How to Become a God?

After sending it, Su Ye heard the collective exhale of the class.

"Three!"

Niedern's voice rang out, settling the dust.

"Very good. All finished. I'm satisfied."

Everyone immediately realized that Teacher Niedern had deliberately delayed the timing to ensure every student had completed their answers. Only then did they understand that the earlier scare was just a bluff, meant to force them to write down their first thoughts.

A few students fell into deep thought.

Niedern said, "I've already received your answers. Now, each group sit in a circle, share your answers, and begin discussion."

Upon hearing this, Su Ye stood up, moved his stool, and sat together with the other six members of his group.

The six of them looked at each other, momentarily unsure what to say.

Pallas raised her Magic Book, turning the page toward the others. On it was written only one word.

Method.

Su Ye glanced at Pallas in surprise, not expecting her thoughts to be almost identical to his own.

Then, a flicker of sympathy passed through Su Ye's eyes. It seemed Pallas truly could not speak.

Jimmy smiled and said, "I'll go first. My answer was 'go around.' I didn't know why that thought popped into my head at the time, but there's no way I'd dare climb Mount Olympus. What if I ran into the gods and got struck by lightning? That would be too tragic. What about you guys? Rolon, what did you write?"

Rolon set down his war spear and longsword, a gesture that made Su Ye and a few others roll their eyes inwardly.

"I wrote 'leave,'" he said, showing his Magic Book to the group.

Hote also showed his Magic Book and said, "I wrote 'climb.' I didn't think much at the time. Since it was Principal Plato's words, I just obeyed."

"Brave!" Jimmy said.

Su Ye said, "I wrote 'find a way to climb.'" He then raised his Magic Book.

Pallas's Azure eyes flickered.

The others looked from Su Ye to Pallas.

Jimmy's eyes darted around, and he chuckled. "Lake, what about you?"

Lake, his face slightly pale, helplessly raised his Magic Book and said, "At the time, I could only think about what would happen to my Younger Sister. Nothing else came to mind, so I just wrote that down."

On it was written: "Then what about Younger Sister?"

"Haha, I knew you'd be like that," Jimmy said with a laugh. "Albert, what about you?"

The thin Albert looked a bit embarrassed. "Do I have to say it?"

"What do you think?" Jimmy said impatiently.

Albert helplessly raised his Magic Book with his bony arm. On it was written "flee."

Jimmy couldn't hold back and burst out laughing, the little Freckles on his nose nearly jumping off.

Albert's sleeve slipped, and Su Ye saw that his arm had multiple scars. But in the next instant, Albert pulled his arm back, covered it with his sleeve, blushed, lowered his head, and said nothing more.

Jimmy coughed to cover his embarrassment and said, "Our seven answers are 'method,' 'leave,' 'go around,' 'find a way to climb,' 'climb,' 'what about Younger Sister,' and 'flee.' Alright, then... what do we discuss now?"

The seven of them looked at each other, none knowing what to say.

The same was true at the other tables. It seemed no one knew what to discuss.

The classroom fell into an awkward silence.

Su Ye didn't pay attention to the others. He quietly pondered, but the more he thought, the faster his heart beat. He vaguely felt he was overcomplicating things, so he stopped thinking.

Seeing that no one was speaking, Jimmy said, "I've been thinking for a while. This should be the teacher testing how we handle difficulties, using Principal Plato's name as a pretext."

"That should be it," Su Ye said abruptly.

Jimmy looked at Su Ye happily and analyzed seriously, "Let me share my view. Everyone knows that Mount Olympus is in northwestern Greece, shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, connected to the Zeus Temple in the divine realm. And the temple of the King of Gods, Zeus, is also the Hall of Gods of Greece. How dangerous that place is goes without saying. Once you understand that, the problem becomes simple."

Jimmy smiled as he scanned the group, full of confidence. "When faced with difficulties, Su Ye and Pallas think about finding a 'method,' only focusing on solving the problem, not whether it can be solved. The brave Hote just charges straight in, not thinking about anything. Lake is more worried about his Younger Sister, completely ignoring the difficulty itself. Albert is even more impressive—he doesn't even think, just runs. As for Rolon and me, we're more sophisticated. We assess the level of difficulty, won't risk our lives, and make the wisest move."

Everyone smiled faintly, seemingly agreeing with Jimmy's view.

But Su Ye and Pallas's Eyes met briefly, then quickly looked away.

Both saw a hint of indifference in each other's gaze—the kind of indifference that comes from knowing the other is wrong without needing to explain.

"Tell us, Hote," Jimmy said with a smile.

Hote scratched his head and said, "I do think I was reckless. Thinking about it now, I still feel Su Ye and Pallas made a good point."

"Oh? Su Ye, what about you? You've changed a lot this summer." Jimmy looked at Su Ye with a grin.

"I think you made a good point," Su Ye said with a smile.

"Do you still hold to your answer?" Jimmy asked.

"Of course," Su Ye said.

"Then can you tell me why you don't consider whether the difficulty can be solved, only the method?" Jimmy's tone was very friendly.

Su Ye smiled slightly. He hadn't expected Jimmy to be this skilled, trying to persuade through questioning—clearly imitating Socrates, though the technique was a bit rough.

Since they had asked, Suye no longer held back and said, "Before discussing this, we first need to raise a question: is climbing Mount Olympus truly our goal?"

The moment Suye asked this, Niedern, who had been listening to another group's discussion, abruptly turned his head to look at Suye.

Jimmy was stunned, momentarily unable to answer, and the others also fell into thought.

Rolon gripped his war spear and said, "If in this question Mount Olympus is not our goal, then there's no need to discuss it. For now, we can only assume that climbing Mount Olympus is everyone's goal."

"Right, that should be it." Jimmy said, then looked at Suye.

Suye smiled and said, "If—and I mean if—climbing Mount Olympus were my goal, then of course I would first look for a way to climb it."

"Don't you consider the gods of Mount Olympus?" Jimmy asked.

"I do. I would consider ways to avoid them, or ways to get them to allow me to climb the mountain." Suye said with an utterly natural expression.

"You..." Jimmy was stunned again.

Albert couldn't help but say, "But the gods would never let you climb it. Only gods can set foot there."

Suye nodded, smiled slightly, and said, "You see, Albert has already proposed a method for climbing it: become a god."

Of the six tablemates, five stared at Suye in shock, as if looking at a madman or a fool.

Pallas also stared at Suye, but her eyes sparkled with a light completely different from the others.

Albert shrank his neck and said, "I think we should change the subject. I'm afraid the Thunder Spear of the King of Gods might come flying over to destroy the whole school."

Besides Pallas and Suye, the other five nodded in unison.

"Or maybe all of Athens." Albert added another remark.

At that moment, Teacher Niedern walked over and asked, "How does one become a god?"

The five tablemates felt their minds churning like a pot of Vegetable Soup—was Teacher Niedern going mad too?