Accepting Punishment

"Making money is indeed useful, but if it affects learning and training, it's not worth the cost. The Talent Spirit from the Altar may not necessarily be what I want. Moreover, the possibility of me obtaining a powerful talent is extremely slim; I can only get ordinary talents. And many talents don't directly enhance my strength—they require sufficient training and knowledge to be transformed into greater power."

"So, even if I make money, I'll minimize time spent on it, either by hiring others or cooperating with them."

"As for learning and training..."

Suye spent the second class period conducting a detailed comparative analysis. In the end, for the sake of a longer-term future, he gritted his teeth and made an extreme choice.

"At least for the next month, I'll give up making money and training. I'll focus on madly learning knowledge, laying a solid foundation, and filling in my weak spots. After a month, when I understand this world better, making money will yield twice the results with half the effort. Only long-term benefits are true benefits; any short-term benefit could be a disaster, because once you get used to short-term gains, you lose sight of or even actively abandon long-term ones."

"I won't be a Mouse in a Rice Jar!"

Suye reread the table, then read the textual analysis below it, and finalized his decision.

Suye knew in his heart that even without spending two class periods thinking it over, he would have made the same choice.

But writing it down was equivalent to making a commitment, clarifying subconscious thoughts, giving his brain enough security to be more willing and able to act without any resistance.

After a moment's thought, Suye added a line at the very bottom of the page.

Without records, there is no happening.

Suye stared at that line, emotions stirring within him.

For many years, Suye had trusted his brain, valued his feelings and intuition, and believed himself clever and sharp in thinking. But after repeated setbacks, he changed his way of thinking. He no longer relied purely on his brain; instead, he recorded things completely and turned his thoughts into textual analysis using various methods.

The result was that Suye's understanding of everything reached unprecedented heights, and his life underwent unprecedented changes.

Once decided, Suye continued studying last semester's mathematics from the morning.

Suye didn't open his textbook or notes. Instead, he chose a blank sheet of paper, extracted memories from scratch, and drew a Mind Map.

In this process, Suye not only reinforced his memory of mathematical knowledge but also categorized it, clarifying the relationships between different Knowledge Points, forming a complete process from input to output.

However, Suye forgot many Knowledge Points.

Suye wasn't discouraged; on the contrary, he was pleased, because those forgotten points were likely ones he hadn't understood deeply enough but had mistakenly thought he grasped.

Suye went back to flip through his notes, reading quickly, focusing on the forgotten Knowledge Points.

After that, Suye used the recall extraction method again, pulling out Knowledge Points to supplement the Mind Map.

After several rounds back and forth, just before the second-to-last class ended, Suye finally completed a full Knowledge Point Mind Map of last year's mathematics textbook.

Suye felt as if his brain had been wrung dry, dazed and groggy.

But at the same time, a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and pleasure surged within him, far beyond the ordinary.

Suye savored this comfortable feeling.

Reinforcement reward.

Dong...

The bell for the end of class rang.

Suye sat in his seat, eyes vacant, energy completely drained.

"Suye, are you okay?" Hote looked at Suye with concern.

"I'm fine."

Suye said this, then forced himself to perk up, picked up his Magic Book, and walked out.

"Where are you going?"

"To find the teacher and accept punishment."

Hote was puzzled. Seeing that Suye seemed unwell, he followed along.

Pallas glanced at Suye's Back View, then continued burying herself in her studies.

Suye quickly found the building where the Second Year teachers were housed, divided into several rooms.

Suye found Niedern's room, knocked on the door, and politely half-bowed. "Hello, teacher."

Niedern glanced at Suye in surprise, recalling the morning's events. He hadn't expected this student to be so polite—knocking, bowing, and greeting. Compared to Suye, the other students were practically Nordic Barbarians.

"Mm." Niedern nodded.

Suye wore a look of guilt. "Teacher Niedern, I've been feeling guilty all day about being late this morning. I couldn't focus on any lesson, and my heart was full of pain..."

"Did it ease the pain when you hit Horton?" Niedern interrupted Suye, his tone rather teasing.

Suye was taken aback, thinking, You're a teacher—is it appropriate to mock a student like this?

Suye pretended not to hear and continued, "So, I've decided to punish myself to uphold academic discipline!"

Niedern stared blankly at Suye, even the light in his left artificial eye flickering with confusion.

Suye pressed on. "Please punish me by having me serve my classmates. I've already thought of the penalty. Every day before school ends, I'll come to you to ask about the key Knowledge Points from the day's lessons and what to review in the evening. At the same time, I'll also ask what will be covered in tomorrow's classes and what Knowledge Points I should preview. Finally, I'll write the review and preview content on the Magic Blackboard for the benefit of my classmates!"

Niedern gazed at Suye silently, saying nothing.

After a long pause, Suye ventured, "The kindest teacher in all of Plato Academy, what do you think?"

Only then did Niedern ask, "Did you come up with this yourself?"

"Yes, but it's mainly to punish myself and to demonstrate the fairness and justice of Plato Academy. Otherwise, I wouldn't want to do this either." Suye wore a reluctant expression.

Niedern was silent for a moment, then asked, "Tell me honestly—did you spend the entire summer break studying drama, and mainly focusing on acting?"

"Teacher, please trust your own student!" Suye's gaze was firm.

A faint smile curled at the corner of Niedern's mouth. He nodded and said, "Fine. I agree to this punishment. Let's make it one month. After a month, whoever is late will receive the same punishment..."

Suye said decisively, "Teacher, please punish me for at least a year! Only then can I truly remember the lesson. Only then can the other students take me as a negative example and deeply understand the harm of being late."

Niedern stared at Suye for a long moment again, then gently nodded. "Since you have this spirit, I agree."

Suye flipped open his notebook and said, "Today's lesson is a review of last year's material. The content is vast and cannot be fully reviewed, so there's no need to arrange for classmates to go over it. Then, Teacher Niedern, may I ask what subjects and which parts we should preview when we go home tonight, and what the key points are?"

Niedern didn't even glance at the Magic Book. He spoke off the top of his head, "Tomorrow I have Basic Magic Class, Giant Language Class, and Meditation Class. For Basic Magic Class, you should preview Chapter One in advance, with the key points being the four elements of the magic world—earth, fire, wind, and water—the magical characteristics of the Four Countries, and the basic spells of apprentice magic..."

Niedern spoke at a steady pace, and Suye quickly took notes, finishing soon after.

"Thank you, Teacher Niedern. I'll go find the other teachers now."

"Don't use a Magic Letter?" Niedern asked.

"That would weaken the punishment's effect!" Suye's reply was utterly resolute.

Niedern nodded lightly, lost in thought.

"Then I'll go ask the other teachers who have classes tomorrow. Goodbye, Teacher."

Suye gave another half-bow, then turned and left.

Just as Suye stepped out of the office door, Niedern's voice came from behind.

"Study less drama from now on!" Niedern's voice carried a hint of cheerfulness.

Suye quickened his pace to leave, but inwardly he thought, Wasn't he supposed to be a strict yet kind teacher? Where's the strictness? Where's the kindness?