Chapter 34

After bidding farewell to the three people, Ding Hao immediately returned to his rented apartment, ate something simple, and then entered the Magic Space! Although losing the bet with Cao Zhe didn't have a significant impact, Ding Hao wanted to use this as an opportunity to catch up! He didn't aim to be as good as Xia Lin, but at least he needed to reach the first-tier level! At present, improving his intelligence was undoubtedly the shortcut!

Senior year was busy, and Ding Hao was even busier than ordinary senior students. In the afternoon and evening self-study classes, Ding Hao basically finished his homework and then entered the Magic Space to fight monsters and level up! Fortunately, he lived alone, and no one came to disturb him. To level up as quickly as possible, Ding Hao would take the gold dragonling to find higher-level monsters whenever he had free time.

Currently, Ding Hao's defense could withstand second-tier monsters, but to be on the safe side, he chose the Wolf Knight, which used close combat attacks, as his opponent. The Wolf Knight had relatively high attack power among second-tier creatures but low defense. Thus, in his spare time from studying, Ding Hao worked hard to level up in the space. Of course, he didn't forget his bet with Cao Zhe.

Improving his academic performance was Ding Hao's set goal, and if he could also hit Cao Zhe in the process, he would be more than happy. Therefore, for the next few levels, Ding Hao unhesitatingly chose to increase his intelligence! A week later, Ding Hao reached level 12, and his attributes were significantly improved.

Level 12

Strength: 157

Constitution: 112

Intelligence: 127

Spirit: 112

Agility: 112

...

Two weeks later, Ding Hao reached level 13 in the game, and when fighting the Lightning Elemental, he dropped two potions, permanently increasing his intelligence by 1. This brought Ding Hao's intelligence to 135! Ding Hao's academic performance wasn't originally that bad; it just slipped a bit in the second semester of his sophomore year due to the passing of Old Yang. Now, with Ding Hao's efforts to catch up, he felt quite good about himself.

By the time of the first monthly exam, Ding Hao had already reached level 14, and his intelligence had reached 141! Needless to say, if a school-wide IQ test and ranking were conducted at Yungang No. 2 High School, Cao Zhe would certainly cancel the bet immediately. However, this was impossible because the school explicitly prohibited such tests.

Ding Hao was looking forward to the upcoming mock exam, which would test his recent learning outcomes and prove to Xia Lin that he had been working hard. It would also send a signal to the homeroom teacher that he could get into college without relying on sports specialties. Of course, there was someone who was even more eager for the mock exam to come: Cao Zhe. He hoped that Ding Hao would be exposed, so even if he couldn't get close to Xia Lin for the time being, at least he would lose face in the class and stop pursuing Xia Lin.

Of course, before the monthly exam, there was another matter: the school sports meet registration. Ding Hao naturally had no time to participate. Over the three days of the sports meet, he could take the gold dragonling to kill many monsters and earn a lot of gold! He wouldn't waste his time on that boring sports meet. However, while Ding Hao didn't care, Cao Zhe did.

Not only did he register himself for the 3000 meters, which he was good at, but he also registered Ding Hao for the 3000 meters, 400 meters, shot put, and triple jump without his consent! "You think you're so great, huh? I'll make you look bad at the sports meet." Cao Zhe wasn't worried that Ding Hao wouldn't participate because, according to school rules, each class must have someone registered for each event, and once registered, they must participate, or the class would lose 2 points.

Each of the top five in each event would earn 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 points, respectively, and the rankings would be based on the total points for each grade. Cao Zhe registered Ding Hao for four events, and if Ding Hao didn't participate, Class 207 would lose 8 points. As the class president, he would definitely pressure Ding Hao through Xia Lin before the competition! That's 8 points, and even if Ding Hao didn't yield to Xia Lin's pressure, he would likely be looked down upon by his classmates for a while!

Just as the sports meet registration ended, the first mock exam for senior year began, scheduled before National Day. Everyone was on high alert, as this was the first baseline test after entering senior year, and everyone wanted to show their true and best performance. The school took it very seriously, preparing the questions a month in advance. Each class had three invigilators, and they were from different classes, ensuring the results were genuine!

Ding Hao also wanted to know his true strength, so he stopped entering the Magic Space to fight monsters a few days before the exam and focused entirely on preparing for the first senior year mock exam. However, throughout the process, Ding Hao felt particularly relaxed, feeling much better than during the sophomore year's final exam. As for whether he could enter the top 100 in the grade, Ding Hao had no way to compare. However, he believed that as long as his grades improved, he could explain himself to the homeroom teacher and Xia Lin.

As for the bet with Cao Zhe, Ding Hao didn't care. With his improved intelligence, even if he couldn't enter the top 100 now, he was confident he would before the actual college entrance exam, even the top 50! As long as Xia Lin recognized him, Ding Hao felt that everything else was irrelevant. So after the exam, he immediately prepared to return to his rented apartment, as he hadn't seen Xiao Die and the gold dragonling for several days and really missed them.

