From Space Idiot to Professor

2 – Space Oddity (2)

My father had borrowed the dawn to leave home.

A spaceship of possibly a thousand pyeong in size. There were only a few people inside. The majority were robots there for maintenance. The few family members who lived with me avoided me, nowhere to be seen.

Aidel’s mother?

She never appeared in the story. She may not be here or she may have passed away before the story began.

The only companion I could converse with was an android named Sonia.

“Young Master.”

Sonia, adjusting her headband, uttered.

“Do you really intend to go all the way to the graduate course?”

Graduate.

That’s what they call the postgraduate course at the Academy.

“Yes.”

“Are you insane?”

“I’m perfectly sane.”

The look in Sonia’s eyes turned flabbergasted. Even the robots seem to know that grad school is tough.

However, it doesn’t matter what I do.

Everything is hard for the first time. Everything should be manageable from the second time on.

Although my newly gained degree may have disappeared, the ‘me’ that had strived to achieve that degree still exists. That’s enough. I expect this round of graduate schooling to be easier than the first.

Developing the Gravitational Bullet is essential to thwart the foul play of the Outsiders. But to make it possible, I first need to attain a high social status. Like a professor, for instance.

“You’re out of your mind…you’re out of your mind…”

Sonia kept muttering something.

“Please pass the academia course first. Not just anyone can go to graduate school.”

“Okay, I got it. Can you do me a favor?”

I handed her a tablet. Upon taking the tablet, Sonia narrowed her eyes.

“Do you intend to buy all the textbooks here?”

“Aren’t you the one who said to pass the academia course first?”

‘Academia’ is comparable to high school or first half of college on Earth. The next level is ‘College’ and the final stage is ‘Graduate’.

Lenard is now sixteen, and soon to be seventeen.

I need to get into high school.

Stellarium, a prestigious school on the cosmic scale, has a separate entrance examination just for high school students. If I manage to pass and get into that school, I’ll neither be expelled from my family nor become a laughingstock to outsiders.

Plus, in the future, I’ll be able to use Rynland’s massive accelerators for gravity particle research.

Recalling my decent university entrance exam, I was confident that admission to the Academia won’t be an impossible task, as long as I give my best.

“But as I’ve said repeatedly, your chances of getting into Stellarium are virtually zero.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I, Sonia, think the second option is the most sensible. How about enlisting in the army instead of going to school?”

“Do you want me to die in a war, taking bullets?”

“I don’t necessarily want you to die. I’m just giving realistic advice.”

This is not going to work.

Ignoring Sonia, I ordered textbooks. Why would I leave something I can do myself, to a machine?

“You’re ordering all you can get.”

“I wanted to start buying a week ago, but didn’t for fear of being noticed. I need to place the order now.”

Sonia sighed heavily.

But there wasn’t much she could do about it.

After all, where else could she find a reason to scold me if I’m focusing on my studies?

Ding!

After reviewing the order receipt, I looked around.

“What a mess.”

My room was anything but tidy.

It was filled with all sorts of inappropriate items like trump cards for gambling and betting chips.

I didn’t care before, but now that I’ve started to move actively, it’s getting on my nerves.

“When was the last time this room was cleaned?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Aren’t you a maid?”

“Technically, I’m not a maid. I’m a multi-purpose android. I don’t do anything unless instructed.”

“Then what’s with that outfit?”

“Do you mean these flouncy clothes?”

Sonia, in a black skirt commonly worn by maids, fluttered her skirt and answered in a flat tone.

“I wear them because they are cute.”

“And the headband?”

“Do you mean the headband? I wear it because it’s cute.”

I sighed in disbelief. Seeing Sonia tilt her head in confusion and ask ‘What’s the problem?’ was a side note.

“So, you haven’t cleaned this room all this while?”

“Yes, I complied with your instructions to leave everything untouched.”

“Did you also ask my permission to whip me?”

“I complied because the head of the family told me to discipline you.”

“Oh boy.”

Forget it. I’ll clean myself. For the next few months, this is my room. I need to throw away things that I don’t need.

I need some ventilation in here. So, I moved towards the window to open it.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah.”

Right.

This was a universe.

***

After all the humid air was swept away with a ventilator, the real cleaning began.

Wiping off the dust and tidying the useless items was a usual task. I moved so vigorously that sweat formed on my forehead. Sonia only stood aimlessly, but upon seeing me rushing, she began to help.

“Master, are you finally planning to live like a human?”

Sonia, whose white eyes shone just like shells illuminated by the moonlight.

In response, I showed her with my actions.

“Take everything over there and throw it away.”

I said so, pointing at the bookshelf.

“But that is…”

Whether it be idol bromides or game character figurines.

They are all goods that Edel painstakingly collected.

A form of luxury.

They are not needed to study.

I pulled Edel’s goods off the bookshelf. These friends are scheduled to disappear in the dew of my older brother soon. The decent ones will be sold as used, while the rest will go straight to the trash.

“Ma, Master?”

Sonia asked, appearing flustered.

“Why?”

“You told me never to touch those items before.”

“Not anymore.”

“But…”

“I’m going to discard everything. There should only be books on the bookshelf.”

I declared.

In a way, this is compulsion.

It’s a result created by the compulsion to stubbornly survive in this damned world and achieve a happy ending.

It was the survival instinct that humans should have.

When I tried to discard the goods myself, Sonia stepped in to help. At first, she was hesitant, not knowing what to do, but eventually, she started to pack bromides and such into boxes.

“Master.”

“Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Why are you calling me then?”

“…No, it’s just. I’m a bit confused.”

I glanced at Sonia as I put the VR device into the metal trash can.

“Are you planning to throw that away too?”

“Why. Do you feel sympathy because it’s a machine like you?”

