Inside the school, Classroom 1 of the eighth grade.
The class bell rang, and an elderly teacher walked up to the podium with measured steps. Clearing his throat, he announced, "In this lesson, we will be discussing parallel universes!"
He wrote furiously on the blackboard, scrawling a few lines of text before scanning the classroom. His eyes quickly locked onto a student in the very back row, who was fast asleep, face planted firmly on the desk.
A look of anger flashed across the teacher's face. Snatching up a chalkboard eraser, he hurled it directly at the slacking, sleeping boy.
"Kino! How dare you sleep through my class!" he bellowed in a towering rage.
The eraser drew a beautiful arc through the air, only to land squarely in an outstretched, upward-facing palm, caught with perfect precision.
The red-haired boy, who had been sound asleep a moment prior, lifted his head with theatrical flair. Flashy and smug, he smiled and said, "Teacher, you really don't need to shout so loudly just to call my name."
"And there goes Kino, showing off again..." whispered a classmate nearby, sighing in mock exhaustion.
"Very well, Kino! Why don't you explain to the class exactly what a parallel universe is? If you can't, expect to be kept after school!" The teacher glared at him, his mustache twitching with fury.
"Well, as for that..." The red-haired youth, Kino, set the eraser down and flipped his bangs with an air of deep solemnity.
His eyes darted downward, scanning around frantically.
As a serial slacker who never paid attention and slept through every lecture, he had absolutely no concept of what a parallel universe was. Besides, teaching eighth-graders about parallel universes? Wasn't that way beyond their curriculum?
Just then, a girl in a pink dress walked past the window, instantly catching his eye.
He nudged his deskmate with his foot and whispered, "Whoa, Fatty, look! A total babe!"
Beside him, the equally bleary-eyed Thales poked his head up to take a look. Outside, Phoebe was walking down the hallway past Classroom 1, completely lost in her own thoughts.
Thales stole a hasty glance and immediately retracted his head, pointing frantically at the podium from beneath the safety of the desk.
"Kino, the teacher is waiting for your answer!" he hissed in warning.
Only then did Kino reluctantly pull his gaze back. Meeting the furious glare radiating from the podium, he lowered his head in resignation. He truly didn't know the first thing about any parallel universes. Even if he racked his brain right now, he wouldn't come up with anything.
"It seems you have no answer. Get ready to stay after class then!" The teacher turned back to the blackboard, showing no mercy.
Kino propped his head in his hand, his downcast gaze falling upon his desk, specifically, onto his open, blank notebook.
Suddenly, his expression shifted.
Keeping his head low, he spoke up smoothly, "Teacher, who says I don't know?"
"Oh? Then why did you hesitate just now?" The teacher turned back around.
Striking a dramatic, "The Thinker" pose, Kino replied with supreme confidence, "Because... I was contemplating."
Thales noticed something bizarre about his best friend. Leaning sideways to peek at Kino's desk, he froze in utter shock, his mouth hanging open so wide it could swallow an egg.
On the desktop, Kino's pen was moving completely on its own, writing furiously across the open notebook.
Thales clamped a hand over his mouth, barely swallowing a scream of "We've got a ghost!"
He had no idea what the pen was writing, but Kino simply kept his head down, reading the text aloud without skipping a beat.
"Teacher, parallel universes... hmm." He leaned his head back, shaking it slightly. "According to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, beyond the universe we inhabit, there exist other universes that run parallel to our own..."
"There is a striking similarity between these universes..."
"In fact, beyond our world, completely different realms might exist. Through certain methods, methods that surpass mere wormhole travel, entities from other worlds could cross over into our own, intersecting with our lives..."
The words spilled effortlessly from Kino's mouth as he delivered the explanation with absolute composure. Aside from sounding a bit like he was reading from a script, his delivery was virtually flawless.
After a long moment, Thales watched as the pen on Kino's desk finally came to a halt. Only then did Kino slowly close his mouth.
At the front of the room, the teacher's expression had transformed into one of absolute astonishment. He rushed down to Kino's desk, staring in disbelief. "How do you know this? The concept of parallel universes hasn't even been proven yet!"
"Furthermore, what did you mean by methods surpassing wormhole travel and other worlds?" The teacher's face was filled with urgency as he fired off one question after another.
Kino spread his hands, playing dumb. "A pity, but I don't know either."
The teacher finally snapped out of his trance, waving his hand dismissively. "Fine, sit down. Don't let me catch you slacking again, hmph!"
He turned around and walked back to the podium. Kino sat down, staring blankly at his notebook.
Beside him, Thales poked him with a finger, whispering in a trembling voice, "Kino, did you see that just now?" He pointed fearfully at the notebook.
"Duh. I'm neither an idiot nor blind..." Kino picked up the notebook, squinting in confusion at the handwriting.
To be fair, a few vague ideas had actually popped into his head just moments ago, but these words had manifested on the paper a step ahead of him. He had simply gone with the flow and read them aloud. Though he hadn't been sure if it was the right answer, it had clearly baffled the teacher.
"I think this place is haunted," Thales muttered, spooked.
Kino let out a puzzled hum, propping his chin in his hand with a melancholy expression. Thales braced himself for some profound explanation, only for Kino to muse to himself, "Could it be... that even ghosts are so captivated by my dashing good looks that they'd go out of their way to give me the right answers?"
In an instant, Thales was utterly struck speechless.
The two of them looked down at the notebook again. The handwriting perfectly matched every single word Kino had just recited.
Thales shook his head, analyzing the script. "This handwriting is lean, elegant, and balanced, carrying the grace of a master calligrapher. Even if it is a ghost, it must have been a highly principled intellectual in its past life."
"I wonder if she's beautiful. What a shame, my heart has already been stolen by the babe from earlier," Kino sighed, looking thoroughly heartbroken. "Dear lady ghost, it seems you are destined for an unrequited crush on me."
"Oh, come on…" Thales nearly toppled right off his stool. He was entirely defeated by Huo Linfei's utterly bizarre train of thought.
On the other side of the room, far above the chaos...
While ordinary onlookers rarely bother to look up, a dependable middle-aged man was currently hovering high above the school building, drifting silently in mid-air.
Zoran withdrew his hand.
This time, even a supreme being like him couldn't help but look utterly exasperated, nearly laughing at the sheer absurdity of it. In this entire world, who else but him could command a pen to write by itself?
Zoran let out a soft sigh, his expression gradually softening.
To grow stronger in this world, embedding himself within this 100,000-year cycle of reincarnation was an absolute necessity. As of right now, Kino and Thales were the best conduits he could find.
This realm was the universe of RevEvolution, also known as Ultra Beast Force. And that flashy, dramatic kid down there was the protagonist of this world: Kino.
Zoran had never anticipated that his subtle display of magic would be completely misinterpreted in such a ridiculous manner. Even with the stoic composure of an ancient elder, he couldn't help but inwardly marvel: You are truly unbelievable, kid.
Then again... the boy was certainly an entertaining character.
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