Jincheng, Ninth High School, Classes 3–7
Even though the college admission exams were over and all of the students had already received the results, they were still looking expectantly at their homeroom teacher, Yu Zeping, at this moment. They even felt a little uneasy.
That was because what Yu Zeping was going to announce next would greatly affect their future.
The sunlight beaming through the window highlighted the students' nervous, youthful faces. However, it also cast a dark shadow.
"A joint announcement from the Blue Star Alliance Huaya Greater Area Genetic Committee, Huaxia Genetic Committee, and the Huaxia Ministry of Education…"
Yu Zeping had only announced the names of the three official organizations, yet all 46 students of class 3–7 could not help but sit up straight and listen intently.
Several students interlaced their fingers. Some even held their breaths.
The content that was going to be announced next was deemed more important than the college admission exams, which had been said to be the exam that determined a person's life a hundred years ago.
This exam determined a person's future.
"The Genetic Double Excellence Score for the year 2137 is 597, the Genetic Single Excellence Score is 483, and the Genetic Admission Score is 395," Yu Zeping recited the three admission scores as he always did, quickly and clearly.
However, it felt as though those were three bolts of lightning. The words made the faces of several students turn pale and instantly devoid of color.
The words also made some students heave a sigh of relief. Their expressions became more relaxed.
Seven to eight students looked as though they were struck by lightning as they sat numbly in their seats.
"This… 395 points?"
"Why did the Genetic Admission Score's cutoff point suddenly increase by 22 points from the previous year?"
"I…I…I was just one point off!"
A male student tried his best to purse his lips together but ultimately could not control his emotions. He slumped onto the table and started to bawl.
This caused the other students who failed to meet the Genetic Admission Score to start weeping.
This Genetic Admission Score had determined their future.
Xu Tui felt extremely bad when he heard the woes of his classmates. He wanted to console the student who was weeping behind him, but he did not know where to start.
He also felt a little scared when he recounted the exam.
An admission score was only made up of three digits, yet, at this moment, it had determined the future of nine of his classmates.
According to Yu Zeping, if an individual failed to meet the Genetic Admission Score, they could only remain in the bottom rungs of society for the rest of their lives. There was no more hope for them.
However, in this brief moment, Xu Tui suddenly felt that what their homeroom teacher told them before was far less cruel than what was happening now.
On the platform, Yu Zeping looked silently at the students who were bawling because they failed to meet the Genetic Admission Score. His lips were tightly pursed. His throat was dry.
This was not the first time he had taken a graduating class of third years. He had gone through this six times.
However, he could never find the words to express the heaviness in his heart.
The consequences of failing to meet the Genetic Admission Score were too much to bear for these children who had just turned 18.
Instinctively, Yu Zeping looked out the window. His gaze pierced through the empty space. Those darned Invaders!
If not for the Galactic Invaders, the Genetic Admission Score would not be as cruel as it was now.
Time could heal all wounds.
The crying and weeping in the classroom gradually stopped after some time.
Yu Zeping took a deep breath, then said, "Those who failed to meet the Genetic Admission Score, don't be too dejected."
"All roads lead to Rome. If you work hard in the future, it is still possible that you can get your hands on a Level E or Level D Genetic Liberation Elixir."
"Everything is possible on the path of genetic evolution. There are precedents to all of this, but I won't go into details."
These were the only things he could say to console the students.
"Alright, after this, those who failed to meet the Genetic Admission Score are to report to the Office of Academic Affairs and determine a direction of study as soon as possible."
"The rest of the students are to gather at Court Number Four in 15 minutes."
Yu Zeping's gaze suddenly turned incredibly sharp, "Your genetic exams are just about to start."
…
At Court Number Four…
After their temporary goodbyes, the rest of the 37 students of class 3–7 had gathered at the court, including Xu Tui.
They huddled together and discussed their grades. They had grand plans for the future but were also slightly worried.
