The quiet murmur of the classroom fell into a hush as Ms. Liu stepped to the front of the room, her hands clasped together. She scanned the rows of students with a calm, authoritative gaze.
"Welcome back, everyone. As this is your final year, I expect nothing but your best effort to study hard and be admitted to your chosen universities."
The students starightened in their seats, some nodding while others fidgeted nervously.
"I am sure that all of you are aware that every first day of New school year, there would be a placement test to evaluate your current knowledge and where you all stand after the school year break."
A collective groan can be heard from the roam, but Ms. Liu's sharp gaze immeditley silence it.
"The test will cover five of the core subjects: Mathematics, Science, History, English, and Chinese composition. The exam will end at four o'clock in the afternoon and just like in the past, only those students in the previous top 100 in the last exam can their paper be checked first. And only those who are in top 10 in the entire year grade can be announced later at five o'clock. So do your best."
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The sound of the bell chimed once through the hallways, signaling that there is another ten minutes before the start of the placement exam.
So the students filled into the examination hall, their footsteps steady but tinged with nervous anticipation. Desk were arrange in perfect rows, each one space to prevent any wandering eyes.
Hiraya walked to her assigned seat near the front of the hall, her steps confident and measured. She glanced briefly at the whiteboard where the exam schedules was written in neat letters.
07:40 AM - 09:10 AM = Mathematics (150 points)
09:20 AM - 10:50 AM = English (125 Points)
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM = History (125 points)
12:15 PM - 01:00 PM = Lunch Break
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM = Chinese Literature (150 points)
02:40 PM - 04:10 PM = Science (150 Points)
Hiraya glance at her watch and saw that it was Nine minutes before the start of first exam. Class usually start at 9:00 AM in the capital academy, but because of the placement exam that usually take in the first day of school year, They need to go to class early, that's one of the reason why they left their house before 7 in the morning.
Honestly, Hiraya doesn't want to go to school today and just want to sleep in for today as she just returned from the past, but she doesn't have a choice but to attend class since she is currently her 17 years old self. She cant miss the placement exam.
As she settled in one of the empty seat in the first row, she noticed Stella entering, her face a mask of calm and determination. Hiraya couldn't help but curled her lips slightly in a faint smile.
Stella's exterior was polished, her every movement calculated to project confidence, But Hiraya could see the tightness in her younger sister's shoulders and the way her fingers gripped her pencil case a little too tightly as she mad way to the middle row and sat down.
Soon, Miss Liu entered the room as she stood in the front.
"Attention students, The first exam will begin shortly. Remember the schedule written in the board. You have only one and half hours for mathematics. Good Luck."
A faint rustle of papers filled the room as exam sheets were distributed. Hiraya accepted hers with a polite nod, her eyes scanning the questions quickly.
There were a total of 50 questions and each problems were challenging, filled with complex equations, and even if a few years already passed ever since she graduated from High school, these questions are already easy for her. Since the mathematical eqautions she solve during building her technology empire is already twenty times more difficult than this.
Besides, in her past life, she had topped the national ranking of the placement exam, despite getting a score of 645, 79 points away from the second placer.
Back then, she is short of 20 points In mathematics, and 15points in science and 20 Points in Chinese Liteature as her essays are not that good enough yet to get a perfect score. But this time, she is confident that she will get more higher grades than in the past.
Three minutes later after the paper all distributed, the bell rang three times, indicating the start of the class.
"The exam starts now." - Miss Liu announced