Professor Kant, standing beside Eichi, asked with curiosity, "Eichi, how many S-grades do you think you'll get?"
Eichi gave a mysterious smile and countered, "Professor Kant, how many S-grades do you think I can get?"
Professor Kant shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure, but with your strength, I think you can get at least two."
Eichi didn't argue. Instead, he played along, saying, "Is that so? I also feel like I can get two S-grades."
For this Junior Breeder assessment, a candidate must achieve at least four D-grades to pass and receive their Junior Breeder certificate; missing even one is not permitted.
At that moment, the giant screen in the center lit up, and a voice broadcasted through the speakers.
"Attention, all candidates. The Junior Breeder assessment has officially concluded."
"The official rankings will be displayed in three minutes."
The chatter among the crowd gradually died down. The voices in the hall grew quieter until they faded into silence. Everyone stared at the big screen—Eichi, Kant, Diao Kato, Karasawa, and Akanishi all watched intently.
In the western corner, Yui looked at the screen with a calm face, but Sakuraba noticed her hands were clenched tight. This revealed that Yui's heart was far from peaceful.
At a table to the east, Moriguchi slowly sipped his tea while a student behind him stared at the screen with a face full of nerves.
To the north, Sugisaki still looked as though he hadn't slept enough. The three students beside him watched the screen with expectation.
In an office, Nagayama also waited for the results with apparent calm, but his hands gripped the armrests of his chair tightly. His twin students were nearby; the older brother stared at the screen solemnly, while the younger brother's expression was a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
Under the weight of everyone's expectations, the countdown began on the screen.
With a ding, the page refreshed, and the rankings instantly appeared. Everyone wished their eyes could grow onto the screen as they frantically searched for their names.
After the rankings appeared, the hall remained silent for a few seconds before a voice broke the stillness.
"Yes! I passed!"
The atmosphere exploded instantly.
"Great, I passed!"
"D, D, D, D! Four Ds, I passed!"
"Why? I was just a little bit short..."
"Waaa, Teacher, I didn't pass."
"I finally passed! I took it twice and I finally passed!"
Various voices rang out in a flurry of discussion. Some were happy, some sad, some excited, and some regretful—a true display of the human condition.
Among them, several people fixed their eyes on the top left corner the moment the results appeared. When they saw that name, some felt joy, some felt loss, and some felt unwilling.
As soon as the scores came out, Eichi looked at the top left. Seeing the familiar name, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Professor Kant also saw the name. He turned to look at Eichi, his eyes filled with shock and an expression of utter disbelief.
The moment Nagayama saw the first-place entry, he slammed his hands against the armrests of his chair. The younger twin brother looked at his older brother, Kurokawa, with concern. The older twin clenched his fists, his face full of resentment. His name appeared third on the list:
Name: Kurokawa Results: S, S, A, S Rank: 3
Kurokawa had originally thought that with his strength, first place would be no problem. Now, reality had delivered a slap to his face. Not only was he not first, he wasn't even second.
His younger brother appeared in seventh place:
Name: Koike Results: A, A, A, A Rank: 7
Nagayama felt a sharp sting of regret. He had lost; he had been played by that fellow Kant. After his momentary heartache, he looked at the name in the first-place position with shock. These scores were simply...
After a moment of resentment, Kurokawa calmed himself. He loosened his clenched fists, having thought it through.
At the same time, Yui looked at the rankings. She felt a slight sense of loss at not seeing her name in the top spot, but her eyes landed on her name in second place:
Name: Yui Results: S, S, A, S Rank: 2
She wasn't surprised by this result. Instead, she let out a sigh of relief and said happily to Sakuraba, "Auntie, I'm second."
Sakuraba stroked Yui's head and smiled. "My Yui is the best."
Yui basked in the praise for a moment before looking at the first-place name. "In the end, he still took first."
"His results exceeded our expectations, yet they are within the realm of reason," Sakuraba remarked.
Yui nodded, staring at the screen, her thoughts unknown.
Moriguchi saw the fourth-place ranking and nodded at the student behind him, who was beaming with joy. Sugisaki glanced at the rankings of his three students and went back to sleep. Their rankings were eighth, ninth, and tenth respectively.
Karasawa found his name as soon as the rankings appeared. Just like before, he was 5th. Akanishi was right next to him at 6th. This time, Akanishi wasn't angry; he accepted the fact calmly.
Looking at the first-place scores, Karasawa couldn't help but marvel. That's just too incredible!
Suddenly, someone in the hall shouted, "This first-place person is way too amazing!"
On the screen, the top entry read:
Name: Yoshino Eichi Results: S, S, S, S Rank: 1
People began to exclaim in wonder, "This Yoshino Eichi is too strong, he actually got four S-grades!"
"He even got an S in Pokéblock production, which is such a difficult category."
"That means the quality of the Pokéblocks he made was Perfect."
"This is too monstrous. I struggled just to make a Defective one and almost failed."
"And he got four S-grades. How long has it been since we've seen a 4S? The last time was five years ago."
The crowd discussed Eichi's rank and scores fervently. Diao Kato was among the shocked. Usually, if he had ranked 16th, he would be very proud. But now he realized there was nothing to be proud of; compared to Eichi, he was far too behind.
Everyone around Eichi turned to look at him. Their gazes were very familiar to him—exactly like the looks classmates gave the first-place student back in his previous life whenever exam rankings were released. It was a gaze full of envy and longing.
Professor Kant turned to Eichi and said, "Eichi, you knew you could get a 4S, didn't you?"
"I didn't know for sure, but I guessed," Eichi replied. "I have some confidence in my own strength."
Professor Kant shook his head with a smile. "I don't even know what to say anymore. Eichi... you've really done me proud." He laughed loudly and added, "This means I've won. I really want to see the expression on Nagayama's face when he sees me later. It's bound to be wonderful."