Birds—why could they fly?
After hearing this question, all the students in the circular classroom, including Mei and Klein, were startled.
No... why could birds fly?
What kind of ridiculous question was that? What did it have to do with the theme of this lecture, "biology"?
"My classroom doesn't want to hear questions. I only want to hear your answers!"
Xu Ziling clapped his hands sharply. Beneath his extremely feminine-looking body lurked muscular strength comparable to that of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast. At that moment, the thunderous sonic boom created by the immense force of his two hands suddenly rang out, making every student hold their breath again.
Here it came—the typical one-man company rule of Dog Boss before the transmigration. First, he would stir up everyone's enthusiasm, then show off his own superiority. A classic combination of empty promises and class manipulation.
Xu Ziling had always found Dog Boss's arrogant manner disgusting, but now that he was the arrogant one... Hmm... this feeling was actually pretty good?
"No one's answering?"
Xu Ziling's unfathomable green eyes swept across everyone in the classroom. Then he deliberately sighed and said,
"Sigh! I'm truly disappointed in this batch of students... But it's fine. As the doctor said, even if you don't answer, I can still happily read the PPT myself—why can birds fly? Because they must fly into the sky!"
As he spoke, Xu Ziling picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the large characters "must" on the blackboard.
"Assistant Xu, do you mean... that if they couldn't fly, they wouldn't be able to hunt and would starve to death?"
After thinking for a moment, a student asked Xu Ziling at the lectern,
"But... isn't that too superficial? To survive, organisms need to forage for food. Isn't that basic biological knowledge everyone knows? Surely Assistant Xu doesn't need to emphasize it again, right?"
"Has no one told you that you're in high school, not university?"
Xu Ziling looked expressionlessly at the student. Then he pushed up a nonexistent pair of glasses and said,
"You ask questions in class without raising your hand. Did the teacher tell you to ask? Student, minus points! Get out!"
"Huh?"
The student who had received a failing score looked utterly bewildered. Before he could think any further, a piece of chalk came whistling through the air and struck him squarely in the forehead. It was as if he were being smashed by the Greek god in charge of chalk. Under Xu Ziling's precise control of his strength, the chalk only caused intense pain and did not injure him.
"Now, the rest of you, listen to the next question."
Xu Ziling's stern voice jolted all the students in the classroom awake. They realized that the person standing at the lectern... was probably a blonde, green-eyed goddess. She was no longer the "Professor Serpent" who had only lectured and ignored everything else. If they displeased this blonde young lady, they would be struck by her chalk!
Once they realized this, every student in the classroom immediately became... even more excited?
This reaction left Xu Ziling speechless. Weren't they supposed to feel fear or anger? Just like the employees of his former Dog Boss had felt toward Dog Boss?
Even more excited? What the...
By chance, Xu Ziling glanced at his current National Goddess-level feminine body and the platinum Bishop's Attire that obviously radiated extraordinary dignity.
Xu Ziling immediately understood.
After standing silently for three seconds, Xu Ziling decided there was no need to explain himself to these Chiyu Academy students, who were destined to have little connection with his life. He simply ignored their increased excitement, picked up his previous topic, and said,
"Pay attention! Where are all of you looking? Now, listen to the next question—after why birds can fly, students, please listen to me... Why would birds want to fly?"
At first glance, this question appeared no different from the previous one. But the key had shifted from "being able to do it" to "wanting to do it." Adding a word to create a verbal trick was one of the most basic rhetorical techniques.
Having learned from the student who had been hit by the chalk, no one answered immediately this time. Instead, they thought for a moment before raising their right hands.
Xu Ziling nodded at one of the students, indicating that he could stand and answer.
"Uh... Assistant Xu, how should I put it? I think... birds grow wings, so naturally they can fly. Because they 'can do it,' they 'want to.'"
"Wrong. Zero points! Next!"
"Because they're forced to survive and have no choice but to fly?"
"Zero points! Next!"
"Because of their competitive spirit? Because they long to fly into a higher sky?"
"Zero points, zero points, zero points!"
Within just a few minutes, the vast majority of the students in the circular classroom had been stamped with a "zero points" label by Xu Ziling. Apart from Klein, who had voluntarily forfeited and given up answering, and Su, who had stopped struggling, the only person left who had not answered—and was still hesitating—was Mei.
Xu Ziling, standing at the lectern, watched Mei, while Mei below the lectern was deep in thought.
After roughly ten seconds, Mei raised her right hand.
"Speak."
"Hmm..."
Mei's expression was somewhat complicated. After thinking for a moment, she still said,
"Teacher Xu, my answer is: birds can only fly, and must fly, because they need to escape natural enemies and avoid 'disasters.' Because that is the only thing they can do."
"The second half is correct. The first half is wrong."
Xu Ziling waved his hand, indicating that Mei could sit down, and said,
"Still, compared with your classmates, your performance was fairly good. I'll give you five points."
"Five points..."
Mei sat down somewhat dejectedly. She did not know that five points was actually the highest score that man could give under normal circumstances.
"Does no one else want to answer?"
Xu Ziling's slightly gloomy green eyes swept across the class. Then he waved his hand and said,
"Fine, I'll answer it myself... The purple-haired student just now was actually very close, but he got the subject wrong. My answer is this—birds must 'fly' even if they 'don't want to,' because they have been protected too well.
"They have forgotten that when the final meteor fell from the Cretaceous sky, only free birds could leap beyond their predetermined extinction. Flying is the only thing they can do. Even if they 'don't want to,' they must 'want to.' There are far too many things in this world that you cannot avoid simply because you don't want to do them. Do you understand, prodigies of Chiyu Academy?"
