would he be jealous over a bicycle?

“We’ll now announce the results!” The female head-teacher began as she read the list. With just a glance, her expression stiffened.

It was after a long pause before she hesitantly spoke up, “In first place… Feng Lin? 588 points!”

“What?” Everyone was dumbstruck.

With such grueling questions, someone managed to score 588 points?

Didn’t this mean that he had answered at least 588 questions within two hours, and they would have to be all correct answers?

This was more than double the number of correct answers by the class’s top student, Zhao Kai… Almost triple even!

How was this possible?

Pair after pair of dazed eyes shifted towards Feng Lin as if they had just seen a ghost.

“Could it be that there’s a bug with the optical computing? Maybe it showed the wrong exam results.”

“That must be the case! Isn’t he one of the last-ranking students? How could he have achieved such a good result? Forget about our class, apart from those exceptional geniuses in the school’s history, there have never been anyone else who received a score of more than 500 in a two-hour literature exam.”

“That’s right! Even Zhao Kai couldn’t get such a high score, how could it be possible that this guy did? We have to see his exam screen!”

….

The other students concurred the notion with a nod of their heads; all of them regarded this as the only logical explanation.

What, a last-ranking student broke the record of exam scores through his own effort?

What a joke!

The head-teacher thought the same way as she retrieved Feng Lin’s exam screen from the optical computer for all to reinspect.

Everyone crowded around it, checking questions after the next, not allowing even the slightest mistake to slip past them.

Feng Lin’s eyes darkened at the sight but subsequently, let out a burst of indifferent laughter.

A person of integrity could stand any tests.

If these people wanted to check it, then be his guest. He just hoped that their fragile hearts wouldn’t shatter all over the ground.

In fact, he knew that he hadn’t answered just 588 questions; he had answered 698 of them in total. It was impossible to get every question right with the speed of his swiping, and he got 110 questions wrong as a result.

Feng Lin shook his head; he was unsatisfied with his own performance.

“This question is right!”

“This one too!”

“They’re all correct. How is this possible?”

…

Everyone in the class, their head-teacher included, widened their eyes with every verified answer, until they were almost as big as a bull’s eye.

They checked through Feng Lin’s exam papers and realized that not only were the number of questions answered beyond their imagination, but the accuracy of them was also staggering. It was above 80%!

A look of disbelief swept across all their faces.

They were in the Interstellar Era where technology was unbelievably advanced and surveillance facilities had reached the level of being able to monitor atoms. This put an end to all speculations of cheating being involved.

If it had not been because of this, they would truly have started suspecting Feng Lin of cheating!

Feng Lin had always been at the bottom of the class. How could he have scored above 500 points in the literature exam?

The probability of this was even smaller than meeting another planet with life in this universe. One in a million? One in a billion?

Yet, this was a fact and there was no other choice but to believe it.

Amid the crowd, it wasn’t hard to distinguish Zhao Kai’s expression; he had such an ugly look on him.

He had always ranked first in class. No one else ever dared to shake him off that position.

Yet, a last-ranking student dared to climb over his head and surpassed him by so many points. This fact made it hard for him to accept.

Naturally, he wouldn’t spout something as foolish as an accusation towards Feng Lin for cheating. Rather, he spoke in a low voice to the female head-teacher. “Teacher, we should review the surveillance footage during the exam. Otherwise, I’m afraid no one would believe that a last-ranking student like Feng Lin would be able to score a high score of 588. Who knows, maybe the school’s optical computing system had an error, or perhaps it was being attacked by interstellar hackers!”

Zhao Kai wasn’t explicit in his words, but there were subtle hints behind them.

A single pebble could instigate thousands of ripples.

As the longstanding top student of their class, his words were persuasive.

The other students began to voice their agreement.

“That’s right! We want to view the exam records!”

“I can’t accept that a last-ranking student could score 588 points!”

“That’s impossible!”

