On how PhDs become human evil

"Um... I'm sorry, Principal."

“The one you should apologize to is this distinguished guest. I’m very sorry, Mr. Bai Jie, my student has caused you trouble.”

Although she was extremely unwilling, Misaka Mikoto dared not disobey the principal. As if she had made a great decision, she lowered her head and said, "I am very sorry, Mr. Bai Jie. I was rude."

"Oh dear, it's alright, it's alright. Don't worry too much about etiquette, just be casual. Anyway, we'll all be teacher and student from now on, it wouldn't be good to ruin the relationship."

(Teacher and students?!)

"Judging from your surprised expression, you probably don't know yet." Bai Jie said, taking out his letter of appointment. "Starting today, I will be responsible for teaching English and advanced mathematics at this academy. I will also be teaching your class. Remember to call me teacher from now on, Misaka Mikoto."

Upon hearing this, Misaka Mikoto looked utterly despairing.

Seeing that the matter between Bai Jie and Misaka Mikoto had been resolved, the principal of Tokiwadai stepped forward and said, "Well then, Mr. Bai Jie, although it is a bit late, please allow me, as the principal of Tokiwadai, to welcome you to Tokiwadai Middle School."

"You're too kind, Principal. I'll be a teacher here from now on, so there's no need to call me 'sir' or anything like that."

"Alright then, Mr. Bai Jie, please come with us. Tokiwadai is a bit complicated inside. I'll show you around. After all, you're the first male teacher at Tokiwadai, just in case..."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Principal."

"Good that you understand. Now please come with me."

Watching Principal Tokiwadai, Hakuge, and the remaining teachers enter the school, Misaki Shokuhou, who had been silent until now, blinked her starry eyes and patted Misaka Mikoto on the back: "Hey, Misaka-san, that male teacher seems to know you quite well, what's going on?"

"Who knows him well? I only met him last night."

"Hmm...last night, could it be that Misaka-san, you already...hmm?"

"Shokuhou Misaki, don't talk nonsense! I have absolutely nothing to do with that man!"

"Oh dear, they never said you two were related, so why do you think that, Misaka-san?" Misaki Shokuhou laughed. "Well, let's talk about these things later. The teachers have already gone far away, let's follow them."

"Hmm... I understand."

Misaki Shokuhou, plus Hakuge.

The thought of having to face these two people in the future made Misaka Mikoto feel that the future was bleak.

Section 504.5. The Red Demon's capture was truly painful.

The purpose of the visit was to tour the school, but in reality, Bai Jie didn't go to many places. After all, Tokiwadai was an all-girls school, and there were many places that a grown man like him couldn't enter. So, the only places he was going to were the teaching buildings and the cafeteria, and at most, the playground. After following the principals of Tokiwadai on their tour, Bai Jie was left behind like an orphan.

Oh, it can't be said that he was abandoned. There was also Misaka Mikoto by his side. It seems that the principal of Tokiwadai saw that he knew Misaka Mikoto, so he handed over the rest of the affairs to Misaka Mikoto.

Inside the Tokiwadai library, Hakuge and Misaka Mikoto sat facing each other.

"Your school doesn't seem to be very friendly to me."

As Bai Jie flipped through the book "Fundamentals of Superpower Development" in his hand, he said this.

"In name, you took me on a tour, and now you're left by my side as my tour guide, but actually you're basically monitoring me."

Why would you think that?

"That's the only reasonable way to think about it."

Bai Jie smiled and closed the book.

"My current position is as a direct subordinate of the chairman of the board. I'm eighteen years old this year and graduated first in my class in computer science—what do you think?"

"Isn't this excellent? Is there a problem?"

"Eighteen years old, first place in the computer lab, directly under the chairman. Do you think someone with such abilities would remain unknown until now? You should know that I only arrived in this city last night. Excluding you, who is in the know, in other people's eyes I am an unknown person who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And it's easy to guess what Tokiwadai would do when faced with someone of unknown identity like me."

Whenever people encounter someone whose identity is unknown, their first instinct is distrust, and this is especially true for those in positions of power. Surveillance, investigation, assassination... all sorts of methods will be used. Fortunately, Tokiwadai is just a school, so all they can do is investigate and monitor.

