Logically speaking, choosing the only female member of the opposing team as an opponent would be the best choice.
After all, in the field of mathematics, males naturally hold some advantages.
However, on Medford's side, Mike's previous "performance" was so successful that it misled many uninformed outsiders.
The Marymount Math Olympiad team's five members discussed it briefly. Given Mike's previous performance, they quickly reached a consensus and decided on their opponent for the challenge match.
"Our chosen opponent is their Mike," said Carter, the Marymount captain.
However, contrary to what the Marymount Math Olympiad team had expected, upon hearing their choice, Medford High showed no signs of dejection; instead, a small cheer erupted from their team.
This made Carter, from the Marymount Team, frown slightly. For some reason, at this moment, he had a bad premonition.
"Very good, Marymount has made their choice." The old professor, who was hosting, nodded, then looked at the Medford Math Olympiad team: "What about your choice?"
The Medford Team members, who knew Mike's true skill level, could no longer hide their smiles when they saw that the opposing team had indeed chosen Mike.
Especially Kevin, the captain of the Medford Math Olympiad team, his face was now full of smugness. It was he who had first proposed the idea of Mike pretending to be a novice.
If Mike could successfully help the school win the Math Olympiad Champion this time, Kevin believed he deserved at least half the credit.
"It's a pity they didn't choose me; I didn't get a chance to personally defeat that curly-haired guy…" Kevin, looking like he was getting an advantage and showing off, deliberately put on a regretful expression and continued, "How about it, Mike, who do you want to pick as your opponent? How about that girl with the braces? You can charm her to death with your charisma…"
With his mood relaxed, Kevin quickly revealed his true nature, even finding leisure to joke around.
However, his suggestion was still quite reliable.
Normally, by choosing a female as an opponent, Mike would indeed have a great advantage.
"I want to challenge Carter from the other side." Mike made his choice without much thought.
"Car… Carter? Are you sure?" Kevin was a little surprised to hear Mike's choice.
Although Kevin didn't like the curly-haired guy on the other side, after long observation, he still quite recognized his strength.
And in the "Sudden Death" segment, where one question determines the winner, choosing the opposing team's strongest captain as an opponent was clearly not a good idea.
Cady and the other two Math Olympiad team members also showed surprised expressions upon hearing Mike's choice. However, out of trust in Mike, they did not voice any doubts.
"I'm sure." Mike affirmed his choice again.
"Alright, I trust you…" Time was pressing, so Kevin didn't say much more. Then, he turned to the host and said, "We choose that curly… Carter from the other side, as our opponent."
Clearly, he had slipped up and meant to say "curly-haired guy."
The old professor didn't mind Kevin's slip of the tongue. After nodding, he continued with the competition process: "Next, please invite Carter and Mike from both teams to the center of the stage to begin your 'Sudden Death' competition."
Accompanied by the encouragement of their teammates and applause from the audience, Mike and Carter walked out of their teams and came to the very center of the stage.
"Mike, right? If I remember correctly, you're an eleventh-grade student, aren't you?" Carter was quite surprised to be chosen as his team's representative, and his bad premonition grew stronger.
However, as the captain of the Marymount Math Olympiad team, Carter naturally had his own pride. At this moment, he showed a polite smile and said, "Although I don't know where your confidence comes from, I still have to regretfully tell you that Marymount Academy will be taking this year's Math Olympiad Champion."
No matter what the other party's plan was, Carter, standing in the one-on-one challenge round, did not believe he would lose, due to his confidence in his own strength.
"Is that so?" Facing the harsh words, Mike smiled and likewise said, "It's a pity, I'm also very interested in this year's Champion; let's rely on our own abilities."
Seeing Mike remain so calm even at this point, many more doubts arose in Carter's mind.
However, before he could speak again, the old professor in front, seeing the two contestants in position, asked, "Are you ready?"
The two preparing for the competition in the center of the stage immediately focused their minds and nodded simultaneously.
"Very good." The old professor, who was hosting, reiterated the rules of the "Sudden Death": that is, one question determines the winner.
After clearly explaining the rules of the new competition format, the old professor stepped aside, revealing the projection screen behind him, and said, "Please calculate the answer to the following question."
An Math Olympiad formula for finding the limit value was projected onto the screen.
This set of formulas was very short, but if calculated according to the universal formula, many different answers would appear.
This was also the trap of this question.
Moreover, while the universal mathematical formula can solve most math problems, the calculation steps are also very extensive.
Without scratch paper, trying to mentally calculate the entire set of formulas was not an ordinary level of difficulty.
Just as Carter was frowning in thought, Mike had already raised his hand.
Seeing someone get the answer so quickly, the old professor was surprised and said, "Mike from Medford High, please state your answer."
"The limit of this problem approaches many natural numbers, so it does not exist," Mike answered definitively.
The second hidden trap in this question was that the infinite limit value could easily lead people to calculate the answer as 0.
But for Mike's super brain, these hidden traps were nothing.
"Congratulations, Mike, for answering correctly!"
The old professor announced with a smile: "And congratulations to Medford High for winning this year's Math Olympiad competition Champion!"
"How could this happen?" The opposite Carter looked stunned.
Everything happened too suddenly; Carter hadn't even reacted until the old professor announced the result.
Below, the audience, who had witnessed the birth of the Math Olympiad Champion, had already burst into applause.
This final Math Olympiad question was not easy even in a professional field, which fully demonstrated the value of the one-on-one "Sudden Death."
And Mike, who instantly got the answer to the problem, truly deserved everyone's applause.
Over at the Medford Math Olympiad team's answer area, Kevin, who had long been annoyed with Carter, now saw the other party's stunned expression, and it felt like drinking a glass of ice water in summer—utterly refreshing!
Then, he revealed his true nature even more, darting to the center of the stage, pulling open his T-shirt towards Carter, and spontaneously performed a rap: Medford is invincible, making opponents powerless, go home and eat milk…
After being defeated, Carter had more doubts. He had originally wanted to chat with Mike for a bit, but seeing Kevin's wildly arrogant behavior, he frowned, shook his head, and retreated to his own team.
"Next, I invite everyone from the Medford Math Olympiad team to the center of the stage!" The old professor frowned at Kevin's erratic behavior, but in the end, he didn't say much and continued to host the competition as usual.
The stage was then left for the Medford Math Olympiad team to celebrate.
"Mike, well done!"
Even after everyone from the Medford Math Olympiad team was on stage, Kevin was still in a state of excitement. He squeezed next to Mike and mumbled, "I knew that curly-haired guy was no match for you, that son of a bitch curly-haired guy…"
"Alright, Kevin, stop talking." Mike didn't want to hear the other person say anything more unpleasant.
Didn't he see that everyone else had retreated far away, looking disgusted and pretending not to know Kevin?
There was no helping it; Kevin's current smug demeanor was just too embarrassing.