The closing ceremony and awards event were filled with a lively yet solemn atmosphere, tinged with restlessness.


    Reporters from the Republic of Ghana were also present at the scene, with their cameras lingering on Chu Tingwu and a few other students. From the reporters'' perspective, the students'' demeanor and spirit were quitemendable.


    However, as the camera panned upward, her gaze drifted downward, and due to the angle, it was clear that the children had their hands behind their backs, ying a game of passing a copper coin.


    The reporter: "..."


    Whenever the speaker above paused, the copper coin wouldnd in someone''s hand, and the person holding it would have their palm lightly pped by the person next to them.


    Team Leader Yang maintained a smile but kept subtly ncing at the group out of the corner of her eye. Realizing she couldn''t stop them, she eventually shifted slightly to block their antics from view.


    Then the awards began—


    The order of the awards was announced in reverse, starting from the lowest rank and moving up. The reporter''s heart was in her throat.


    Although she had faith in the children, no one could guarantee there wouldn''t be any surprises.


    ...The silver awards were announced.


    The reporter held her breath and nced at the line of students... Wait, are you still passing that copper coin?!


    The copper coin reflected a faint glimmer, but the rules seemed to have changed. Now, whoever held the coin when apuse was required would have their palm pped.


    Then, just as the final awardee was about to step onto the stage, Chu Tingwu flicked her fingers, sending the coin flying onto Team Leader Yang''s cor.


    Feeling something unusual, Team Leader Yang: "...?"


    Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao nced at her hand, found nothing, and continued pping with puzzled expressions.


    Chu Tingwu: "=v="


    The next second, Zhou Qiang''s name was announced.


    Zhou Qiang, ninth ce, gold award.


    Feng Ziping, eighth ce, gold award.


    The reporter also smiled, pping sincerely and enthusiastically. After capturing the footage of the two children stepping onto the stage one after another, she couldn''t help but nce at Chu Tingwu and Chu Xiao.


    The two of them were still sitting calmly, showing no signs of nervousness.


    There shouldn''t be any surprises... the reporter thought. The gold awards were being announced, and their children hade to the international stage; they wouldn''t leave empty-handed.


    Team Leader Yang, now empty-handed, discreetly removed the copper coin and, while weing Feng Ziping and Zhou Qiang, couldn''t resist stuffing the coin into Feng Ziping''s hand—this is what you get for bringing this thing along!


    Feng Ziping was still smiling, unaware of what had just happened.


    Then his hand was promptly pped by the other three.


    Feng Ziping: "..." Hey!


    Zhou Qiang stood nearby, a faint smile on her face. No matter the ranking, winning an award was a good thing, and the end of thepetition was also—


    In the future, she might participate in morepetitions, standing on different stages, but she would always remember this day.


    It felt like the end of one journey and the beginning of another.


    However, Chu Tingwu didn''t share such sentiments, nor did she feel any particr emotion when her ranking was announced—she was sixth.


    Unlike the calm Chu Tingwu, her system was ecstatic, as if it had sessfully shown off its cat to the entire world. It kept muttering in her mind: "It''s a gold award, it''s a championship! Champion cat! We have to let San Wu Wu see this!"


    No, there are still five people ahead.


    And San Wu Wu wouldn''t understand anyway!


    Chu Tingwu''s mood was indeed calm because, regardless of thepetition, it was already over. What excited her was the present moment—


    Like parkouring and leaping between two buildings, with crowds walking below, feeling as if she were flying.


    Or rock climbing without any safety gear, relying solely on her hands and feet to cling to the cliff, looking down at the waves crashing against the rocks.


    Or skiing during an avnche, with the snow chasing behind her, armed only with a snowboard and herself. The world was silent, the loudest sound being her heartbeat... She wanted to shout, tough, like a lone sailboat rocking on a dark sea, uncertain of the future but reveling in the thrill and joy of the moment.


    And the internationalpetition was now a thing of the past, settled and done.


    When the name and country of the second-ce winner were announced, everyone turned to Chu Xiao.


    Now, only Chu Xiao''s name remained unmentioned... but everyone already knew his ranking. Chu Xiao pursed his lips, feeling a mix of nervousness and anticipation—but then, a hand reached out and patted his shoulder.


    Chu Tingwu gave her nephew an encouraging look.


    Chu Xiao: "..."


    The nervousness vanished, reced by a slight urge to hit someone.


    "First ce..."


    "From Hua Country..."


    "—Chu Xiao!"


    The apuse was thunderous, and people around kept ncing their way, offering congrattions along the path. It had been four years since Hua Countryst imed the top honor at thispetition, and now they had done it again. While the team members remainedposed, Team Leader Yang''s smile was so wide her eyes nearly disappeared... Oh, right, after the closing ceremony, they could take a group photo with their medals andmemorative certificates, wearing theirpetition uniforms, and then—


    Chu Tingwu: "If we don''t speed, can we make the flight?"


    Team Leader Yang: "=="


    Whether they could make it was uncertain, but she knew for sure that getting caught speeding would guarantee they wouldn''t.


    The photos would have to be quick, interviews moved online, and they''d have to leave immediately after to barely make it to the airport. With all their luggage, it was going to be a tight squeeze.


    In the car, Team Leader Yang couldn''t hold back any longer: "...I wasn''t even this nervous when they were announcing the rankings earlier!"


    Of course not.


    Because the previous test was over—now, the airport sprint test had just begun!


    They rushed through security, rushed onto the ne, and rushed to their seats before Zhou Qiang finally said, "Did someone call out to us just now?"


    Chu Xiao: "If they didn''t catch us, then it wasn''t important."


    Chu Tingwu: "It was the American team."


