Chapter 86: The Battle for First Place

With Ethan Mercer’s academic collapse, the only competitor at Capital University who could genuinely rival him for the top spot was gone. Since Ethan had bombed the exam, no one else in the major could realistically contend with him for first place anymore.

That means the luxurious campus villa and the ten-million- dollar cash bonus personally arranged by President Sterling—those prestigious rewards were practically destined to be his!

And that wasn’t even the most important part. The true prize was that winning first place would undoubtedly capture President Sterling’s personal attention and favor!

As long as he could successfully establish a direct connection with President Sterling, his position within the Vance family would be untouchable. Once he officially joined and took total control of the Vance Group in the future, not a single elder on the corporate board would dare raise an objection!

Sitting nearby, Natasha was similarly thrilled with anticipation. She was entirely confident that she had secured second place on this exam, which came with a handsome cash prize of 30,000 doller. And who knows? If fortune favored her, she might even miraculously edge out the competition and claim first place.

Both Leo Vance and Natasha stared intently toward the elevated stage, their hearts pounding in their chests. Both of them were silently praying to the heavens that they would be announced as the number one student.

Up on the podium, Deputy Director Abraham cleared his throat and continued reading from his manifest: "Now, we will officially announce the scores and rankings for the top three students of our finance major."

"First, taking the third place spot is king Cong, with a total score of 472 points."

Hearing that, Ethan Mercer frowned deeply in confusion. Wait... that’s wrong. In his past life, king Cong had performed brilliantly and secured second place, trailing only slightly behind him. How did king Cong end up dropping to third place in this timeline?

If king Cong was third, who on earth were the first and second-place winners?

Down in the audience, both Natasha and Leo Vance held their breath, praying they hadn’t taken second place—because missing out on second meant they were guaranteed the glorious first-place crown.

The reward for first place was hundreds of times more lucrative than second place, and more importantly, it came with the priceless opportunity to meet President Sterling face-to-face.

Deputy Director Abraham smiled broadly, raising his voice. "And the second place winner is... Sean scott from Class 3, with a score of 475 points!"

The surrounding students turned their heads in absolute shock to stare at Sean.

They hadn’t expected that this transfer student would prove to be such an academic dark horse, breaking into second place right away on his very first major exam.

Sean muttered under his breath, looking genuinely perplexed, "This doesn’t make any sense... How am I not number one? I specifically calculated all my answers beforehand. Neither Leo Vance, Natasha, nor Ethan Mercer should have scored higher than me..."

So, what hidden monster has emerged to snatch first place away from me?

Julian raised an eyebrow, leaning over to pat Sean on the shoulder. "Not bad at all, Sean—you actually came in second place."

Hearing Julian’s voice, Sean suddenly recalled what Julian had casually predicted earlier: that he himself was going to be the first-place winner of this exam.

Could it be... did his brother actually pull off first place?!

Outside the main doors of the grand lecture hall, Siana Vance stood waiting alongside the Head of Academic Affairs.

"President Vance," the Head of Academic Affairs said politely, "would you care to step inside the hall with me to watch the ceremony?"

Siana Vance shook her head, offering a gentle refusal. "No need for now. Let the director finish reading out the rankings and announce the first-place winner first."

In her mind, her younger brother Leo’s academic performance had always been Brilliant; he routinely occupied the top tier of his class. The second and third-place winners were already being announced, which meant Leo had to be the one taking home the crown.

It was wonderful that she happened to be visiting the campus today; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to personally witness Leo winning first place and claiming the grand honor.

"President Vance," the Head of Academic Affairs added with a smile, "did you hear? President Sterling of the Sterling Group has specially awarded our finance major’s first-place student with a grand cash bonus of ten million doller this semester."

"Perhaps Young Master Leo will be the one to claim it!"

"President Sterling?" Siana Vance looked at the Head of Academic Affairs in genuine surprise.

"Yes! President Sterling officially became the largest individual shareholder of our university last week. She personally established this ten-million-doller reward for the top-ranking student, alongside a private campus residence."

Hearing those details, Siana’s eyes lit up brightly.

If Leo won first place this exam, wouldn’t that create a golden, direct opportunity for their family to get close to President Sterling?

If the Vance family could successfully forge a business alliance or personal connection with President Sterling, all their current corporate struggles would vanish overnight. The heavy financial losses caused by the Ross family abruptly canceling their joint venture cooperation would pale in comparison.

"Next, we will proudly announce the first-place winner of this major-wide placement exam."

Deputy Director Abraham’s gaze fell upon the final entry on his official ledger. Each time he looked at those numbers, a wave of profound astonishment washed over him. It was completely unexpected.

He never would have imagined that this student would claim the number one spot this time around.

In truth, Deputy Director held a deep impression of Julian Vance. For the longest time, Julian had been famous across the faculty as a desperate simp who relentlessly chased after Natasha, while his academic grades consistently hovered near the absolute bottom of the major.

