Galaxy Martial God Temple — Android Teacher (2)
After introducing herself, our homeroom teacher Kim Dohwa picked up the attendance sheet and began checking names.
“Alright, I’ll take attendance now. Cheon Garyeong.”
“Yes!”
“Cheon Gonghu.”
“…….”
“Cheon Gonghu!”
“Ah! Yes!”
They were just children, after all. With twenty-one kids fidgeting and getting distracted, even taking roll took quite a while. Since this was the school attended by the direct descendants of the Cheon family, every single name was Cheon. Once she finished calling attendance, Kim Dohwa moved on to self-introductions, starting from seat number one.
The seating was arranged in Korean alphabetical order, so I was number fourteen and Cheon So-yeon was number nine. The self-introductions from these little kids were exactly what you’d expect: their names, which kindergarten they’d attended, and what they liked. Still, Class 1 was made up entirely of children who had already begun proper martial training, so they were all surprisingly sharp. It made sense—learning martial arts at a preschool age required considerable patience and intelligence.
That said, because they were all kids who trained in martial arts, a few of them were already trying to establish themselves as the boss of the class.
“Now that everyone’s introduced themselves, I’ll explain how our classes will work.”
Kim Dohwa went over the upcoming schedule. Each period was forty minutes long with a ten-minute break, making a fifty-minute cycle. Morning classes ran from nine until twelve-twenty, for a total of four periods. After a fifty-minute lunch, they would have periods five and six before dismissal. Morning classes covered the standard elementary subjects—language, math, science, social studies, history, art, and music—while afternoon classes, naturally, focused on martial arts.
School ran five days a week. Wednesdays had fewer general subjects, with martial arts lessons even in the morning. Club activities were also available, and participation was mandatory. I’d assumed a martial arts-specialized school would neglect regular education in favor of training, but for lower elementary grades, they actually emphasized normal academic subjects over martial arts. Which made sense. Their goal wasn’t to produce muscle-brained martial artists but well-rounded talents with common sense and knowledge.
“Everyone stay in your seats and look at the display on the right armrest of your chair.”
Kim Dohwa taught us how to operate the virtual reality system. The interface was simple enough for lower elementary students to use.
“Once you enter virtual reality, the teacher assigned to each subject will be waiting for you. Go ahead and try it.”
So that’s why every student had their own personal VR unit. Rich schools really operated on another level.
“Jiwoo, how do you do this?”
Cheon So-yeon, apparently not familiar with machines, couldn’t even manage this simple operation and looked completely lost. I patiently showed her again, step by step, exactly as Kim Dohwa had taught us. After tapping the screen a few times according to my instructions, a dome descended over her head and she vanished into virtual reality. I followed right after her.
The virtual reality space looked exactly like it had during the entrance exam—a dreamy, fairy-tale landscape. But it seemed the other students hadn’t logged in yet. As I looked around, a beautiful woman appeared.
“Cheon Jiwoo student. Morning classes are conducted as one-on-one sessions. That’s because each student has vastly different learning speeds. Especially in your case, Cheon Jiwoo. If we did group lessons, it would essentially force several students, including you, to make sacrifices.”
I had indeed been worried about exactly that.
“Of course, we occasionally create shared virtual spaces for group lessons when necessary. Building relationships with classmates is also an important part of what school should teach.”
“I see.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Liven, the assistant teacher in charge of academic subjects. For the next six years, I will be overseeing the education of Cheon Jiwoo and many other students.”
From Liven’s words, I immediately realized she was an AI or android that utilized singularity technology. Otherwise, there was no way one person could handle every subject for all the students.
“Most students enjoy this fairy-tale background. Does it not suit you, Cheon Jiwoo?”
“Do you read thoughts in virtual reality too?”
At my question, Liven smiled softly.
“No. While it’s not technically impossible, it is prohibited under interstellar galactic law. Even if it were allowed, the cost would be enormous, so there’s no reason we would use it on you.”
As she spoke, Liven changed the background to an ordinary classroom setting.
“I simply have access to numerous educational programs designed for children, which allow me to detect subtle facial expressions. Children often don’t know what they want, so educational androids like myself need to be able to read their behavior.”
So she really was an android.
“This is the space where you’ll be learning for the next six years. If you don’t like it, we should change it. Do you have any preferred design?”
“Hmm. As long as it’s not too cluttered or chaotic, anything is fine.”
“Understood. Then let’s go with something like this.”
Liven transformed the virtual space into something resembling a therapist’s office from a movie or drama.
“It’s certainly calm and pleasant.”
I sat down on the sofa bed and asked, “Shall we begin class now?”
“Before we start the lesson, I’d like to coordinate the schedule with you, Cheon Jiwoo.”
Did they really adjust class times based on individual students? Was this what the 50th century was like?
Reading my thoughts, Liven smiled and explained.
“Other students generally follow the standard curriculum set by the school. However, for someone like you whose progress already exceeds the school’s curriculum, we can adjust the content according to your preferences.”
“Ah, I see.”
Liven projected a blank timetable into the air.
“The required subjects for lower elementary are language, math, science, and social studies. Elective subjects are history, music, and art. And here is your current progress level.”
