Chapter 100 - Intra-Class Competition (1)

Danny was hosting something that greatly resembled gambling. Scarlet dared not believe her eyes but the proof remained irrefutable. On the whiteboard were some names and below those names were numbers. On the right column were bets for the top-ranked group and on the left was for the bottom-ranked group. Apart from that, there were individual bets about the marks each student would score.

Jasper looked at the bets with great interest but the three girls gave Danny judging looks with varying degrees of disgust.

"No no no! I can explain!" Danny waved his hands frantically when the three girls gave him judging looks. Having missed out the initial part, it was easy to mistake Danny's good intention.

As it was, Scarlet learnt that the motivation method for males and females differed greatly. Males were powered on by the thought of benefiting from doing something. They must have a sense of accomplishment and that was completely opposite from how Scarlet felt motivation.

"It's basic psychology, I'm merely applying that concept to the tests. Think of this as an intra-class competition."

Rebecca was still sceptical but there was nothing much that could be done about the situation.

"What do the numbers represent?" the linguist asked.

Danny smiled proudly. "This is the number of times they will be running around the school if they lose the bet. Also, the targeted marks here are decided by the students themselves. I didn't force them to participate but everyone was inspired by Dragon's dedication to score sixty and claim that he would run a hundred rounds around the school if he failed."

Strangely, Scarlet could understand why everyone would be motivated. It didn't matter how badly they did because they wouldn't be the worst. Dragon really knew how to put himself at the edge of the cliff.

"In that case, please allow me to make my claim as well. I will accompany anyone who failed any subjects in their exams to run around the school no matter how many rounds it takes," Scarlet smiled. Nobody has bet more than five rounds and Scarlet was confident that while running wouldn't be possible, going around the perimeters of the school five times would be possible within a day even if it took up the entire day.

Almost immediately, the boys on her team stared at her in shock. Lin Lin gasped and looked at Danny with disbelief when the counsellor wrote Scarlet's bet down. The little violinist didn't know if she should scream at Danny for taking Scarlet so seriously or the big sister she looked up to for being so foolish.

Team Scarlet had a gloomy cloud hovering over them the entire time after Scarlet's claim. It was evident in Tom and Si-Han's expression that they didn't like the idea. Jinru looked almost guilty and equally worried. He might have passed a topical test once but he wasn't confident about the exams. What if he failed a subject? He didn't want Scarlet to suffer along with him even if he only bet to run three rounds if he should fail. He wasn't crazy enough to make the claim of five rounds like Si-Han.

Scarlet looked over her team's targets and bets on the board before copying them down in her notebook.

Jinru - pass on all subjects, 3 rounds

Tom - 90 for Math & Science, 75 for all other subjects, 3 rounds

Jin Si-Han - 80 for all subjects, 5 rounds

Samuel - 65 for Math & Science, 60 for language, pass for all other subjects, 1 round

The team leader hummed. She wasn't too worried about Tom or Si-Han. The two most good-looking males of the class had the brains to complement their looks. Samuel might need a little help in achieving his goals if he didn't have much confidence in his other subjects. Scarlet would have to check the German boy's past academic record to understand better.

The one that Scarlet was most worried about was Jinru who seemed to be struggling and has set the highest expectations of himself.

Lin Lin sidled up to Scarlet and pouted. "They wanted to get the class' top average group position. Why did you have to make a bet as well?! It was totally unnecessary. Besides, how will you run with your leg like this? Don't mention five, you won't even make it for the first round!"

Scarlet patted the adorable violinist's head and smiled. "Don't be angry, Lin Lin. I made the bet simply because I believe in these boys."

Nathan heard that conversation from the side and bit his lips. He was often uninvolved with the class and found that hanging out with the students apart from the Special Class was usually a waste of his time because they couldn't understand him. However, after seeing how the E.C. Class worked, the physicist wanted to do something to help them.

"School is the easiest stage in life, nobody should be fumbling here..." he frowned.

Unfortunately for Nathan, Jinru heard it and glared at the boy. "Just because you're given a blessed brain doesn't mean everyone has that same good fortune."

Scarlet sensed the tension and glanced over worriedly. On top of his inferiority complex, his dyslexia made it exceedingly difficult to study. Scarlet knew that natural intelligence was a sore spot for Jinru and having so many people who were naturally gifted in that area on their team would put stress on the delinquent.

Nathan sighed. This was exactly why he didn't like talking to kids his age. They were quick to start a fight and judge. "Look. We're a team. What you lack, let me make up for it. I can't give you my brain or deny that I have better fortune in this area compared to others. However, there's no need for you to act so defensively. Do you even know what examinations are? It's a system and like all systems, there are rules. If you follow these rules, there is no way you won't pass."

Samuel raised a brow. The new member was really weird even for his standards. "What are you talking about? If following rules is all I have to do in order to graduate school, I would have been done with this by now."

Nathan grinned. "I know. However, there's something called the law and as long as we're under the age of eighteen, there isn't really much we can do with a.d.u.l.ts around. I can teach you the tricks to graduating. It's not cheating but it's also not the conventional way. Who cares if you don't understand the textbooks and concepts? All you have to do is get the right answers, right?"

Scarlet had a bad feeling about where the discussion was going but still, she chose not to comment. The writer was also curious about what Nathan was hinting at.

"I don't have it right now but I will get it ready in two days. Be prepared to be impressed!" the physicist claimed.

Scarlet had a worried look and as socially bright people, Si-Han and Tom exchanged a brief glance with a small nod.

"Hey, brother!" Tom grinned. "Allow us to help."

Si-Han stared at Nathan as well, daring him not to include him silently. The pressure from both sides made the scientist falter and agree. Scarlet sighed in relief and patted Lin Lin subconsciously for self-reassurance. Would they really be ok?