Chapter 233

There was no question that Shermaine was incredibly fast. But with most of the audience still fixated on Kylie and the blue zone, hardly anyone noticed just how quickly she was solving problems. The few who did were glued to their screens, thoroughly impressed.

Barely ten minutes had passed when Shermaine calmly tapped the “Complete Task” button. What made this moment even more thrilling was that at the International Tech Forum, submitting a solution instantly triggered the system to evaluate it. If you failed, that was it, no second tries. The problem would be locked out for you and left to others.

A robotic voice chimed out. “Congratulations. Task completed.”

Without hesitation, Shermaine moved on to the next challenge.

The fluid confidence of her actions stunned the small group of people who had been watching her from the beginning. She had solved the first problem in under ten minutes, like it was nothing.

The next task, however, was on a whole different level. It required her to write a theoretical research paper on laser-irradiated uncooled microbolometer radiometers.

A low murmur of disbelief spread through the crowd. Anyone who’s been through college knew what that meant: long hours, mental exhaustion, sometimes even breakdowns. Some students literally lost weight trying to finish one. And now they wanted these tech elites to write one on the spot? The International Tech Forum really didn’t hold back.

To top it off, the paper would be graded not by humans, but by an AI system. Scoring anything below 90 meant automatic failure. The task wouldn’t count, no matter how close you got.

Shermaine had never worked directly in this field before. Still, she didn’t seem fazed. If anything, she looked intrigued. She spent five minutes pulling up academic references, skimming through articles, and building the context she needed. Then she sat down, fingers poised above the keyboard, and started typing.

In the VIP section, several international ambassadors were seated alongside Joshua, the face of Wallington’s next-gen energy and AI sectors. Everyone around him was trying to strike up a conversation, eager to get in his good graces. The room buzzed with small talk, mostly centered around guesses about which team would win the competition.

Shermaine’s pace had slowed visibly. It was understandable, given she was now writing a full-blown research paper. Most of the other contestants weren’t moving much faster either. Oddly enough, the blue team had picked up speed and just finished their second task.

Joshua, however, wasn’t paying attention to any of the chatter around him. His gaze was fixed on Shermaine. She sat at her station, completely focused, fingers flying across the keyboard. Anyone watching her now would’ve been stunned by the way she wrote, like the words were pouring straight out of her brain onto the screen.

That was his Shermaine.

No matter the field—medicine, engineering, anything—she always gave people a reason to be proud. To Joshua, she was like the ocean: vast, deep, and full of undiscovered brilliance. No matter how much you explored, you always knew there was more.

The paper took a bit longer than usual, fifteen minutes to be exact. But that was expected. It was, after all, heavy on theory. Once Shermaine double-checked everything, she hit submit. The AI system instantly began its evaluation. The final score was 98, which meant the task was completed.

For a moment, the red team stood there in disbelief. No one had expected things to move so quickly. They’d already cleared two tasks in what felt like no time at all.

Without missing a beat, Shermaine moved on to help Arthur. His task was more complicated, involving a slew of formulas and equations. It wasn’t the kind of thing one person could tackle quickly, especially not Arthur, who tended to take his time.

With Shermaine’s help, everything sped up. The third task was done. Then the fourth. Then the fifth. They fell into a rhythm.

With five minutes still left before the hour mark, the red team became the first to complete all eight tasks in the team challenge. Meanwhile, the blue team was still struggling with their last one.

The result was clear. The red team had won. The moment they finished, the system flagged the blue team’s mission as terminated.

When Kylie heard that the red team had cleared all eight sections, her face darkened. She’d been convinced her team would walk away with the win. But instead, they lost.

The red team couldn’t contain their excitement.

“Boa, you’re insane!”

“I honestly thought we were done for. We didn’t have specialists in two of the fields. I figured we’d hit a wall. But then you just… handled it all yourself.”

“I’m glad I stuck to my gut and stayed on the red team.”

Shermaine offered a cool, understated smile. “Just doing my job.”

Arthur couldn’t stop grinning. As a fellow Wallingtonian, he couldn’t be prouder.

Meanwhile, the spectators, especially those who had been cheering for the blue team, were left in stunned silence.

When everyone gathered back on the stage, the blue team wore complicated expressions. They had lost not just the glory, but a huge cash prize as well. Some who had originally been placed on the Red Team were now kicking themselves for switching sides.

The host stepped forward, mic in hand, “Boa, how did you manage to write a paper scoring 98 in just fifteen minutes? Laser technology isn’t even your main area of expertise. According to our data, you referenced academic papers and pulled up supporting material mid-task.”

The question, though neutral on the surface, only made the gap between Shermaine’s 98 and Kylie’s 90 all the more glaring. But the host asked it out of genuine curiosity.

Shermaine took the mic, pausing a moment before answering. “You’re right. It’s not my specialty. But it wasn’t particularly difficult. If there’s going to be another Tech Forum exchange in three years, I’d recommend raising the difficulty.”

The host blinked in disbelief. But come to think of it, that might actually be true for Shermaine. Even in the aerospace formula segment, she’d worked so fast it left the staff speechless.

Impressed, the host pressed on. “And what about the individual challenge? Any thoughts?”

Kylie was staring at Shermaine, her eyes faintly red.

Shermaine’s tone remained light, unbothered. “I’ll be taking first prize.”

If she didn’t win it, it would only be because she wasn’t in the game.