Chapter 85: The Miserable protagonist

Usually, students ranked in the middle tier had their grades shielded from public humiliation, meaning very few people would notice if someone had a mediocre showing.

"Ninth from the bottom—Harry Haoran, 293 points."

Hearing that name read aloud, Ethan let out a massive sigh of relief. It seemed his score was slightly higher than that; surely he wouldn’t sink all the way down to the bottom ten like some kind of academic submarine.

"Tenth from the bottom..." Deputy Director Abraham suddenly paused.

His expression darkened like a storm cloud over a freshly ruined picnic, and his eyes scanned the rows until they landed directly on Ethan with the force of a industrial laser. His tone turned sharp and deeply unpleasant.

"Ethan Mercer, from Class Five... total score: 295 points."

Ethan: "..."

Ethan’s face drained of all color, turning dead white—looking remarkably like a freshly painted wall or a startled ghost.

It really is me... tenth from the bottom?!

The surrounding students stared with their eyes blown wide open in sheer disbelief, looking like a room full of owls given double shots of espresso. Ethan—the legendary academic prodigy who always dominated first place in every exam, the boy who probably did financial modeling in his sleep—had actually plummeted all the way down to tenth from the bottom this semester?!

"Did I hear that correctly? Did Deputy Director Abraham just say Ethan is tenth from the bottom?!"

"You definitely heard right! I heard it loud and clear too! Unless Abraham suddenly developed a sudden, hyper-specific speech impediment!"

"Isn’t Ethan always the undisputed number one genius in finance? How on earth did he score so miserably this time... Did his brain temporarily unplug?"

Regaining his composure amidst the mounting, buzzing whispers, Ethan stood up, his face pale and strained as he tried to offer a classic, battle-tested excuse. "I... I wasn’t feeling well over the past two days during the exams, which is why my performance suffered so drastically."

Sitting a few rows away, Devid Taylor crossed his arms over his chest and let out a loud, mocking snort. "Not feeling well? Are you kidding me, Ethan? You looked lively and energetic running around campus the other day."

Devid had always placed fourth in every exam, while Ethan Mercer remained the undisputed top ranker, forever blocking Devid from reaching the top three spots. Seeing Ethan drop into the bottom ten of the rankings let his hidden anger and jealousy finally comes in surface .

The surrounding students muttered in agreement, recalling how they had spotted Ethan acting completely normal during exam week. Getting seriously ill? It certainly didn’t look like it.

"Besides," Devid added maliciously, standing up to press the attack, "I distinctly remember a semester back when you came to the exam hall running a blazing high fever, and you still managed to secure a spot in the top three! How come a little sniffle suddenly drops you all the way down to the bottom tier this time?"

"Wait a second... Ethan, did you suffer some kind of head injury recently? Or maybe... you were actually cheating on all your previous exams, and because the university assigned extra proctors this semester, you couldn’t cheat anymore—so your true, pathetic grades were finally exposed?!"

Devid’s public accusation hit the lecture hall like a thunderbolt.

The students’ eyes suddenly shifted, looking at Ethan with sharp, suspicious scrutiny.

When you put it that way, Devid’s hypothesis actually made horrifyingly logical sense! They had all observed that Ethan’s mental faculties and physical health appeared completely normal; he hadn’t suffered any debilitating accident.

That left only one plausible explanation: Ethan’s incredible, god-tier grades throughout his university years had never been earned through real intelligence—they were entirely the result of systematic cheating!

And for this semester’s opening placement exams, Capital University administration had specifically implemented strict anti-cheating measures, assigning an extra independent proctor to monitor every single classroom.

That was precisely why Ethan had failed to pull off his usual tricks, causing his true, mediocre academic abilities to be laid completely bare before the entire faculty!

Ethan’s face flushed bright red with indignation. "You’re talking absolute nonsense! My exam scores are entirely legitimate and earned through real hard work!"

He knew his family back home was poor. He understood all too well that studying hard and excelling academically was the only true way to climb the social ladder. Therefore, he had studied frantically every single day, earning his admission into the country’s top university where he had consistently dominated the top spot.

