300 points.
Just enough to make it into a second-tier university.
Yuri froze for a second—then broke into a grin.
"Yes! Yes! Victor, I did it!"
He lunged forward and wrapped Victor in a hug.
"Holy crap—get off me!"
"Ah—!"
Aaron watched from the side, smiling.
Yuri's combat score had a lot to do with the Marshtomp he'd picked out for him—but it wasn't just that. Yuri had put in the work too. Otherwise, there was no way Marshtomp's moves would've reached that level.
On top of that, the Energy Cubes Aaron had been giving it helped it grow fast.
Next up were the others.
Ethan: 130 on the written, 250 on combat. Total—380.
Simon: 155 and 260. Total—415.
Grace: 180 and 265. Total—445.
The cutoff for first-tier universities was 400.
Ethan missed it by 20 points. Simon and Grace were in.
He looked a little disappointed, but it was about what he expected.
Now only Aaron was left.
"Aaron… your turn. Hurry up and check."
Victor urged, even more nervous than him.
"Alright, alright…"
Aaron tossed the last grape into his mouth, got up, and walked over.
He entered his student ID.
1888800888.
The results popped up instantly.
Written: 200.
Combat: 300.
Bonus: 10 (combat milestones).
Special bonus: 20 (merits).
Total: 530.
…
The room went quiet. Dead quiet. Everyone just stared at him.
Aaron shifted under their gaze, not sure what to say. A few seconds passed before he cleared his throat.
"Ahem… my mom told me to head home for dinner…"
Honestly, he'd expected a perfect score. The written exam had been way too easy for him, even covering things this world hadn't fully figured out yet. As for the combat exam, with 100,000 points, anything less than full marks would've been strange.
What he hadn't expected were the extra points—ten from bonus scoring and another twenty from his medals. Thirty in total.
That pushed him straight past the national record.
530 points. The highest score in history.
Victor, Yuri, and the others swallowed hard.
"A-Aaron… you're insane…" Yuri said, giving a shaky thumbs-up.
"Aaron… do you even realize what this means?" Victor added, practically buzzing. "You just broke the all-time record. You're going down in history!"
"Congrats, Aaron."
"Seriously, that's insane."
"Man… the whole place is gonna go crazy over this."
Simon, Grace, and Ethan all chimed in, smiling.
Aaron gave a small smile and opened the national rankings page.
Just like he expected—first place.
530 points. Top scorer. Fifty points ahead of second.
No one else even close.
...
News blew up online.
Aaron, the regional top scorer, was suddenly everywhere.
Headlines started popping up one after another:
"Aaron from Sealine First Academy tops Hualis with 530 points!"
"Highest score in history: Aaron!"
"530 points. Who can compete?"
"Teen prodigy Aaron breaks every record. Congratulations pour in nationwide!"
...
Sealine Academy was packed with reporters, all trying to get a piece of the story—Aaron, his teacher, even the principal.
On TV, his homeroom teacher, Alaric, appeared, visibly excited. He set aside his goji berry tea and faced the camera.
"The moment I met Aaron, I knew he was something special. He's never late, always focused in class, and studies late into the night. He works incredibly hard. I'm really proud of him. He's lived up to everything I hoped for."
He even wiped at his eyes and gave a thumbs-up.
The broadcast then cut to the principal's office. Principal Sterling sat upright in a neat suit, barely hiding his excitement.
"Principal Sterling, what are your thoughts on Aaron?" the reporter asked.
He cleared his throat.
"Hello everyone, I'm Sterling, principal of Sealine First Academy—the very school that produced this year's record-breaking top scorer, Aaron. Applications are open to everyone—"
"Uh… Principal, that's not the question. We were asking about your evaluation of Aaron."
...