5:00 PM sharp.
The jarring bell for the afternoon's final exam finally shrieked, hysterically tearing through the stagnant air of the examination hall.
To many, it sounded less like a trumpet of liberation and more like the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
After the proctor collected the papers, the classroom door was pulled open from the inside by the exhausted students.
Shen Yuan was practically shoved out with the tide of people. His face was covered in a visible, ashen exhaustion, as if he hadn't slept for several nights.
His steps were immeasurably heavier than they had been that morning, and his shoulders slumped slightly. The relaxed confidence of the self-proclaimed "clutch player" from the morning had vanished without a trace.
His mind felt numb, still buzzing with the echoes of math problems and geometric figures he hadn't been able to fully solve.
