Two minutes before 6 o'clock, the principal and senior teachers stepped into the stage. A hus fell over the students as Principal Zhu approached the microphone, his face calm but his eyes is full of smile.
"Good Evening, Students." He began, his voice resonating aross the grounds.
"First, Let me apologize for the delay. We were suddenly in a meeting with the principals and directors with the senior teachers from the top 20 high schools in the nation. The purpose of the discussion was to finalize and validate certain aspects of the placement exam results."
The crowed buzz with curisity at his words, but Principal Zhu raised a hand to quiet them.
"Now, let us proceed with the announcements. As usual, we will begin with the top Ten school ranking for Capital Academy."
A teacher handed him a clipboard, and Principal Zhu began to read.
"In tenth place, Lin Jing. With 456 points. Congratulations, Student Lin. You climbed from being 15th place of the final exam last year to enter in the top ten of placement exam this year. Keep up the good work."
Lin Jing's face lit up as her classmates applauded. She grinned widely, earning a pat on the back from Sun Yi.
The list continued, the tension building with each name.
"4th place, Chen Mei with 506 points. Your efforts have paid off. You've improve your ranking by two places since last year final exam."
Chen Mei heaved a sigh of relief as her face flush with excitement and happiness as Hiraya patted her shoulder.
"In second place, Wen Su. With 531 points. A remarkable achievement for a transfer student. Congratulations, Student Wen."
Wen Su inclined his head politely, his expression cam as he accepted the applause.
Principal Zhu paused as he adjusted the microphone, his smile widening as he looked over the sea of third year students gathered in the open ground.
The principal leaned slightly forward, his voice warm and steady as he addressed the crowd. "And for the first place of our school ranking…"
He paused for dramatic effect, his eyes sweeping across the students. "You already know who it is, right?"
The question was rehtorical but it ignited an immediate response from the students.
"Hiraya!"
"Hiraya!"
"It's got to be her!"
The name echoed across the grounds, chanted like a mantra. It was undeniable that the students recognize her strength.
Principal Zhu chuckled lightly, his own pride varely concealed. "We'll you've got it right. First place is Hiraya Zhao!"
The crowd already accepted it and they are waiting for her score to be annouced yet Principal Zhu did not annouced it. Instead, he started announcing the national rankings.
"Now, we will move to the rankings for the entire nation. Out of the over fourteen million students who took the placement exam today, we will gonna announced the name of the ten students with the highest score."
"Tenth place, Shu Yao, from the G city, with 519 points."
The students is stunned because they know that the number one high school in G city is only rank, 27th place nationally yet someone from there manage to enter the top 10 national ranking. It was known that in previous decade most of the top 30 students of the national ranking was being occupied by students from the top 20 high school in the country. It was the first this time that someone who do not belong to those twenty schools manage to enter the top ten national ranking.
The announcement continued and it is already the 4th place yet no one from the top ten school ranking of the Academy manage to get on national ranking yet.
"In fourth place, with 531 points, Wen Su. Congratulations."
Students applause, and this time, they are eager to know what rank Hiraya is. Because the 2nd place of their school ranking is only manage to get 4th place in national ranking. How many points does Hiraya get? What is her place? They couldn't wait to know.
"In Third place, Emily Du, from S city, with 535 points. And Second place, Cang Ren, from Capital, with 541 points."
"And in the first place…" - Principal said as the smile and pride in his face couldn't be hide anymore.
"Hiraya Zhao, from Capital. She scored an unprecedented perfect score, 700 out of 700 points!"