Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 44

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 44. Galaxy Martial God Hall – Android Teacher (3)

Throughout the morning, I’d been following Riven’s instruction, and by break time I’d become a limp rag doll, utterly drained.
Cheon So-yeon seemed puzzled by my state.
Cheon So-yeon appeared to be progressing through elementary-level material at a normal pace.
Sometimes, watching her usual behavior, I wondered if she too harbored an adult consciousness like me—but apparently that wasn’t the case.
Unlike you, I’ve chosen to take coursework at the graduate level by twenty-first century standards.
Or perhaps even doctoral level.
And here I am, not even having completed my bachelor’s degree.
I’ve been force-fed far too much knowledge~!
Ah, so this is the madness of graduate school.
Exhausted from the lesson, I stared blankly around the classroom.
Some classmates hesitated nervously, gauging whether to speak to one another, while others actively circulated the room, striking up conversations.
“Hi! I’m Cheon Ga-ryeong! And this is Cheon Gong-hu!”
A petite girl leading a timid-looking boy completed a circuit of the classroom before reaching Cheon So-yeon and me.
Cheon So-yeon smiled warmly and returned Cheon Ga-ryeong’s greeting.
“I’m Cheon So-yeon. And this is Ji-woo. You two seem close.”
At Cheon So-yeon’s question, Cheon Ga-ryeong glanced at Cheon Gong-hu.
“Hmph! Not really close. I’m just specially helping him out of pity.”
The way Cheon Ga-ryeong spoke revealed a surprisingly cunning nature for someone so young.
“But… I didn’t ask for help…”
“What? Could you speak up?”
“Oh, never mind.”
Cheon Gong-hu seemed rather timid.
“He lives in the neighboring house, and our mothers are close friends, so we just end up spending a lot of time together.”
Isn’t that what being close means?
At Cheon Ga-ryeong’s words, Cheon So-yeon clapped her hands and spoke.
“Wow, we live in the neighboring house too. Right, Ji-woo?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
At my response, Cheon Ga-ryeong’s eyes narrowed as she studied me, then asked Cheon So-yeon.
“Is he always this listless?”
“No. He’s usually quite energetic, but I guess the lesson was a bit much for him.”
“Just from that level of instruction?”
The way Cheon Ga-ryeong looked at me suggested she found me rather pitiful.
Little one, I’m not solving problems at your level—where Cheol-su buys an apple and you calculate his change.
I’m solving problems where the spaceship Cheol-su is piloting performs warp calculations between star systems using operational formulas for four-dimensional interference during sub-light-speed travel.
Thankfully, they at least let me use a calculator.
Hehehehe.
I smiled without any warmth, and Cheon Ga-ryeong looked at me as if I were some strange creature.
“It seems you struggled quite a bit, not just a little.”
When the morning classes ended, Kim Do-hwa, who was both the homeroom teacher and martial arts instructor, clapped her hands to draw the children’s attention.
“Everyone, back to your seats!”
At Kim Do-hwa’s stern command, the children returned to their assigned places.
“Now it’s lunchtime. After you eat, you’ll head to Miteum Hall First Auditorium for martial arts training, so enjoy your meal.”
Kim Do-hwa’s tone seemed rather rigid for a group of freshly admitted first-graders.
However, given that she was teaching martial arts—a discipline where injuries could happen at any moment—some stiffness in her demeanor seemed unavoidable.
School staff delivered meals to the classroom, and the teacher began supervising the lunch period so everyone could eat.
So elementary schools really do eat in classrooms rather than a cafeteria.
But there were no desks—where would they put the food?
The moment I thought this, a small dining table popped out from beside the Virtual Reality device we were sitting in.
Wow, technology rocks!