"Ding Hao!" Ding Hao was just walking down the teaching building stairs when a girl stopped him. Ding Hao saw it was Gu Wen. Gu Wen had been in the same class as him in freshman and sophomore years, but in senior year, she was in Class 208, sharing a dorm with Xia Lin and having a good relationship with her, so she was naturally familiar with Ding Hao.

"Gu Wen, what's up?"

"How are you preparing? Do you want your class to win first place?"

"What are you talking about?" Ding Hao scratched his head, looking puzzled.

"Still pretending! You registered for four events in the school sports meet..."

"What? I didn't register!" Ding Hao then remembered that Gu Wen was a true sports talent, having entered high school through her athletic abilities and training every day. If Ding Hao had agreed to the homeroom teacher's suggestion, his life might be similar to Gu Wen's now. As a sports talent, she naturally took the school's autumn sports meet very seriously and was a scoring machine for the class, often winning first place in many events among the girls.

After getting the registration form, Gu Wen specifically checked the registration status of each class. Ding Hao had registered for four events, which naturally caught her attention. Moreover, Gu Wen noticed that Ding Hao had changed a lot in the past half year. The PE teacher had once mentioned that Ding Hao might participate in the sports talent test, which gave Gu Wen some hope, but the boy never showed up. Now, it was clear he was trying to score points for Class 207 at the sports meet.

"You didn't register?" Gu Wen looked incredulous.

"Damn, it must be Cao Zhe's doing!" Gu Wen, being a sports talent, was familiar with the PE teachers and wouldn't lie.

"Really didn't register?"

"Really didn't register."

"Ha, you'd better prepare. Cao Zhe might be trying to mess with you."

"Ah..." Ding Hao also looked helpless. It was every student's responsibility to bring glory to the class, and Ding Hao couldn't argue with Cao Zhe, who was the class president. Besides, the names were already registered, and if he didn't participate, the homeroom teacher and classmates wouldn't understand. There was no choice but to check the schedule and try to minimize the time wasted.

"Gu Wen, do you know which four events and when they are?"

"400 meters, shot put, triple jump, and 3000 meters, all in the afternoon..."

"Damn!" When Ding Hao heard about the 3000 meters, he was even more certain it was Cao Zhe's doing. Although he wasn't afraid of the 3000 meters now, Cao Zhe didn't know that. The guy was clearly trying to make him look bad and show off himself!

"Ding Hao, how did the exam go?" Xia Lin saw Ding Hao and Gu Wen chatting and walked over.

"Pretty good."

"Um, do your best in the sports meet."

"..." Xia Lin knew about it, so it must be true.

Ding Hao, who originally planned to have a quiet three days, had no choice but to take time out to participate in the school sports meet. However, Ding Hao had a plan. As long as he participated, he wouldn't lose points, so he only showed up for the second call of the 3000 meters on the first afternoon. Cao Zhe thought Ding Hao was trying to skip out and was about to have Xia Lin call him. Seeing Ding Hao's unprepared appearance, Cao Zhe felt a surge of joy, thinking about how he would embarrass him.

Ding Hao glanced at Cao Zhe, who was dressed in sports clothes and wearing spikes. Wearing spikes for the 3000 meters, it seemed he was really determined! This wasn't surprising, as the 3000 meters was Cao Zhe's only strong event. Looking at himself, he was wearing a T-shirt, worn-out jeans, and ordinary sneakers... The others were also taken aback by Ding Hao's appearance.

Ding Hao was just there to avoid losing points, so he didn't prepare. However, the others were worried, especially Xia Lin and Su Jin. Su Jin even ran over and asked, "Boss, do you want me to get you some clothes to change into?"

"Change into what? They said running 1500 meters wouldn't lose points, so I'll aim for four laps!"

"..." Cao Zhe was speechless when he heard Ding Hao's indifferent tone. Cao Zhe was good at the 3000 meters, but Ding Hao didn't plan to compete with him. This made Cao Zhe feel uninterested because he knew Ding Hao would tell the classmates he didn't register and was just participating to avoid losing points. This way, even if his performance was poor, Ding Hao would still earn 8 points for the class!

The classmates would remember Ding Hao's good intentions and forget his poor performance, making Cao Zhe's efforts in vain. However, he soon calmed down when Xia Lin and Ma Zhen came to the track to cheer for the upcoming race. Cao Zhe refocused, determined to prove himself to Xia Lin in the race!

Unlike professional sports meets, the 3000 meters at the school sports meet had no preliminaries, only the final. With a whistle, over twenty boys jostled and rushed out, while Ding Hao calmly looked at the referee and followed the pack. To avoid looking too bad, Ding Hao occasionally sped up, maintaining a distance of three to four meters from the second-to-last runner.