Lin Beichen was filled with anticipation. Everything was progressing too smoothly, and he didn't feel the slightest bit tired or wanting to rest. He immediately began visualizing again.
In the fantasy of "Illusion Becomes Reality," two mysterious forces emerged from the position of "swelling," and then drove them towards his palms!
"Da da... da da... da da..."
In the pitch-black bedroom, tiny flashes of light flickered, making crackling sounds.
Electricity came!
Lin Beichen wasn't surprised by this result. After all, this was only the first time; previously, the first attempt at generating electricity with his palms had never failed.
"Now let's see what happens next!"
He didn't waste any time and immediately began the second attempt.
He repeated everything he had just done.
"Da da... da da... da da..."
The familiar sound rang out.
If it weren't the middle of the night, Lin Beichen would have burst out laughing. This feeling of everything going smoothly was simply... too exhilarating!!!
One more push!
He tried again for a third time, a fourth time...
Every time he heard the crackling sound, his body and mind would experience a joyful uplift!
"It's just that the power of this electricity is still too weak!"
"Now that I've completely mastered generating electricity with my palms..."
"Is it time to move on to the next step?"
"Perhaps study how to enhance the power of this electricity? At least to the legendary level of Palm Thunder!"
By the sixth attempt, Lin Beichen had begun to ponder the future and what lay ahead!
However, before he could think further.
Suddenly!
The bright smile on his face immediately froze!
It failed!
A mysterious failure!
The familiar crackling sound was gone too.
Lin Beichen: ?
"What's going on??"
"How did it fail???"
He temporarily stopped thinking about the future and quickly began visualizing again. The "swelling" position, while not as profound as before, was still clearly felt.
"Why did it fail??"
He couldn't help but visualize again. However, this time the result was unexpected.
"Da da... da da... da da..."
The electricity returned to his palms!
Lin Beichen: ???
"Why did it succeed this time?"
"Is it playing tricks on me??"
This piqued his curiosity about what was happening, so he visualized again.
The eighth time was a success!
The ninth time was a success!
The tenth time was a failure!
...
He visualized another dozen times in total, and although he succeeded most of the time, there were occasional failures!
"What's going on??"
Lin Beichen checked all the situations he could think of in his visualized world, and there were no problems.
"Could it be..."
"It's like when you look at a Chinese character for a long time, it stops making sense?"
Thinking of this, he felt he might need to take a break. Just as he finished his last visualization, he noticed that the "swelling" position was already on the verge of becoming blurry.
Enough is enough!
Learning from his mistakes, Lin Beichen wouldn't make the same one twice. Tonight, oh wait, it was almost 1 a.m., so technically early this morning, he decided not to continue generating electricity with his palms. He planned to deepen the "swelling" position and then go to bed.
"But..."
"Which university should I go to?"
After deepening the "swelling" position, Lin Beichen had been ready to sleep, but then he suddenly thought of this question. He pondered it for a while, and eventually fell asleep, deep in thought.
When he opened his eyes again, it was broad daylight.
He wasn't waking up naturally, but was disturbed by the notification sound of a text message from his phone, which he had turned on last night.
He glanced at his phone; the time was 7:54.
"Who could it be?"
"Who sends a text this early in the morning?"
Lin Beichen opened the text and found it was from Li Yang—
[Chen Bro, we set the time for the teacher appreciation banquet yesterday. It's three days later, at Joyful Grand Hotel, 7 pm. I noticed you were offline the whole time, so I sent you a text to inform you. If you see this, let me know. I'm going for a morning run now. Bye~]
Lin Beichen: ...
Couldn't you send this text after your morning run?
Though he grumbled in his heart, he still sent back a text saying he got the message.
However, just after he sent the text.
An almost instant reply came back.
Li Yang: "Oh wow, the top scorer is up so early and even replied to my text. I'm really honored!"
Lin Beichen: "To hell with you!"
"..."
He was joking around with his good friend, completely unaware that the internet, which had praised and admired him yesterday, was starting to turn against him!
However...
He seemed to be unaware of yesterday's praise and admiration as well.
At this moment, on Weibo.
[First Full Marks High School Graduate in History] was still at the top, but it made the second trending topic even more glaring—
[A Genius or a Madman?]
The topic was still heating up, with the potential to reach the top spot!
Within this topic, there were no official accounts posting, only non-official media accounts and some big influencers looking to ride the wave and gain more views.
Peach Video: "East Mountain Province, on the North Mountain, full marks high school graduate Lin Beichen was caught in a bizarre action. The filmer claims it looked like he had a mental breakdown."
Chaopai News: "Yesterday, a young man with odd behavior was found on the North Mountain's summit. He claimed to be there to experience a lightning storm and made strange celebratory movements. Netizens confirmed it was the all-subject full marks high school grad—Lin Beichen!"
Professor Dong: "Genius or madman? Based on my experience, this may be a classic case of going from one extreme to another. Lin Beichen's overexcitement has overstimulated his neurons, causing this situation. Future treatment might be complicated, and a prodigy might just end here!"
Expert Gou: "Indeed, genius and madman are two sides of the same coin. Lin Beichen might have exerted his brain to the limit during the exams, now showing aftereffects. It's truly a pity!"
"..."
These Weibo posts included not only their opinions but also attached short video clips.
Though the content of the videos varied, it was clear they were edits combining two or three videos.
And those two or three videos...
Were taken by people hiding from the rain in the pavilion, using their phones!
In fact, the original uploaders didn't intend to defame Lin Beichen. They merely shared clips on their social media like WeChat Moments and TikTok as a way to document their lives, and there were no reports about Lin Beichen at the time!
But unexpectedly...
Those videos were dug out by internet sleuths and shared online to gain traffic!
Given Lin Beichen's current popularity...
The spread was incredibly rapid!
One person shares, ten share, then a hundred...
In an instant, it led to the current situation!
"No way, has Lin Beichen gone mad??"
"Looks like he's really gone mad. Who would act like that normally?"
"Oh my god, this isn't just a young prodigy failing, he went crazy right after becoming the top scorer?"
"What's the big deal? He is, after all, the first full marks high school graduate in history. His thinking can't be like ours. A genius always has unexpected behavior; he mustn't be mad!"
"Hmm? What's with these comments? Just because someone goes to the mountain top to watch a thunderstorm, they're crazy? Don't your consciences hurt?"
"I sensed something was off in his interview—so-called innate talent? That's pure madness!"
"..."
Unlike those news accounts and influencers who chose the most attention-grabbing way to post on Weibo, many reasonable comments could be found in their comment sections. Though outnumbered by those eager to watch the controversy unfold, it wasn't a one-sided scenario.
The arguments in the comment sections were intense.
After ripping into each other, in the end, both sides were wondering...
When will Lin Beichen come forward and explain?
And slap the opposing side in the face!
Slap them bagpipes!