Two years later, though benefiting greatly and on the cusp of her college entrance exams, Ding Yun wasn't particularly happy.
It wasn't due to worries about the exams or other matters.
The main reason was that despite her pen name being nationally recognized and the scientific daily being distributed across the country, her influence still wasn't enough to imprint her mark on the world's core essence.
To etch her brand.
This undoubtedly left Ding Yun feeling quite dejected. In her dejection, she began to reflect on herself and finally figured out why her current influence was still insufficient to imprint her brand onto the world's core essence.
The reasons were likely multifaceted.
Firstly, predicting natural disasters, while creating a huge sensation, was only significant at the beginning and during predictions of major events.
After frequent predictions over time, people became accustomed to it.
Even the most miraculous things lose their luster when seen every day.
Now, it would likely take Ding Yun mispredicting a large-scale natural disaster to truly cause a stir.
As for the second point.
Ding Yun had overlooked the difference between this world and the previous one. In her previous world, she had caused a stir within just one country and succeeded.
In this world, she hadn't intended to influence the entire globe.
However, in the previous world, the core of world civilization was in Da Qian. Da Qian's civilization level far surpassed that of its surrounding smaller nations, let alone those further away which were almost in the tribal era of primitive societies.
Therefore, as long as Ding Yun's influence radiated within Da Qian,
It was no different from radiating globally.
Any minor omissions could be compensated for by increasing her own influence, thereby achieving her objective.
But in this world, Yang Xia, the country where Ding Yun currently resided, while having a high civilization level and considerable influence, had several countries comparable to it, and even more that were slightly inferior. Moreover, except for a few regions with low civilization levels, most other countries had been industrialized for a long time.
This made Yang Xia
Insufficient to represent the entire world.
Consequently, Ding Yun's influence was also insufficient.
Perhaps she would need to become a prophecy master known and even recognized by the majority of people in all countries worldwide before she could successfully accumulate enough influence solely through predicting natural disasters.
To completely conquer this world.
However, by the time Ding Yun realized this, she had already finalized her cooperation with the country, promising not to casually spread foreign disaster warnings. She was also acutely aware that without the protection of the state, her demonstrated abilities would have long ago led to her downfall.
Thus, she had to temporarily abandon her plan to expand the influence of her prophet persona and was compelled to shed her lazy state, preparing to work harder.
To increase her influence through other avenues.
The first step, naturally, would be to start with something close and simple, such as becoming the top scorer in the college entrance examinations, continuing on the path of academic excellence she had almost given up on.
Therefore, two weeks before the college entrance exams,
Ding Yun diligently studied for an extra half-month.
And with a light heart, she participated in the exams.
As for the result, there were of course no issues. She naturally became the provincial top scorer, and amidst the cheers of her family, she held a celebratory banquet for her admission and busied herself with other matters, such as choosing a university.
It took about half a month of hustle before things finally settled down.
However, after this period of commotion, Ding Yun discovered that the increase in her influence was quite limited. Moreover, shortly after the college entrance exam period ended, and with more than half a month still remaining before school started, that already meager influence gradually dissipated for the most part, making Ding Yun truly feel that the effort and reward were unequal.
It was as if becoming the top scorer was for naught.
She had painstakingly worked to become the top scorer, only to gain less influence than a prediction of a small to medium-sized natural disaster. It was truly not worth it.
But after careful analysis,
Ding Yun had to admit that this was a normal situation.
After all, top scorers in college entrance exams appeared every year. Furthermore, unlike in the past when there was only one nationwide, now there was one per province, or rather, two per province: one for arts and one for science. Across the country, there were dozens. Without any notable distinctive features, few people would even photograph them, let alone create a significant impact.
Generally speaking, the so-called top scorers only gained temporary fame for a few days after their results were announced. Beyond that, they were likely only frequently mentioned by their graduating high schools.
Creating a significant impact was truly difficult.
In fact, in terms of the longevity of influence,
It couldn't even compare to some eighteenth-tier internet influencers.
Thinking of this, Ding Yun became somewhat anxious: "This won't do. This plan of consistently being a top student is unreliable.
In this day and age, the influence gained from academic research is too low. Regardless of whether it's scientists, researchers, or inventors, no matter how great their contributions, their influence is generally average. If their contributions or research results were so monumental as to shake the entire world, they would likely be hidden and protected rather than becoming famous first.
Imprinting a mark is indeed not that easy!
Why don't I have Jin Xin Xin's luck? Is it because I haven't spent enough, haven't sacrificed more origin coins? But Jin Xin Xin is quite timid. Fearing the failure of his first world exploration, he sacrificed a full thirty thousand origin coins right at the start. I can't bear to do that.
Never mind, let's not think too much.
Let's consider what else I can do if being a top student, scientist, or researcher is unreliable. I can't possibly debut as a celebrity, can I? Or participate in shows like 'The Brain'?"
The meager influence gained from becoming the top scorer forced Ding Yun to re-evaluate and plan her future. If this were a world where scientists easily gained prestige and were widely admired, her original plan would have been fine.
But unfortunately, this world was not.
In this world, fake masters and swindlers gain more attention and significant influence than scientists.
Therefore, her original academic plan had a low probability of success in imprinting her mark.
If she were to continue down this path and realize twenty or thirty years later that success was unlikely and her influence never accumulated enough, then deciding to switch careers to become a singer or dancer to accumulate influence would be
Truly laughable.
Thus, if her future plans needed to change, it was best to do so while she was still in her academic phase, at least in the eyes of outsiders, not yet part of society.
Making a change now was the optimal choice.
However, she hadn't yet decided on the specific changes or the direction to pivot towards. Fortunately, as long as she didn't skip grades, she had four more years of university, and after university, she could continue with postgraduate studies.
Pursuing a doctorate, and so on.
So, there was no need to rush into a decision.
She still had time to ponder.