Chapter 49 Test Paper
When the rumor spread that one of the seminary's most unspeakable professors had returned from the dead and had been designated by the dean to take over the grading of the late spring exams, widespread grief spread throughout Baita University. Whether it was the vast majority of beginners who took the required theology course or the few seniors who took it as an elective, everyone was distracted, and even the short spring break seemed to be shrouded in a cloud of gloom.
"Is it really that serious?" A senior student taking other electives looked speechlessly at his scowling friend. Seeing his hair thinning, he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's just a late spring exam. It won't count for many credits. Dean Rabelais gave me this question when I was taking the junior course. The worst that could happen is a scolding."
"You don't understand," the other person said, casting a plaintive and jealous glance at the innocent lucky kid. "If you fail the spring exam this time, you'll have to have a face-to-face interview with the examiner."
Among the senior students who chose to study theology, some were devout believers, others hoped to work in the temple, and quite a few sorcerers were eager to gain a deeper understanding of the gods' will and enhance their resonance, so they paid a fee and came to listen.
As for Mr. Nova Brody, the theoretical views of this extremely young theology professor were like a drop of cold water into boiling oil, which was earth-shattering: no one had ever taken the humble common people as the main object of theological research.
Therefore, each of his private open lectures was a fierce "war," a debate or verbal battle between passionate supporters and utterly hateful opponents, which could even escalate into a massive brawl. But regardless of which side he was on, everyone agreed that Professor Brody himself was, in some sense, terrifying.
No one wants to come face to face with the legendary devil who can dig out all the secrets deep in your soul with just one look.
The Big Devil himself wasn't having an easy time either. The spring exams adopted the latest format, the exact same questions he'd proposed back when he was a teaching assistant—a 150-point system with single-choice, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and three long essay questions. The Chinese students who had taken the exam-oriented exams all praised them—but this time, they'd shot themselves in the foot.
When Azuka returned to the teacher's office, carrying the requested textbooks and other supplies, he saw his nemesis, his face sullen, scribbling a glaring "53" on a blank page on a test paper. The unfortunate student also received a sinister, murderous crimson comment: "From both a literary and professional perspective, your answers are truly baffling. I hope Mr. Rabbi will give me a reasonable explanation."
The professor was visibly furious. As the saying goes, no one knows a student better than their teacher, and the dean knew exactly how to torture his beloved student—like throwing him at a bunch of innocent, foolish students.
Only the bottom of his life-saving coffee remained, completely cold. Nova simply dropped his pen, took off his glasses, closed his eyes, and frowned heavily. Someone stood behind him, considerately massaging his shoulders and neck, which had become stiff from long hours at his desk.
"...Don't rub it." He frowned, trying to avoid the other person's hand. The feeling of being touched was strange. It was hard to say whether it was uncomfortable or comfortable, but more of a strange and strange uneasiness.
The other man said nothing, but pressed a certain depression with his thumb and applied a little pressure - the enemy immediately shrank in his hand like a cat with its neck pinched, and let out a low, muffled groan that was caught off guard.
After recovering from the shock, the professor realized that he was about to get angry, but suddenly he realized that his shoulders and neck felt much more relaxed.
“…”
He simply changed the subject with a deadpan expression: "Off-campus teaching assistant positions don't come with subsidies. I'll be responsible for paying your salary—and let me be clear, my own salary isn't high, so a high salary is out of the question. But in return, I don't need you to do any complicated work."
Nova picked a few books from the textbooks piled on the table and handed them to the newly appointed teaching assistant. "Although I've asked the dean to help you get in touch with someone, and I'll help you cover it up, you still need to understand some basic common sense to avoid exposing your flaws. You can read these books this week—don't get them dirty, they're expensive—and ask me directly if you don't understand anything."
He paused, then recalled the students' astonishingly outrageous answers, and reluctantly said, "If you really can't stand it, forget it. I'll just say you're my personal assistant."
The savior, who was blatantly accused of "unspoken rules" by his own enemy, felt a little awkward.
"You seem to like this job very much?" The God-favored One put away the books and calmly took the leftover coffee that the other person subconsciously reached for a little further away.
"...Fortunately, it's not boring—except for this part." The man seemed oblivious to his small movement. He wiped his lenses and put them back on, returning to grading the students' frustrating papers. "The good thing is that you can use this opportunity to read a lot of secret historical materials, from which you can deduce many interesting conclusions, such as how the newly invented Winston spinning machine affected the gods' sphere of influence."
