49 Apocalypse Rules

By mid-July, the once-quiet Academy had become bustling with activity.

The new class of students arrived from all over the world, each hoping to significantly improve their overall abilities through a year of advanced study.

Of course, the fact that Academy students enjoyed comprehensive protection from the North Star government under the Apocalypse Rules was also a major draw.

In the previous year, many students had only managed to survive the Rules thanks to the immediate aid provided by the government.

For example, when the Blood Plague Virus ran rampant during the sixth Rule, the government immediately supplied Academy students with the highest-grade protective suits, sparing the vast majority from infection.

In contrast, those living in the Gathering Points outside the Academy received no such treatment. Many didn’t get government-issued protective suits until midway through the Rule, and even then, they were of a lower grade.

This had sparked considerable controversy and flame wars online, with many outsiders protesting the unfairness of it all.

But in the end, it all came to nothing. Since the government was cultivating Academy students as the future of the nation and the pillars of society, it was only natural to prioritize giving them the best protection.

This was also why an exceptionally high number of people applied this year.

Even though the admission requirements had skyrocketed this year, rising from 80 points in the first year to 140, many still met the criteria.

And unlike the inaugural class, which was composed almost entirely of North Star People, foreigners accounted for ten to twenty percent of this year’s new students. This meant that one or two out of every ten students was a foreigner—an already staggering proportion.

So, when these new students arrived wearing translation earpieces, the upperclassmen responsible for reception and guidance were completely overwhelmed.

Most of the inaugural class had been assigned to various government departments, but a few outstanding ones remained at the Academy in roles such as new student helpers or counselors.

Fang Qian and her good friend, Qin Qing, were two of those who had stayed behind.

The two of them had been receiving new students since morning, explaining the enrollment process and what they needed to do.

The work wasn’t difficult, but the workload was immense. By noon, both of them were about to collapse from exhaustion.

When lunchtime finally arrived, they seized the rare break to sit together, eating canned food and complaining.

"Qing, how many new students have you dealt with today?" Fang Qian asked.

"I’ve lost count. It feels like hundreds. My head is spinning."

"Same here. And a lot of the foreign students don’t speak the language and didn’t bring translators. It’s not easy to communicate."

"Yeah. I didn’t expect so many foreign students this year... Has our Academy really gotten that famous?"

"Who knows."

As Academy students, though their safety had been highly guaranteed over the past year, their lives weren’t actually that different from people living in shelters.

The Academy might be larger, but since they couldn’t leave campus freely, it was basically just a super-sized shelter.

Living constantly in a closed environment, they could only learn about changes in the outside world through the internet, which sometimes led to blind spots in their understanding.

"Hey, looks like another new student is here," Qin Qing said, spotting someone walking in through the school gates.

Fang Qian looked up and froze.

The person entering the gates was none other than Guan Tong.

"Qing, it’s... You go greet them!"

After speaking, Fang Qian got up and hid behind a welcome stand for new students. Qin Qing was confused at first, but after a closer look at the person, she suddenly remembered. He seemed to be that high school classmate of Fang Qian’s they had run into on the street.

Qin Qing didn’t know what had happened between her friend and this person, only that it couldn’t have been anything good, or Fang Qian wouldn’t be hiding from him.

She looked at Guan Tong’s rather cool expression. Her first impression was that he was somewhat aloof and didn’t seem easy to get along with... ’Could he have hurt my friend?’

With this in mind, Qin Qing saw Guan Tong heading toward the faculty building and quickly jogged over to block his path. "Hello. You must be one of the new students this year. Do you need any help?"

"...?"

Guan Tong gave her a puzzled look and said, "Thank you, but no."

He continued walking, but unexpectedly, Qin Qing blocked him again. "You’re going the wrong way! That’s not the new student dormitory, it’s the faculty building. The dorms are the other way!"

Guan Tong was a little speechless. He said to her, "I’m not a new student."

Because of her friend’s reaction, Qin Qing was already prejudiced against Guan Tong. Hearing him say that, she couldn’t help but retort, "Not a new student? Don’t tell me you’re a teacher."

It was just a casual taunt, but to her surprise, Guan Tong nodded slightly. "I am, in fact, a teacher."

"...Huh?"

Guan Tong said no more and walked around Qin Qing toward the faculty building.

Qin Qing stood stunned for several seconds, glancing doubtfully at Guan Tong’s retreating figure before muttering to herself and returning to the new student reception area.

Just then, Fang Qian, who had been hiding, came out. She had also seen Guan Tong heading for the faculty building. "Qing, why didn’t you tell him the new student dorms aren’t over there?"

"I did. But he said... he said he’s not a new student. He’s a teacher."

"A teacher?" Fang Qian was taken aback.

"You don’t believe it either, do you? Qianqian, what’s the deal with this classmate of yours..."

"No." Fang Qian shook her head before Qin Qing could finish. "If he says he’s a teacher, then he probably is. He’s not the type of person to lie."

"Huh? For real?"

