Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 599: Chapter 499 The Giant Black Appears_1

The first class was a resounding success.

It wasn’t the cello performance’s result that satisfied Huai Shi. With his nearly off-the-charts skill level, he could easily captivate the students even if he played ”The Little Widow Visiting the Grave.”

What Huai Shi truly cared about was that, after such long preparation and revising his lesson plan several times, he finally managed to clearly explain the origins and development of classical music in a concise manner.

As a teacher, this class didn’t exhibit any obvious mistakes or faults, and he didn’t bring shame upon the course.

Huai Shi eventually stated that he would not teach anything beyond classical music in the elective. Except for necessary demonstrations, he would not personally undertake most performances. Despite this, more than eighty people still signed up for the elective after class.

Excluding the power of the Sublimators, excluding the abnormal allure of being a Disastrous Musician, art itself has an intrinsic charm.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many people willing to dive into the Abyss in pursuit of its ultimate form.

Nor would there be such fervor among the individuals of the Associations of Various Hell Music.

As a teacher, Huai Shi merely used his abilities to provide them with a shortcut to more quickly grasp the allure of classical music.

After his application to be an instructor for the Ivory Tower Orchestra was approved, Huai Shi simply put public resources to private use. He discussed with several of the orchestra’s officers after class—they decided that most of the performances in the classical music appreciation course would be carried out by them.

This also prevented the potential issue of Huai Shi, a Cellist, coming up short when facing a symphony, where he could only play recordings during class.

And the students in the orchestra... well, they could just consider it two extra practice sessions.

These were the students in the Ivory Tower who truly loved classical music, whether for cultivating sentiment, out of interest, or even in hopes of one day becoming Disastrous Musicians. Having a living Disastrous Musician willing to instruct, demonstrate, and guide them unstintingly was an opportunity they eagerly sought.

Especially since Huai Shi was particularly easy to talk to, with a gentle and pleasant demeanor. Compared to the previously rather gloomy and stern Teacher Robin Lee, Huai Shi was far more approachable.

If Huai Shi hadn’t been repeatedly turned down, many more would have probably wanted to take courses exclusively from him and even submit applications to have him as their mentor.

After setting these matters straight, Huai Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a good start, at any rate.

According to the teaching research office’s schedule, he had eight classes this week, two every afternoon. Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays were open for any arrangements, which was quite relaxing.

Based on the issues encountered during the lecture and the flaws discovered, Huai Shi revised the lesson plan once more. For the upcoming seven classes of the week, he could now be a tape recorder.

What he didn’t expect was that the liveliness of the first class wasn’t just a flash in the pan—by the second class, the classroom was still bursting at the seams!

By the third class of the next day, it had turned into an exclusive fan event for the Ivory Tower.

The entire classroom, filled with over four hundred girls each waving a glow stick, looked at Huai Shi with eyes that shone brightly, as if they wanted to devour him alive.

Unfortunately, those girls only liked him and not classical music.

During the Q&A session, they’d ask Teacher Huai Shi what kind of girls he liked, if he had a girlfriend, and the more audacious ones even asked about Teacher Huai Shi’s preferred practices...

Afterward, they used all sorts of unexpected methods to pass along their contact information or, quite plainly, tried to get Huai Shi’s contact information.

Being stared at by all those fervent eyes, Huai Shi almost wanted to flee in panic.

The Prince of Paradise Fan Support Club was truly terrifying!

Logically, it wouldn’t have been surprising if some crowd-pleasing incidents had occurred. Regrettably, due to Huai Shi’s firm insistence, he not only left no contact information but also declined numerous elective applications from the fans.

To avoid a decline in the classroom atmosphere, he assigned a hefty pile of homework to these fans. Huai Shi naturally welcomed those willing to develop an interest in the subject due to their admiration for him. However, if they were purely there to chase a star, then he was sorry. They could take an autographed photo, and perhaps their paths would cross again in the future.

To keep the girls from turning from fans into haters, Huai Shi signed so many autographs that his wrist hurt, and he had no idea how many group photos he had taken as a sacrifice of his good looks.

Finally, after much persuasion, he managed to send the fans away.

After all, these were students who had made it into the Ivory Tower, and they all had a basic level of quality and cultivation. A few that wanted to linger were taken care of by Junior Brother Lin Nineteen without Huai Shi needing to say a word.

The only thing that puzzled Huai Shi was that Yuan Yuan didn’t show up.

But remembering how thin-skinned she was and her mortified demeanor after being caught by him last time, Huai Shi could understand and felt relieved.

Honestly, he was still quite afraid of the constant clicking sounds coming from behind him.

It was nerve-wracking. As if he were being targeted by some carnivorous creature lurking in the darkness. Frightening.

Then, in the fourth and fifth classes, the popularity stayed strong, with every class being filled to capacity.

But gradually, Huai Shi started to feel that something was off.

There must be a problem somewhere.

More people in the classroom were distracted. Many seemed to be there just to go through the motions, as if to say, ”You go on teaching; I’ll just pretend to listen.” For these Little Brags who didn’t appreciate art’s beauty, Huai Shi had no choice but to use his Cello Performance to forcefully rectify their views.

