Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 417

Elara leaned close to Mira's ear and whispered, "Show-off."

Mira nudged her with an elbow. "Watch it."

"Three," Mr. Harth said, holding up three fingers.

"Ugh, still just three? When am I finally going to sweep all five?"

If she couldn't do it at the state level, the national competition—packed with the country's most ruthless academic elites—would be infinitely harder.

The entire classroom went dead silent.

Mr. Harth stared at her, speechless.

Elara rolled her eyes.

"Learn to take a win," Mr. Harth finally sighed. It was rare for him to hand out compliments. "This was a brutal elimination round against hundreds of thousands of seniors across the state. You took three golds. Be happy."

In the back row, Mara whispered bitterly to her desk-mate, "She's so obnoxious. She just wants the attention."

"Did she miss the mark in math and English again?"

"No, you scored a flawless hundred in math. Zander May from the Academy was one point behind you in second place," Mr. Harth explained while passing out their new syllabus.

"Yes! I finally crushed Zander in math."

"Perfection is the only real shield," Mr. Harth reminded her. "If you score a hundred in every subject, you won't just dominate the national decathlon, you'll dominate the world."

"Fair point."

Mira had dropped points in chemistry this time, bumping her down to second place.

The state level was a completely different beast. Everyone there had mastered the fundamentals; the real war was fought on mental endurance and microscopic attention to detail. Every single point mattered.

She had also improved in English, tying for second place with a bilingual student from the Academy, while Logan Gentry maintained his iron grip on first.

All this media exposure was secretly laying the groundwork for TitanPay's massive launch.

As Mira's reputation as a relentless prodigy grew, she would seamlessly transition into becoming the ultimate face of Solflare Entertainment.

She needed every ounce of this spotlight.

During the broadcast, Emery Doyle held the microphone out. "Mira, do you have any words regarding your phenomenal victory?"

"Past scores only reflect the past. Tests are just a metric for your current baseline.

"The road ahead is long. If you want to remain undefeated, you can never stop fighting."

"Beautifully said. We all wish you the best of luck at the National Decathlon."

As she was packing up to leave that afternoon, Mr. Harth pulled her aside. "Top-tier universities have already started sending early admission offers."