At this moment, George's murderous intent was overflowing.
However, after they returned from the photoshoot, Gwen explained to a curious Helen that the photos were for the election. Still, Helen, ever worried about the well-being of her future star son-in-law, forced George to call Locke right under her watchful eye.
The hunting trip for this week was canceled.
Actually, it wasn't just this week. The hunting trips for the next two months were canceled.
Locke was a bit suspicious of the timing. George, under Helen's stare, let out a forced, boisterous laugh and told Locke—entirely against his true feelings—that these next two months were for the campaign, so he should focus on the competitions and seize the presidency.
Locke was genuinely touched. Although he could hear the slight stiffness in George's voice, it didn't matter. He felt a flicker of warmth.
Especially after Helen sent him a follow-up text message offering her full support and encouragement, Locke felt a surge of confidence. The momentum was truly on his side.
What was a Student Council President? Just a stepping stone. He might not be able to run for President of the United States yet, but in the future, once his influence was broad enough... a mere President? Heh.
The Presidency was for the future, but the Student Council Presidency was for right now. If he couldn't even take down a high school election, how could he expect to rule later?
This wave was a guaranteed win! In his dictionary, there was only victory!
*Ding!*
[Quest Triggered!]
[Quest: "I Am the President!"]
[Base Rewards: "10,000 Achievement Points," "10,000 Potential Points," "90% Off Treasure Refresh Voucher 1 (Guaranteed to refresh a 90% off item)."]
[Bonus Multiplier Mode: National High School Comprehensive Knowledge Competitions 12. For every trophy secured, the rewards are doubled. Upon final election victory, the multiplier can stack up to 20x!]
[Quest Description: "You are the electricity, you are the light, you are the only myth. Perhaps you can use your talent for student management to accumulate experience for managing your future organizations."]
[Quest Note: "I told you to come to New York when you were five, but you didn't believe me. If you had, you'd probably have saved up enough for Divinity by now. Good luck, President Locke!",]
With a thought, the quest and rewards materialized, serving as fuel to ignite his motivation. Locke looked at the note in the quest log and his eye twitched.
'Come to New York at five?' Heh. He probably wouldn't have survived a week. Before he successfully accumulated enough points to unlock the Tenacity talent, Locke had lived a life of extreme caution and low-profile growth.
But... a base reward of 10,000, with a potential 20x multiplier? That was 200,000 Achievement and Potential points.
Not bad.
Locke's eyes shimmered. Rounding up, this was likely going to be the easiest "big score" he'd ever made.
"System!"
"Add points."
Locke stood on the balcony, looking down at the bourbon in his glass. He drained it in one gulp and turned back toward the room. "This time, I'm going to crush them!"
He had a cheat code. If he wanted something, he got it. If others wouldn't give it to him, he'd take it himself!
...
March 12th.
the National High School Comprehensive Knowledge Competitions officially kicked off. On this day, staff from the National High School Committee traveled to various schools across the country to conduct the preliminary rounds.
This comprehensive competition wasn't open to just any high school. Some schools weren't even qualified to participate. Specifically, schools focused on "happy education" weren't suited for this kind of brain-draining event—schools like a certain public high school in Queens, often jokingly referred to as the "New York Prison Affiliate."
It was undeniable that "happy education" schools had geniuses, too. But those students never stayed long; they'd be scouted by elite schools within a year and offered full-ride scholarships to transfer.
To put it simply, if elite schools were gladiatorial arenas, then "happy" schools were breeding grounds for mediocrity.
While some schools weren't qualified to join, others were so prestigious they didn't need to participate in the preliminary rounds. Midtown High was one of them. Because they had won seven trophies the previous semester, Midtown High acted as the "defending champion," waiting at home for the challengers to arrive.
But that didn't mean Locke was taking it easy. From the second day of the competition, Midtown High began receiving the twelve sets of preliminary exam questions. The faculty committee began drafting targeted practice materials.
Locke felt like he was being robbed. For thirty straight days, he was doing three sets of comprehensive exam papers a day.
Fortunately, after some firm negotiation with the system, it decided not to embezzle his earnings. It released his "labor" base rewards—a total of 45,000 Achievement Points and 45,000 Potential Points.
During this period, Locke had to endure the pain of spending points to buy several full-priced Stamina Potions. He drank one himself and secretly slipped the others into the drinks of Gwen, Cindy, Kahn, and Matt.
Otherwise, while Locke would have been fine, Gwen and the others would have collapsed under the pressure.
He had no choice. On the first day of the league, during his interview with Betty, Locke had made a grand declaration: he would take all twelve trophies and use them as his throne to enter the Student Council.
That was how Matt had joined the team. Matt's full name was Matt Russell. He was one of the six transfer students this year, originally from a rural high school in New Jersey, scouted for his potential.
Of the six transfers—excluding Carrie and the two siblings who hadn't appeared yet—the remaining two were from New Jersey as well. One was Steve Jordan, who, true to his surname, was a basketball player brought in to fill a potential vacancy in the team leadership.
The other was Andrew Detmer. This Andrew was part of Midtown High's "welfare program." As a prestigious school, Midtown would offer invitations to students from difficult backgrounds who showed potential, essentially as a PR move. Their tuition was waived, but they were expected to be the faces of the school's philanthropic efforts.
...
By April 2nd, the month-long training finally came to an end. The challengers from outside had been decided, and they were also from New York.
However, it wasn't Trinity High, the school everyone assumed was the only true rival for Midtown.
Instead...
"Brooklyn?"
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"How could Trinity lose to Brooklyn?"
Gwen and the others looked at the results in disbelief. Trinity High wasn't just a private school for Wall Street elites; it was the number one elite school in New York and consistently ranked higher than Midtown on national charts. Yet, Brooklyn—ranked fifth in New York and 55th nationally—had defeated them?
The most unbelievable part? It was a 12-0 sweep. That wasn't just a defeat; it was a massacre.
"How? Is it because this year is the 85th anniversary of Captain America's birth?"
"What?"
"Brooklyn is Steve Rogers' alma mater. Word is, for the July anniversary, Brooklyn is planning something huge. Did the referees blow 'whistles' just for the narrative?"
"Surely not."
As they speculated, Mrs. Codd, the faculty advisor, walked in. "Stop guessing. The Trinity team went to a restaurant the night before the match. Apparently, they had a 'traditional' feast. On the day of the competition, all five of them were hospitalized. The referee panel forfeited the match to Brooklyn."
"What?"
"Food poisoning?"
"The whole team in the hospital?"
Locke looked at Mrs. Codd, speechless. "Tell me they didn't use sewage water to cook the food."
Locke was just joking, but Mrs. Codd froze. "How did you know?"
Locke's mouth fell open.
Mrs. Codd sighed. "After Trinity's protest failed, they called the police. They raided the restaurant and found five large barrels of sewage water. Trinity has a lot of resources, so the lab results came back instantly. Those five students are currently getting their stomachs pumped."
The group looked at one another in silence.
Mrs. Codd shook her head. "To avoid this happening to you, for the next three days until the competition, your meals will be strictly handled by the nutritional cafeteria. The Principal and Board of Trinity are currently livid."
After all, when Locke made his boast about taking twelve trophies, Trinity had fired back, mocking him and claiming Midtown wouldn't even get two. And now, Trinity was out of the running because of a stomach bug, leaving the spoils for the dark horse, Brooklyn.
"Here," Mrs. Codd handed the files to Locke. "These are the dossiers on the Brooklyn team. Don't underestimate them. This year, their strength is nothing to scoff at."
***
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