Like Xu Bin’s team, the contestants from the first echelon universities are calmly programming to solve this problem.
On the other hand, some of the contestants from the second tier universities are doing quite well, keeping their cool just like the first-tier ones.
Others have started to discuss among themselves.
Discussion implies that they did not have an immediate solution in mind, which is a big waste of time.
After all, the ACM International College Student Programming Competition is a test of who can solve the committee’s questions more quickly and efficiently.
Twenty minutes have passed.
The competition venue is still very quiet, with no teams yet to solve [Problem C].
Even Ding Yue can’t help but hold his breath, wondering how challenging this problem could be.
The first two problems were generally solved within 10 minutes, but now this problem has taken 20 minutes and there’s still no sign of progress.
[National Television Station’s Science Education Channel Live Room]:—
"I’m a computer science major, and frankly, this problem has baffled me."
"It’s been twenty minutes, hasn’t it? No team has solved this problem yet?"
"This problem seems like a good opportunity to catch up. Go, Haicheng University of Transportation!"
"Go Mist City Arts and Science University!"
"Go, Northwestern University of Science and Technology!"
"Damn it, I’m a computer science major and I hardly understand the third problem of this ACM competition."
"Indeed, it’s very difficult. This problem is extremely complex to solve."
"Yes, yes, yes. Not only is it complex, but a slight mistake can cause a program error. It’s pretty hard."
In the live room of the National Television Station’s Science Education Channel, there are more than 20,000 viewers from Mist City Arts and Science University.
This ACM International College Student Programming Competition is vital to Mist City Arts and Science University.
Because it is the first international competition for Mist City Arts and Science University, many students from the university are actively following the competition progress.
At the competition venue.
The familiar sound everyone was waiting for finally rang out.
"Congratulations to Moscow State University for successfully solving [Problem C] in 23 minutes and 41 seconds!"
With the announcement of the Competition Committee, an orange balloon with the sign "FIRST-PROBLEM-SOLVED" rose behind the three contestants from Moscow State University.
Actually, each balloon is different in color.
"It seems that each subsequent problem takes more and more time." Upon seeing Moscow State University take the lead in solving this problem, Ding Yue couldn’t help but reflect.
The time taken to solve this problem is almost double that of the previous one.
"Moscow State University is formidable, almost bagging all the ACM competitions along with St. Petersburg State University in recent years!"
Huang Youjie, holding his phone, remarked.
He just checked and learned that Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University have won many ACM competitions in recent years.
"I just want to know when Bin and his team will solve this problem!"
The expression on Ding Yue’s face became somewhat serious.
If every subsequent problem takes a long time, there could be a lot of uncertainties.
For instance, St. Petersburg State University, which solved the first problem first, has yet to solve this problem.
"Haicheng University of Transportation has successfully solved [Problem C], taking 24 minutes and 07 seconds!"
Unexpectedly, Haicheng University of Transportation was the second to solve [Problem C].
Indeed, it is one of the most promising domestic universities. The strength is remarkable; they even stand a chance to compete for the championship.
"Imperial Polytechnic University has successfully passed [Problem C], taking 24 minutes and 29 seconds!"
"Mist City Arts and Science University has successfully passed [Problem C], taking 24 minutes and 33 seconds!"
Soon after, within less than five seconds, two more universities have solved this problem.
One of them is Ding Yue’s Mist City Arts and Science University, which almost outperformed Imperial Polytechnic University on this problem.
"The gap is not that big, it’s okay!" Upon hearing the result of Mist City Arts and Science University on this problem, Ding Yue sighed with relief.
The gap with the first place is just about a minute, which won’t have much impact on the subsequent problems.
"Principal Ding, our Mist City Arts and Science University seems to be doing quite well on these three problems."
Wen Ruohan happily said.
"Hmm, we can only say it’s okay so far." Ding Yue gave a glance at the excited Wen Ruohan and said, "We need to keep this up until the end of the contest, and hoping other universities alternate in performance. That way, we might stand a chance."
By alternating, Ding Yue means the universities like St. Petersburg State University which solved the first problem first, California Institute of Technology which solved the second, and Moscow State University which solved the third, should be slightly slower in solving subsequent problems, then the time results will be leveled.
Compared to these, Ding Yue’s Mist City Arts and Science University, which is among the frontrunners on each problem, and has not much time gap with the first or second place, could potentially lead according to this calculation.