"I got 471 points. I didn't even reach the Single Excellence Score."
"I got 534, just past the Single Excellence Score. I wonder how many Genetic Base Points I would be able to activate."
"I scored 603. How about you, Little Tui?" Cheng Mo suddenly asked.
"Old Cheng, you should call me Big Tui," Xu Tui corrected.
"Why?"
"Because I scored one point higher than you."
"Just one point?"
"I should be Big Tui even if it's just one point higher."
Boom!
A sudden loud slap hit the back of Xu Tui's head. Xu Tui glared and was about to erupt with fury.
"Oh, f*ck! Who… Oh, it's HT!" A mischievous smile instantly formed on Xu Tui's lips.
Yu Zeping completely disregarded Xu Tui's mischievous smile. He walked past the crowd and immediately got up to the stage.
"Some of you scored high marks and feel proud of your achievement. I can understand that. But what I want to tell you is that scoring well in the college admission exams is merely receiving an entrance ticket to the genetic exams." Yu Zeping paused, scanning the students' reactions. He then continued, "Whether or not you can enter a good genetic college. Whether or not you can strengthen and evolve your genes to become a Genetic Warrior or a powerful fighter in this universe would still depend on how hard you work."
Yu Zeping had aimed these words toward Xu Tui.
Xu Tui revealed his row of white teeth as he smiled, embarrassed.
On the stage, Yu Zeping started to roar at the students of class 3–7 as his gaze moved away from Xu Tui's body.
"Now, training will continue—three times the normal amount of training!"
The students started to murmur upon hearing this, but Yu Zeping went on, "According to the agreement, the limits to corporal punishment and its intensity will be completely released."
Yu Zeping flailed the thin whip in his hand which contrasted his pudgy body, causing the air to crackle.
The students, who normally feared nothing, all had an expression of immense fear, Xu Tui included.
Yu Zeping normally only lifted 50 percent of the limits to corporal punishment and the strength he could use during a normal day. That was enough to make them wail as they trained.
How bad would it get now that the limits to corporal punishment and the intensity were fully lifted?
No one wanted to try it out.
As if on cue, Xu Tui scurried outward like a bunny.
The first exercise was a 5,000-meter run.
No!
Five thousand meters was what they did on an average day. They were doing three times their normal training today, which meant that they had to run 15,000 meters. That was 15 kilometers!
No one grumbled.
Even more so, no one was confused.
First, all of the students understood why they had to do this.
Second, they had long since adapted to the training after being hardened by Yu Zeping, a physical education teacher, for three years.
Yes, Yu Zepong was a physical education teacher.
In this day and age, all of the homeroom teachers in the school were physical education teachers.
They were also called physical punishment masters.
***
During training…
That was the training that they had to go through every day.
That included the whip.
The long slender whip landed on Xu Tui's buttocks with incredible stability, accuracy, and ferocity.
"Score one point higher for physical punishment if you can!"
The whip caused Xu Tui's buttocks to rapidly swell. Xu Tui howled in pain.
"The goal of today's training is to draw out your limits so that it boosts the effects of the genetic elixirs you will soon consume by the largest amount."
The long slender whip crackled while it was in Yu Zeping's hand. The sounds of the whip were like lightning as it entered the ears of Xu Tui and the rest of the students. They involuntarily picked up sleep.
Several students lengthened their stride and easily overtook Xu Tui and the rest of the students to become the leaders of the pack.
Xu Tui also drastically increased his speed. However, he tried his best to maintain a constant average speed and adjust his breathing.
This was a long 15-kilometer run. It was not a 5,000-meter run that would pass in a flash.
After the run, he still had to do 80 pushups, 50 burpees, 80 frog jumps, 10 sets of springs, 50 pull-ups, 300 meters of obstacle runs, 10 minutes of limb agility training, 10 minutes of reflexes training…
Yes, three times the normal amount.
