As the team coach finished speaking, the group’s eyes instinctively sought Mirabe out. Among them, she was the powerhouse, the beacon of hope most likely to advance. Despite their collective defeat, they all yearned for her to level up and reim the glory that belonged to their nation.
At this juncture, it was no longer about individual wins or losses but about standing united in honor and disgrace.
Feeling a bit bemused under their intense gaze, Mirabe cleared her throat and puffed out her chest assertively. “Don’t you worry, I’ll win back that glory for us.” Her voice resonated with brash confidence, starkly contrasting their prevailing mood of dejection.
Hearing this, Vincent’s heart, which had been in a vice, suddenly eased. He knew Mirabe wouldn’t be one of those who was eliminated.
The coach’s dim expression seemed to flicker back to life at Mirabe’s words. His lips quivered slightly before he asked in a low voice, “So, what score are you predicting for yourself this time?”
The coach had his mind set on a target of around one hundred seventy. The notion of a wless score was too daring to entertain, especially in an international contest – a game that yed on an entirely different field than nationalpetitions.
Mirabe’s eyebrows arched in a disy of pride, “A perfect score of course!”
“Perfect… score?” The coach stammered.
“That’s right!” Mirabe’s confidence in today’s challenges was unshakable. The freedom to approach problems creatively was a true thrill – anything less than a perfect score wouldn’t do her justice.
The coach stared at Mirabe with aplex expression, feeling as if the exam she described waspletely different from the one he had questioned the other students about.
Vincent silently observed the teacher and fellow teammates, now equally stunned into silence. The blow of defeat, it seemed, was no longer his to bear alone.
Thus, when the results were announcedter that afternoon, and the coach saw Mirabe’s perfect score and first–ce rank, he was nearly thunderstruck, struggling to regain his
Out of over three hundredpetitors, there was only one perfect score, and it was hers, a whole ten points ahead of the second–ce contestant. This gap signified a prowess that went far beyond a mere ten–point difference. In suchpetitions, every five points marked a significant milestone. A ten–point lead meant that Mirabe’s chances of securing first ce in the finals were well over sixty percent.
In previous years, securing even a ranking in the finals was a challenge for them, let alone first
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ce.
The more the coach thought about it, the more his blood pressure seemed to skyrocket from excitement. After a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, he pulled out his mobile phone and sent Mirabe’s results back home.
The internationalpetition’s scores were not immediately essible back home, and the teachers following the event eagerly awaited the oue. When Mr. <i>Hammond </i>heard about Mirabe’s triumph of achieving another preliminary round with a perfect score, his shock was on par with the coach’s. He still remembered when he was chatting with Mirabe, <i>he </i>had mentioned that he wasn’t seeking a medal. He said he would be contented with merely earning a ce. Although the current scores were only for the preliminaries, would the final oue be any different?
Moreover, he was in the middle of a meeting. The other teachers, noticing Mr. Hammond’s stunned reaction to a phone call, were all curious about the news he had received<i>. </i>
Coming back to his senses, Mr. Hammond scanned the teachers gathered around the conference table, realizing his momentarypse. He regained hisposure, his face returning to its usual sternness as he said in an even tone, “Oh, that was a call from Prestige College.”