The Warning of Kim Dohwa
Liven nodded at Kim Dohwa's warning-laced notification.
"Mmm... I understand. That cannot be helped. Is that all you required of me?"
"Yes, that is all."
"Then, have a productive day."
Once Liven disappeared, Kim Dohwa opened her terminal and updated her student guidance log.
ENTRY:Cheon Jiwoo — Consulted.
She then began reviewing the records for her own area of responsibility, the martial arts classes.
There were twenty-one children who knew how to utilize internal qi, going beyond simply forming a dantien. Among them, three were classified as geniuses with the highest talent evaluation: Student Number 2 Cheon Gonghu, Number 9 Cheon Soyeon, and Number 18 Cheon Haseong.
Looking at their records, they consistently ranked near the top, and even then, one could sense an immense, unrefined potential waiting to be unleashed.
Aside from the three geniuses, the records of the ten children classified as highly gifted—possessing "high" talent evaluations—were also exceptional.
Some of these highly gifted children ranked near the bottom in physical fitness tests, but that was simply because they had not received proper physical training before entering school, or had focused solely on internal qi cultivation.
A common misconception people had was that internal qi cultivation dictated everything for a martial artist. However, that only applied to those who had reached the Transformed Realm or beyond—lofty heights far out of reach for most.
For martial artists below the Transcendental Peak realm, physical capability was far more crucial than internal qi. In an extreme scenario where two practitioners were at the same realm, an external martial arts master who had forged their physical body to its absolute limit could easily defeat an internal qi master who had neglected their physical form, even if the external master possessed only an ant's share of internal qi.
Since the school existed precisely to help children whose talents might otherwise wither due to such misconceptions, Kim Dohwa designed a personalized training regimen for each student based on their physical fitness test results.
After reviewing the seven children classified as average, she finally checked the record of Cheon Jiwoo—the only student in Class 1 to receive a "low" talent evaluation, marking him as a dunce.
Looking at his record, Kim Dohwa could not help but marvel.
"Incredible. To achieve this level of performance with such poor natural talent."
She could easily guess the bone-shaving effort Cheon Jiwoo must have put in, and the sheer dedication his master had poured into this dunce of a child. Day after day, they must have repeated grueling training and exhausting Blood and Qi Circulation Therapy that would be unbearable for any normal child his age.
In Kim Dohwa's estimation, Cheon Jiwoo was undergoing a massive foundational overhaul to completely reconstruct his naturally poor constitution.
"I should request a separate curriculum from Student Cheon Jiwoo's master and guide him to follow it exactly."
This monumental foundation was being laid with a long-term vision far beyond her right to interfere with, so she could neither evaluate nor meddle with it lightly.
"No wonder he reached the 2nd-rate realm at his age despite his talent."
Though they were grouped together in Class 1, the disparity in their realms was significant. Currently, only four students had reached the 2nd-rate realm: Cheon Jiwoo, the class's sole dunce, and the three geniuses.
Some of the other children were blocked by the wall of the 2nd-rate realm, while others had only just reached the 3rd-rate realm. She expected one or two more to break through the wall of the 2nd-rate realm during this semester, but for Cheon Jiwoo to have achieved it before even entering school with his level of talent was nothing short of a triumph of human will.
With Cheon Jiwoo's file closed, Kim Dohwa finalized her initial training plans.
About a week had passed since the entrance ceremony. In the meantime, there had been a few minor incidents, including a consultation with Teacher Kim Dohwa, who was deeply worried about me taking sixteen periods of classes a day.
After a week, the kids in the class had grown closer, naturally forming small cliques. Class 1 was largely divided into three groups.
The first group consisted of seven boys gathered around Number 18 Cheon Haseong, who had shown dominant performance in the afternoon martial arts classes. They were dubbed "Cheon Haseong's gang." They didn't act like bullies, but because they were mostly energetic boys, they spent every recess running around and causing minor trouble.
"Trouble" usually meant breaking a window while playing ball or getting minor scrapes from roughhousing.
The second group was a clique of five girls centered around Number 11 Cheon Aryeong. Rather than actively doing anything specific, they simply gravitated toward one another as girls naturally do. I had expected Number 1 Cheon Garyeong to be the center of the girls, but surprisingly, she wasn't. Perhaps it was because she was always hanging around Cheon Gonghu?
Cheon Aryeong's group was usually quiet, but whenever the boys' group got too rowdy, a subtle tension would flare up between them. It wasn't that they disliked each other; rather, it seemed they simply didn't know how to interact with the opposite sex at this age. If left unchecked, it looked like it could easily escalate into a major fight.