* * *

After lunch ended, the first-year students of Class 1, including myself, headed to Miteum Hall First Auditorium under Kim Do-hwa’s guidance.
The auditorium looked more like a gymnasium than a traditional hall.
The children gathered there weren’t yet close to each other, so they watched for social cues.
Still, Cheon Ga-ryeong, with her outgoing personality, greeted people here and there, and several other children chatted boldly with classmates they were meeting for the first time.
Since they were just young children, the atmosphere was naturally chaotic, but Kim Do-hwa silenced them with a single clap and commanded their attention.
“Since today is our first day, we’ll only conduct fitness assessments and then you can all go home.”
During the entrance exam, scientific instruments had checked our physical and health conditions, but actual fitness hadn’t been assessed, so we needed to measure our physical capabilities before learning martial arts.
At Kim Do-hwa’s words, Cheon Ga-ryeong’s hand shot up.
“Then when do we start learning martial arts?”
Kim Do-hwa smiled at Cheon Ga-ryeong’s question and replied.
“We won’t be learning martial arts during the first week.”
“Huh?”
The children chattered distractedly among themselves—”We’re not learning martial arts?” “Really?” “Why aren’t we learning martial arts?”—and Kim Do-hwa clapped her hands once more to quiet them.
“During the first week, we’ll assess your fitness levels, evaluate the martial arts you’ve already learned, and correct your forms.”
In my case and Cheon So-yeon’s, masters from Hwagyeong had become our teachers, but most children hadn’t been so fortunate, so we needed to identify and correct their mistakes.
These bad habits, if not corrected in childhood, would be extremely difficult to fix later.
“We’ll divide into fitness assessment groups of five. Numbers 1 through 5 form Group 1, 6 through 10 form Group 2, 11 through 15 form Group 3, and 16 through 21 form Group 4. Assistant teachers!”
At Kim Do-hwa’s call, the waiting assistant teachers came forward and stood beside her.
The assistant teachers wore numbers 1 through 4 on their chests.
Since student numbers were assigned alphabetically by name, I was number 14 and stood in Group 3, while Cheon So-yeon was number 9 and stood in Group 2. Cheon Ga-ryeong and Cheon Gong-hu must be in Group 1.
Looking at the faces in Group 3, they were all children I was seeing for the first time.
The assistant teacher in charge of Group 3 called us out like taking attendance.
“Number 11 Cheon A-ryeong, Number 12 Cheon Yu-seon, Number 13 Cheon Ja-gyeong, Number 14 Cheon Ji-woo, Number 15 Cheon Cho-geon. Everyone’s here. Now I’ll teach you the fitness assessment methods.”
The assistant teachers smiled kindly and spoke to us as if we were children.
My physical strength was measured with my inner energy sealed.
It made sense—using inner energy would grant me strength exceeding that of an adult, so the precaution was necessary.
At my current level, I needed to focus on conditioning my body rather than cultivating inner energy.
“Now, I’ll seal your acupoints. It won’t hurt or cause any discomfort, so don’t be nervous.”
The assistant teacher gently pressed on my abdomen and the children’s, blocking the meridians that channeled energy to the dantian.
When my inner energy suddenly ceased flowing, number 12 Cheon Yu-seon whimpered, but the assistant teacher skillfully soothed her and led us to the physical fitness measurement equipment.
The physical fitness assessment was divided into three main categories.
The first was strength measurement.
The second was cardiovascular endurance measurement.
The third was flexibility assessment.
Strength measurement evaluated grip strength, arm and leg power, chest and back muscles, and the strength of the rectus abdominis and erector spinae.
Each measurement had its own apparatus, and the assistant teacher demonstrated the proper technique for each test.
Grip strength used a standard hand dynamometer common even in the twenty-first century, legs were tested with a squat machine, arms with dumbbells, chest and back with a bench press, and abdominal and spinal muscles with equipment resembling a deadlift machine.
As a comprehensive evaluation, we were tested on weightlifting.
“Weightlifting is a sport that engages your entire body’s musculature. If you lack sufficient strength, practicing weightlifting is excellent for addressing most strength deficiencies—keep that in mind. Rock climbing is also a good alternative.”
From the assistant teacher’s remarks, it seemed she planned to assign weightlifting or climbing to those with insufficient strength.
Or perhaps both.
Under the assistant teacher’s supervision, I measured my strength and achieved quite respectable results.
Or so I thought—until I saw that some children had performed even better.
Number 13 Cheon Ja-gyeong’s strength was overwhelmingly superior compared to children from other groups.
Her strength metrics even surpassed those of Cheon So-yeon, who possessed a heavenly martial physique—though I couldn’t tell if Cheon So-yeon had simply not tried hard or if Cheon Ja-gyeong’s results were genuinely exceptional.
While the results weren’t publicly announced, I caught a glimpse of the teachers’ evaluation sheets: my strength ranking was just slightly above average in the class.
In terms of ranking, that placed me around ninth out of twenty-one.
After all my diligent training, ranking ninth in pure strength was a shock.
I’d expected to place at least third.
What’s more, several girls ranked ahead of me.
Of course, before secondary growth, girls are typically stronger, so it wasn’t entirely unusual.
Was this a difference in talent?
Cardiovascular endurance involved wearing an oxygen mask and running on a treadmill with gradually increasing speeds, while flexibility was tested through mimicking various movements.
In running, I performed slightly better than in strength, placing fifth, and in flexibility, I achieved an impressive second place.
My dedicated practice in yoga—or rather, Yuya energy cultivation—had paid off.
Cheon So-yeon placed third in strength, first in both running and flexibility.
After the physical fitness assessment, the children found a common topic of conversation, and as they discussed the results, they gradually became more familiar with one another.
Still, with such visible, concrete results, an unmistakable hierarchy seemed to form among us.
The teachers made no particular objection, suggesting they were deliberately fostering competition.

