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

compete in

"Um... excuse me?" Jiang Chen ventured cautiously.

"Oh! Sorry... sorry." Bai Bing seemed to realize how she must have looked. She let go of Jiang Chen's wrist, looking rather flustered.

"Is this Rubik's Cube something very important?"

"No... no, it's just a simple toy." Bai Bing took the cube from Jiang Chen's hand and tossed it casually into her desk cubby.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Jiang Chen. I just joined the Innovation Class today."

"Jiang Chen... Jiang Chen..." Bai Bing murmured his name several times under her breath. Then she lifted her head and looked at Jiang Chen with an expectant expression. Her eyes seemed to sparkle.

She opened her mouth to say something, but just then, the bell for the next class rang. Students who had been out wandering during the break began drifting back into the classroom. Jiang Chen and Bai Bing had no choice but to return to their own seats.

During class, Jiang Chen sat there bored out of his mind.

"I've already gone through the history book once. The high school history texts are still too general. Maybe I should head to the computer room next door and search online?"

"Also... I think I might have caused some kind of trouble." He glanced toward the window, where Bai Bing was covertly staring at him from her seat. He scratched his head.

"That Rubik's Cube from earlier—something's definitely off about it, right?"

He tried to recall what the cube had looked like.

"But it was just a regular 3x3 cube. You just memorize the algorithms and solve it. What, they can't do that? No way..."

BAM!

Suddenly, the classroom door flew open with a kick.

"Guys! Insanely explosive news! Our own Cheng Peng has been poached by Zhiyuan High School!"

Chen Xi slammed his hand on the podium, his face a mask of shock as he addressed the class.

"What? No way, really? It's always our Linchuan Innovation Class poaching from others. Someone actually managed to poach from us?"

"Check the class group chat. Cheng Peng left the group yesterday. No wonder he hasn't been coming to school."

"But that doesn't make sense. The Innovation Class's prospects are way better than any other school's so-called top class."

"Can't understand it, but I respect it."

The students buzzed with discussion.

One student seemed to realize something.

"But what about the general knowledge competition next Monday? There are only three of us in the class specializing in that field."

"That's not a big deal." Chen Xi waved his hand dismissively. "The gap between contestants from other schools and our class is huge. Bai Bing plus me—we could bring a dog along and still win easily."

At that, Jiang Chen, sitting in the back row, suddenly spoke up.

"If the only competitors are students from other schools, then sure, no problem. But didn't that Cheng Peng just transfer to one of those schools?"

Hearing this, the entire class went silent for a moment. They looked at Jiang Chen with slightly puzzled expressions.

Did they not hear clearly...

"I just said, didn't Cheng Peng transfer to another school? That means our opponents won't be so weak anymore."

The whole class remained silent, instead falling into brief contemplation.

No one brushed off Jiang Chen's words.

In the Innovation Class—in this class of the sharpest minds in the entire province—no one took any classmate's remarks lightly.

But that brief silence once again reshaped Jiang Chen's understanding of the average IQ in this world.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, put on a genial smile, and explained patiently.

"I mean, is it possible that the other school poached him precisely so that Cheng Peng could represent them in this competition?"

At this, the students suddenly understood. Chen Xi quickly pulled out his phone and logged into the competition's official website.

"Zhiyuan High School... Zhiyuan... found it. Contestants: Zhang Ze, Li Chuwei... and Cheng Peng..."

"Jiang Chen guessed right. Cheng Peng will be competing against us—for Zhiyuan High School—in two days."

Zhiyuan High School? Zhang Ze?

Jiang Chen froze for a moment upon hearing Chen Xi, then gave a mocking little smile. He knew Zhang Ze—he was the son of the chairman of Zhiyuan's school board. Zhang Ze was the reason Jiang Chen had been expelled and rejected by other schools.

Given Zhang Ze's level, he had no business being in a competition like this. He was probably only entered because his father—having poached Cheng Peng and feeling confident of victory—wanted to pad his son's résumé with some gold-plating.

After all, the winning team in this competition would earn a direct recommendation slot for admission to a prestigious university.

Tch. Disgusting.