They hadn’t seen each other for the entire summer break. Yet not only had Julian completely stopped fawning over Natasha, but he had also magically soared straight to first place in the entrance exams!

Even the writers of melodramatic television dramas wouldn’t dare to script a plot twist quite this absurd.

"This particular student’s exam score is quite extraordinary," Deputy Director Abraham announced, raising his voice slightly. "If I were to reveal it right now, I guarantee every single person here would be utterly shocked."

Sitting in the front rows, Leo Vance frowned deeply. A nagging sense of uncertainty crept into his mind. If he had won first place, his victory would be completely expected and logical, not "unexpected" as Deputy Director Abraham had just described.

Could it be... that he wasn’t the number one student after all?

Just like Sean, had some completely unknown dark horse emerged out of nowhere to steal the crown this time?

"This outstanding student scored a staggering 491 points—missing a perfect score by a mere nine points!"

Boom!

The entire lecture hall instantly filled with gasps of sheer shock and disbelief. Earning a score that high on an exam notoriously designed with such devilish difficulty was practically inhuman! Just how twisted of a genius was this person?!

Standing just outside the main lecture hall doors, the Head of Academic Affairs turned to Siana Vance with a polite smile. "President Vance, judging by this, your younger brother Leo’s academic scores are likely quite impressive."

"Mhm," Siana Vance nodded softly, a proud smile gracing her lips. "Leo has not relaxed his studies for a single day during this past period, even throughout the entire summer vacation. I honestly don’t find it too surprising that he managed to secure such exceptional grades."

Siana Vance couldn’t help but indulge in pleasant thoughts. The fact that President Sterling had designed such a prestigious, high-value award strongly suggested that she wanted to identify and recruit genuine financial talent. If Leo won first place today, he would undoubtedly capture President Sterling’s personal attention and pave the way for a powerful corporate alliance.

Inside the hall, a student couldn’t suppress their bubbling curiosity any longer and shouted out from the middle rows:

"Deputy Director Abraham, stop teasing us! Tell us quickly—who exactly won first place?!"

Ethan Mercer, who had always been the undisputed winner in the past, had embarrassingly crashed all the way down to the bottom tier. Meanwhile, Victoria Sterling had set up an astronomical, unprecedented reward. And now, Deputy Director Abraham was openly declaring that the champion was completely unexpected.

All these dramatic elements combined were simply too riveting, successfully driving the entire student body’s curiosity to a fever pitch.

"Yes, Deputy Director Abraham! You better stop keeping us in suspense right now, or you’re going to get mobbed by the angry crowd, you know!" other students chimed in, laughing and clapping.

"Alright, alright! I won’t keep you in suspense any longer," Deputy Director Abraham chuckled, holding up a placating hand.

A wide smile spread across his face as he announced clearly: "The student who claimed first place in this major-wide exam is... a student from Finance Class Three, surnamed vance..."

Deputy Director Abraham paused deliberately right at that dramatic syllable.

Leo Vance’s eyes lit up instantly. He really was number one!

There were only two students in Finance Class Three who shared the surname vance: himself and Julian Vance. If the champion wasn’t Julian—which was obviously impossible—then it had to be him!

Splendid! He was completely certain that he would be able to successfully forge a connection with Victoria Sterling today!

As Deputy Director Abraham had just pointed out, the student who took first place was quite unexpected. In Leo’s mind, that must have been a stylistic choice by the director, deliberately trying to build playful tension among the audience. Deputy Director Abraham simply loved playing harmless jokes on the students. He just hadn’t expected the director to play such a heart-stopping joke about something this massive, making him live in momentary terror.

Off to the side, Natasha’s face displayed a mask of bitter disbelief. She routinely ranked among the top academic elites at Capital University. Yet even with Ethan’s catastrophic failure on this exam, she still hadn’t managed to break into the top three.

The surrounding students immediately burst into loud, animated discussions:

"As expected, it’s Leo Vance! Leo used to consistently take second place behind Ethan in every major exam. Now that Ethan has bombed and crashed to the bottom, the crown naturally falls to Leo."

"I am so insanely envious of Leo. If I had known there was a ten-million-doller bonus on the line, I would have studied like a madman all summer. That kind of money makes my eyes turn green with jealousy."

"Leo comes from a wealthy, prestigious family and possesses top-tier academic talent; he is truly a favored child of the heavens."

Envy and admiration filled the air.

Listening to the flattering chatter swirling around him, Leo curled his lips into a confident, winning smile. The moment he returned home today, he was determined to tell his parents everything and have his father spread the news far and wide across elite business circles: President Sterling had offered an extravagant grand prize for the top student, and he, Leo Vance, had officially claimed it.

"That student is—" Deputy Director spoke up once more, finishing the sentence.

Unable to contain his triumph any longer, Leo Vance stood up right from his seat, instinctively straightening his jacket collar, ready to receive the roaring applause of all the teachers and students in the hall.

"—Julian Vance!" Deputy Director Abraham proclaimed clearly.