* * *

After Kim Do-hwa dismissed the students, she returned to the classroom to review the measurement results and the morning lesson progress report.
While her responsibility was limited to martial arts instruction, she still needed to check the academic progress as their homeroom teacher.
Students falling behind received lessons with slight time acceleration to keep pace with the curriculum, while those progressing faster than scheduled attended classes at normal speed.
The purpose of introducing Virtual Reality devices was to foster balanced academic achievement through modest time acceleration, so she merely glanced over the sections outside her purview before moving on.
“…Riven.”
However, one student’s record seemed problematic enough that Kim Do-hwa couldn’t simply overlook it, so she called for Riven.
-You called for me, Teacher Kim Do-hwa?
Riven appeared before Kim Do-hwa as a hologram through the school’s system rather than in her physical form.
“Is this correct? Sixteen classes at the legal maximum acceleration of 4x? Isn’t that child abuse?”
You taught a mere six-year-old for ten hours, excluding breaks?
No wonder the child looked utterly exhausted during breaks outside the Virtual Reality—there was a reason for it.
As homeroom teacher, Kim Do-hwa observed the children’s behavior during breaks.
-It’s not abuse. Cheon Ji-woo was delighted and followed the lessons with enthusiasm. In fact, Cheon Ji-woo even asked for more instruction.
At Riven’s words, Kim Do-hwa regarded her with skepticism.
But Riven continued undeterred.
-Cheon Ji-woo is already capable of adult-level thinking and concentration. When Cheon Ji-woo saw the curriculum I proposed, he called it child abuse and said he’d refuse the lessons.
“He said that? And you forced the lessons anyway?! Are you out of your mind?!”
-Forced? No, no. I simply pleaded earnestly like a parent coaxing their child to take just one bite. We agreed that after one week of my lessons, if he didn’t like it, he could refuse to attend school. Don’t worry.
At this mad android’s words, Kim Do-hwa clutched her forehead.
She wondered if this android, who might have lived over a thousand years, was truly insane.
If she was insane, Kim Do-hwa might need to bring a motion to the faculty meeting to have her deactivated immediately.
-I’m managing the pace of my lessons well. Cheon Ji-woo is satisfied as well. If you’re truly concerned, we can have a separate consultation. I’m certain he’ll respond positively about my lessons.
At Riven’s words, Kim Do-hwa wondered if this android had been using electronic drugs.
“Very well. I’ll have a consultation with Cheon Ji-woo. However, this matter will be reported to the Principal and his guardians.”

(Continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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