    The American team seemed to be heading straight back too. They ran into them at the airport, and the Americans tried to greet them, but the group breezed past without a second nce.


    Chu Tingwu didn''t see them either... she just smelled them.


    So it must have been the American team, right?


    -


    Not only were they ignored by the Hua Country team, but the American team also had the misfortune of facing a flight dy—five hours, to be exact.


    The team members exchanged nces, and Luna couldn''t help but say:


    "If only we could y cards right now."


    With their phones in hand, they could y any game they wanted, but after experiencing that AR card game, regr games just didn''t hit the same.


    Because this kind of "game" thatbined problem-solving andpetition was exactly what these high-IQ kids loved—but previous games of this type hadn''t provided enough entertainment or a sense of achievement.


    Most popr games on the market didn''t give much advantage to intelligence, focusing more on speed, reflexes, and practice. Meanwhile, games marketed as "high-IQ" had such high entry barriers that thepetition was evenly matched, and they oftencked fun.


    But "Learning Through y" hit the sweet spot. It was easy to see that it would attract arge user base, mostly ordinary people, while the openpetitions provided a tform for the elite to shine. The game was both entertaining and "legitimate," as it genuinely helped yers learn.


    Of course, at this point, Luna didn''t know that the card game they yed was a mini-game extracted from "Learning Through y"... They were just waiting for their dyed flight when someone spoke up:


    "By the way... do any of you have a visa to visit Hua Country?"


    "What are you suggesting...?"


    "What does the coach say?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I heard from the Russians that there''s going to be a massive AR performance, and if we go now, we might catch it—"


    Now the pressure was on the coach.


    The coach: "...?"


    If the American team wanted toe and watch thepetition, they could actuallynd directly in Wu City, the location of the Sea Sports Center where the city representativepetition is being held. Their schedule would even be more flexible than Chu Tingwu and the others, as the Hua Country team would have to undergo photo ops and interviews after their nends.


    At this moment, yers from Sea City and Jing City were unaware that several key yers were absent—most yers had already arrived early at the Sea Sports Center in Wu City.


    The venue had previously hostedrge-scale concerts and football matches, with a capacity of 40,000 people, and its exterior resembled a tilting sailboat.


    Tian Shi was pacing around inside the sports center.


    She didn’t want to appear so nervous, but she couldn’t help it. Even though they had hired a professional outsourcing team and had others assisting, making everything seem well-organized—the boss wasn’t in the country! If Chu Tingwu were here, she probably wouldn’t have offered any suggestions or changes and could have easily contacted the system. But Tian Shi couldn’t shake the feeling that if she just heard Chu Tingwu say, “It’ll be fine,” then everything really would be fine.


    Ugh, maybe I should go find someone to do a tarot reading.


    Since they had rented the stadium, thepany naturally had to sell tickets to recoup the costs. In the game, a lottery was arranged, with 60 beta testers and 40 pre-registered yers for the second beta being selected to receive free tickets.


    Additionally, purchasing tickets through the game offered a 30% discount, while those who had pre-downloaded the app and registered (but hadn’t gotten into the second beta) could also buy tickets through the app at a 20% discount.


    Wu City, located in the special economic zone, had convenient transportation. With local visitors and those who had traveled from afar, the tickets had mostly sold out.


    Tian Shi felt both happy and sighed: If this were a concert, tickets would have sold out instantly. But this was a gamingpetition, and it was still in beta... Experienced game developers wouldn’t normally host such arge-scale public event in a sports center during the beta phase, as it could easily result in zero ticket sales and massive losses.


    What Tian Shi didn’t mention was that the cost of thispetition was actually much higher than what some industry insiders had imagined.


    During the nning phase, she had originally wanted to invite some industry celebrities to host or perform as a warm-up act. After all, the entire event wouldst at least three hours, with thepetition itself scheduled for an hour and a half. Any longer would be too exhausting, so they needed other content to fill the time... They couldn’t let the audience, who had traveled from afar, leave after just an hour and a half ofpetition. Nowadays, even football matches have cheerleaders.


    But all of this was vetoed by the system.


    The system: “What’s so interesting about human hosts?”


    If they were going to have a host, it might as well be Three-Five-Five.


    Tian Shi: ==


    Let’s not burden the cat with such a big responsibility, okay?


    In the end, the host position was filled by a virtual projection of a white horse named Raphael, wearing a theme park manager’s hat. This horse, now the game’s mascot, was the kind of character that yers would curse as a scam artist upon seeing... So, it could still be considered auspicious, right?


    By 7:50 PM, all the audience members had put on their wristbands and sessfully entered the venue. The live broadcast went live across the inte, and Chu Tingwu and the others finally sat down, opening theirpetition screens on their phones.


    There were 15 minutes left until thepetition began.


    Tickets were still avable, and people continued to trickle in.


    The wristbands emitted a faint glow, and as the lights dimmed, a white horse leaped onto the stage. It then tipped its top hat, greeting the audience to the left and right—


    Which was met with a chorus of “Ugh, why is it this scammer?” along with plenty ofughter.


    In the next moment, the wristbands began to sh in unison, and gasps filled the air as familiar cats leaped out from the bands—some perched on the seats, others lounging on the yers’ps... Meanwhile, some audience members didn’t have ounts or cats, so holographic top hats appeared beside them instead.


    Reaching into the hats, they could pull out random small gifts.


    All audience members received these gifts.


    The small trinkets could be held in hand (though it felt like holding air) or disyed on their personal ounts in the app, with physical versions mailed to themter.


    Though there was a tinge of disappointment, the general audience was still thrilled and eager to capture the moment with their cameras, which was also being recorded by the live broadcast.


    That was until someone pulled out a gilded figurine of Raphael, the white horse.


    The audience member: “...”


    Why is it this scammer again!?