Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 49：The Challenge

A blueprint of the Blue Star's future battle mechs for the next century!

Jiang Fan's spirits lifted the moment he saw the system's task reward. He quickly surged forward, pushing through the crowd of students to the front.

He approached an older student in charge of registration.
"Hello, I'd like to sign up."

The registration process was simple. As long as one was a freshman at Longke University, all they needed to do was fill in their name and major on the form.

Jiang Fan quickly completed the registration and then joined the queue.

While waiting, he learned from the senior about the rules of the challenge. The format was straightforward: there were nine questions in total, and each contestant had to start from the first. If they failed to solve one, they would be immediately eliminated.

Students who were accepted into Longke University came from all corners of the country. All of them had scored above 650 in the college entrance exams, with many surpassing 700—making them a proud and confident bunch.

The challenge, known for its difficulty, was designed not only to showcase the students' abilities but also to humble them, reminding them that there were always greater talents in the world. This was to instill in them the importance of humility and the willingness to learn, which would serve them well throughout their academic journeys.

It was no surprise, then, that the Longke University Freshman Challenge was legendary for its tough standards.

Ahead of Jiang Fan, there were five students. Feeling idle, he turned his gaze towards the challenge area.

The challenge area was divided into nine sections, each corresponding to one of the nine questions. Each section featured four blackboards arranged back-to-back.

At the moment, Section One had four freshmen working on the first question, Section Two had three students tackling the second, and Section Three had just one student attempting the third. No students had advanced to the subsequent sections, meaning the farthest anyone had reached was the third question.

Each year, the Freshman Challenge drew a crowd of sophomores, juniors, and seniors eager to watch these new arrivals, who had once shared the same arrogance, be brought to their knees. It was a spectacle they thoroughly enjoyed.

The grandstands of the plaza could accommodate over two thousand spectators, and a massive screen on the northern side displayed the progress of the students taking the challenge. At that moment, the screen showed a freshman grappling with the third question.

On the grandstand, a beautiful young woman with flowing hair, striking features, and a revealing outfit sipped her bubble tea while chatting with a few friends, her attention on the screen.

"Xiaoyu, your school's freshmen are truly lacking. It's almost been an afternoon, and the best student has barely made it to the third question."

The girl named Xiaoyu, clearly offended by the dismissal of their university's newcomers, responded with a hint of annoyance, "Yifei, if our freshmen are so bad, why do you still come to watch the challenge every year?"

Yifei, with a sly smile, admitted, "What can I say? I just enjoy looking for handsome, talented new freshmen—hoping to find a young one to flirt with!"

The others around her teased her relentlessly, prompting Yifei to laugh mischievously, "So what if I do? I like my 'young grass'!"

"Great, now we'll see which poor soul gets 'caught' by you this year."

"Ha, being noticed by me is their blessing," Yifei retorted with a smirk.

The teasing and laughter continued, and before long, the group had devolved into a playful scuffle. Meanwhile, Yifei's mini skirt, paired with her long, white, and slender legs, drew admiring glances from several boys nearby, causing them to gulp nervously.

After waiting for about half an hour in the queue, Jiang Fan's turn finally arrived.

He selected a question from the test box and followed the staff to an empty blackboard in Section One.

"Freshman, you have twenty minutes to solve the first question. If you fail to complete it in time, you'll be eliminated," an upperclassman explained briefly, before stepping aside to start the timer.

At that moment, a cameraman with a large camera approached Jiang Fan, who was still reading the question. The cameraman, having no one else to film at the time, began recording him.

Unaware of the filming, Jiang Fan quickly scanned the question. It seemed easy enough—no harder than the last question of the college entrance exam. He picked up the chalk and began solving it. Within less than a minute, he put down the chalk and turned toward the senior to announce that he was finished.

But as he did so, he was startled by the sight of a large camera pointed directly at him!

The cameraman, realizing he had surprised Jiang Fan, quickly apologized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you while you were working."

"That's fine," Jiang Fan replied. "I'm done."

"Already finished?" the upperclassman asked in surprise. He glanced at the timer, which showed only 56 seconds.

The senior checked Jiang Fan's solution against the correct answer. It was flawless.

The cameraman, equally shocked, captured a close-up of Jiang Fan and the timer, which still displayed 56 seconds.

The students in the stands, upon witnessing this, gasped in disbelief.

"Wow! This freshman is amazing! 56 seconds to finish the first question! He's definitely the fastest in Longke University history!"

"Does he even need to think about the steps? No way he could finish it so fast. The quickest I've seen before took at least 10 minutes!"

"Impossible! The challenge questions change every year, and they're randomly selected. How could he possibly cheat?"

"That freshman's something else. He's got potential!"

In the stands, one of Yifei's friends noticed the commotion and remarked, "Yifei, check this out! This freshman is impressive—56 seconds for the first question, and he's not bad looking either. Seems like your type!"

Yifei, initially skeptical, looked at the screen just in time to see the timer showing 56 seconds. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, really? That's impressive!" she murmured, licking her lips, adding with a playful smile, "I like him. Hehe..."

4o mini