When I Woke Up, Everyone’s IQ Dropped by 1000

He got in.

Jiang Chen stood frozen before the screen, his mind racing.The sudden onslaught of bizarre events had pushed his brain into overdrive.Below the lectern, Li Mingde observed the dumbstruck figure and let out a resigned, weary smile."A full minute of staring into space, and he hasn't squeezed out a single answer. Who recommended this kid? Tell him to leave.""Let the five minutes run out. No need to humiliate the boy further.""Tomorrow I'm bringing this up with the principal. Even recommendations need a minimum threshold. We can't just let anyone in the door and waste our time.""Forget it. Rather than waste time here, I'd be better off fighting the students for a spot in the cafeteria line."A buzz of murmured complaints rose from behind Li Mingde. Some of the teachers were visibly impatient, already gathering their things to leave.Clatter.One teacher accidentally knocked over a water cup.The sound jolted Jiang Chen awake, snapping the tangled chaos of his thoughts to an abrupt halt.Forget it. Why am I even overthinking this? Maybe the Innovation Class interview really is like this? Maybe I somehow stumbled into a reality TV prank show?Even in the worst-case scenario — even if someone actually is messing with me — I might as well play along. Who knows, maybe there's an appearance fee in it for me.Jiang Chen drew a deep breath and refocused his gaze on the screen, suppressing an involuntary shudder.Elementary-level mental arithmetic showing up in a setting like this — it carried a kind of eerie, surreal absurdity.At the same time —"Alright, let's go. What's on the menu at the cafeteria today?"The teachers, seeing that less than a minute remained on the clock, were all preparing to pack up and head to lunch — when, to their astonishment, Jiang Chen moved.15 + 27 = 42. 24 + 16 = 40. 8 × 4…Given the sheer simplicity of the problems on the screen, Jiang Chen barely had to think. He was answering purely on instinct.His fingers flew across the screen.One problem. Two. Three.Question after question was dispatched with unbelievable speed. The teachers below paused mid-motion, momentarily stupefied."Are those answers correct?" A Chinese literature teacher, instinctively assuming Jiang Chen was just filling in random numbers, turned to verify with the math teacher beside him."He's calculating faster than I can," the math teacher murmured, his gaze darting between the screen and the answer key in his hand. "But from what I've checked so far, he's completely correct."Watching Jiang Chen at the lectern, Li Mingde — already halfway out of his seat — slowly sat back down."I almost misjudged him… This kid… there's something interesting about him."Under the astonished gaze of the teachers, Jiang Chen tore through the problems at a rate of one every two seconds. In under a minute, the screen was filled from top to bottom with answers."All answers correct!"Moments later, the math teacher tasked with verification made the announcement, his voice tinged with disbelief.At those words, every teacher in the room cast fresh, appraising eyes upon the student before them.He was the first candidate of the day — and the only one — to score a perfect mark on the basic mathematics section.And from the looks of it, he had solved every problem in under a minute."Interesting. Basic mathematics: passed." Li Mingde put his glasses back on. "Continue."New questions began to populate the screen."Language arts: Complete the following classical verse — 'The white sun sets behind the mountains…'""Write an example of an AABC-pattern idiomatic phrase on the board…""The full formal name of Emperor Taizong of Tang…""The name of the cells in the human body responsible for transporting oxygen…"Over a dozen general-knowledge questions spanning multiple subjects appeared one by one on the screen. But the questions were so foundational that Jiang Chen barely engaged his brain at all — he simply wrote the answers directly onto the screen.Naturally, he didn't make a single mistake.Questions at this level — if a high schooler got them wrong, getting shot would count as a perfectly justified execution.Behind Jiang Chen, however, the atmosphere at the examiners' table was growing increasingly charged.The teachers were astonished not only by Jiang Chen's flawless accuracy, but also by the staggering breadth of his written-character recall. By standard protocol, candidates only needed to answer orally. That was because most students simply couldn't remember how to write so many Chinese characters correctly.But this student, Jiang Chen, had written every single answer out on the screen — and had not miswritten a single character.The teachers' reactions shifted in waves: first appreciation, then surprise, then sheer disbelief. Finally, all eyes swiveled in unison toward one young teacher in particular.The teacher who had prepared the day's exam questions.Li Mingde fixed the young teacher with a narrowed gaze."Teacher Wang, are you absolutely certain the questions were randomly selected from the database? Or is there a chance the questions were copied in advance?" a teacher behind him