“Of course not. Don’t compare a 5th generation artificial intelligence to mere scrap metal.”

Sonia sighed and adjusted her headband.

“Don’t worry. I won’t abandon you.”

“…… What a poor joke.”

It isn’t a joke, it’s the truth.

Robots are quicker to respond than humans and have fewer prejudices. So, if I can demonstrate my transformed persona, Sonia will become my first ally.

“Anyway, this is the last of it.”

The cleaning seemed to be more or less done, so I brushed off my place and rose. Sonia too, she got up with a bag full of trash.

“I’ll go throw these out. You should get washed up in the meantime.”

“Thanks. I was about to go crazy with all this dust.”

I lightly turned on some cold water in the shower room and came out. With the smell of cleanliness filling the room, and the ventilator, air conditioner, and dehumidifier all running, it felt like I was in paradise.

Speaking of which, Sonia was taking longer than I’d expected.

Ding!

“Your order has been delivered. We greatly appreciate your shopping with Io mall.”

The books I had ordered arrived just in time.

I moved to the dock and began moving the boxes one by one.

“Oh my.”

My back felt like it was going to break from moving for the first time in a while.

The same went for Idel and me. Because of our physical health was far from good, we lacked physical endurance.

If I pass, I should start working out.

“What in the world.”

As I was moving the last box, Sonia was back in the room like a ghost.

“Did you move all this by yourself?”

“I had to do it. You weren’t here.”

“I was busy.”

“Busy? with what?”

What could she possibly have had to do?

“I brought food.”

With that, Sonia pulled out a tray she had been hiding.

Delicious-looking ham and cheese sandwiches, salmon salad with oriental dressing, and even milk.

It was a basic yet elegant combination.

“Did…did you make this yourself?”

“Housekeeping is my specialty.”

While placing the plate on the table, Sonia put a hand on her hip. She seemed very pleased with herself.

“Please eat.”

“……”

This was unexpected.

For the past week, Sonia had been telling me to ‘feed myself’. So, I had been eating canned food. It was the cheapest and easiest way.

“You’re not a cat, I was terrible to let you live on cans. Why on earth did you do that?”

“I lost money on gambling.”

“Even watching out for what you eat?”

“Why not?”

“……”

“Anyway, thank you.”

This is the first time Sonia has treated me to a meal since I’ve been in this body. I’m so moved I could cry.

As I take a bite of the sandwich, a fragrance fills my mouth. The crunchiness of the lettuce is well maintained, paired harmoniously with the simplicity of ham and egg. A generous amount of cheese smoothly ties it all together.

It’s just like it was written in the novels. He can cook.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

“No, I’m just grateful.”

“There’s no need for gratitude. If you will only live like a human being, I can do this for you every day.”

“Huh.”

This is an understanding of how Raidle has lived for many years, even if it wasn’t described in the novel.

“I’m sorry.”

“…Pardon?”

“For living like a fool all this time.”

Of course, I haven’t done anything wrong, but I think I should say this anyway.

I stuff the rest of the sandwich into my mouth as I officially open the box.

“Oh wow, look how clean this is.”

Opening a new book is always thrilling, especially if it’s for study.

However, what I bought was not a book made of paper.

Strictly speaking, it was closer to an e-book reader. The required books were bundled and sold in this format.

“But it does seem inefficient.”

“How so?”

“This, you could just put in the cloud, and let people pay to download it.”

Sonya tilts her head and replies.

“And if there’s a hacking incident, what happens to the company that published the book?”

“They just need to have proper security.”

“The cost of maintaining that security is much higher than the cost of sending it bundled in a tablet box.”

Good heavens.

Is this culture shock?

In ancient China, even though paper was invented, bamboo slips were used more often.

It’s probably not strange at this time in history when room-temperature superconductors are commercialized and humanity has expanded their living space to the entire galactic scale. I must have been thinking too primitively.

“Sir, I still have a question. Why do you suddenly want to apply to Stellarium?”

“That’s…”

There wasn’t a concrete reason I could give.

To prevent the destruction of the world?

Sure, that’s correct.

But isn’t that too abstract? Sure, for a protagonist it might be plausible, but Sonia would likely scoff if I said that.

Moreover, if I speak this aloud, even passing foreigners might hear it.

“I need a convincing reason.”

Sonya pushes her face closer and asks.

There was no convincing argument to take out.

“Well, it seems interesting.”

I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

I wasn’t wrong. Minimizing the universe’s annihilation aside, learning is always an exciting affair.

“It’s far more fun and easy than earning two quadrillion credits or joining the military.”

I only chose what was suited to my abilities.

“Ah, uh, ah….”

Sonia’s expression once again turned pale. A similar face when I said I would go to graduate school.

I didn’t have time to respond to everything. I opened all the boxes in succession.

Korean textbooks for the Korean language, math textbooks for math. I bound the tablet boxes with binders. It was easy because all I had to do was operate the screen floating in the air.

While opening all the boxes.

Something other than a book jumped out of the final box.

“…Ah, sh*t.”

“Why do you curse like that?”

Sonia approached with an unpleasant look. A face that seemed to think, ‘He’s cursing again.’

Sorry, but right now, even an adult gentleman would have no choice but to curse.

“This is … what on earth is this?”

Sonia also asked in surprise.

What came out of the box was a weirdly twisted, white object looking like a broken tooth.

It glowed a slightly darker color than LED, and the sight of it was enough to make my head feel like it was going to explode.

An irregular polyhedron of white.

Infamous artifact that appears suddenly just before revealing the appearance of an extraterrestrial entity.

The fact that it appeared before my eyes means, well.

[— ‘The god of wisdom and curiosity’ shows interest in you.]

In a word, I’m screwed.