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Chapter 178
At the same time, in the 1V1 room.
The moment the countdown began, Chai Jiazi entered her zone, showing no signs of the "kid" attitude she had before.
At that moment, seeing the focus in her eyes and the aura surrounding her, netizens started to marvel: no wonder this contestant almost took first place in the test.
She was only 22 years old, just 2 years older than Ji Ruochu, and according to academic records, she should call Ji Ruochu "senior".
Although there were many fans online younger than Ji Ruochu who called her "kid", Chai Jiazi was clearly different - she was one of the rare genius celebrity fans.
At this moment, competing on the same stage as her idol meant more than just a fan chasing after a light - it was like the person chasing the light was finally embracing it.
At this moment, their duel was like a star meeting its moon, both shining brilliantly.
"Wow, Chai Jiazi's speed is really fast."
The guest commentators in the observation room exclaimed.
"After all, she was a contestant with a naked high school exam score of 700, and she graduated from Yuanhua Management Institute."
"I saw in her profile that her strengths are spatial imagination and mental arithmetic. Didn't expect her to be so skilled in other areas too."
Seeing the three of them so shocked, Older Jin explained: "The 'strengths' shown in the profile just mean that the contestant is more superior in those areas compared to others."
Upon hearing this, the three guests finally understood. Afterwards, Ji Sishi looked at the contestant test result sheet in her hand with some confusion:
"Then, does that mean Ji Ruochu's profile shows that she—"
"Bang—"
Before she could finish, she was interrupted by the commotion from the center stage.
"Contestant number one, Ji Ruochu, has completed her answers."
To everyone's surprise, Ji Ruochu - the contestant who accepted the "enhanced" challenge right from the start - had submitted her answers before the countdown ended with thirty seconds remaining.
It should be noted that in this competition, not only were the correct answers counted, but also the time taken. If the two contestants had the same score, then whoever submitted first would be the winner.
"Bang—"
Almost the second after Ji Ruochu submitted, Chai Jiazi pressed the submit button as well.
"Contestant number two has completed her answers."
...
Wow—
"They're so evenly matched?"
"Chai Jiazi didn't need to submit too, she still had over thirty seconds left. Since time didn't give her an advantage, she should have focused on accuracy."
The guests in the observation room raised this doubt, but Older Jin was very sure:
"It's no use, she's already reached her limit. This is not Chai Jiazi's strength. It may seem like she completed right after Ji Ruochu, but in reality, she must have written down everything she could find."
The three instinctively flipped to Chai Jiazi's profile, and upon seeing her listed strengths, they finally understood.
"So now it just comes down to who has the higher accuracy!"
...
The Science Assistant started by revealing Chai Jiazi's score since she submitted later, slowly flipping over her answer sheet while saying:
"Contestant number two found a total of 12 instances, and upon verification, all 12 are correct."
The audience burst into thunderous applause.
"Contestant number one found a total of—"
Similarly, Ji Ruochu's answer sheet was slowly turned towards the camera by the Science Assistant.
But before the audience could see the sheet, the camera cut to the stunned host on the stage, then to the exclaiming contestants and the guests who suddenly stood up...
All of this indicated how shocking Ji Ruochu's answers were.
The audience's hearts were instantly gripped in suspense as they held their breath, but the next second—
[Welcome to commercial break~]
[Drink XX to help the contestants win!]
[This program is sponsored by XXX...]
Viewers at home: ...Great, we're pumped up now.
A minute later, the commercial break ended, and at this time, a trending topic titled #MostAnnoyingCommercialOfTheYear# quietly gained popularity.
The advertiser awarded the "Most Annoying" title: ...
The ads ended, and the program resumed.
"Contestant number one found a total of—"
The Science Assistant slowly flipped over Ji Ruochu's answer sheet.
"27 instances!"
The next second, the answer sheet covered in clear numbers came into view.
At that moment, the host instinctively took two steps towards the prep room, and the contestants down below exclaimed in shock.
"Wow, she's that strong?"
"I really felt a chill, how could she write down so many in such a short time?"
Yes, how did Ji Ruochu manage to do that in such a short time?
The contestants present didn't know, but viewers watching the show were fortunate enough to see the full process through post-production editing.
This revealed that throughout the entire competition, Ji Ruochu only glanced at the Rubik's Cube in her hand for a moment when the countdown began.
After that, she picked up a pen, stared at the wall of colored blocks, and started writing on the answer sheet with a white board marker.
It wasn't until thirty seconds before the end that she put down her pen and submitted her answers, the entire process flowing smoothly.
At this moment, even through the screen, the viewers couldn't help but feel chills.
"I'm really curious, are there really that many? Or... is this Ji Ruochu's tactic?"
The guests in the observation room began discussing.
"It's possible. Since her Rubik's Cube doesn't necessarily have to match the pattern given by the organizers beforehand, she might have just written down everything that looked similar, since correct answers count but incorrect ones don't deduct points."
"I don't think so." Ji Sishi, who had interacted with Ji Ruochu before, expressed a different opinion. "From what I know of Ji Ruochu, she doesn't seem like the type to use such tactics."
That girl was upright and old-fashioned, doing everything meticulously, as if she had everything under control.
At the same time, the host had someone bring up a spare Rubik's Cube, saying:
"Ji Ruochu's prop had a slight issue earlier, so before announcing the accuracy of her answers, let's first check if her Rubik's Cube was restored properly."
Don't underestimate this move. If Ji Ruochu's Rubik's Cube was restored correctly, then no matter if her answers were right or wrong, there would be no issue.
But if the restoration was incorrect, yet she found all the patterns on the wall correctly... well, that would be interesting.
"Ji Ruochu, please have the Science Assistant hold your Rubik's Cube up to the camera."
Upon hearing the host's words, the most confused was Chai Jiazi: "What Rubik's Cube? Kid, what happened to your cube?"
"It's nothing."
Ji Ruochu smiled lightly, calmly picking up the Rubik's Cube and placing it on the tray held by the Science Assistant.
"Okay, let's verify the first side first."
The host quickly found a side similar to the cube's color pattern shown on the screen, and began checking from left to right, top to bottom.
"First side, white, green, white, red..."
"Second side..."
"Third side..."
...
"Last side, blue, green... and the last one... white, completely correct!"
"So impressive!"
"What a monster!"
"Terrifyingly so!"
The contestants applauded while shaking their heads in disbelief.
"Okay, Science Assistant, please reveal Ji Ruochu's final score."