I Can Read People's Comments

Chapter 80 Hard

[Chapter 79 Comment]

[Hunter_Keenan_2132: Do you still do illusion training on yourself, like when you did your killing intent training? If you were to design an illusion challenge for yourself like you are your students, what would it be?]

…

"Can you even imagine this? I have to fight against five goblins that are so fast that my eyes can't even keep up. How am I supposed to fight them? Let alone touching them, I can't even find them." Serena let out a long sigh, looking at her friends while eating.

"Is that so? It's better than me, who has to challenge the fire." Lancelot sighed, showing that his trial was actually his trauma. Theo deemed it a good time for Lancelot to face it.

And his prediction was pretty accurate. While it was true that he was still having a hard time facing the trauma, he had stopped running away. Little by little, he gradually familiarized himself with the fire again.

"Is that so? I guess I'm a bit easier. I am still allowed to use my bow, but the arrow is different. I have to shoot all kinds of arrows from a normal one to a literal spear." Aurora paused for a moment. "I feel like the trial is not over yet, even after I manage to do it."

"Well, I'm more surprised by the fact that Avalon is here with us today." Lancelot glanced at Avalon, who was eating his pork at the corner of the table.

"Hmm?" Avalon raised his head and said, "I'm just trying to understand your trials. It seems that I'm getting a rather complicated trial."

"That's probably so that you are not too straightforward anymore." Aurora chuckled.

"That's true." Avalon acknowledged that fact too while glancing at Li Wei. "I'm more curious about the guy who is said to have no weakness. Teacher Theo has said that the trial is for us to fight against our weaknesses, so I wonder what the mister no gaps has for his trial."

"You are quite rude, aren't you?" Li Wei shook his head helplessly, realizing that Avalon had begun to change. "Well, I'm simply having to learn from all of you. According to Teacher, because I'm doing my best to avoid having any mistakes or weaknesses, it makes me a bit too stiff for change."

"I can kinda understand that." Serena pointed at Li Wei. "Teacher told us to join our hands together and create a new possibility, right? While we're trying to do that, you are stiffer than Avalon to be honest."

"Is that so?" Li Wei tilted his head in confusion.

"You took the words out of my mouth." Aurora nodded furiously. "Li Wei, I think that you are too stiff… like, you don't want to add something to your repertoire because you don't want to create a new weakness."

Li Wei fell silent, contemplating her words. It seemed that this was quite a hard hurdle for him, considering he had to change a little bit too much.

"Well, I'll definitely see whether it's truly like that or not." Li Wei nodded in agreement.

"Teacher once said that sometimes, weakness is not a bad thing to have. It's not shameful to acknowledge our weakness because it shows us how to get stronger." Aurora added.

Li Wei opened his mouth slightly. It felt like he had comprehended something.

"Though, it's rather quiet here." Serena mumbled while furrowing her eyebrows.

"Now that I think about it…" Aurora glanced to the side. She also noticed that the usual person who always livened up the atmosphere had been silent the whole time.

All of them couldn't help but look at the same person. Because she had understood the loneliness and coldness in her heart, she had become the liveliest so that no one had to experience it and she could finally forget it.

But after the first trial, she was in a dilemma. On the one hand, that trauma was the one thing that shaped her today. On the other hand, it was quite painful since if she decided to take on the trial, those images would be shoved into her face again and again.

Maya, who was always cheering up and leading the conversation, hung her head low with a sad face.

When the others were staring at her, she stopped for a moment before putting down her spoon. "I'm full."

Without even saying goodbye, Maya rose from her seat and walked away with her food tray, leaving everyone speechless.

They couldn't help but look at each other, wondering what had happened.

"Hey… What should we do about her?" Serena asked all of them.

"I'm not sure. Normally, she would be the one talking a lot. Seeing her depressed like this is kinda…" Haruka looked down, feeling a bit sad as well.

This was the first time they saw Maya like this. They wanted to do something for her, but they didn't even understand the problem. Maya had even left them before they could even ask what was wrong.

Maya was walking away with her head hanging low. She was so depressed that she bumped into a few people on her way and ended up falling to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You—"

The people she bumped into wanted to scold her, but they saw the badge that indicated her class. They suddenly fell silent and hurriedly walked away.

S Class Reputation had spread far more than any students could imagine. It was true that the students in the S Class were talented, but the one that had to be feared was their teacher. Class B had lost their teacher in just two weeks since school started.

They were scared that if they offended Theo, they would be expelled from this place. So, it was better to avoid the S Class if it was necessary.

Maya, who had fallen on her butt, remained on the floor for a minute before standing up like someone who hadn't eaten anything for a few days.

She looked like she was wandering aimlessly with a lot on her mind. But it might be because of her instinct that she ended up standing in front of the door.

