Chapter 61 Classroom
After returning to your room and spacing out for a while, you helplessly collapsed onto the floor.
After thinking for a long time, you could only barely deduce two rules from the actions and words of the girl who seemed to be in a bad mental state and the extremely suspicious male neighbor:
1. It is important to read the atmosphere (observe people's expressions and demeanor).
2. Appropriate criticism and apologies can create a safe space for oneself.
That's all; it's far from enough to give you the confidence to counter any situation.
You should know that your body has become much weaker now, and you even doubt whether you can still manage to escape as easily as before if you encounter a monster that you need to run away from.
The "changes" this copy has made to your body are definitely hinting at something. You have some vague guesses, but the observed sample is still too small for you to draw any conclusions easily.
After repeatedly reviewing many posts on the Little Green Book, you feel that this version of the Little Green Book is much more difficult to use than before.
No matter how you change the keywords, almost all the posts pushed to you are complaints in different forms. The few that are about sharing life tips and tricks are just the beginning of a big learning activity, but when you look closer, you find that they are all advertisements.
The current information scarcity reminds you of when you first arrived in this absurd world. Back then, you were just as clueless, but much luckier than you are now. First, you met the generous and helpful Xiao Ming; second, the general rules of that instance gave you room for error. As long as you could get through the first day, you could probably figure out many of the general rules yourself through three trial-and-error attempts.
"Dungeons are like games; they're only fun when they're full of twists and turns." This is Xiaoming's creative logic regarding dungeon consciousness.
What's the point if outsiders are eliminated right from the start?
You at least have experience from the first two dungeons to refer to, but how can a complete novice get through this Japanese dungeon?
Unless, of course, this instance doesn't have the rule that you die on the first day if you don't know the situation.
For example, eating certain foods or doing certain things every day.
You patted your rumbling stomach, but still ordered sushi, ramen, tempura, and side dishes including natto and oden. You also ordered local specialties from your hometown of Taipei, such as roasted lamb and cheesecake.
Multiple deliverymen took turns coming to your door, which prompted another round of complaints from the male teacher next door, only to be shoved back by you with a barrage of "doge shove."
A table full of food bombards your brain like an alarm bell, but even if you practically choke yourself and force down a bite of each dish, you still manage to stuff this stereotypical image of Japanese food culture into your stomach.
At least tonight you don't have to worry about unknowingly breaking the rules by eating less of a certain dish.
You're still not full and feeling a bit down, so you're too lazy to properly clean up the leftover food. You were thinking of just stuffing the takeout bags and boxes into the fridge, but the moment you opened the fridge door, you paused, took out some beeswax wrap with cute patterns, sorted and packed the food neatly before putting it in.
The plastic bags were folded together, and the plastic boxes were washed clean and arranged neatly, ready to be thrown away the next day before going out.
In this way, despite feeling half-full, you restored the house to its clean and fresh state.
Before going to bed, you previewed the Japanese language and carefully read through the textbook, paying particular attention to the notes of "you" in the original world.
Based on your usual routine, you prepared four colors of highlighters and a ruler for marking key points, and only after repeatedly confirming that everything was ready did you nervously lie down on the bed.
You opened your eyes before dawn.
I slept surprisingly well, except for the hunger.
Of course, more pressing than not having enough to eat is today's Japanese language lesson.
You can do it, you're capable. The Japanese language you're learning is just a beginner level, and you've only been enrolled for a short time. Putting you in a class like this might not make you much worse than others.
If there are no problems with academics, then other areas...
You struggled to resist the urge to rub your eyes in front of the mirror, only adjusting your false eyelashes. "You" are a very sophisticated and neon-style girl; almost half of the storage space in your room is filled with beauty products, and the decorative light strips on your wardrobe are all photo booth pictures of girls with heavy makeup and big, cute eyes.
Perhaps, you need to read the air, or even the air of your own identity. You have to play this role well and not make any major mistakes; you can't afford to gamble your survival on your comfort level right now.
Your outfit doesn't stand out among passersby; in fact, you blend right in.
You were both wearing the same off-shoulder tops and long skirts, the same curved bangs, and the same big-eyed makeup. It was at this moment that you suddenly realized what that uneasy feeling you'd had while looking for someone downstairs yesterday afternoon was all about.
Those were inquisitive glances cast from who-knows-where.
You quickly left the crowd and arrived at the language classroom. The small classroom was filled with students from South Korea, mostly boys.
Whether they are all outsiders or not, you don’t know, but some of them keep their eyes on you and act so boldly that you can be sure they think you’re a local.
Well, let's just say this outfit has its advantages.
Ugh, stop touching your head after spraying on hair oil! It's not so bad if you just ignore it, it's not so bad if you just ignore it…
"bite--"
The school bell rang, and the teacher, who had been working in the corner of the podium, sprang to the front of the blackboard like a wound-up toy, grinning with eight teeth and speaking energetically: "Today we're going to learn honorifics!"
“Honorific language is an important part of Japanese culture. It not only reflects politeness but also your understanding of society and your expression of identity,” she added with a smile as she glanced around the classroom. “And among these, gender-specific language is particularly important.”
Your brow furrowed slightly, but you didn't say anything.
The teacher continued, "Men's honorifics should reflect decisiveness and confidence, while women need to show humility and elegance. This is not only a rule of language, but also a reflection of the relationship between people."
This sentence makes you feel uncomfortable.
