"I really thought you were an exam god, that you could easily come first in any test. Turns out there’s a time when even you don’t come first. Tsk! What’s that feeling..."

Before he finished, Nathalie Quinlan glanced at him, leaned back, placed a hand lazily behind her head, and interrupted his rambling: "I never said I couldn’t come first."

That one sentence successfully shut Sadam Vinson up!

Sadam Vinson: "..." So what are you trying to say?

The girl’s eyes seemed to see right through what he was thinking, and she smiled again, her expression relaxed: "Hmm, just saying casually."

Sadam Vinson, who took it seriously: ...

Nathalie was just joking with him, her eyes lowered, she straightened her expression and coughed lightly: "Ahem, this time it’s really uncertain."

"I don’t know about the progress of the other groups. Anyway, we’ve verified our direction, so we’ll see tomorrow."

She estimated that this time they wouldn’t be first, but neither would they be last.

As for which exact rank they could achieve, it depended on the performance of the other groups tomorrow.

*

The next day.

The day of the December group assessment at The First Research Institute.

Nathalie Quinlan arrived punctually at the large lecture hall for the assessment at 8:30.

When she arrived, there were already several groups of people in the large lecture hall, with many gathered together exchanging ideas.

As soon as she entered, she saw Williansen Barness and others in the corner.

Unlike others who were chatting enthusiastically.

No one was around Williansen Barness, Wincent Sullivan, and their group; everyone avoided them as if they were avoiding the plague.

Nathalie hummed, lowered her eyes and walked in, passing through the crowd in the large lecture hall and heading straight for the trio.

She was the Rookie of the Year.

The first one at The First Research Institute to score full marks in the first round and achieve 100% completion in the second round of an 8-level simulation experiment.

Nathalie was one of the more striking rookies at The First Research Institute.

Especially since she didn’t seem like someone who’d do research.

Even in The First Research Institute, where appearance wasn’t highly valued, some discussed the eye-catching looks of this year’s newly arrived Rookie of the Year in private.

However, Nathalie usually kept a low profile, spending most of her time cooped up with Wincent Sullivan doing research in the lab.

So, people at The First Research Institute rarely saw her in person.

Nathalie’s appearance drew a lot of attention.

"Is it her?"

"The 10th group..."

As she walked over, she could hear fragments of words like ’the 10th group,’ ’death group,’ and ’last place.’

However, Nathalie paid no mind to this, walking straight towards Williansen Barness and the others despite all the attention.

...

Williansen Barness and his group had long been accustomed to the cold and warm nature of The First Research Institute, and they were used to being ostracized.

So when they reached the large lecture hall and no one came over to talk to them, they weren’t bothered. The three of them gathered together and discussed who would go on stage next.

Just then, Wincent Sullivan saw the girl walking over, his eyes brightened, and he greeted Nathalie Quinlan with a smile: "Nathalie, over here."

He thought Nathalie hadn’t seen them yet.

But in reality, the girl had been heading towards them without looking away the entire time.

As Nathalie reached them.

Agnes Baker took her hand and smiled, "We’re discussing who should go on stage and do the presentation later."

The group assessment wasn’t exactly an exam, nor a competition, but it represented honor!

Everyone was doing their best to achieve a good result in the crucial December assessment, hoping that the major heads of the labs would see their capabilities.

Thus, the opportunity to present was very precious, usually reserved for the core members of the group."