After a class like that, those who wanted to skate by for easy credits ran off faster than rabbits and were unlikely to show up to be an eyesore again.

However, what really concerned Huai Shi weren’t the slackers trying to catch a break. After all, which classroom doesn’t harbor such people? It’s nothing more than their major subject being set, and then casually choosing a few electives that seem easy and simple.

What weighed more on Huai Shi’s mind was the sight of the discontented students with suppressed anger and veiled hostility as he walked into the classroom today. It was as if they harbored a deep-seated resentment against Huai Shi from the bottom of their hearts.

They listened, then left.

Even though some people did listen and changed their views on Huai Shi, many others had scowls throughout the whole class.

Huai Shi finally felt something was off.

After a class ended, Huai Shi rose to his feet, picked up a broom, and started cleaning up the mineral water bottles and scraps of paper left behind by the students. On a table, however, he saw a piece of paper covered in doodles.

The drawing on the paper was unmistakably Huai Shi himself; it must be said that the artist had some skill, capturing the likeness with just a few strokes. However, apart from the head, the body was bizarrely misshapen, with a bare chest and exposed breasts, and in poor taste.

To be blunt, it was just the kind of caricature of teachers that is common among elementary school students.

Clutching the piece of paper, Huai Shi couldn’t help but frown.

”Teacher, I’ve found out.”

Lin Nineteen came back from outside, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and reported in a low voice, ”Many of the people who came today, it seems, were here due to a compulsory allocation by their clubs. The higher-ups in the clubs mandated they must attend and choose this course, which has led to quite a bit of resistance among the students.”

Huai Shi nodded expressionlessly after hearing this. ”Anything else?”

”Also...”

Lin Nineteen hesitated a bit but ultimately didn’t withhold information. ”In the last few days, a lot of unfavorable rumors about you have been spreading widely among many of the students’ clubs; there’s generally some baseless hostility. But there are other clubs that highly respect you, and conflict has arisen between the two sides.

But I think that things might not be as simple as they appear on the surface. It’s very possible...”

”They are ’killing with kindness,’ right?”

Huai Shi responded even more quickly than Lin Nineteen.

Even though he’d never dealt with such roundabout tactics before, after hearing Lin Nineteen’s report and combining it with his own observations over the past few days, he easily saw through the malicious intent lurking behind them.

Now, among the students, those who disliked Huai Shi might not truly detest him, and conversely, those who highly regarded Huai Shi might not actually like him.

The key lay in the baseless but intractable conflict between both sides.

Without a doubt, someone wanted to escalate this matter deliberately.

As long as such a situation arises, with the encouragement of interested parties, it will continue to draw in more and more unrelated individuals. In the end, even a trivial matter can evolve into clearly divided factions, and perhaps even three or four groups.

’Birds of a feather flock together; opposites attack.’

As for the initial cause, no one would care anymore.

Regardless of which side ultimately won, the scapegoated Huai Shi would undoubtedly be the most miserable one.

Mysteriously liked by some, mysteriously despised by others.

If he won, he’d mysteriously face resistance; if he lost, he’d be criticized for no apparent reason.

Even if he never actually did anything.

He was as clear about it as if looking into a mirror—this was just the beginning.

Compulsory club allocations and similar things were merely ways to add fuel to the fire. To truly roast Huai Shi on the flames, the situation would need to be intensified even further...

Thinking this, he couldn’t help but let out a scoff, casually tossing the paper into the wastebasket.

”Let’s go, it’s time for dinner.”

”We’re just going to leave it like this?” Lin Nineteen took Huai Shi’s broom and trash can, looking utterly astonished.

”No need to bother.”

Huai Shi waved his hand indifferently. ”If I’m not mistaken, there’s no need for us to go looking for someone. Someone will be coming to us very soon.”

Lin Nineteen seemed to understand something, but not completely. After tidying up, he hurried to catch up with Huai Shi.

”Teacher Huai Shi, you should be careful these days.”

As they passed the classroom of border law studies, they brushed past the refined main lecturer. The seemingly cultured and amiable teacher lowered his head to polish his glasses and gave a meaningful reminder:

”It’s going to cool down soon.”

”Thanks for the heads-up, but a little cold wind is no issue,” Huai Shi replied with a smile, acknowledging the kindness between colleagues. ”In Dongxia, there’s a saying, ’A youngster sleeps on a cool kang, success depending on strong firepower.’

Translated into Latin, this saying somehow takes on a Zen-like quality.”

The glasses-polishing teacher pondered for a moment, jotted down this Dongxian proverb in his notebook, nodded in farewell, and did not make any further attempt to hold Huai Shi up.

By the time Huai Shi reached the ground floor, he saw the middle-aged man who had been waiting for a while at the main entrance of the hall.

Even faster than he had anticipated.

”Mr. Huai Shi.”

The visitor questioned with a cold voice, ”Can’t you leave even a single classroom for others?”

A chill confronted him head-on.