[What is this person doing in Tokiwadai?], [Why did the headmistress send someone to Tokiwadai?], [Is she planning to take control of Tokiwadai?]... These kinds of questions probably filled the mind of the headmistress of Tokiwadai the moment she learned that Haku was coming. On the surface, she has Misaka Mikoto by her side to monitor Haku's every move, but in secret, she has probably already begun to prepare how to deal with Haku.

However, even if it's called a countermeasure, they probably won't come up with anything substantial to counter it. At most, they'll just use some tricks to get Haku Jie to leave Tokiwadai.

Upon hearing that the school was using her to monitor Bai Jie, Misaka Mikoto immediately became agitated: "That can't be right, why would the school monitor you?"

"...Who knows? Anyway, I'm used to being monitored, so it doesn't matter."

Back in that virtual world, Bai Jie was monitored by Himeragi Yukina for several months. The Godkiller world was also monitored by the European magic society and the Japanese official editorial committee. In addition to other miscellaneous situations, Bai Jie was almost used to being monitored. However, even if they monitored him, they couldn't produce anything, so Bai Jie was too lazy to care.

"By the way... Misaka—is it okay to call me that?"

"Okay, why?"

"Are you sure this is the right way to develop superpowers?"

According to what Bai Jie learned from the book and Misaka Mikoto's knowledge, the superpowers developed in Academy City are created by using drugs, hypnosis, and electrical stimulation to allow students' personal reality to influence the microscopic world, and then amplifying the influence due to chaos theory, thus forming superpowers.

"Yeah, otherwise, how else would you get superpowers?"

Misaka Mikoto's answer made Bai Jie sigh helplessly: "I thought this place would be like Shocker, where they would perform modification surgery on students. I never expected that superpowers would come about in this way, by having one's personal reality affect the microscopic world... Haha, surprisingly simple."

"A modification surgery... what do you think Academy City is?" Misaka Mikoto said. "And Shocker... are you some kind of ancient relic from the Showa era?"

"Huh? You know Shocker?"

"It's more accurate to say I've seen it than to know it... I used to see it on TV a lot when I was a kid. It's about the opposing organization in Kamen Rider. But Kamen Rider is a show from the Showa era. People who have seen it now are probably all middle-aged men. My dad was the one who introduced me to it."

(Haha, what a pleasant surprise! There are Kamen Riders in this world too. But judging from Misaka Mikoto's statement, there shouldn't be any Heisei Riders, only the Showa-era veterans. Otherwise, she wouldn't have mentioned Shocker, but rather Dai-Shocker.)

"Well, I understand the situation."

What have you learned?

"For now, we only need to understand the basics of this world. As for whether or not we should destroy it, we'll see what happens next." Controlling his magic, Bai Jie put the book back on the shelf, stood up, and walked towards the library's exit.

Watching the book fly back to the shelf, Misaka Mikoto hesitated for a moment: "Hey... who exactly are you?"

"Huh? Didn't I already say I'm just a passing human villain and magic king?" Bai Jie laughed. "What, are you curious about my background?"

"It's not that I'm curious, it's just that you seem really strange. The light gate last night, the ability to knock me unconscious, and your relationship with the chairman... there are just too many mysteries surrounding you."

"Hmm, so you've become curious about me after all. What a hassle. I'm a married man. If I were to have an affair with a fourteen-year-old middle school student, it wouldn't just be a matter of kneeling on a washboard."

"You...you're too narcissistic."

Misaka Mikoto is almost used to Bai Jie's flowery language.

"Besides, you have a family...aren't you only eighteen?"

“Indeed, I am eighteen years old on the surface, but... do you really think I am only eighteen?” Bai Jie smiled mysteriously. “Let me give you a piece of advice, Misaka Mikoto: never be curious about me, or you will get into a quagmire—in every sense of the word.”

Upon hearing Bai Jie's warning, Misaka Mikoto subconsciously swallowed. Her first reaction was that Bai Jie was just being mysterious again, but her intuition told her that Bai Jie was not joking. If she continued to delve deeper into his life, her daily routine and life would really be disrupted.

