CHAPTER 381: CHAPTER 381: VICTORY

Chapter 381

Silence.

Utter silence.

All around, it was so quiet that it seemed even the air had stopped moving.

After a long while.

Inside the seemingly frozen auditorium, someone couldn’t help but scratch their head. Realizing that the people around them were still immobile, they quickly retracted their hand, looking around somewhat cluelessly, noticing that no one was paying attention to them, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Dead silence.

Even breathing seemed to have ceased.

All this, because of a statement Ji You had casually made just a moment ago.

She said, she just wanted to beat Gao Jie by 0.01%!

As arrogant and unreasonable as this statement was, when it was not just these words, but combined with her previous actions and the beautiful data she had personally produced, everyone then realized just how terrifying Ji You’s capabilities were.

She did more than win.

She also precisely controlled her data, crushing her opponent just right. If Ji You had scored 1% or even 0.1% higher than Gao Jie on every metric, nobody would be as shocked as they were now.

Because—although a difference of 1%, 0.1% sounds challenging, for people like Professor Ye Hong, Professor Jiang Yulan, and other seasoned researchers in the Material Department, with dedicated design, it is surely achievable.

But—

The problem is, Ji You controlled the margin to 0.01%. The smaller and more negligible the number, the harder it is to control.

What kind of terrifying precision control ability does one need to accomplish this?

This—

This scene had surpassed the imagination of the students in the Material Department. Thus, everyone was rendered speechless, unsure of what language to use to describe what they were witnessing.

Gao Jie bit his lip tightly, his face a mix of pale and livid.

Suddenly, Ji You stood up from her chair, step by step walking towards Gao Jie, and finally stopped less than half a meter away from him.

She slightly lifted her head, her eyes dark as ink, staring at Gao Jie’s slightly distorted face.

Gao Jie clenched his teeth, barely holding onto his rationale, and said: "Losing to you, indeed I lost, but don’t be too proud, and there’s no need to show off your victory in front of me."

Ji You suddenly smiled and said, "Senior Gao Jie, you misunderstand. I didn’t intend to do anything else, nor did I want to humiliate you, I just wanted to remind you to keep your promise."

Gao Jie: "..."

Gao Jie’s face darkened even more, his skin slightly bulging, his veins popping, wanting to say something, but remembering the conditions of the contest he agreed to earlier—if he lost, he must keep his mouth shut in Ji You’s presence. With this in mind, he bit his teeth and swallowed the words he wanted to say.

Gao Jie flung his hand and huffed loudly.

Immediately, he lifted his foot and walked off the stage.

As soon as Gao Jie left, Ji You felt the world quiet down. She was in a good mood and couldn’t help but hum a little tune: "I am a little sheep, I’ve never been afraid of the big bad wolf..."

Around her: "..."

"Cough..." Director Wang cleared his throat his throat loudly and said, "Please, all students, maintain quiet."

Ji You: "..."

The tournament organized by Ji You had been going on for nearly 3 hours, and the spectator seats went from just a couple of onlookers to now being fully occupied. From overwhelming booing to everyone gazing at her, no longer daring to belittle her casually.

All these changes took just three hours.

If it’s said that Ji You showcased her skills, attracting Professor Ye Hong and Professor Jiang Yulan to demonstrate their expertise together, people in the spectator seats now had a generally good impression of Ji You’s strength.

Strong!

Very strong.

But how formidable was she? It was vague and hard to specifically describe.

Yet, when Ji You went up against Gao Jie and won easily with such a method, then—everyone already had a clear and definite concept of Ji You’s strength in their minds.

She was very strong.

Compared to Gao Jie, who was born into a Material family, she was at least a level stronger.

Very strong.

This was undeniable.

Gao Jie returned defeated, and with no opponents left on stage, Ji You faced the audience, maintained a smile, and asked softly, "Senior Gao Jie has just left, is there any other student who would like to challenge me?"

No one spoke.

No one came forward voluntarily.

Ji You patiently waited for nearly a minute, but still, no one stepped forward, and the corners of her mouth stiffened a bit. She thought that after Gao Jie, there would be many more challengers. How could that be?

How could there be none at all?

Ji You stood on stage, somewhat disbelieving, but as she continued to wait, still no one came.

Ji You: "..."

Ji You cleared her throat and loudly said, "Classmates, perhaps my actions earlier led to some misunderstandings, making you think I am very formidable and strong, but in reality? I’m not strong at all, Senior Gao Jie was not wrong, my basics are indeed very poor. Not only that, but my understanding of the Material subject is also not deep, and I have a major disadvantage—I have never joined a lab to truly handle Material. Thus, my understanding of this field is very superficial."

"Actually, I’m not good at much, the only advantage I might have over you is perhaps more talent. So, don’t be scared, be brave, and come compete with me!"

Audience: "..."

Listen—

Not good at much, just more talented than you?

What kind of statement is that?

Is this even something to say?

Also—what’s with ’don’t be scared’?

Are people scared? People were just stunned by the earlier scene, that’s all.

And now, she interpreted everyone’s shock as fear?

Many students, after hearing this, almost had their jaws skewed from anger, and their back molars were aching. Of course, after Ji You’s provocation, several students stood up and said to Ji You directly, "Compete then, compete! Who’s scared?"

After saying that, several students quickly stepped out, ready to go on stage and compete with Ji You.

Ji You was all the more pleased to see this, feeling exhilarated inside: Along with Ye Hong and Professor Jiang Yulan, she had established her strength. With a competition against Gao Jie, she successfully promoted her reputation.

In a moment, as long as she defeats these few students, then her position within the Material Department would be cemented.

After this event, Ji You believed that whether Xu Siyu came to accept the challenge or not, from now on, no student would dare to nonsensically criticize her strength in front of her.

In fact, from Ji You letting Lin Lele convey the intention to challenge Xu Siyu alone, to Ji You publicly challenging everyone, Ji You knew that Xu Siyu was unlikely to show up personally.

Why?

Xu Siyu, this person, always liked to profit from behind the scenes, having her come over personally to face Ji You wouldn’t serve her own interests. If she won, all would be well, but what Xu Siyu feared was—

Losing.

Yes, losing.

Because Xu Siyu, in the Material subject, wasn’t particularly talented, she relied on Xiao You’s creativity to get to where she was today, already maximizing her capacities to barely maintain her reputation as a renowned talent in the Material Department.

Therefore, going head-to-head with Ji You, she didn’t have the confidence for a certain victory.