Mei's eyes flickered slightly. Xu Ziling's explanation coincided with the thoughts she had once formed while gazing up at the stars by chance.
But aside from her, almost every other student was completely confused.
After thinking for a moment, Su raised his right hand.
"Speak."
"Assistant Xu, the viewpoint you presented in tonight's class has benefited us greatly... but I still have a question."
Su pondered for a while and voiced the doubt shared by most of the students.
"Assistant Xu, the knowledge you've been discussing seems to be humanistic philosophy. Doesn't that stray somewhat from tonight's theme of 'biology'?
"And returning to the question you asked earlier, Teacher Xu... I believe that whether birds fly should be their own right. Even if disaster descends one day, birds should be free to choose whether to flee or die. That is their unique desire for freedom. Such a will should not be branded with the label and shackles of 'compulsion.'"
Xu Ziling frowned upon hearing this, then said:
"Student, minus points! Get out!"
A piece of chalk flew over at his words. Under the envious gazes of the surrounding students, Su hurriedly raised his hand to block it, but the chalk still struck him painfully after slicing through the air.
Xu Ziling then said:
"You may indeed possess a benevolent healer's heart, but don't forget: in chaotic times, the first to die are the sanctimonious hypocrites. Birds are not individuals; they are a species, a population! And a collective must never be led by a sanctimonious will disguised in the outer shell of freedom. That would create far too many tragedies and kill everyone...
"Have you read Three Days Ascending? If not, buy a copy after class and read it. Once you finish, you'll understand the teacher's painstaking intentions."
"Ring-ring-ring!!! Ring-ring-ring!!!"
As soon as Xu Ziling finished speaking, the bell signaling the end of class rang. He waved his hand, packed up the USB device and equipment, and said,
"Since class is over, I won't keep you. Class dismissed!"
A little earlier, elsewhere.
Kevin, crouching outside the door and waiting for class to end, stared pensively at a pink envelope in his hand.
You might not believe it, but just now, while he was momentarily distracted, a young lady claiming to be the "Pink Elf" had appeared in his field of vision and said that she could use Elf's Magic to fulfill all his wishes.
Although the young lady calling herself the "Pink Elf" had changed her appearance, Kevin had recognized her at a glance as the young lady he had helped move things for a few days ago. That pink hair and National Goddess-level beauty could not be hidden.
Kevin was curious about why she had sought him out for no reason and how she had entered Chiyu Academy. Since he had nothing else to do, he followed the Pink Elf's wishes and pretended not to recognize her.
The Pink Elf said she could fulfill his wish... But what wish could Kevin have? He merely wanted to be together with Mei. So he asked the Pink Elf what he needed to do to restore the image he had lost in Mei's eyes a few days ago.
The Pink Elf replied that she could help him with that, but Kevin would have to pay a small "fee."
...Strangely enough, were there really commissions in this world that used "Mei's preferences" and "Mei's daily life" as payment?
As Mei's most devoted target for conquest, Kevin naturally knew all about Mei's preferences and daily routine. Seeing that the Pink Elf was also a girl and thinking she posed no threat to him, he told her everything directly, as long as she really had a way to restore his image in Mei's eyes.
After Kevin told the Pink Elf about Mei's preferences and the details he needed to pay attention to in her daily life, the Pink Elf revealed a delighted smile. She took out a magic wand and pretended to be mysterious as she tapped it several times above Kevin's head.
A burst of light flashed next, as though someone had thrown a flashbang in front of Kevin. In any case, when Kevin came to his senses, the Pink Elf had vanished, leaving only a pink-and-white envelope drifting into his hands.
"Could there really... be magic in this world?"
Kevin leaned against the wall outside the circular classroom. While waiting for Mei's class to end, he fiddled with the pink-and-white envelope in his hand and muttered,
"But that elf's radiance... why does it look more and more like a miniature flashbang? No, flashbangs are military supplies. A weak girl like the Pink Elf probably couldn't have any connection with the military..."
"Then does that mean magic really happened just now?"
Kevin was utterly baffled.
His gaze fell once more on the pink-and-white letter in his hand. Kevin decided not to worry about it for now and instead see what method the Pink Elf had left him to restore the image he had lost in Mei's eyes a few days earlier.
With that thought, Kevin slowly tore open the envelope.
A cute cartoon card fell out. Kevin hurriedly picked it up and turned it over. Several large lines immediately caught his eye—
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
"Never give up, never get discouraged, never cry, never say goodbye..."
Kevin read the words on the card, his expression growing increasingly puzzled.
"What does this mean? Is she telling me... to always believe in myself? To always show Mei the best side of me?"
"That's it. It must be. There are no shortcuts in love. Only by believing in yourself can you succeed..."
Upon considering this possibility, Kevin immediately understood. He then laughed helplessly.
"What the heck? I thought there was really magic! So it was just psychological encouragement. No wonder... Of course, something as miraculous as magic can't exist in this world. But... psychological encouragement from the Pink Elf? Hah! I'll accept it.
"Well then, Kevin, since someone has encouraged you this much, you can't belittle yourself either! Cheer up and wait properly for Mei's class to end."
With that thought, Kevin successfully convinced himself and rekindled his fighting spirit.
At that moment, our confident, sunny, and cheerful prince of Chiyu Academy, Kevin, had yet to realize how serious the situation was...
It was only many days later, when Kevin happened to come across a video, that he realized just how foolish the mistake he had made today truly was—
A hardcore interpretation of "Never Get Discouraged"
Before you continue