Chapter 591: Get Lost
The Traditional Medicine Association was highly efficient. They not only arranged enough proctors but also mobilized a large number of members to help with grading.
The exam finished in the morning, and results came out in the afternoon.
At 4:45 PM, on the auditorium stage, Lucas and several officials held scanned test papers, handing them out one by one in front of everyone.
People's expressions rose and fell with the scores.
Compared to Rainy and the others' nervousness, James remained completely calm.
The first two hundred or so people all scored in the seventies and eighties, ranked in the hundreds, and were eliminated without question.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
"Nolan, 104 points, ranked 98th."
The whole room gasped. Though the score wasn't high, the ranking secured a spot in the city competition. Nolan, whose name was called, cheered on the spot.
"Preston, 113 points, ranked 78th."
"Cody, 108 points, ranked 93rd."
As high-scoring names were called out one after another, cheers grew louder and the oppressive atmosphere eased a bit.
"Rainy, 130 points, ranked first."
The entire room was shocked. This score made many people dizzy, and they all turned to look at Rainy.
Many people quietly sighed—beauty and talent combined.
Rainy walked up proudly to collect her paper, deliberately glancing at James with unmistakable contempt in her eyes—as if telling him they were from completely different worlds.
It took an hour to hand out all the papers. Everyone had received theirs, except James, who stood empty-handed.
Before Rainy and her friends could mock him, James stood up directly:
"Proctor, I didn't receive my paper."
No paper?
Countless eyes instantly turned toward him.
Rainy sneered:
"Probably your score was so low the proctor was too embarrassed to hand it out, trying to save you some face. And you dare to ask for it—aren't you afraid of embarrassing yourself?"
Her female companions and nearby test-takers burst into laughter.
Lucas seemed to have anticipated James would ask, his face turning cold:
"James, why wasn't your paper handed out? Don't you have any idea?"
James replied bluntly: "I have no idea. I only know I didn't get my paper and don't know my score."
"We didn't give you your paper because the exam committee determined you cheated."
Lucas's face darkened: "No, it's more serious than cheating—you broke the law."
Everyone was surprised and looked at James together.
James asked calmly: "What do you mean?"
Lucas spoke righteously: "I don't know where you stole the answers from, but I need to tell you—stealing answers is illegal."
"The Eleanor Cup isn't a joke. Stealing answers can land you in jail."
"Mr. Bell and the others are waiting for you in the conference room. Go confess right now. If your attitude is good, maybe you won't have to go to jail."
He pointed toward the door: "If you're not honest, you'll be taken away today."
"Stealing answers?"
Rainy and her friends were slightly surprised, then looked at James with even more contempt—no wonder he finished so quickly, he had stolen the answers.
James sneered: "You say I stole answers. Do you have proof?"
Lucas scoffed: "If you didn't steal the answers, how could you possibly get a perfect score?"
"Perfect score on multiple choice, perfect score on true/false, perfect score on short answer, and even the essay question was nearly identical to the standard answer."
"This is an S-level test. Even Mr. Bell and Ezra couldn't get a perfect score."
"Out of 1,200 test-takers, first place Rainy only scored 130 points."
"But you got a perfect score—if that's not stealing answers, what is?"
He looked at James with disdain: "Cheating, stealing answers—you're really disgracing traditional medicine."
Perfect score?
"Ha ha ha—"
"Someone got a perfect score on the Eleanor Cup, that's hilarious."
"If you stole the answers, just keep a low profile and score around 100. But a perfect score... that's like shouting 'I'm guilty.'"
Rainy and her friends were stunned at first, then burst into laughter. This score would make someone a genius among geniuses. And this "genius" had switched careers to study management—getting a perfect score on a traditional medicine exam, that kind of thing only happens in TV shows.
James ignored everyone's mockery and said word by word: "I earned this perfect score with my own ability."
"James, stop pretending. Just come clean."
Rainy's face looked ugly: "Others may not know you, but don't I? You don't know medicine at all."
Lucas stared at James: "Stop being stubborn, or things will get worse for you."
James remained calm: "You say I stole answers—whose answers were stolen? Have you received any reports of missing answers?"
"Besides, the questions were created by multiple proctors working together, and the answers are held separately by different proctors."
"Could I steal one set of answers, or did I somehow steal answers from all the proctors at once?"
"Even if I stole one set, by your own admission, even you couldn't get a perfect score. So with partial answers, I could get a perfect score?"
Multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions were created and graded separately by different proctors, and the essay questions were handled by several traditional medicine veterans.
Lucas was momentarily stunned.
The thousand-plus test-takers were also dumbfounded.
This really didn't make sense.
If James had stolen answers, the victimized proctor should have come forward by now. Even if one or two hadn't noticed, it was impossible that all the proctors hadn't discovered it.
Lucas forcibly muddied the waters: "That's exactly what I want to ask you—how did you steal all the answers without anyone noticing?"
"Sir, enough nonsense."
James's voice deepened: "I demand you give me questions right now, on the spot. If I can't answer them, I'll admit it. If I can answer them, clear my name."
"Otherwise, I'll file a complaint against you—abuse of authority and deliberate suppression."
"Give questions, give questions, James, do you really want Mr. Hogan to embarrass you in public?"
Rainy's face looked ugly. Clearly cheating but refusing to admit it—how could such a person be worthy of pursuing her?
"Fine, I'll give you a chance."
Lucas had obviously prepared for this. He sneered and pulled out a page from a traditional medicine book—on it were three diagnostic short-answer questions he had spent an hour drafting.
He slapped the questions on the podium: "Come up here and answer these three questions in front of everyone. Complete them within fifteen minutes, and I'll clear your name."
Without a word, James walked up to the podium, picked up a pen, and began answering.
Several proctors watched James closely to prevent him from cheating with hidden materials.
Rainy and her friends also stared at James, thinking he was just making a last desperate struggle.
In less than five minutes, James put down his pen: "Done."
"You really are a genius, finishing in five minutes..."
Lucas's face was full of sarcasm as he took the paper and scanned it.
He was fine until he looked, but once he did, cold sweat instantly broke out.
He stood there frozen.
This was impossible, absolutely impossible.
James had answered extremely casually, without even pausing to think, directly writing answers below the questions. Lucas had assumed he was just scribbling randomly.
Unexpectedly, everything was correct.
Not only all correct, but the disease analysis process was even clearer and more thorough than his own thinking.
James had solved them in five minutes.
How did he do it?
Could James really be a medical genius?
Did he really have to admit his mistake in public?
Did he really have to go to Mr. Bell and restore James's reputation?
After all, he was the one who insisted James had stolen answers and cheated.
No, absolutely not.
Lucas couldn't accept James's excellence, and besides, old grudges remained unsettled.
He steeled himself, crumpled the paper into a ball, and threw it directly out the auditorium window:
"What is this garbage? Not a single question is correct."
"Wasting everyone's time!"
"Get down from there."