The so-called learning from history means that if one is familiar with the history of a nation, a religion, a country or even a civilization, one can always use it to roughly infer the past, ills and even future possibilities of today's society. Of course, it is not an easy task to unravel some truth from the obscure divine history of the major temples that mainly praises the merits.
The male protagonist seemed to have fallen into a suspicious silence. Nova took the time to look up and gave him a cold look: "If you have nothing to do, please help me make a table of the scores, including 90 points and above as a pass, and record them separately."
Otherwise, you will feel like a ghost and be scared.
"...I have warned you that a war that will affect you will soon break out." The voice of the God-favored One showed a rare hint of hesitation.
The professor paused for a moment, but quickly resumed writing, his tone as cold as ever: "I have some ideas... Is it the conflict between the Oakenselle Society and the Radiant Church?"
Since the first century, the major temples have held a firm grip on the spiritual realm of Ambrose, like a thick, lingering fog. By the mid-to-late last century, the Glorious Church reached its peak, with the Holy Codex of Light firmly held as its guiding principle. The Okunsele Society, however, was initially a rebellious group of a few apostate priests, separated from the Church in the late 21st century. However, with the disappearance of the gods, the Glorious Church, burdened with competing for power with other factions, was increasingly overwhelmed and forced to relinquish some of its cultural, educational, technological, and ideological responsibilities. Nova's previous mention of the Glorious Church's forbearance and concern regarding the seminary is one example of this.
The black-haired young man said with a hint of sarcasm, "Perhaps some of the practices of the Oakensele Society in the near future will completely shake the spiritual rule of the Glowing Church, resulting in some scholars, including me, being imprisoned?"
The tone was as if he had already foreseen his own ending.
"...You are very smart, almost unique." The God-favored One looked at his nemesis quietly, his voice so soft that it was almost a whisper.
...but still reveals some of the innocence unique to young people, and the clean and gentle feeling that seems to come from another world.
But Azuka didn't think there was anything to laugh at. Gentleness was never a derogatory word. He even felt a little "unbearable" about the information he was about to reveal. This was definitely a novel experience for those favored by God.
Under the swaying kerosene lamp, the black-haired young man dragged a thin shadow behind him. He was almost buried by layers of books and papers, and his fingertips were stained with a little scarlet by the ink at some point.
…the color of blood and fire, the color of fervor and ominousness, the color of change and strife.
"I didn't have a deep understanding of that incident in my previous life." The God-favored One lowered his eyes and picked up a test paper on the table.
At that time, the protagonist of the comic was still studying at the St. Bartolomeo Warlock College, busy concealing his identity as a non-believer, but he still remembered the tense and terrifying atmosphere vividly.
"As far as I know, during the 'Divine Punishment Incident', countless scholars were hanged on charges of 'blasphemy'. In the later stages, even nobles and commoners were punished—the first to be affected was the theological faculty of White Tower University."
In the previous life, after learning the real name of the villain, Azuka also carefully searched Nova Brody's past, but all traces of the other party's existence seemed to be forcibly erased by something, and in the end he could only barely get a little information. The name Nova Brody once appeared at White Tower University, and there has been no news since then.
Combining some information, it is not difficult to infer that the other party was also affected by the bloody "Divine Punishment Incident".
Common sense would dictate that, given the experience of a past life, he should simply resign this time. However, theologians were all people who had signed soul contracts; getting a job was difficult, and resigning was even harder. If he simply used some means to take them away, they would easily see through his intentions with their abilities, and the savior didn't want anyone to harbor a grudge against him.
In the end, he handed a questionnaire called respect but actually a calculation to his old enemy.
The test paper in Azuka's hand seemed to be a rare high-scoring paper. Bright red handwriting carefully annotated and corrected long passages of discussion. Several lines were highlighted, with praise and recommended books written next to them.
Nova suddenly had a foreboding premonition and finally put down his pen. Behind his lenses, those highly transparent, smoky-gray pupils reflected another person's eyes, and any shrinking of the pupils could not be concealed.
He vaguely realized that he seemed to have taken something too lightly, and the price would be far more cruel and brutal than he could have imagined... or perhaps he was just subconsciously avoiding thinking about these issues.
"This incident lasted for two years. The final outcome was that all the seminaries were banned and 'History of the Gods' was listed as a banned book. It was forbidden to circulate. Violators would be punished with death..." The God-favored One gently placed the paper soaked with ink on the table, his voice so soft as if he was afraid of scaring a child who had just woken up from a nightmare.
In the quiet theology professor's office, every word was deafening.
"…Dean of the seminary, Delos Rabelais, committed suicide in his office out of fear of sin."
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