Chapter 33

Sakura Middle School, faculty office.

Physical education teacher [Aihara Kyoko] was preparing to nap during lunch break, but just as her consciousness blurred, a sudden clamor and screams erupted outside.

So noisy… what’s going on?

Interrupted in her sleep, Aihara Kyoko was furious.

After a while, a large group of female teachers returned to the office and began excitedly gossiping.

“Is that the new teacher? So young, so handsome!”

“I always thought Westerners were the most attractive race, but I never imagined an Asian could be this handsome!”

“So handsome! More handsome than any star I’ve ever seen!”

Aihara Kyoko buried her head between her arms, eyes closed, trying to cling to the last fading threads of drowsiness and force herself to sleep—but the gossiping of the female teachers never ceased.

In their descriptions, this new male teacher was “fit only for heaven”; our own Kimura Takuya fell three points short in charm, and foreigner Leonardo DiCaprio lacked three points of charisma.

“Here he comes! He’s walking over!” The chattering grew even more excited.

Aihara Kyoko, unable to bear it any longer, opened her eyes and stood up—she would see for herself who had shattered her peaceful nap!

Through the office’s glass window, she saw a man and woman walking side by side down the corridor; the woman had an ordinary face and a cold expression, while the man’s smooth, pale features radiated sharply defined coldness…

The instant she saw him, Aihara Kyoko’s fury vanished instantly, her gaze going slack.

The woman was Saeki Rika; the man, of course, was Qi Ming.

He was being shown around the school by Saeki Rika, just to make an appearance.

“The Sakura Middle School from ‘Ultraman Ace’? Not only the name matches, but the principal and vice-principal I just met are also the ‘original cast’.”

“That teacher up front looks like Teacher Kyoko—she was the one Vector Meng was clearly infatuated with in the original series, and the students all thought they were a couple.”

Thinking of this, Qi Ming smiled slightly at her and nodded in greeting—the moment his icy demeanor melted sent the female teachers into a chorus of fangirl screams.

Saeki Rika sighed faintly, but she understood the teachers’ reactions.

“Tomorrow you’ll teach one class; we just need a photo as proof.” She handed Qi Ming a stack of documents.

Qi Ming flipped through them briefly: a teaching license, employment certification… at the bottom, a Japanese passport.

Seeing this, he picked up the passport and tossed it lightly.

The passport traced a perfect parabola and landed squarely in a trash bin twenty meters away.

Saeki Rika: “You…”

Qi Ming: “Where I’m from, dual citizenship isn’t recognized.”

Saeki Rika: “But your identity…”

Qi Ming’s tone carried a hint of mockery: “You can give a green card, you can give permanent residency—but citizenship… did you ever grant that ‘honor’ to MacArthur back then?”

Qi Ming never considered himself a collaborator.

He had merely accepted Morohoshi Dan’s plea, staying in this disaster-plagued nation to contain major catastrophes at their source, within his means, and protect humanity in this world.

If one were to be precise, his ecological role should be compared to the five-star emperor MacArthur of that era.

Saeki Rika immediately realized Qi Ming understood the game—she dropped the matter, knowing her little trick was useless.

After Qi Ming returned to the command room, the others were stunned upon learning the full story.

Morohoshi Dan, leaning on his cane: “Whatever you do, if you do it, do it seriously. Even if it’s just one class, treat it seriously.”

Qi Ming, preparing his lesson, replied offhandedly: “I was a middle school student six years ago—I have experience.”

Megumi: “But listening and teaching are different, right? Many children can’t be managed even by veteran teachers.”

Qi Ming explained his understanding:

“Adult language is extremely imprecise, filled with countless pre-established ‘common sense.’”

“Most adults communicate casually under assumed common sense—I’ve seen many researchers do this, even inventing new terms without defining them.”

“Children know almost nothing about the world; they may be hearing ‘common sense’ for the first time. You must define the world for them, describe it to them.”

“People struggle to understand what they don’t know—but they never explain what they take for granted. That’s the gap between teacher and student.”

Nagi Nishijo spoke, unusually: “So you’ll pay attention to your wording, use vocabulary children can understand, right?”

It was clear she wasn’t indifferent to everything—she did care, a little, about the next generation.

Qi Ming: “Yes.”

But Morohoshi Dan still worried—he insisted on coming along the next day, cane in hand.

Megumi also wanted to watch, but unfortunately, she wasn’t like Qi Ming, who only followed acceptable rules—she had to file mission reports.

………………………………

The students in the class showed tremendous enthusiasm for this “substitute teacher.”

Qi Ming saw many familiar faces from ‘Ultraman Ace’ in this class.

For example, the small boy wearing glasses, [Dr.].

And the child who, after a breakup, summoned the monster [Ho].

Qi Ming stepped onto the podium and began teaching algebra. Morohoshi Dan listened for a while and thought the lesson seemed quite good.

No student was distracted—all eyes were fixed on Qi Ming.

But after watching a while, Morohoshi Dan noticed one seat was empty, so he quietly asked the vice-principal, who was filming, what was going on.

Vice-principal: “That kid? Probably off looking for a UFO.”

Morohoshi Dan sat up straight: “A UFO?”

The vice-principal explained the empty seat belonged to a student named [Akio].

But recently, he began claiming he was actually an Earth-born alien, stopped attending class, and was obsessed with boarding a spaceship to “go home.”

Morohoshi Dan: “Is that true?”

The experienced vice-principal laughed:

“Of course not. You’ve heard of students lying about stomachaches to skip exams, or saying they forgot their homework at home—those are all excuses.”

“This kid Akio performs worse academically than others, isn’t good at sports, can’t compare to his two older siblings, and has no close friends at school.”

“So he’s escaping from himself by inventing this story—that he’s from another planet—so he doesn’t have to try anymore, since he’s not human.”

Morohoshi Dan pondered this, then pulled Qi Ming aside during recess to tell him.

In his view, teaching was a sacred calling; even though Qi Ming was only a substitute, he should still take responsibility and persuade the boy to return to school.

——————————

Next will come an unprecedented “fivefold assault,” and the revelation of this world’s origin.

The story is thrilling, with fresh highlights every day—you’ll surely want to offer monthly votes, hehehe.

(End of Chapter)