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After a quick break, 2:00 PM rolled around, and the Math Olympiad semi-finals kicked off.
Unlike the morning preliminaries, the math hall was actually filling up. The people showing up now were the die-hards—the real math enthusiasts.
The stakes were way higher this afternoon. These next three matches would decide this year's champion, so the atmosphere was noticeably more intense.
Marymount Academy, the number one seed, was up first for the semi-finals.
Right from the jump, you could tell why they were the favorites. Excluding individual outliers, Marymount's overall level was just a cut above the rest. Even Caroline, that junior on their team, was a total rockstar. Her fundamentals were bulletproof.
As the question bank got tougher, their opponents started cracking under the pressure. Marymount, however, relied on their solid prep and crushed the first round of rotating questions without breaking a sweat.
"Big congratulations to Marymount Academy for securing the first spot in the finals!"
The old professor hosting the event announced the result, his voice booming a little louder over the scattered applause. Carter, Marymount's captain, flashed a winning smile and waved to the crowd, leading his team in a little victory lap.
After watching the morning rounds, Carter was convinced that no other school posed a real threat to their championship title. He looked like the cat who got the canary—he couldn't hide the smug look on his face if he tried.
"Damn curly-haired jerk..." Captain Kevin muttered. He already had a grudge, and seeing Carter's beaming face on stage just made him annoyed.
"Alright, Kevin, you're up next," Mrs. Sharon said, hyping up her team. "Go out there and do your thing. Don't be nervous. You guys are just as good as anyone here."
"Got it, Mrs. Sharon," Kevin said, puffing up his chest. "We're gonna crush that curly-haired weep in the finals."
Meanwhile, the old professor kept things moving. "Next up, let's welcome the teams from Medford High and Saint Yu High!"
Saint Yu High took bronze last year, so their math program was no joke. They had breezed through the morning preliminaries with a perfect score in the rotation round.
Once the Medford and Saint Yu teams took their spots in the answering zone, the second semi-final officially began.
As the match went on, Mike stuck to his script, playing the role of the "average" high school student perfectly.
The rest of the Medford team, who now knew the truth about Mike's abilities, wasn't nervous anymore. Instead, they were struggling to keep straight faces. Knowing the secret made watching Mike's "performance" hilarious. If they didn't stiffen their lips, they would have burst out laughing right there on stage.
Under this weird vibe, Mike managed to answer all his questions in the first round correctly, though he made it look like a series of close calls.
Saint Yu High was solid, too. By the end of the rotation round, they had also answered every question correctly.
With both teams tied perfect scores, they moved into the second round: The Buzzer Round.
There were ten questions in total. The first academy to buzz in and answer six correctly would take the win.
Beep... Beep... Beep...
In the buzzer round, each team had a button right in front of them.
Mike, with his superhuman reflexes, stopped pretending to be slow physically. The second the host finished reading a question, Mike slammed that button with lightning speed.
He didn't give the other team a ghost of a chance.
Of course, after securing the right to answer, he kept up his act by not answering himself. He just passed the opportunity to his teammates.
With Kevin fired up and Mike playing the role of the over-powered "rookie" sandbagging the competition, the Medford team was completely relaxed. Their flow was incredible.
Just like that, Mike used his insane hand speed to snatch the first six questions in a row.
With Captain Kevin there to guarantee the answers, Medford High crushed the round and marched into the finals with a dominant performance.
On the other side, the students from Saint Yu looked devastated.
The buzzer round had turned into a Medford solo show. Saint Yu didn't even get to participate. Losing a battle of wits because you couldn't hit a button fast enough? That was seriously frustrating.
"Congratulations to Medford High for making the finals," the professor announced. "Let's take a short break, and then we'll move on to the championship match!"
Since there were only three matches that afternoon, time was on their side. They scheduled a ten-minute intermission to let the second finalists catch their breath.
---
Towards the end of the break, over in the Medford zone, Mrs. Sharon went down the line, patting her students on the shoulder. Her voice was shaking a little. "Don't feel any pressure. You've already done amazing. I'm so proud of you all..."
You could tell that being one step away from the championship was making Mrs. Sharon, the math coach, a nervous wreck.
"Don't worry, teach. We've got this," Kevin said, looking determined.
Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, he laughed and pointed across the stage. "Look at those guys. We're beating them in the beauty pageant department by at least eight blocks."
It was true—people who joined the Math Olympiad team tended to be a bit... nerdy.
The five members of the Marymount team were no exception.
Especially Caroline, the junior. She wasn't exactly a beauty queen, and she didn't wear a drop of makeup. Her face was oily and dotted with freckles and acne. Add in the heavy braces and frizzy hair, and she wasn't exactly winning style points.
In contrast, Medford had Kevin with his hip-hop vibe, plus Mike and Katie, who were genuinely good-looking kids.
If this came down to fashion and looks, Medford was winning in a landslide.
"Don't comment on people's appearance, Kevin. It's rude," Mrs. Sharon said, shaking her head with a smile. "Focus on the match. Don't get cocky."
Seeing the old professor walking back onstage, Mrs. Sharon retreated to the audience section.
Back in the answering zone, the Medford team, who had been a little tense, was now relaxed thanks to Kevin's jokes. Rude or not, the guy had a point.
Once the host and both teams were ready, the curtain rose on the final battle for the championship.
As the number one and number two schools from last year, both teams had serious skills.
In the first rotation round of the finals, both teams nailed every single question without fail.
Mike continued to nail his part, perfectly maintaining his persona of a kid who was "just getting by."
"Excellent performance," the professor praised with a smile.
The question bank for the finals was obviously a tier harder than before. The fact that both teams were still batting a thousand showed that everyone had put in the work.
"Now," the professor asked before the buzzer round could start, "does anyone want to challenge the 'Sudden Death' rule?"
"Sudden Death" was a new feature introduced to the Math Olympiad this year. It was a one-on-one challenge mode.
Basically, one person represents the entire team, and a single question decides the winner.
Replacing the buzzer round with this mode involved a serious element of gambling.
Of course, if neither team requested it, the competition would just proceed with the standard buzzer format.
But with a flashy new rule like this, neither Kevin nor Carter was going to let it slide. Especially Carter, who had been studying the Medford team all day.
The moment the professor finished asking, both Carter and Kevin shot their hands up.
"We choose to invoke the 'Sudden Death' rule," Carter said confidently, after getting the nod from the professor.
As he spoke, his eyes drifted over to Mike.
"Very good. And Medford, any objections?" the professor asked, turning his head.
In reality, as long as one team chose it during the finals, the condition for "Sudden Death" was met. The professor was mostly just checking Kevin's vibe.
"His proposal suits me just fine. We accept the challenge," Kevin shouted, matching Carter's energy.
Seeing both sides agree, the professor smiled again. "Alright then. Will the captains please select the opponent you wish to challenge?"
The twist of the "Sudden Death" rule was that you didn't pick your own champion—you picked the person on the other team who had to answer.
It was a mode that tested the captains' judgment... and their luck.