…

Just because Feng Lin had attained the highest score in history, chaos erupted in their class.

Voices of suspicion filled the air around them; there was no one who would believe that Feng Lin achieved this score through his own effort.

It was just a high score, was this even necessary?

Feng Lin grew frustrated. In that instant, he felt as though it was him against the world and annoyance began to fill his heart.

He got the top of class through his own abilities, why should he be questioned in this manner?

Feng Lin frowned slightly; he knew it was the drastic improvements in his result that caused the uproar!

Still, in Interstellar Era, they had a huge population with incomparably intense competition. There was no way to stay low profile.

As a student, to gain the teachers and the school’s favor, one must boast and display their abilities and talents. Only through this way could they receive the school’s support in grooming them and getting the resources to be tilted towards them. This would allow a smoother path in cultivation.

Simply put, the higher your scored, the stronger you were. Only when you showed potential in performing at the college exam would the school put in the effort to groom you.

If not, why would the school invest their educational and cultivation resources on a normal person?

This was why Feng Lin decided to do his best to get a good score!

In the Interstellar Era, being weak was a crime and being low-profile was the dumbest behavior in the world.

“Quiet!” At the sight of the crowd’s agitation, the head-teacher couldn’t stand it anymore. With a shout, she exhibited her imposing power over the class.

Since this uproar had spread across the entire class, as the head-teacher, it was her duty to calm things down at once.

She sized Feng Lin up time and time again before speaking, “Feng Lin, your improvement is too drastic this time around, don’t blame the other students for overthinking it. To assure your credibility, I will have to check through everything again!”

A drastic improvement is my fault then?!

Feng Lin let out a huff of indignance.

Potential, one must have potential.

If they had absolute potential, others would accept it wholeheartedly.

Since the head-teacher had made her decision, Feng Lin knew there was no use opposing against it. The thirst in his heart was stronger than ever before.

Regarding Feng Lin’s reaction, the head-teacher neither bothered nor cared as she began checking again.

Not only did she check through the exam paper, but she even retrieved the surveillance footage and monitored the electrodermal response on Feng Lin’s body to check if there were any signs of cheating.

Every optical computer used during a student’s exam was linked to a surveillance monitoring system. Every head-teacher would be able to open the footage at any time with just a touch of their finger.

A projection appeared in front of their eyes. Feng Lin filled the image, answering one question after another at amazing speed, his fingers flitting through and gliding smoothly across.

He didn’t hesitate much for each question and answered them in haste. Physics, mathematics, astronomy, mythology… None of those subjects managed to stump him. A small smile began to form on his face, revealing the utmost confidence and knowledge he had.

“He answered them so quickly, almost as though he didn’t need to think about it! Even the complex questions on mythology knowledge didn’t seem to pose as a difficulty for him!”

“Yeah! The thousands of strange mythology knowledge and their logic were almost always contradicting—that’s the hardest to cheat, yet he answered them correctly.”

“If this is true, then it is simply outrageous!”

…

One after another, they leaned forward and observed the surveillance footage closely.

The shocking performance ignited a chorus of gasps. They weren’t just shocked; they were freaked out.

“Quick, look! He answers them at such a rapid speed!”

“He isn’t merely answering, he’s practically swiping through them!”

“Could he be the legendary swiping questions maniac? The existences that bury their head in studies, swiping through tens of thousands of practice questions. They already attain a level where they can learn without a teacher, understanding everything through their own effort.”

…

It was as if the crowd had discovered a new island, discovered the secret of Feng Lin’s answering speed and his high accuracy.

They couldn’t help but size Feng Lin up like they were seeing him again for the first time.

The surveillance optical computer offered no reaction from start to end. They didn’t find a hair out of place with Feng Lin, not even the slightest thing out of the ordinary and that, in itself, scared them.

Could it be that Feng Lin was truly the legendary swiping questions maniac, achieving those high scores through his own effort?