Chapter 87: Exposing the Truth

Completely immersed in his own premature joy and delusions of grandeur, Leo Vance didn’t even register the exact name Deputy Director had uttered in that split second.

Beaming brightly, Leo actually opened his mouth and began reciting his pre-prepared acceptance speech for winning first place: "Thank you, everyone... winning the number one spot this exam is truly a humbling honor that somewhat exceeds my expectations..."

"Next semester, I will definitely continue to work even harder for the department."

"If any of you juniors ever encounter difficult academic problems in the future, please feel free to come to me. I will do my absolute best to answer them for you all."

Crickets.????????

An eerie, suffocating silence descended upon the entire lecture hall.

The hundreds of surrounding students stared directly at Leo Vance with exceptionally strange, bizarre expressions frozen on their faces. They felt so overwhelmingly embarrassed on his behalf that they could practically dig a brand-new three-bedroom apartment out of the floorboards using just the toes of Leo’s shoes.

Leo finally noticed that everyone around him was looking at him with such bizarre, pitying expressions.

His brows knitted together in deep confusion. What on earth just happened? Shouldn’t they be standing up and applauding right now? Why are they all staring at me like I’m a complete clown?

Outside the doors, Siana Vance’s face froze in utter, paralyzed disbelief.

The first-place winner wasn’t Leo... it was Julian?!

Was this some kind of administrative administrative error?!

"Holy shit..."

A few rows back, Sean, who had just taken a casual sip of mineral water from his bottle, couldn’t help but spit it right out in sheer shock.

"Godfather... you actually got first place?!" Sean stared at Julian, his jaw practically unhinged.

Wasn’t it common knowledge that his good brother Julian was notoriously infamous for always dragging down the bottom of every single exam list? So what on earth was the incredible backstory behind this miraculous first-place finish?!

Julian sat calmly in his seat, waving his hand dismissively. "No big deal, no big deal at all," he murmured with casual swagger.

At the same time, Julian let out a quiet, internal sigh of immense relief.

Fantastic. Having secured the number one rank fair and square, he finally didn’t have to worry about any humiliating academic punishments.

BEEP!

Suddenly, a synthesized notification chimed loudly in his mind:

[Ding!]

The system interface that had vanished for a long time suddenly flickered back to life:

[Congratulations to the host for successfully winning first place in the major! You have received your designated reward: Exceptional Business Acumen.]

Julian’s brow twitched slightly. He instinctively felt that this damn system wasn’t going to let him live a quiet life easily. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of bizarre trouble or system challenges this new ability would drag him into next.

"Ahem—"

Realizing how excruciatingly awkward Leo Vance’s premature speech had been, Deputy Director Abraham coughed lightly into his fist to break the heavy silence. He looked toward Leo with gentle pity. "Uh, Leo Vance... is it possible that you realized you weren’t actually the first-place winner?"

Leo vance :"..."

Leo froze, his smile fracturing instantly. "It wasn’t me...? How could that possibly be?" he stammered, his mind spinning. "Could it be Julian Vance instead?!"

Deputy Director nodded firmly. "That is correct. The student who claimed first place in this exam with a score of 491 points is indeed Julian Vance."

"That is precisely why I mentioned at the beginning that the person who took the crown this time was quite unexpected."

Every single pair of eyes in the lecture hall instantly snapped away from Leo and locked directly onto Julian Vance.

"Julian Vance got first place?! Is there something shady going on behind the scenes here?"

"Right, I think it’s highly suspicious too! He used to be the permanent fixture at the very bottom of the grade charts—how on earth could he suddenly leap all the way to first place overnight?!"

"Could he have somehow hacked the system or cheated?!"

Sitting in the Bench, Ethan Mercer stared wide-eyed at Julian, his pupils dilated in shock. In his past life, he was the one who had always taken first place without exception. Yet in this life, Julian—who was supposed to be the hopeless academic failure at the bottom—had actually seized the top spot!

Could it be... Ethan’s breath hitched. Is Julian Vance somehow here to usurp and steal my original destiny?!

No.

Ethan shook his head violently. He had been reborn; he was the undisputed male protagonist of this world. How could he possibly let someone else snatch away his rightful opportunities so easily?

Julian Vance’s ability to claim first place this exam was probably nothing more than a minor butterfly effect triggered by his own rebirth. What did having top grades in a university exam matter anyway? Ethan simply refused to believe it. In the real world of society and business, Julian was still vastly inferior to him! He was someone who possessed all the invaluable memories of the future!

Meanwhile, when Siana Vance saw that Julian Vance had secured first place in the exam, her very first instinct was that Julian must have cheated.

"Deputy Director Abraham," Leo Vance called out loudly from his seat, stepping forward. "Are you absolutely certain there hasn’t been a mistake? The true first-place winner has to be someone else."

Deputy Director Abraham replied firmly, "There is zero possibility of an error. We compared and reviewed the exam papers multiple times, and it is an undeniable fact that Julian Vance achieved first place in this major-wide exam."

At first, even the academic faculty hadn’t believed that Julian could legitimately take first place. They had specifically pulled Julian’s exam paper to inspect it for anomalies, only to find that Julian’s meticulous answers thoroughly deserved the top spot.

"I brought Julian’s actual exam paper with me right now. If any of you harbor doubts, you can all take a look for yourselves."

Knowing that Julian’s miraculous grades would instantly spark severe controversy among the student body, Deputy Director Abraham had proactively prepared Julian’s test paper in advance. He immediately projected Julian’s detailed exam answers onto the massive auditorium screen on the spot.

"This is Julian Vance’s exam paper," Deputy Director Abraham announced, gesturing to the projection. "Everyone can observe it clearly."

The projected exam sheet was crystal clear and visible to all the students seated in the hall.

Instantly, ripples of utter shock swept through the crowd.

"Julian Vance’s answers are genuinely flawless... I racked my brains for hours during the exam and couldn’t figure out the correct logic for the sixth question. I never expected the actual solution to be so brilliantly simple."

"Indeed, I couldn’t have derived such an elegant shortcut either."

"If this exam paper really was completed entirely by Julian Vance on his own, then his cognitive and analytical abilities must be terrifyingly high! How on earth has Julian managed to linger at the bottom of the department for the past few years?!"

The students looked at one another in sheer bewilderment. Ethan Mercer dropping from first place to the bottom tier had already shocked them to their core. They hadn’t expected Julian Vance’s academic reversal to be even more unbelievable.

"Godfather, you are absolute perfection!" Sean grinned widely, giving Julian an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

He really should have realized it sooner. His godfather was a financial genius who effortlessly dominated the stock market—naturally, his formal exam results weren’t going to be shabby either! His godfather had clearly stated beforehand that he was going to take first place, yet he had foolishly doubted him. What kind of blind brother was he?

"Mhm," Julian nodded calmly. "This was completely expected."

With a photographic memory, extraordinary comprehension, and the ability to scan ten lines of text at a glance, it would have been a bizarre miracle if he hadn’t taken first place.

Sitting on the bench, Leo Vance clenched his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white. No... this cannot be happening. This cannot be happening, he thought, tears welling in his eyes. It must be a dream, or I’m hallucinating.

If Julian won first place, he would be the one to secure the grand prize and gain the golden opportunity to get close to President Sterling. President Sterling was notoriously elusive, making it nearly impossible for ordinary people to even catch a glimpse of her, let alone earn her personal appreciation.

Furthermore, Leo distinctly remembered that President Sterling was only twenty-six years old—young, stunning, and immensely powerful. Who was to say she wouldn’t take a personal liking to a brilliant young man?

He absolutely could not allow Julian Vance to snatch away such a once in a lifetime opportunity.