Interesting

Every subject at Plato Academy uses a standard hundred-point grading system.

The first way to pass is to score at least 60 in all subjects.

The second way: rank first in the class in three subjects, pass ten or more, and the rest can be zero.

The third way: pass half the subjects, rank in the top five in five subjects, and the rest can be zero.

The final way is to earn a medal by rendering service to Plato Academy.

A Black Iron Medal can exchange for a first-place in one course, a Bronze Medal for three courses, and a Silver Medal automatically passes the holder's entire year's exams.

Last year, seven out of thirty-nine students in the class failed.

"Looking at it this way, passing is still possible..."

"Tackling the hardest courses first isn't realistic. I need to start simple and work my way up step by step."

Suye's gaze landed on the first subject, Greek. The page immediately shifted, displaying last year's Greek textbook table of contents.

Suye skimmed through it, memories surfaced, and he felt a sudden pang of emotion.

"That little bastard Suye really didn't waste his time in Lion Harbor. His vocabulary far surpasses everyone else's, it's just his grammar that's a mess. Hmm... if the highest difficulty is 10, then for me, Greek is only a 2. Not hard at all. I can keep this course."

The page returned to the course list. Suye drew a circle around Greek.

"There's a lot of Roman spoken in Lion Harbor too. Difficulty is probably only a 4. Not bad, keep it."

"Egyptian... no, headache. Difficulty 7. Persian... even more of a headache, difficulty 8. Forget it, I can't lie to myself. Make it 9. Norse? Huh? The letters all look familiar individually, even if I don't know what they mean together. Let's say 6..."

Suye went back and forth between the course list and the textbook tables of contents, constantly setting difficulty levels.

"Geography? Finally, something familiar. I'm actually pretty good at geography... Why are the geographical terms here completely different from what I learned? Whatever, I'll give it a 4."

"Botany... still different. A 5!"

"I know Greek history well. I specifically studied it before traveling to Greece... This textbook table of contents... Forget it, let's just pretend I never studied Greek history before. A 5!"

After looking through the tables of contents for Mathematics and Geometry, Suye almost shed tears of excitement.

"Finally, a course with difficulty 0! Even though I'm an academic trash, this knowledge is way too familiar. I just need to study a little bit to master it!"

"Huh? Why doesn't the Epic Poetry Class have the 'Iliad' or the 'Odyssey'? Why isn't there 'Works and Days'... Oh right, the Trojan War hasn't happened yet..."

"Art? Difficulty 1! I've studied sketching before. I still know about line, perspective, and shadow."

Suye first rated all the old courses he would be studying this year. Any course with a score of 5 or higher, he crossed out entirely. Only a few courses remained on the list.

In the end, Suye selected the easiest courses to learn.

They were Mathematics, Geometry, Greek, and Art, four in total.

Looking at these four courses, Suye thought it over. He knew some art, but he had no time to practice. Art was only suitable for relaxing his mind during breaks. So he removed it.

Finally, Suye marked Mathematics, Geometry, and Greek as his priorities.

He chose these three courses mainly to find a breakthrough point and build confidence. At a time like this, mindset far outweighs everything else.

In the face of 55 courses, even wisdom can only turn to mindset for help.

Suye frowned as he flipped through the new courses. His brow furrowed deeper and deeper, but he quickly caught himself. The page instantly turned into a mirror.

The Magic Book reflected Suye's worried face.

"My mindset is wrong!"

Suye looked at himself in the Magic Book, thought for a moment, and began to use a common technique: reframing.

"Even though I'm frowning over my academic studies, it proves I'm a responsible man. It also means I have a goal and a direction. The pain and difficulty I feel are because I'm climbing uphill! More importantly, I'm actually this handsome!"

Suye said each word to himself in his heart, then immediately broke into a smile, driving away the worried expression.

He turned off the mirror function and calmed down. Though he wasn't smiling anymore, his brow was relaxed, and his mindset was completely different.

The reframing was just the beginning. Suye continued his train of thought.

"Since I've set my mind on becoming a Legendary Mage, I have to master a vast amount of magical knowledge. There are too many courses; I can't possibly learn them all. I have to focus on a few and slowly make up for the rest later. Which courses should I choose?"

Suye thought it over and made a decision.

"Choose the ones I find interesting! As long as I find them interesting, as long as I genuinely like them, every bit I learn will give me a sense of achievement. That sense of achievement will push me to keep learning, creating a positive cycle. But interest alone isn't enough. I also need low difficulty, otherwise it'll hold back my other courses. As for importance, I simply can't judge that right now, and I might even judge it wrong. After I've learned a bit more, I'll reassess their importance. So..."

Suye immediately thought of the Two-Dimensional Matrix, a common analytical method derived from the Cartesian Coordinate System.

He flipped to a blank white page, moved his index finger lightly, and drew a horizontal line across the middle of the page, then a vertical line, forming a large cross that divided the page into four equal parts.

At the left end of the horizontal line, Suye wrote "Hard." At the right end, he wrote "Easy."

At the bottom of the vertical line, he wrote "Boring." At the top, he wrote "Interesting."

Thus, the page was divided into four quadrants: "Interesting & Easy," "Interesting & Hard," "Boring & Easy," and "Boring & Hard."

Suye flipped back to the course list. For each new course, he checked the textbook table of contents to estimate the difficulty. If he didn't understand, he skimmed the content briefly.

He hadn't flipped through many pages when the class bell rang.

From the podium came Niedern's voice.

"Students, take a ten-minute break. For the rest of the day, it's all review. Before school ends, I'll teach the most important course for the Second Year: Meditation Class. I'll guide you through experiencing meditation."

Niedern finished speaking and left the classroom, which immediately erupted like a pot boiling over.

"Finally, we're starting meditation!"

"Legend says the meditation techniques of Plato Academy are in no way inferior to those of the demigod duke families!"

"Whether you're a warrior or a mage, you need meditation—this is what I wanted to learn! I hate all that Natural History! Hate linguistics! Hate sports and art!"

"Yeah, finally starting to learn real magic and combat skills..."

"Awesome!"

The crowd cheered and rejoiced, but Suye seemed to hear nothing, continuing to analyze this year's courses.

Most of the newly added courses this year were related to magic, and the Foreign Race languages were far more complex than human languages. Even just skimming through them, Suye found it very taxing.

A few classmates from the fourth table turned around, grinning at Suye across the desk.

"How was your summer break, Third Idiot?"

"Suye, why were you late?"

"Teacher Niedern has such a good temper."

Suye didn't lift his head. "Thank you all for your concern. I'm eager to look over the new school year's courses. Let's chat during the lunch break."