In this day and age, the students who had physical education teachers as homeroom teachers had long adjusted to such a high intensity of training.
Despite that, after triple the amount of normal training and the threat of the homeroom teacher's whip, the students soon became exhausted.
The students lay down on the ground like dogs immediately after the homeroom teacher said that they could rest and hydrate themselves.
They gulped down the weird-tasting energy drink that the school had prepared for them as they gasped for air while lying on the ground.
"Peeing, who's going?"
Xu Tui staggered as he stood up. The pain in his upper thighs caused him to limp.
Cheng Mo stood up in a hurry when he saw Xu Tui. He quickly limped and hopped toward him and hugged Xu Tui's neck. He grinned as he placed half of his body weight on Xu Tui's body, who was already grimacing in pain.
However, Cheng Mo had not finished laughing when he suddenly let out a pathetic cry.
Tang Ting, who weighed nearly 100 kilograms, followed his lead and placed his body weight onto Cheng Mo's body.
The students did this to each other, one after the other. There was a string of laughter and pitiful cries.
Under the sunlight, the bunch of grimacing youths squirmed into the toilet by supporting themselves with the shoulders in front of them.
Yu Zeping squinted when he saw the back of a certain student.
After peeing, the students were about to leave when the heavyweight, Tang Ting, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Brothers, come, come. Let's get rid of the fatigue and energize ourselves!"
Tang Ting distributed cigarettes and tossed one at Xu Tui. He then took out something from a slit in the washroom as if he was performing magic.
Eight guys huddled together inside the washroom. Suddenly, a rotund figure stepped in.
The bunch of boys fled, feeling guilty.
They almost immediately tossed the item in their hand into the toilet bowl at the first warning sign. Cheng Mo instantly stepped on the flushing mechanism.
Xu Tui, who had just taken a puff, was too late.
Left without a choice, he clenched his teeth and kept all of the smoke in his mouth. He shut his mouth tight.
"What a heavy scent. What were you guys doing?" Yu Zeping asked sternly.
"Peeing."
"Teacher, we were all peeing."
"Yes, we also let out some farts!" Cheng Mo quickly added.
Yu Zeping glared at Cheng Mo before his gaze finally landed on Xu Tui, who had his mouth tightly shut. "What about you, Xu Tui?"
Xu Tui kept his mouth closed and did not say anything.
The homeroom teacher raised the whip in his hand. Sparks flew.
"Answer me!"
Xu Tui had no choice when faced with the threat of the whip.
"I…I am angry!"
Three bales of white smoke shot out of Xu Tui's open mouth and nostrils.
That was the smoke that he had puffed previously.
The group of boys burst out into laughter when they saw the scene.
Yu Zeping slapped the back of Xu Tui's head fiercely.
"Angry?"
"Look at you!" Yu Zeping was furious. You can even spew out smoke when you are angry? Why don't you go and become a deity? Go, you're doing half a day's worth of training more!"
Xu Tui immediately revealed a torturous expression. Tang Ting, Cheng Mo, and the rest of the boys started to laugh.
"The same goes for all of you!" Yu Zeping added. That immediately caused the laughs of Tang Ting, Cheng Mo, and the rest of the boys to turn into pitiful wails.
"HT, you sure are wise!"
Xu Tui, who was already running out of the washroom, laughed. He gave Yu Zeping a thumbs-up.
…
Under the waning glory of the setting sun, a bunch of sweat-covered youths stuck to each other as they left the training court and ran home.
They could still hear the shouts of the physical punishment master, Yu Zeping, ringing in their ears.
"Be more obedient during these few days. I'll definitely whip you so hard that you will cry for your mother if you dare to touch those kinds of trash that would affect the effects of the genetic medication again!" Yu Zeping threatened. "Replenish your protein when you get home and do your muscle recovery well."
The boys acknowledged, and Yu Zeping added, "Bring along your electronic documents, liability form signed by your parents, and insurance form when you come tomorrow."