Is He a Monster?

Brian's face had turned a livid purple.

He cursed the viewers who were slandering him, and he had come to hate Ailiya beside him just as much.

You're a host too, so why didn't you speak up for me?

Even sharing some of the heat would have been better than nothing.

Why wasn't it you who came out to steer the conversation just now? Why did it have to be me?!

He roared inwardly.

His mind had become twisted to the extreme.

The unknown was always more frightening.

The moment he thought of the behemoths behind the scenes, waves of fear washed over him.

Those big shots could crush him like a bug, and even the capital backing him wouldn't dare say a word in his defense.

He bitterly regretted what he had just done.

He wanted nothing more than to step forward and slap himself twice.

That'll teach you to run your mouth.

That'll teach you to shoot your mouth off.

Viewers around the world suddenly noticed the picture on their screens change.

It switched to a conference hall.

It was an enormous conference hall.

More than a hundred scholarly-looking people sat inside, each with a wood-colored desk in front of them, piled high with documents.

The viewers stared at the sudden change of scene in confusion.

They were still waiting for the production team to give them an explanation!

At the very least, the director should come forward and apologize.

They wanted to know who was really behind the show.

If necessary, they even wanted to petition the government to step in and take control.

But to their surprise, there wasn't a single word of explanation. The feed switched straight to this scene.

These people all looked to be over forty!

There were hardly any young people among them.

Some even had white hair and beards, with faces covered in wrinkles.

Getting them all together in the same conference room wasn't easy, either.

No one understood what was going on.

But when those people raised their heads,

some viewers could hardly believe their eyes!

Comments flooded the screen.

"Oh, my god, that man with glasses—I know him! He's the dean at my university. Didn't he go off to conduct research? How did he end up here?"

"I know that white-bearded old man sitting in the back. That's Professor Hongyi from Waseda University. I didn't expect him to be here too."

"That's Professor Lucas from the University of Cambridge..."

"That's Professor Li Qingxi from Shuimu Tsinghua University. I even took his elective course..."

"That one is from Yenching University..."

Countless netizens recognized people they knew.

Every single person there was a major figure in academia.

Any one of them could stomp a foot and cause an earthquake in psychological research.

Every one of them was a psychology professor at a prestigious university.

And now they had all gathered in a conference room like this.

When the viewers saw this,

they suddenly realized that the power behind it was simply unimaginable.

A person appeared on screen: Professor Chase, who had appeared in the livestream before.

Professor Chase said coldly, "The reality show produced by the production team is entirely for the public good and has not been used commercially in any way."

"At the same time, the production team solemnly declares that more than a hundred psychologists are serving jointly as special observers for this program, guaranteeing its absolute authenticity. Unless officially stated otherwise, all rumors from outside sources are false. Please do not believe them."

"Please continue watching the program and refrain from any further pointless slander. Thank you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen went black.

The feed switched back to the livestream.

Then another statement was thrown onto the program.

The statement wasn't polite in the slightest.

They gave the viewers no time at all, nor any chance to ask questions.

Still wanted to ask questions?

Go online and ask them there at your leisure!

As for the slander and rumors, say whatever you wanted and spread whatever you liked. In any case, they weren't going to explain.

Believe it or not.

Watch the show if you want; if you don't, get lost.

They weren't short a few viewers.

When the viewers saw the statement, whose retorts were enough to give them a stomachache, they hardly knew what to say.

It felt as though a breath was trapped in their chests, unable to come out.

"This..."

"What is this supposed to mean?"

"That's it? No explanation? Do they take us for beggars? Brothers, let's boycott them together!"

Those calling for a boycott soon discovered that no one was responding to their posts.

A boycott was out of the question.

They could never boycott it in this lifetime.

So they directed all their pent-up anger at Ye Jin.

"Since the production team has more than a hundred psychologists keeping an eye on things, there shouldn't be any fakery. But what Ye Jin is doing right now is practically a crime."

"Right, what is he doing? Flipping through the book page by page—no, this is an insult to the original author."

"Is this how people from the Nine Domains Nation treat knowledge? You must come forward and apologize to the original author."

"If you don't apologize, we'll impose a knowledge blockade on the Nine Domains Nation until the person in charge of your country's cultural affairs comes out and apologizes."

As the discussion spread,

more than a dozen scholars issued a joint statement.

They believed that what Ye Jin was doing showed disrespect for the original author's painstaking work.

He was treating it like a game.

They demanded that the Nine Domains Nation's government immediately blacklist him.

The people of the Nine Domains Nation couldn't help feeling a surge of indignation.

Had these people fucking eaten shit?

Just flipping through your book was disrespectful to you?

Were you really that precious?

If you were so precious, why didn't you go out and sell yourself?!

Amid their boycott, Ye Jin finally put down the third book.

A notification sounded in his mind once again.

He spent another twenty Talent Points.

The entire book appeared in his mind.

The point of light lit up once more.

After finishing the book, he put it back on the shelf.

He took a gentle sip of coffee and looked at the scenery outside the window.

It was afternoon, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Time felt so sluggish that it made one want to doze off.

Perhaps he was a little bored.

And to bring some sound to this dull world,

he began reciting the contents of the book he had just read.

"The mineral-rich Harz Mountains are located in the German city of... Because there was a large amount of water deep in the strata... the profitable miners had to stop..."

"Leibniz's vision was astonishingly broad and vast..."

The viewers watched his lips move continuously, unable to understand what was happening.

"What is he saying?"

The camera flew closer, and through its audio equipment, they finally heard what he was saying.

When they heard his words,

some were utterly bewildered, unable to understand what he was talking about.

But others' eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

"Th-th-this..."

"He's reciting the first chapter of the book he was just reading. No, how is that possible? He hasn't missed a single word."

Some people had already opened the book and started checking.

They discovered that what Ye Jin was reciting was exactly the same as what was in the book.

It was just as if he were reading straight from it.

No, no, this had to be an illusion.

Maybe he had only memorized a passage from the beginning.

Ye Jin still didn't stop.

"Leibniz was destined to become one of the greatest mathematicians in human history..."

"In the course of continuing his legal studies, Leibniz, in order to obtain..."

"If we are to give this machine its final praise, then perhaps we may say..."

Although his words followed no logic at all,

and none of the passages connected to one another,

the people holding the book

were practically ready to fall to their knees.

Was he even human?

He was a monster!

Although Ye Jin skipped between passages, he got every word of each one right.

And they all came in order.

It looked completely haphazard.

But it was all content from the same book.

And doing it this way was even harder than reciting it in sequence.

How long had he spent reading it?

A few minutes!!

There were even parts he had only glanced at.

That was all!!

Too amazing, too amazing!

This was simply too amazing!

Everyone screamed inwardly, unable to believe it.

He had actually memorized the whole book!

Heavens, what kind of monster was he?