Lin Qi walked straight to the luxurious cabin on the second floor of the luxurious cruise ship and sat down, waiting for Wang Ruoling's arrival.
Suddenly, the other nine people from the same batch walked over and sat beside him. They were led by You Sirui, who was second.
She was a teenage girl wearing a pure white robe with the badge of a mage family on the bottom. The other eight people looked similar.
Even in his previous life, these "magic robes" were worth a lot. They were luxurious clothing handmade using top-grade materials.
"Shall we have a chat before the rest of the common people arrive?" You Sirui asked.
Lin Qi sized up this girl who had an outstanding figure and face. He had to admit that the genes of this mag family were indeed not bad.
Her companions stood in a circle around her, following her lead.
"Yes?" Lin Qi inquired.
"Why don't we take turns to analyze the earlier question?" You Sirui bit her lip gently.
The academy would never do anything unnecessary, every matter definitely carried deep meaning.
Lin Qi nodded in agreement. He looked forward to seeing how these mage family descendants thought.
"Even if you are cutting close to the three-minute deadline, as long as the answer is a little more accurate, you will be able to occupy a higher position. This means that the academy is teaching us that sometimes, accuracy is more important than speed."
There were so many "poisonous chicken soups" in Lin Qi's mind that he could come up with reasons for both sides.
It was mainly because it somewhat contradicted his previous understanding of "instantaneous spell casting". So he casually brought it up to verify it.
You Sirui's eyes deepened as she sized up Lin Qi carefully.
Including her companions behind her, their formerly arrogant manner had greatly relaxed.
"I didn't expect you to notice the conflict between the speed and accuracy sides of the mage world so quickly," You Sirui explained.
Were there also internal conflicting sides to learning magic?
Lin Qi felt his head ache a little. Would he have to visit some secret sect later and swear on their precious bible?
"It's our turn now," You Sirui said. "Ordinary people can't complete the question in three minutes. This means that the college is telling us that casting spells is an 'imprecise' process. If we insist on being absolutely correct, we will be worse off than those students who answered 980,000."
Lin Qi took a quiet breath. "A single question can contain the ideological struggle between the camps of speed and accuracy?"
Seeing the other party nod in approval, he continued to analyze, "But in the end, there are still geniuses who can get the correct answer within three minutes. Is the academy trying to tell us to face the gap between geniuses and the common folks?"
After all, the Mysterious Magic Unified College Entrance Examination was just an impersonal written test. This kind of in-person test competition would leave a deeper impression.
You Sirui beamed like a flower. "Student Lin Qi, it's not surprising that we, who come from a mage family, can sense this. You're very sharp, and your observation skills are not inferior."
"And do you know how many people answered the correct number?"
The second batch of students 11-20 had already walked up to the cabin and were looking around with meaningful gazes.
"My partner entered the correct answer in less than ten seconds, but she was ranked 37th. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that there are a hundred geniuses in the field, but to give an accurate answer in less than 20 seconds, and considering that the question itself is easy to calculate wrongly, combined with the precise cut-off conditions, even a genius would have to spend time to carry out another round of calculations."
As he spoke, Lin Qi glanced at the students 2-10 in front of him. He said rather directly, "So I have reason to suspect that there's a high chance that students 2-36 were cheating."
Only cheaters could understand cheaters.
You Sirui was impressed. She clapped her hands and said, "As expected, Student Lin Qi, your ability to score 400 points in the first eight questions is not limited to your computational ability."
The others looked at Lin Qi with fear and jealousy.
You Sirui replied, "Everyone has their computational tools and communication tools when answering questions. In the end, they can't stop each other from matching the answers. Cheating is the only way to survive. The academy is also teaching us that if we have the ability to cheat, the academy will allow it."
"This experience is very valuable."
At this moment, the third batch of students 21-30 had also arrived at the luxurious cabin on the second floor. Although they went to the dining car to pick up some drinks first, their gazes were already drawn over.
