Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 586: Chapter 492: Suggestion (Thanks to the Alliance Leader Yangersun)_1

Truthfully, I was utterly confused. There were just too many options available.

As a new teacher with access to resources, Huai Shi was among the first to choose after the tenured teachers finalized their schedules. Besides vacant classrooms, he could also rent other classrooms’ available time slots. Of course, this was provided that the managers of those classrooms agreed. In other words, if Huai Shi was persuasive enough, he could even borrow the auditorium to recruit students...

But why should he? An elective course in classical music appreciation, worth a mere five credits, was essentially an add-on; using the auditorium for this would be a waste of resources.

Now, over forty classrooms were at his disposal, varying in size and location. The closer ones were in the academy’s main building, while the more distant ones were even outside the campus. The larger ones were intimidatingly spacious, suitable for explosion experiments, while the smaller ones could barely seat four or five people and couldn’t even accommodate a blackboard.

Huai Shi scratched his head as he stared at the dense spreadsheet. He didn’t know where to start. After thinking for a moment, he looked up and asked directly, ”Do you have any suggestions?”

The deputy director of the administrative office was stunned for a moment but soon laughed. He’s just a young fellow, still needs a senior like me to show him the ropes. Alright, considering you made tea as soon as you arrived... He thought for a bit, picked up the stack of forms in Huai Shi’s hand, and flipped through them briefly before pointing out several locations.

”These are all quite suitable,” he said. ”Actually, Little Huai, what you need to worry about isn’t the classroom’s location but the course itself.”

Huai Shi didn’t speak, only listened attentively.

”Five credits is standard for an elective, but it actually doesn’t have much competitiveness. After all, the school focuses on cultivating Sublimators and isn’t dedicated to mass-producing artistic talent. Hence, such impractical electives tend to be merely decorative. If I’ve said anything offensive, please overlook it.”

”No problem, please continue,” Huai Shi nodded, his heart undisturbed.

What the other person said wasn’t wrong. Ideally, art is revered, but practically, can you make use of art once you’re out of the Current Circumstances and down in Hell? Apart from the archaeologists and historians, who else would care about this? It would be more practical to learn a method for filtering drinking water in the Abyss. To most people, such things are at best a form of moral refinement. As for practical use... there really isn’t any.

”Compared to other electives, a course like classical music appreciation doesn’t have direct competitiveness.” After realizing that Huai Shi wasn’t upset, the deputy director continued, ”Therefore, you must make an effort in other areas. For example, if the workload were lighter, more students might choose the elective. Many students are overloaded with their main studies and lack the energy to enroll in other complex electives, so they would consider this factor first. In my opinion, this is a flaw in the school’s system and is hard to fix. Hence, fundamentally, the school opposes teachers actively reducing coursework to cater to students’ desires. Little Huai, you are new, so don’t open this can of worms just for the sake of some initial student recruitment. You need to be careful about this; the academic affairs office keeps records.”

Huai Shi nodded seriously, assuring him he wouldn’t shirk his duties. But from this perspective, the deputy director’s advice seemed somewhat contradictory. He suggested Huai Shi reduce the workload while also reminding him not to intentionally do so. Yet, upon further reflection, it wasn’t contradictory at all.

He looked up with understanding. ”So, you mean I must cover the key points in the limited class time so that students can grasp them even without much homework, right?”

”Precisely.” The deputy director nodded with a smile, acknowledging his perceptiveness. ”However, this will be the most challenging aspect for you, won’t it?”

To tell the truth, it indeed would be. Classical music appreciation wasn’t an easy task to handle. People’s joys and sorrows are not interconnected; even with music as a bridge, individual feelings will always differ. This is normal, but it also made Huai Shi’s job more difficult. As an art form, classical music appreciation could have very high standards, but at the same time, its entry barrier could be very low. You could take a hands-off approach, but if you really wanted to do it meticulously, it would be quite troublesome.

Huai Shi began to feel a headache coming on.

”Additionally, I have one more small suggestion.” The deputy director paused for a moment and reminded him, ”If there are other extra things you can teach, it might be more competitive. Although the school doesn’t necessarily promote it, as long as it doesn’t interfere with regular teaching, students are allowed to learn additional things.”

Huai Shi was momentarily stunned, then it dawned on him. That must be the real point of these seemingly irrelevant elective courses, right? If you want to attract students, you’ve got to show them some unique skills. Otherwise, who on earth would care about classical arts?

In an instant, he had an epiphany. He slapped his knee happily and nodded. ”Then copywriting it is!” he declared confidently. ”I’m exceptionally good at copywriting, and I’m a master of cliffhangers! It’ll definitely be a hit! Although I’m praising myself here, I am quite confident in this.”

The deputy director didn’t quite follow, tilting his head as he looked at Huai Shi, unable to comprehend his sudden shift in logic.