Meanwhile, up at the podium, Chen Xi's gaze swept across the room and landed on Bai Bing, who had been staring blankly at Jiang Chen.

"Bai Bing. With Cheng Peng as the opponent... can we win?"

Bai Bing snapped out of her daze and gave a small shake of her head. "Against the reigning champion, no one can claim certainty. But I'll do my best."

Chen Xi grinned. "No worries. I'm here too. None of Cheng Peng's teammates are reliable. The two of us together—we'll still win easily."

As everyone was discussing this, Li Mingde's voice came from outside the door.

"Jiang Chen. Come to my office for a moment."

...

Inside the office, Li Mingde pulled out a chair and placed it in front of Jiang Chen.

"Have a seat."

Once Jiang Chen sat down, Li Mingde continued.

"You've probably heard by now that Cheng Peng was poached by Zhiyuan. Their goal is obvious—they're aiming for this weekend's competition."

"Yeah, I just found out."

"With him gone, Linchuan High's team is shorthanded." Li Mingde looked at Jiang Chen. "I want you to fill in."

"Eh? Why me?" Jiang Chen was puzzled.

"Most of the other students in class already have competition experience. This is a good chance for you to get a feel for the atmosphere. You don't have to answer any questions—just observe and learn for now."

Seeing that Jiang Chen remained silent, Li Mingde smiled again.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Cheng Peng is strong, but Bai Bing is also very skilled. And Chen Xi—that kid looks like a slacker, but when it counts, he's way more reliable than he seems."

"Alright, teacher."

Jiang Chen didn't say anything more. Truth be told, pressure wasn't exactly a problem.

He was absolutely certain that if he chose to compete, he could make his opponents question their very existence.

But having just arrived in this world, standing out too abruptly still made him a bit hesitant.

Still, if he could let the others carry him to victory, there was no harm in going along to see what it was like.

"By the way, Jiang Chen, have you thought about which university you'd like to attend?" Li Mingde asked suddenly.

"A good one would be fine. I think Jinling University is pretty good—close to home, too."

Hearing this, Li Mingde shook his head.

"No, Jinling University isn't right for you. Tell you what—I know someone at Qingbei University. If you get a good result in this competition, you should be able to get a recommendation slot for Qingbei. You can go directly there, and I'll find you a well-funded, responsible advisor."

"Sure, that works for me."

Jiang Chen had no reason to refuse. Qingbei was superior to Jinling University both in location and in resources. And the capital city offered much better prospects for the future.

As he was leaving the office, Jiang Chen spotted Bai Bing standing by the window in the hallway. When she saw him, she turned away awkwardly and began fiddling with her Rubik's Cube—twisting it randomly, with no visible pattern or goal.

She really can't solve it.

Jiang Chen walked over and stopped beside her.

Without looking at him, Bai Bing asked quietly, "Jiang Chen... do you think this weekend... can we win?"

"I don't know much about the competition yet. But you and Chen Xi both seem pretty strong."

"If you were the one competing... would you win?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I..." Jiang Chen paused. "Probably not." He smiled and casually changed the subject.

By the window, Bai Bing's fingers stopped fiddling with the Rubik's Cube.

Looking at the jumbled, unsolved mess of colors in her hands, she softly murmured to herself.

"Is that so..."

Meanwhile, in the office.

Li Mingde had pulled out the exam paper Jiang Chen had completed that morning and laid it flat on his desk.

He looked at the answers. Not a single mistake.

But that wasn't what stunned him.

It was the fact that the solutions were clearly written in the space for a single question, yet Jiang Chen had written down multiple correct methods for solving it.

On top of that, at the very end of the paper, Jiang Chen had casually scribbled a few lines:

"These questions are way too easy. But since you picked them, Teacher, they're probably enough to sort the students by level. Still, I remember that sort of question after learning first-order linear equations in two variables—does this mean that after a thousand years, education hasn't advanced at all? Haha."

Li Mingde looked out the window.

His gaze drifted to the sky beyond. A breeze stirred the leaves outside, and somewhere far off, a bird called out.

"The rules of this world... are about to be rewritten." He lit a cigarette, then snuffed it out.

"What a joke. This world has been waiting over a thousand years."

His voice was so faint it was barely audible.