With a slight smile, Bai Jie said, "By the way, Misaka, could you take me somewhere? I just went there, but I've forgotten how to get there."

"Huh? Where to?"

"The cafeteria. I'm hungry."

P.S.: In Sekiro, I reached the Red Oni, took down a few minions, and was about to fight the Red Oni when I was surprised to find him already behind me. Then I was slammed to the ground and instantly died from full health. ￣△￣

Section 505.6. Ideological Enlightenment is a Traditional Art

As one of the five prestigious schools in Academy City, Tokiwadai Middle School's cafeteria is also among the best in Academy City. There are even many family restaurants that copy some dishes from Tokiwadai's menu and sell them elsewhere. It is said that a single dish can sell for as much as 40,000 yen, which is simply outrageous!

"The ingredients are nothing special. There's no dragon and phoenix essence or jade nectar. The cooking method is just average. Why is it so expensive?"

Inside the Tokiwadai cafeteria, Bai Jie sat at a table by the window with a crying face, eating the cheapest set meal in the cafeteria bite by bite. With only 100,000 yen in his entire fortune, his heart was bleeding with every bite.

What? Aleister gave him a million? Tokiwadai won't accept credit cards, you bastard!

Listening to Bai Jie's complaints, Misaka Mikoto frowned: "I said, you took that 100,000 yen from my wallet, didn't you? You were using my money, okay? What's there to be upset about? If anyone should be upset, it should be me."

"That makes sense, but it's always a pity to spend your own money."

"Haha, I don't even know what to say to you. I always feel that your values ​​are quite different from mine."

"Yes, you're right. My values ​​are different from everyone else's."

If Bai Jie's values ​​were represented by the attributes of Heroic Spirits, they would be Chaotic Good.

They exhibit values ​​that differ from the norm, possessing their own set of principles, but are essentially kind in the general sense. They disregard rules and hate commands and constraints, and some of their behaviors may not conform to the general definition of justice.

To put it bluntly, Bai Jie and Gilgamesh are the same kind of people, although he himself is a thousand times unwilling to admit it.

After quickly finishing his meal and having the maid collect his utensils, Bai Jie asked Misaka Mikoto, "Misaka, is there anything you need to do next?"

"Me? I just finished my physical exam yesterday and I'm off today. I'll probably go for a walk outside of school this afternoon—why are you asking this?"

"Right now, I'm being monitored by you. Normally, you should follow me wherever I go, but I don't know where to go, so I just follow you."

"...Have you gotten used to being monitored?"

"Yes, I'm an expert in this area. As someone being monitored, I will take full care of the monitor's mental and physical state, and I will definitely not let you worry about anything."

"Oh, should I say you're very thoughtful? Anyway, thank you in advance."

Misaka Mikoto, who was saying this, was unaware that Bai Jie's previous monitor had become his second wife. Although they hadn't registered their marriage or slept together, and could only be considered as reserves, it was only a matter of time.

(Himeki Yukina: I don't like my senpai at all! Nor am I his wife!)

"By the way, I've been wanting to ask you something since earlier..." Bai Jie pointed out the window, "Is that guy outside with the Cthulhu-like hairstyle someone you know?"

Following Bai Jie's gaze, Misaka Mikoto's face instantly fell: "Uh... Kuroko."

----------------

"I see, so you're the new teacher today."

Beside Misaka Mikoto, Shirai Kuroko bowed to Bai Jie.

"I am Shirai Kuroko, my sister's roommate and first attendant. Please take care of me from now on."

"Roommate and attendant... Misaka, so you're someone who likes to boss others around, Queen?"

"No way! Don't compare me to that starry-eyed girl!" For some reason, Misaka Mikoto suddenly snapped. "By the way, Kuroko, why were you pressing your whole face against the window earlier?"

Just as Misaka Mikoto spotted Shirai Kuroko, Shirai Kuroko's entire face was glued to the window as if it were glued on, her facial expression extremely bizarre, and her hair was wildly flailing like octopus tentacles, making people's sanity drop just looking at her.

"Because, my dear sister, you were so close to some unknown ape-like male without my knowledge, I... well, I just—"