asked."Impossible! The questions were randomly chosen by the system from the internal school database. The USB drive hasn't left my possession," the young teacher replied, looking just as baffled as everyone else. "And even in the worst-case scenario — say someone did copy the USB yesterday — are you telling me he received the questions yesterday and memorized them to this degree by today?""Then explain to me how a perfect score is even possible? I've taught for thirty years, and I wouldn't dare claim I could do it. And you're telling me he can?" Li Mingde challenged."I… Could he be a… 'genius'?""Impossible." Li Mingde's eyes remained fixed on the back of Jiang Chen, who was still answering questions. His expression was strange. "A 'genius' wouldn't be attending high school in the first place."When Jiang Chen answered the final question, the teachers below sank into an eerie silence."Your name… Jiang Chen, correct?" Li Mingde finally broke the quiet after a long pause."Here's what we'll do. I'll give you one final problem. Solve it, and you pass the interview." After a moment's hesitation, Li Mingde rose and walked up to the lectern, carefully writing out an equation on the screen.Seeing the problem, the teachers below couldn't help frowning."Giving this problem to a high schooler?… That's outside the standard curriculum."But when Jiang Chen saw it, his heart didn't stir in the slightest. His worldview had already been body-slammed by a screen full of elementary arithmetic earlier. By now, he was completely numb.On the board was written: 3x² + 5 = 17. Solve for x.Building up all this dramatic tension, and it's just a simple quadratic equation from mental math… well… given everything that came before, it's actually kind of fitting…"Teacher Li, this problem is far too difficult. It probably won't even serve as a meaningful gauge of his ability," one teacher murmured quietly."It's fine. Elective Book Four covers the concept of exponents. At the very least, he should be able to approach it using high school methods — exhaustive trial and error, for instance. If he genuinely solved all those earlier problems himself, and if he truly has a gift, he should arrive at a solution path within ten minutes," Li Mingde replied. "As long as he has a viable approach, even if he can't solve it in the end, I'll still let him pass."He paused, his voice dropping. "But if he shows absolutely no clue what to do, that's almost certainly evidence of cheating. No matter how well he answered before, we don't take him."Up on the lectern, Jiang Chen didn't catch any of this. After staring at the problem for a few silent seconds, he simply wrote the answer directly on the screen: x = ±2In that instant, the entire examination room fell deathly silent.Every teacher — including Li Mingde — froze solid.These were all highly experienced educators. After witnessing Jiang Chen's earlier performance, not a single one of them was still inclined to underestimate him. They had been fully prepared for the possibility that he could solve this problem.But no one had imagined it would happen this fast.They had expected him to hesitate, to go through a series of calculations and logical steps before reaching the answer.A problem of this difficulty — solved in mere seconds?Impossible!All the teachers present turned as one toward Li Mingde.Inside Li Mingde's mind, waves were crashing just as violently. This problem was one he had found just yesterday in an advanced mathematics textbook. He had deliberately modified the numerical values and planned to assign it as homework for the Innovation Class the following day.There was no possible way anyone else had seen it.Even if this kid in front of him had cheated on every other question, there was no way he could have cheated on this one.Had he genuinely solved it — in a few seconds?Impossible!Even Li Mingde himself would need at least five minutes of careful thought to work it out.A few seconds? Only a "genius" could possibly do that.Had he simply guessed? The answer did happen to be a nice, clean number…Li Mingde stood frozen for several beats. A few seconds later, he recovered his composure and steadied his voice."Write out the steps."At those words, the teachers below couldn't help exchanging glances.That sentence meant one thing: Li Mingde had acknowledged the correctness of the student's answer."Uh…"Hearing Li Mingde's instruction, Jiang Chen went blank for a moment.How do you even write out the steps for mental math?I mean, I can… but writing this kind of thing on a blackboard just feels so embarrassing…Jiang Chen turned to the screen.[Solution:From the equation: 3x² = 17 − 5 = 12x² = 12 ÷ 3 = 4x = ±2]The moment Jiang Chen wrote the final character, Li Mingde's heart slammed against his ribcage. His breathing grew audibly heavier.He rose slowly, his movements deliberately composed, but his voice, when he spoke, was a shade deeper than before."Jiang Chen — congratulations. You have passed the interview."He pulled out Jiang Chen's application file, stamped it with the official school seal, and smiled."Welcome to the Advanced Innovation Class of Linchuan High School. Remember to report tomorrow."