Lin Qi smirked. "I'm afraid it's not only a matter of copying someone else's answer."
"If you give a lousy student an answer, he will copy it without hesitation. However, if you give a good student an answer, he will only be suspicious. He will still analyze whether the given answer is accurate. He will definitely not make it within the time limit of 20 seconds."
As he spoke, Lin Qi looked at everyone with a sharp gaze. "From the very beginning, all of you knew about the test to board the ferry. You just waited to enter the answers after the question was announced."
"A mage apprentice with family resources will crush the other apprentices without any resources. This is what the academy is really telling us." Lin Qi chuckled.
At this time, Wang Ruoling's batch, students 31-40 was also allowed in. After Lin Qi chose the luxury cabin on the second floor, that group also came in.
Wang Ruoling sat next to Lin Qi, giving off a subtle protective aura.
When You Sirui saw that Lin Qi had already understood, she cheerfully said, "Student Lin Qi, you don't have any resources but was able to answer accurately. You were even faster than me by half a second!"
"It means that the moment you heard the question, you already had the answer in your mind."
At this moment, You Sirui was like a high and mighty queen. Even though the wind and frost were blowing against her face, she still stood proudly like a plum blossom.
The noon sun shone through a porthole, drenching a corner of her robe.
"You are a true genius in deduction and computation, so the college has given you a Tier 5 genius in Deduction and Computation classification."
"Among the students who gave the accurate answer of 389,112, there are definitely cheating members of mage families . But did you know that some of them don't even have the ability to compute?"
You Sirui's eyes widened, and she lowered her head toward Lin Qi. "Because they have connections and resources. They received the message containing the answer, such that they can easily cut the queue in front of the other geniuses who are able to compute a rough estimate."
"Student Lin Qi, join us. As long as we work together, we will definitely be able to establish a glorious reign over this batch."
Wang Ruoling understood this "recruitment" speech.
Obviously, Lin Qi's performance had impressed the descendants of those mage families who could get their hands on the answer in advance. They were extending their "recruiting hand" to him.
In order to highlight the top 10 students, the waiting time between boardings at the start was rather long. But after the first 50 students boarded, large numbers of people were allowed in. Therefore, there were no less than 100 people in the cabin now.
Many mage apprentices from common families were envious, and a few looked over in disdain.
Wang Ruoling was also looking forward to Lin Qi's response, so that she could secretly verify her judgment of him.
Lin Qi looked around at all nine of them, including You Siri.
"But if I get the answer from you, I will be behind you in the rankings."
In an instant, You Sirui's pupils dilated. Her face was filled with disbelief and anger.
Ever since they were young, there had only been people trying to get into their circle. There had never been a situation where they were rejected for bestowing friendship!
In an instant, all the students in the cabin who understood Lin Qi's words also fell into bewilderment.
Many apprentices from ordinary families even asked themselves if they would possess the same courage.
Countless people were now looking at Lin Qi in a new light.
"I'm tired, thank you!"
With that, Lin Qi closed his eyes.
In his previous life, he had seen those lackeys who followed the rich second-generation heirs. They did not retaliate when they were hit or scolded, and they would take the initiative to take the blame when something happened.
But no matter how good the rewards were, it was still bones thrown at a dog?
Would these people be so generous as to give up the real "gift package" to handle the academy?
Last night, he had gotten the ghost's promise to help him with necromancy spells. Plus he had his memory palace.
Lin Qi was full of confidence in himself!
-----
At this moment in the cabin, the two mages responsible for escorting the apprentices were watching the scene with interest through the surveillance cameras.
"A very unique mage apprentice. His name is Lin Qi, right? I'll remember that," said the middle-aged mage appreciatively. However, his gaze was a little pitiful, as though he was looking at his own battered self.
On the other side, the arrogant young mage also had an admiring expression. But his tone was full of mockery.
"A bunch of fools. How can a dragon and an ant be friends?"