Hearing people casually claim that all his past academic achievements were the result of cheating made Ethan Mercer feel overwhelmingly wronged and infuriated. His previous first-place scores were unequivocally genuine!

"Ethan, if you’re so confident, proving your innocence is simple," Devid Taylor chuckled mockingly, pulling a quiz from his jacket pocket. "Just finish this test paper right here."

"This quiz is very straightforward. With your supposed genius level, getting over 92 points shouldn’t be difficult at all, right?"

Devid tossed a crumpled set of advanced finance exam papers directly onto Ethan’s desk. His wealthy father placed an immense emphasis on his education and had specifically hired top-tier university professors to provide him with private elite tutoring. These papers were the supplementary challenge exercises those professors had assigned to him.

Ethan Mercer’s face darkened into a stormy glare. In his past life, Devid Taylor had dropped out of university early on and never even had the qualification to stand in front of him, let alone humiliate him.

Who gave this arrogant brat the right to swagger around in front of me?!

Just you wait! Once his Starway Technology gaming investment paid off and he rose to power, he would definitely use his wealth to bankrupt the entire Taylor family.buy their house, and turn it into a parking lot.

Ethan gritted his teeth and snapped, "Devid Taylor, don’t you dare go too far!"

Devid raised an eyebrow playfully, crossing his arms. "Ethan, you’ve completely misunderstood my intentions. So many students in this hall are suspecting you of cheating your way to the top. Completing this test right now will instantly clear your name once and for all! I’m only asking you to do this because I’m doing you a massive favor."

Seeing Ethan’s intense hesitation and physical resistance, the surrounding students grew even more suspicious.

"I didn’t think much of it initially, but looking at his reaction now... Ethan might actually have been cheating all along."

"A grade built on deceit will always catch up to you in the end."

"That’s right, Ethan! Devid Taylor is making a fair point. If you want to prove your innocence so badly, then pick up the pen and take the test!"

Sitting not far away, Julian Vance watched the scene unfold and clearly heard the rising tide of accusations targeting Ethan . He raised an eyebrow in quiet amusement.

Only those who have actually been falsely accused know how frustrating it feels... Ethan Mercer was probably experiencing a massive psychological breakdown right about now.

Ethan was indeed trapped in an impossible corner. His hands trembled slightly as he reluctantly reached out and picked up the exam paper from the desk.

Staring down at the printed questions, his fingers gripped the paper tightly. Ethan Mercer’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. These were theoretical problems he could have solved with his eyes closed in his previous academic prime. But right now, looking at them with his current depleted mental state, he could barely figure out answers for three or four out of the fifteen complex questions.

He simply didn’t possess the capability to score over 90 points on this random test, let alone match the high standards Devid Taylor was demanding.

"Well, Ethan? Everyone’s waiting. You can start writing now," Devid prodded with a smug grin.

Ethan Mercer kept his eyes stubbornly glued to the paper, a cold sweat pouring down his temples. He could already vividly imagine how these elite Capital University students would gossip about him and mock him behind his back after today.

Ethan Mercer found it impossible to accept the bitter reality: that he, who had always been revered as the untouchable top academic genius, was suddenly being dragged down and labeled as an incompetent underachiever—and worse yet, a shameless cheater.

"Tsk," Devid scoffed aloud, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Look at him. It seems your legendary grades really were obtained through cheating all along."

"I didn’t!" Ethan’s face turned crimson red with rage and humiliation. He had never cheated on a single exam since he was a child. All his accomplishments were the fruit of his grueling labor and exceptional intellect!

"If you didn’t cheat, then prove it by finishing this test paper right here!" Devid pressed relentlessly.

Ethan Mercer remained entirely speechless, unable to write a single word.

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Meanwhile, Leo Vance’s eyes lit up with wild excitement when he heard that Ethan Mercer had unexpectedly plummeted all the way down to tenth from the bottom.

Fantastic!Magnificent! Heavenly!