'Teacher Room' was written right on the door.

On the one hand, she wanted to leave right away. On the other hand, her body refused to move.

After standing for five minutes, she weakly grabbed the handle and opened the door, taking a peek inside.

When she saw Theo among the teachers, she couldn't help but walk to him.

Her appearance caused the teachers to whisper among each other, wondering what kind of thing Theo had put his students into.

Even after reaching him, Maya didn't say a single thing.

Theo made a gentle smile and said, "Let's take a walk, shall we?"

Maya didn't answer him, but when Theo left his seat, she ended up following him like a zombie.

Theo decided to bring her to the rooftop while asking, "So, what do you want to ask?"

"…" Maya remained silent. She was still hurt after watching that illusion. But after two minutes, she steeled her heart and asked, "Teacher… If you are undergoing the same test, what kind of trial will you face?"

Theo smiled while patting her head. "That's obvious. Anything related to my family like my wife and Mia. But protecting two people is easier than eleven people."

"…" Maya's eyebrows slightly raised, reacting to that answer.

Theo chuckled. "That's right. If it's a test like that, it would probably be related to protecting all of you."

Maya bit her lips and asked another question. "Then, what do you mean by making the same mistake as yours?"

"Did you love your parents?" Theo asked.

Maya gritted her teeth and ended up grabbing Theo's shirt while shouting, "Of course, I loved them! Why are you even asking that question?"

Theo made a sad smile. "Because I hated my parents."

"Eh?" Maya wavered.

"Like you, I was left behind by everyone I loved when I was a child. I couldn't count how many nights I had to go through conditionswith my stomach hurting.

"Once I entered the school, the condition became much harsher. I was bullied physically and mentally. I would often go home full of bruises and an empty stomach. And I don't even have money or a legal way to earn money. It was hard. There were a lot of times I wanted to give up.

"Still, I sold everything that was left behind and rented an extremely cheap apartment. I was doing my best to turn my life around. But when it was about to change for the better, that was when I was confronted by the truth." Theo fell silent as his tone became a bit coarse. "The entire situation I was put into, including the bullying I received, was actually the scheme of my parents."

"Eh?!" Maya opened her eyes wide. She didn't know whether this was true or not, but seeing Theo's expression, she could feel the genuine sadness in his eyes.

"I later found out the real reason for it. I was blessed with a talent, and if they wanted to protect me from an 'evil' hand, they had to suppress that talent until I was old enough. But by that time, I had grown to hate them, thinking that there would always be a better way while knowing that there wasn't." Theo moved back, releasing himself from Maya's weakened grip while looking at the clear blue sky. "That's why, now that I've become a parent myself, I'm doing my best so that Mia doesn't have to experience the same thing as mine."

Maya looked down, falling into deep thought. Unlike Theo, she remembered her family as a loving family. Compared to what Theo felt, she might be a bit luckier. It might be lonely, it might be cold, but she had managed to solve that knot in her heart in a peaceful way. She had decided to live on for their sake in that forsaken world.

But what about Theo? If Theo didn't have the mental fortitude, he would have committed suicide under all that pressure. His parents might not have any choice, but unlike her family, who couldn't turn back into humans, Theo's parents had more options.

"People said that school is called a second home. Does that mean a homeroom teacher is a second parent?" Theo smiled at Maya and said, "I don't know how far you are going, but I want to tell you something. As long as you are in school, you can always come to me for anything. I am not a replacement, nor do I intend to do it, but I will do my best to listen to all your problems."

Maya raised her head, staring at Theo's face. She didn't know why, but tears were flowing out of the corner of her eyes.

Sob.

Sob.

"Do…you know… how hard it was…" Maya started crying. Her voice was cracking. "They were the only ones I had… and I had to kill them with my own hands."

Her sentences were interspersed with sobs, her emotions making it difficult to express herself clearly.

"I, too, wanted to give up a lot of times… It's just…" She continued, her words faltering as her tears choked her voice. "…I had sworn to them and myself that I would live on."

Her voice wavered, her words carrying the weight of heartbreak as she struggled to hold back her tears. The effort to speak through her sobs made her voice shake even more.

She couldn't help but reach for Theo, hugging him while saying, "It was hard… It was lonely… I felt like the world had stopped for me since then… Could I really…"

Her words were barely audible amidst the sobs.

"I have told you and everyone else. It's not impossible, it's just hard. As long as you step forward, I will accompany you to the very end. You are not alone anymore, Maya."

Theo's words touched her heart directly.

"Oooohh…" She couldn't speak anymore, overcome by her emotions. The tears that flowed down her face bore witness to the depth of her pain, even as her attempts to communicate her feelings persisted through tears.

Theo gently stroked her hair, calming her down. "It must be hard for you."