Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Chapter 795

"... You know, talking about this competition, I can't tell if it's the students nowadays or the whole educational system that's changed. Fifty percent of the submissions are just fluff, forty percent are total nonsense, and only about ten percent are somewhat presentable."

Fernando took a sip of his coffee, shaking his head. "It's like every generation gets worse. I remember the students from the first few years who won the grand prize-each of them was practically destined for a feature in Science or Nature. But now... sigh..."

He trailed off, leaving the room filled with his unspoken disappointment.

"But to be fair, there were a few projects this year that really stood out," Patten chimed in. "Like the one from your group at Kingswell University. It was called 'Gene Testing and Biomedical Science.' The group leader's name was... Sybil, I think?"

"I remember it clearly," Patten continued with enthusiasm. "That project won the grand prize. The approach, the experimental angles, and the final output were all beyond expectations. The judges even said it could easily get published in any top-tier journal!"

"Afterwards, some of the judges dug around to find out more about Sybil. Heard she just started her first year of grad school and has already published several papers. They call her the 'genius girl' of your life sciences department. Quite impressive for someone so young..."

As Fernando continued to talk, Roseanne found herself zoning out. From the moment Patten mentioned Sybil's group's project, she was stunned.

Because―

That project was supposed to be hers!

How did it end up as Sybil's?!

Her mind felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer, but after the initial shock, Roseanne quickly regained her composure and realized just how serious this situation was.

Carlson had just gotten back from outside campus, his back aching and his forehead throbbing. He knew it was a sign of overwork and mental exhaustion.

including him. But despite sticking around, the lab was still under renovation, and they couldn't conduct

couple of days, he holed up in his dorm, hoping for news that the renovations were done and everything had passed inspection. But reality had a way of dashing optimistic

to a part-time job-a research assistant position at a cosmetics company's bio

asked if he was interested, hesitating for even a second

about the intense workload and lack

never meant to be easy-that's

he realized why his senior had warned him. The high

But it

routine of shuttling between the lab

had looked for him in the

He didn't go.

called a few times, trying to subtly

papers

frustrated, called

hung

the

room key while dragging his feet. After pulling two all-nighters, all he wanted was to

found Arkle

streaming down his

jumped

he said, turning away to hastily wipe

darkened. "What