"It’s true... By the way, Qing, have you seen the list of Academy lecturers for this year?"

Qin Qing shook her head. "Nope. The Academy has only been around for a year. I didn’t think there’d be any changes to the lecturers."

"Let me check. The official website should have a list!"

Fang Qian quickly took out her phone and opened the official website for the Psychic Power Development Academy.

She clicked on the "Faculty" section and scrolled down. When they saw one of the lecturers, both she and Qin Qing couldn’t help but gasp.

"It really is him!"

The lecturer on the list was none other than Guan Tong.

Below a deadpan, front-facing photo of him was a brief introduction.

"Let me see, let me see!" Qin Qing grabbed Fang Qian’s phone and read the introduction carefully. "Guan Tong, Substitute Lecturer, exceptional abilities, responsible for the course ’Psychic Power Flow.’ Oh my god, Qianqian, your high school classmate is subbing for Teacher Jingyi’s class!!"

"Psychic Power Flow" was the Academy’s most popular core course, and its previous lecturer, Shi Jingyi, was also the most popular instructor. But this year, the class had been taken over by someone else—and that someone was Guan Tong. What on earth was going on?

Fang Qian was completely baffled. She had thought before that someone like Guan Tong wouldn’t die prematurely in the Rules, but she never imagined that in just over a year, he would be able to become a lecturer at the Academy. ’What in the world happened during that time...?’

"So he really is a teacher... I’m so dead..." Qin Qing’s face was filled with embarrassment. "I just stopped him and told him to go to the student dorms. This is so awkward I could die!"

"..."

"Qianqian, I didn’t ask before, but now you really have to tell me about this high school classmate of yours! To become a substitute lecturer for a core Academy course at such a young age is incredible, isn’t it? What on earth happened between you two? You keep avoiding him. Did he hurt you?"

Fang Qian said with some bitterness, "If we’re talking about who did the hurting, I was the one who caused the harm."

Qin Qing was floored. "You dumped him?"

"...It’s not that kind of thing."

"Then what kind of thing is it?"

Fang Qian took a deep breath. "It was something wrong I did... something I’m too ashamed to talk about. I’ve been so busy these past few days, and my mind is a mess. I’ll tell you later, okay?"

"Alright then. But... Qianqian, you can’t keep hiding like this, right?" Qin Qing said. "He’s a substitute lecturer now, and we’re both new student counselors. We’re bound to run into each other. You won’t be able to avoid him then."

Fang Qian nodded. "I know. This isn’t something I can solve by running away. I’ll get myself together as soon as possible and have a proper talk with him next time we meet."

...

While the new students were enrolling, the lecturers of various subjects also had many preparations to make.

Although the Academy was vastly different from a traditional university—with no concepts like failing grades or credits—lecturers still had to prepare their lessons.

Especially with a year of experience under their belts, many lecturers had gained new insights into their own courses and needed to organize their thoughts to deliver a higher quality of teaching.

As for Guan Tong, he wasn’t very talkative and had no experience as a teacher. For lesson planning, he discussed it with Shi Jingyi, who was still recuperating, and she sent him some of her old course materials.

During this time, Guan Tong also discussed his "Psychic Power channels in the body" theory with her. Shi Jingyi calmly stated that she had discovered this theory long ago, but it wasn’t universally applicable.

Because there were very few students in the world who, like Guan Tong, had the opportunity and means to channel immense amounts of Psychic Power. Therefore, her methods were still more suitable for the general population.

Guan Tong thought about it and realized it was true. ’I was being too simplistic before. Not everyone has a [Wordless Book] or my kind of unique advantages. It’s completely unfeasible to just apply my own situation to others.’

So, in the end, he decided to teach according to Shi Jingyi’s old methods. Fortunately, he had a solid and thorough grasp of those methods, so teaching the students would be no problem.

He also communicated with the other Academy lecturers a few times during this period. Despite his young age, after a few exchanges, the lecturers of various subjects were astonished to discover that Guan Tong knew something about all of their fields. Some of his insights were so sharp that they found his words greatly beneficial.

This left them amazed and afraid to underestimate him in the slightest, thinking he might be an all-around genius.

But in reality, Guan Tong simply had a thorough understanding of all aspects of Psychic Power because he had experienced so much.

In contrast, many of these lecturers had become teachers at the Academy shortly after the Apocalypse Rules descended. Many of them had never even fought another person and had zero practical combat experience.

For instance, there was a course called "Ascender Combat Techniques." After talking with the lecturer in charge of it, Guan Tong learned that the man had never fought another Ascender to the death; he had only sparred many times.

This left him speechless. Sparring and a life-or-death battle were two completely different things. The practical combat abilities of students taught only with sparring experience were likely to be grim.

’If you really want students to have some fighting capability, you’d be better off hiring a mercenary Ascender who has been roughing it in the wilds to teach this course. The results would probably be better.’

Of course, he wasn’t going to comment on the quality of other people’s courses. As long as he conscientiously taught the "Psychic Power Flow" class he was subbing for, he would have done right by Shi Jingyi.