”You see, some college students struggle with even the format of a thesis when it comes time for graduation, right?” Huai Shi explained excitedly. ”If they could start learning earlier, this wouldn’t happen. Plus, copywriting is profound; it’s not something that good penmanship alone can solve. If official documents are well-written and reports look outstanding, it might even make promotion easier after they start their careers, right?”

The deputy director stared blankly at the young man before him. Is there something wrong with him? Am I here to listen to this? ”Is that the only thing?” he asked, somewhat skeptically.

”What else is there?” Huai Shi looked back in confusion. ”Things like swords, spears, murder, and arson—those aren’t subjects you can teach in a university, right?”

The deputy director’s expression suddenly became complicated. ”I think you might have some misunderstandings about our institution... But, if you don’t mind me asking, what do you primarily plan to teach?”

”Classical music, the cello,” Huai Shi answered resoundingly. ”Art is wonderful!”

”...”

Alright then. Looking at his apathetic, salted-fish demeanor, it wasn’t that he didn’t understand what I meant; he clearly just didn’t have any other skills to offer. The deputy director, however, was quite empathetic and lenient. Being able to teach at the Ivory Tower at the age of eighteen already counts as promising. After all, he’s into the arts.

He waited quietly until Huai Shi picked up a pen, chose one of the classrooms he had recommended, and signed his name.

”Let’s go with this one,” Huai Shi said. ”It’s a convenient location, the classroom is spacious... and it’s also close to my home.”

For some reason, the deputy director felt like the last reason was the main one. He looked down and couldn’t help but gasp. Young man, what’s going on with your judgment? I already eliminated so many bad choices for you; how did you manage to precisely pick the absolute worst one from the remaining options? This location, it’s practically a death group, okay! To the left was the increasingly prosperous electrical engineering classroom. To the right was ’Border Law,’ heavily patronized and with an incredibly stable student base. Directly opposite were the exploration and engineering majors from the Abyss Geography Research classroom... Upstairs were biology and emergency aid; downstairs were the fine arts and sculpture departments. Even the most popular electives, like Abyss Photography and Hell Philosophy, had classrooms in this building. What are you doing? A death wish?

He looked at Huai Shi skeptically. ”Are you sure?”

”Pretty sure.” Huai Shi shrugged nonchalantly and smiled. ”It’s just a minor elective class, and I haven’t really planned on being a tutor anyway. Attracting a few people to come and listen wouldn’t be bad, right?”

Anyway, he didn’t think many people would choose a class like classical music appreciation as their major. What a joke, this was the Ivory Tower, not Vienna. His course was only responsible for appreciation and understanding, not for teaching performance. In the end, it was just an elective.

Recognizing reality was the most important thing. I shouldn’t make overly naïve plans. You take things one step at a time; the Ivory Tower wasn’t going to revolve around me.

”Alright then...” Seeing Huai Shi’s conservative choice, the deputy director finally understood the young man’s humble attitude, unsure whether to admire it or feel helpless. Why are you so conservative? You’re still so young; where’s that youthful spirit of daring to strive and take risks?

At the end of the workday, he handed Huai Shi a teacher registration form. ”Write a bio,” the deputy director said. ”An introduction about yourself. The school will use it for publicity, and it will also allow students to learn more about their teacher.”

Huai Shi picked up the pen, thought hard for a moment, then began to write after his name:

—Male, eighteen years old.

After finishing, he looked up and asked, ”Is that enough?”

This bio is way too damn brief! ”Be more detailed. List your achievements, your background, any good deeds you’ve done. You can write them all down. Any international prizes you’ve won, add more details.” The deputy director reminded him resignedly, picking up his teacup for a sip, only to see Huai Shi’s expression turn peculiar.

”What’s wrong?” he asked. ”If you’re not sure how to write it, you can refer to what others have filled in. Don’t be shy. I heard you used to work at the Astronomical Society, right? Write that down.” He encouraged earnestly, ”Young people with talent and ability should showcase them!”

”It’s not that...” Huai Shi scratched his head in resignation, pointing to the space on the form after his name. ”This space is too small; I can’t fit it all.”

”...” The deputy director blinked, then chuckled. He’s young, after all. Quite the braggart, spinning tales like that. ”Go on, write it down,” he said, trying to contain his laughter, generously waving his hand. ”If there’s not enough space, I’ll get you more paper.”

”Then I’ll really write it,” Huai Shi said, looking at him dubiously. Then, he lifted his pen and wrote: Astronomical Society, Jurisdiction Bureau, Xinhai Inspector.

The deputy director nodded beside him. Hmm, an eighteen-year-old Inspector, that indicates outstanding and astonishing ability... Wait? A Jurisdiction Bureau Inspector? He began to feel something wasn’t quite right. ”Are you sure? Young man, don’t just write nonsense, okay!”