Even in Japan, hearing such words still makes one uncomfortable. Besides, you look at the mostly average-sized boys in the classroom, lost in thought.
After teaching a few grammar points and leading everyone in reading example sentences aloud several times, the teacher energetically began calling out names: "Let's listen to the boys' expressions first."
She looked at a boy sitting in the front row. He was thin and seemed a little shy. She handed him a card with an example sentence and smiled encouragingly, "Come on, please say 'I will complete the task as soon as possible' in polite language."
The boy stood up and began to read in a flustered, low voice. His tone was hesitant, and his voice was soft.
A moment of silence fell over the classroom, then the teacher said softly, "Your grammar is fine, but your voice is too soft. As a man, your honorifics should be more powerful and confident. Try again."
The boy nodded awkwardly, cleared his throat, and repeated himself. This time, his voice was much louder.
The teacher smiled with satisfaction: "Very good, now you sound more like a responsible man."
The teacher patted him on the shoulder affectionately, and the boy's ears instantly burned. Besides that, if you weren't mistaken, his shadow seemed to expand outwards with the change in his tone of voice, even exceeding his actual height, and was projected onto the floor.
Looking at him directly, there seems to be no change in his appearance.
Next, the teacher turned to a girl sitting in the middle. Including you, she and another girl in the corner were all the female students in the classroom.
Actually, you were the one standing closer to the teacher at the time, but she bypassed you, only glancing briefly at you as your heart pounded, before walking towards that girl.
"Next, let's hear what women say." The teacher handed her a card, her tone still gentle: "Please use polite language to say 'Thank you very much for your help.'"
The girl, on the other hand, was very confident and stood up to read the revised sentence in clearly more standard Japanese.
The teacher frowned, but her smile remained unchanged: "The grammar is correct, but the tone is not humble enough. As a woman, your honorifics should be more tactful. You could try adding the word 'sincere' before it."
The girl didn't react much to the teacher's criticism, and immediately corrected herself in a low voice, "Thank you sincerely for your help!"
"Not bad," the teacher nodded, but there was still a hint of regret in her voice, "but you need to pay more attention. A woman's language should reflect gentleness and respect. With more practice, you will do even better."
As expected, the girl's shadow gradually shrank as the teacher commented, until it pitifully shrank to hide at his feet.
Sigh, you really don't want to worry about these things. This is just a dungeon; investing too much emotion will only cause more trouble.
But now you probably guess why your body has shrunk in this instance. You don't want to go back from a class looking shorter and eventually disappear.
However, this is a classroom, she is the teacher, and the incident itself is "reasonable." What if there are other punishments if the teacher's classroom rules are not followed?
How can we find a third possibility besides being punished and becoming smaller?
What exactly does this gendered language requirement mean? How can we refute the teacher's claim that gender distinctions are necessary, even if the language is inherently gendered?
Another boy was called out, and then another boy. The teacher's encouragement to each boy made the classroom floor even more crowded.
Their enormous shadows overlapped, almost covering the entire ground.
What is that?
It seems there's a very large shadow looming over it—
"Please use polite language to say 'Please take care of me.'" It's your turn. The teacher blocks your view and hands you a card with a line of neon lettering on it, and a small line of kana above it.
Honestly, even if you were to actually use honorifics, you really don't know how. But you still stumbled through the sentence "Nice to meet you" based on your impression of Japanese dramas.
"Not bad," the teacher nodded. She was always kind to everyone, but her praise made the boys' shadows grow bigger, while it had no effect on you. "But your tone was too direct. You could soften it a bit, and remember to use honorifics. Your voice was also too loud. Maybe you could try adding 'Excuse me' to soften your tone."
The teacher kept talking, and your shadow seemed to be under a spell; after its edges trembled, it visibly began to shrink. There was no time to lose; you could only take a deep breath and force a smile as you asked, "Teacher, I have a question."
She said, "Please speak."
"Honorific language is used to express respect, right?"
"Yes."
"So, can we say that the core of respect is that the other person in the conversation can clearly feel my sincerity, rather than depending on my gender?"
She paused slightly: "That... of course it's true, but gendered expression is part of Japanese language and culture, and it makes communication more in line with social expectations."
"But if the person I'm talking to can't accurately understand what I mean because of my gendered language, then isn't the function of honorifics weakened?"
The teacher's full cheeks finally returned to their original position: "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that the purpose of honorifics should be to bring people closer together, not to create barriers using gender-based rules. For example, if a man deliberately uses gentle honorifics while a woman uses decisive honorifics, will the other person feel uncomfortable?"
The classroom fell silent, and everyone looked at you. You looked down and saw that your shadow hadn't changed, knowing you'd made the right choice.
The teacher was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly: "You're right. Language is a tool for communication, and overemphasizing gender might diminish its flexibility. The same applies to grammar. While grammar is important for us all learning Japanese, the most crucial thing is whether the other person can understand us in actual conversation..."
She patted you on the shoulder, placed a candy on your desk, and moved on to the next topic.
This was an unexpected development. You thought that what you did was disrespectful to the teacher, which might anger her and lead to some kind of punishment. You were prepared to use the prop, but the teacher let it go so easily.
You feel like you've used all your strength to punch a cotton ball, and you're a little dazed holding the candy in your hand.
"Bang!"
Someone kicked the table.
"How the hell do you talk to a teacher like that? Huh?"
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Author's note: Good evening!
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