Chapter 61: The Gateway Exam

The day before, 11181's website had accumulated 250,000 page views, and the combined views of various advertisements exceeded 600,000, setting a new record.

This equated to an advertising revenue of around 60 to 70 yuan for the day.

Among these views, the download count for the Legendary hack on the homepage reached 1231 times.

With such significant page views, Chen Xiao's influence also grew.

[Influence +5, cumulative influence 123.]

Chen Xiao then entered the hack's backend.

The total number of registered hack users was 960, with 12 of them being VIP users. The total income had exceeded 200 yuan.

"X!" Chen Xiao couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this data.

Chen Tianqiao introduced Legend to develop online games, but a hack that relied on Legend for survival could make more than 200 yuan in a single night.

How much could the game potentially earn?

Each player needed to recharge their point card after a while. A 30-yuan point card could be used for 4,500 minutes. This gives a glimpse of how profitable online games could be.

Moreover, during this era, Legend was essentially the online gaming monopoly.

Shengda had also rapidly amassed wealth since the rise of Legend.

During Shengda's peak, even BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) would tremble at their presence and not dare to look back.

When Shengda had just accumulated its first 100 million yuan in assets, the boss and employees at Penguin were still pretending to be girls online, chatting about trivial matters with male netizens.

Unfortunately, over the next two decades, Shengda would destroy its own game. Otherwise, in Chen Xiao's next life, BAT wouldn't stand a chance against Shengda at all.

The popularity of the hack further solidified Chen Xiao's determination to leverage the Legend platform to promote 11181.

...

Summer had arrived, and the weather was already becoming sultry. Ceiling fans whirled above Class 3 and 3, trying to relieve the heat.

Students were seriously focused on solving problems, and their textbooks seemed to tower higher than their heads on their desks.

The countdown by the blackboard indicated that the college entrance examination was three days away.

Despite the fan's breeze, the classroom remained stuffy.

"Watermelon's here!" Teacher Liao and a few boys walked in with a large pot of watermelon.

The quiet classroom erupted in cheers as the students dove into the watermelon.

Amidst bites of watermelon, everyone listened as Teacher Liao announced the allocation of examination rooms for the college entrance examination in three days.

According to the Education Department's arrangement, the exam rooms for the Jiangcheng College Entrance Examination would be spread across three schools: Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School, No. 2 Middle School, and No. 3 Middle School.

No. 3 Middle School was designated for the humanities exam, while No. 1 and No. 2 were for the science exam, with candidates randomly assigned.

This afternoon, the students needed to clear their desks and take their belongings home.

Chen Xiao looked at his just-issued admission ticket: Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School.

Shen Wei, Deng Chao, and others turned to him, asking, "Where did you get assigned?"

"Middle School No. 1. What about you guys?"

"Middle School No. 1!" Shen Wei exclaimed joyfully. She could attend school with Chen Xiao again and ride home together.

Yet, amidst the happiness, Shen Wei felt a pang of loss.

After the college entrance exam, the students of Class 3 and 3 would go their separate ways, and those days of biking to and from school together would be over.

Thinking of this, her eyes teared up. She turned her head, took a deep breath, and composed herself.

Deng Chao and others were assigned to Middle School No. 2, prompting a round of complaints.

Teacher Liao said emotionally, "It's been an honor to know you all for the past three years and to have been your homeroom teacher. I tend to nag and criticize, but starting from today, that's all in the past. I hope all of you perform well in the college entrance examination and shine in your futures!"

"Remember, no matter where life takes you, hold on to your dreams and the spirit of your struggles!"

With that, Teacher Liao erased all the math problems on the board and, using chalk, wrote:

Our journey is a sea of stars!

"Graduates!"

Graduates!

Even typically careless and rowdy boys like Deng Chao, Jiang Wei, and Zhang Yi were crying.

Especially Deng Chao, a burly guy with a rough voice, bawled like a pig being slaughtered.

Shen Wei was a very emotional girl, and while she was crying, she burst into laughter when she heard Deng Chao's pig-like wails, only to burst into tears again.

Soon, more and more students joined in tearing up their books and test papers, tossing them out of the classroom window on the sixth floor.

This wave of destruction spread, and the entire Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School building seemed to be blanketed in a white flurry. It was like the midst of a deep winter snowfall in the Northeast.

Students from lower grades also stood up, shouting in unison, "We will succeed in the college entrance examination! We will succeed in the college entrance examination!"

Chen Xiao watched Deng Chao tearing up his books and had a question to ask, "Brother Chao, let me ask you something."

Deng Chao finally stopped sobbing, his voice rough from the tears. "What... what do you want to ask, Brother Xiao?"

Chen Xiao posed the question, "Given that a book weighs 240 grams, the height of each floor of Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School is 3.3 meters, and your height is 183 cm. Question 1: Disregarding air resistance, how long would it take for the book to fall from above your head to the ground? Question 2: If, after the book has fallen for 1 second, a sudden gust of wind blows at a speed of 3 m/s, how far away from you would the book be?"

Upon hearing Chen Xiao's questions, Deng Chao's tears started flowing again. "Wah... wah... Brother Xiao, wah... what are you asking?"

Chen Xiao responded, "Just curious. Don't worry, the college entrance exam won't have questions like these."

Shen Wei, observing this situation, burst into laughter.

Shen Wei and Chen Xiao had already made plans to ride their bicycles to the exam center on the day of the college entrance exam.

As they parted ways, Shen Wei said, "Good luck! After the exam, take me to the internet cafe."

This girl hadn't forgotten their winter vacation promise.