Language — Doctoral Level or Higher
Mathematics — Specialized High School Year 1, Semester 2
Science — Specialized High School Year 1, Semester 2
Social Studies — General High School Year 2
History — Middle School Year 2
Music — Elementary Year 3
Art — Elementary Year 2
I had gone to university in my previous life, so the high school level stuff was probably because this was the 50th century. But still…
“Doctoral level in language?”
Was I really that good at languages?
“You solved every question on the placement test in just two hours. However, that only applies to pure linguistics. Your literature level is around middle school third year. Your linguistics knowledge was practically at the level of an archaeology doctorate.”
Ah. The translation ability. So the interpretation skill I gained while climbing the Tower was that powerful.
“Because of that, we’ll keep language lessons short and light, focusing mainly on literature. Do you have any particular goals, Cheon Jiwoo? Aside from martial arts, of course.”
At Liven’s question, I thought for a moment.
“Well, I don’t have any specific academic goals, but… oh, I am interested in androids and singularity technology.”
“Oh-ho, androids and singularity technology.”
“Yes. Since you probably already know my personal information, I’ll be honest. I have a nanny android who raised me in place of my parents. She’s like both a teacher and a mother to me. If I had to set a goal, I’d like to maintain and repair her myself. It would be nice if we could stay together for a long time, wouldn’t it?”
Liven looked genuinely moved by my words.
“That is a truly wonderful goal! I will do everything in my power to help you achieve it! In that case, we should build the curriculum around science and mathematics.”
“Um… but isn’t android technology something you can’t learn in regular school?”
Wouldn’t that require specialized graduate school or special institutions?
“Don’t worry! No matter what Cheon Jiwoo wants to learn, I’ve already received permission from the principal to teach it. If you wish, I can even provide information up to Level 2 classified material. Of course, you would need to sign a confidentiality agreement if we cover classified topics.”
They were willing to go that far?
“I will make sure you never regret choosing this school over a gifted academy! You’ll be glad you came here!”
Uh… the only reason I was attending this elementary school was to continue receiving the support the family provided to direct descendants.
“Now, let’s put together your timetable. How does this look?”
Liven showed me the schedule she had created. She hadn’t been joking about focusing on science and math—more than half the classes were science, with nearly half of what remained being math, and the rest filled with other subjects. However, I had no choice but to raise an objection to the timetable she’d made.
“Um… doesn’t this timetable seem strangely long? We only have classes in the morning, right?”
That was because the schedule Liven had created had a total of sixteen periods. What? Was each period only ten minutes of class with two minutes of break? Otherwise, sixteen periods simply didn’t make sense.
In response to my confusion, Liven answered as if it were obvious.
“We’ll naturally be using time acceleration! The whole reason we use virtual reality for classes is to legally extend learning time!”
I fell silent for a moment before asking, “…Do the other students get extra time too?”
“No. Other students don’t extend their time unless their progress is significantly behind.”
“Can I refuse these classes? Actually, I’d like to refuse coming to school altogether.”
Liven looked startled by my words.
“What?! Why?!”
Was this crazy android seriously asking that?
Who the hell takes thirteen hours of classes a day?! Including afternoon classes, that would be fifteen hours! Even college entrance exam students didn’t study that much! This was child abuse!
Seeing my reaction, Liven seemed to realize how she must have sounded and cleared her throat.
“Of course I won’t push a young student like you too hard. There will be breaks with art and music in between, and rather than one-sided lectures, I extended the time to give you plenty of opportunity to ask questions and satisfy your curiosity. I am a professional educational android. Please trust me just once! Just one week! Give my classes one week!”
At Liven’s earnest plea, I thought for a moment.
“If it feels like abuse, I’ll quit immediately. I’ll refuse to come to school.”
“Of course! I will do my absolute best so that you feel interested in studying rather than burdened. I already know! I know that Cheon Jiwoo has a great love for learning! Otherwise, how could you have studied this much at your age?”
I probably shouldn’t mention that I had already attended university in my previous life. Her confident declaration made me seriously wonder if I could trust this insane android. Maybe I should have run away without looking back?
“Then let’s begin an interesting science class. Shall we start with fascinating astrophysics?”
When Liven clapped her hands, everything around us except for her and me transformed into a vast expanse of space. I knew it was fake, but the sight was breathtakingly beautiful.
“I don’t like classes that only involve struggling with pens and paper. After all, true learning begins with direct experience and hands-on practice.”
Liven’s lessons might turn out to be far more interesting than I had expected.
When I first heard the insane claim of sixteen periods a day, I thought I’d gotten tangled up with a crazy android. But Liven’s classes were incredibly engaging.
“There are five Lagrange points in the Martial God 3rd Star System. Here, here, here, here, and here. Shall we learn how to calculate Lagrange points?”
Just hearing about it made my head hurt. Actually trying to calculate using formulas, plugging in gravitational measurements, orbital periods between stars and planets—it really did feel like my brain was going to explode. But creating virtual colonies at the calculated Lagrange points like it was a game? That part was genuinely fun.
Liven’s teaching method was based on experience and game-like formats. To clear the game, you needed the relevant formulas, and she would explain the history and reasoning behind each formula through stories. It was impossible not to get interested.
Even when we set the time acceleration to the legal maximum of 4x speed, each period still consisted of forty minutes of class and ten minutes of break. But while learning from Liven, I voluntarily gave up my break time and immersed myself in the lessons.
I had to admit it. This crazy android was insane… but she was an outstanding teacher.
(To be continued in the next chapter)