Math Competition
1294 Words
Just finished another class packed with information.
Elena closed her eyes, trying to review the key points in her mind.
"Ugh! What a bunch of useless teammates. Argh!" Helen couldn't help but shout.
Elena opened her eyes and glanced casually at her phone screen.
She was playing a game called "King of Glory," and her character was Little Daji.
Her score was 0-9-1.
Elena: "..."
Where did Helen get the nerve to call her teammates useless?
Noticing Elena's gaze, Helen felt indignant.
"If it weren't for my terrible teammates, my score would be at least 9-0."
"Sure, sure," Elena agreed readily.
Helen was even more displeased.
"You don't believe me?"
"I do," Elena said with a sincere expression.
She still felt frustrated. Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind.
She nudged Elena's arm.
"Hey, aren't you short on cash? How about this: help me play the game. For every win, I'll give you $100. If you lose, you just owe me $10. Deal?"
"Win a hundred bucks per game?"
She glanced at Helen's rank.
Silver Order.
If they could win all the way up, how much money would that be?
Elena did a quick calculation, and her eyes lit up.
She said seriously, "It's not about the money. I just love playing games."
"Oh, then I won't give you any money..."
"Wait, no!" Elena quickly grabbed her arm.
"It's settled then, a hundred bucks per game. Hand over the phone."
"You're pretty confident," Helen rolled her eyes.
"I remember your skills were about the same as mine. Aren't you afraid of losing money?"
Elena's eyes sparkled with a smile.
"I've transformed!"
She had played this game a few times before, but because she had to maintain Rosalie's persona, she never really played seriously.
She did seem pretty bad at it.
But things were different now.
She didn't have to keep up any persona anymore.
Helen sighed.
"I think you're just money-hungry. Here, take it and play."
Elena took the phone, queued up for a ranked match, and instantly locked in Li Bai.
Helen was stunned.
"Li Bai? Have you lost your mind?"
"In the lower ranks, Li Bai can climb quickly," Elena said as she bought a jungle knife and skillfully headed into the jungle.
Helen was skeptical at first.
Then, she watched in astonishment as she secured the first kill in mid-lane within thirty seconds.
After that, Elena moved to the bottom lane for a double kill, controlled the dragon, cleared the jungle, and continued her rampage.
Six minutes later.
The school bell rang.
The enemy's crystal exploded.
Elena, in a great mood, handed the phone back to the dazed Helen.
"That'll be a hundred bucks."
Helen instinctively handed over a hundred-dollar bill.
Elena pocketed the money and happily resumed listening to the lesson.
Helen stared at her 14-0 godlike score, unable to resist taking a screenshot and posting it on social media.
Seeing everyone comment "awesome," her mood lifted instantly.
Helen was eager to say something to Elena, but seeing how focused she was on the lesson, she held back and just grinned at her screen.
Finally, the class ended.
Helen eagerly tugged at Elena.
"Sister Elena! I love you!"
Sister Elena...?
Elena raised an eyebrow.
"That's really not necessary..."
"Sister Elena!" Helen, however, was still excited.
"From now on, I'll leave ranking up to you! But I have a small request. Can you create an account and play with me? I want to feel involved too."
"Sure," Elena agreed casually.
After a moment of thought, she lowered her voice.
"We'll form a team of five. You can find three more people to join us, and I'll carry all four of you. I won't charge you a hundred bucks per game. Just find the people, and I'll charge you three thousand dollars to guarantee you reach the top rank. The other three will have to pay five thousand dollars each."
As she spoke, Elena patted her on the shoulder.
"I'm giving you a big discount."
"Yes, you are," Helen nodded excitedly.
She was saving two thousand dollars.
Although two thousand dollars was just a drop in the bucket for her, it represented Sister Elena's special consideration.
Helen thought of that graceful Li Bai character and now felt nothing but admiration for Elena.
Elena couldn't help but chuckle softly as she saw the stars in Helen's eyes.
Why hadn't she noticed before?
Miss Norris was actually quite adorable...
Helen stared at her smile, momentarily stunned.
What a stunning beauty!
She clutched her small chest and then, with a serious expression, said,
"Promise me, never go back to how you were before."
"Alright, alright," Elena agreed helplessly once again.
She was a bit curious...
Just how much psychological trauma had she caused Helen when she was a stand-in?
After agreeing to help Helen achieve victory in the game, Elena returned to her class.
The last period was maths.
After class, Elena approached the maths teacher at the podium.
"Mr. Martinez, is there a school maths competition in three days? I'd like to sign up."
Mr. Martinez was taken aback.
Elena's grades had always been at the bottom.
She wanted to enter a maths competition?
The teacher sighed.
"Elena, I can see you want to improve, but you need to be realistic and take things step by step. This maths competition, even though it's just within the school, is for the top students from each class. It's better if you don't get involved in this."
"Teacher, I still want to sign up. I remember that as long as you're a student, you're eligible to participate," Elena said.
Seeing her determination, Teacher Martinez could only agree.
When Elena saw Teacher Martinez submit her name, her mood brightened even more.
First place in the maths competition comes with a $5,000 prize!
"Sister Elena, are you really signing up?" Helen whispered.
"The competition results will be posted for everyone to see. If you end up with a single-digit score, it would be so embarrassing."
"Single-digit? I'm aiming for first place," Elena said calmly.
"What? You want to get first place?" Helen exclaimed loudly.
Her shout drew the attention of the entire class, though Elena remained unfazed.
Helen immediately regretted her outburst and covered her mouth.
Her big mouth had betrayed her again.
"First place in what?" someone asked curiously.
"Nothing, nothing..." Helen tried to brush it off.
But Elena, still calm, said,
"First place in the maths competition."
Elena, the constant underachiever, actually wants to win the math competition?
At first, everyone thought they misheard.
But when they saw Elena's serious expression, they were all stunned.
"Rosalie, has your sister gone crazy because she was dumped too hard?"
"Yeah, with her maths scores, she wants to compete and even win first place? That's hilarious!"
Rosalie curved her lips into a sweet smile.
"Come on, guys, don't say that. My sister just wants to improve herself. Let's not crush her confidence."
As she spoke, she raised a small fist towards Elena and said in a sugary voice,
"Good luck, sis!"
Elena shivered, almost feeling sick from the display.
Ignoring the chatter around her, she gathered a few books and left the classroom.
She went to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite and then planned to find a quiet place to study English.
Among all the subjects, her English was the weakest.
If she wanted to get the top score, she had to work hard on it.
Walking around the lake, she looked for a peaceful spot to sit and study.
But she hadn't walked far when...
She heard a very familiar voice.
Elena couldn't help but roll her eyes.
What kind of luck did she have?
Just taking a random walk, and she ran into these two again?
- Writer