Well, Teacher Kim Dohwa would handle that.
The third group was a mixed clique of five—two boys and three girls—led by the highly sociable Number 21 Cheon Hugeon. Normally, young boys and girls didn't mix easily, but three of them had known each other since before entering school, which naturally brought the rest together.
Perhaps because of the mixed dynamic, they weren't as boisterous as Cheon Haseong's gang, but they weren't as quiet as Cheon Aryeong's group either.
If you counted the remaining five kids who didn't fit into any group and instead wandered around alone or in pairs—including myself—you could say there were four groups in total. Of course, grouping the five of us together was a stretch, as our personalities were completely different.
Number 1 Cheon Garyeong was a hyper-extrovert who dragged the introverted Cheon Gonghu around while making friends with literally everyone in the class. Meanwhile, Cheon Soyeon and I were total introverts, observing the children through the eyes of adults and refusing to mingle.
To be honest, as long as they left me alone, I couldn't care less what they did. Besides, there was no guarantee these current cliques would last. Children of this age fell out over the most trivial things.
And as we advanced in grades, students from Class 2 and Class 3 would eventually enter the martial path properly and reach the 3rd-rate realm, leading to the classes being reshuffled. By the third grade at the latest, even the students in Class 4—who hadn't been able to properly absorb elixirs yet—would reach the 3rd-rate realm.
Before entering school, they might not have had anyone to help them absorb elixirs, but now, the teachers of each class could perform Guiding Qi to make the process smooth. Once that happened, these childhood cliques would become a thing of the past.
"Alright, it's time for morning classes. Everyone, take your seats and begin your lessons with Teacher Liven."
At Teacher Kim Dohwa's command, everyone sat down. I stopped chatting with Cheon Soyeon and logged into virtual reality.
"The classes are short today?"
Checking today's schedule, there were only twelve periods of individual classes. To be precise, the last four periods—from the 13th to the 16th—were designated as a joint class for the entire grade to foster social skills, which shortened the individual study time. The group sessions did not utilize Time Acceleration.
Teacher Liven spoke with a smile.
"Do not be disappointed that today's classes are short. Building relationships with your peers is also an important part of your education, Student Cheon Jiwoo."
No matter how customized the morning classes were, the school's overall curriculum took priority.
"Who's disappointed? I've been telling you, no matter how interesting the lessons are, sixteen periods a day is absolute madness."
"Fufufu, how dishonest of you. Well, do not worry. I am a teacher capable of embracing even that side of you."
What on earth was wrong with this crazy android? Sure, it wasn't a waste of time, and the lessons were genuinely engaging and fun, but shouldn't the class hours be reduced to a reasonable level?
Teacher Liven let out a sigh.
"Student Cheon Jiwoo, I have some unfortunate news. There was a faculty meeting yesterday, which included your guardian."
Siwoo attended a meeting yesterday? Come to think of it, Teacher Kim Dohwa had stepped out during the recess after the second period. The faculty meeting must have taken place around that time. Siwoo hadn't mentioned anything to me, though.
"Regrettably, due to the opposition of several unenlightened teachers, your class hours will be reduced, contrary to your wishes."
"So there actually are teachers with common sense in this school?"
At my surprised reaction, Teacher Liven looked at me as if deeply hurt.
"Student Cheon Jiwoo, time is gold. I find it tragic that your time is being wasted due to the pathetic worries of adults, so it saddens me to hear you speak that way."
"Cramming information into my head isn't the solution to everything. You need to give me time to digest it properly."
In the end, the Time Acceleration was reduced from 4x to 3x speed, cutting the sixteen periods down to twelve. However, Teacher Liven stared at me, hinting that if I didn't complain, we could always go back to sixteen periods.
"Let's save that for when I'm older. There's an appropriate age for everything, isn't there?"
"Perhaps I was indeed being a bit too hasty. From my perspective, organic lifeforms like you, Student Cheon Jiwoo, seem to live such fleeting lives."
It was true. As long as the component known as the "technological singularity" remained intact, an android was essentially immortal. It was probably similar to how humans viewed the lifespan of a hamster as incredibly short. Still, sixteen periods a day? That was just insane.
"Now, let us begin the lesson."
Despite everything, Teacher Liven's classes were incredibly fascinating. Of course, they were so difficult that my brain felt like it was about to explode.