Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Chapter 5922: Chapter 4943: No Batman Here (30)

At this moment, Shiller was standing outside the side door of the Gotham University Psychology Department building, not the main entrance. And right behind him was the head of the Chemistry Department area, the "Scarecrow".

The tactic of "using another’s knife to kill" really comes in handy. I believe that many people enjoy luring two neutral monsters together in games, watching them fight, and then picking up the loot.

However, some games don’t make such fine distinctions, leading to situations where even if two monsters are drawn in, they end up attacking the player together. But Brainiac has done a relatively detailed job in this aspect; not only do the bosses attack each other, but occasionally the minor monsters from different areas do as well.

Shiller admits he is a bit curious to see what skills this boss characterized after himself would have. So he lured the monster over from the chemistry building. This wasn’t easy, even with the assistance of Spider-sense, he failed many times.

There were times when the lure broke off, and times when he was intercepted by patrolling minor monsters, but Shiller managed to escape. Finally, he seized an opportunity and pulled this monster to the psychology department.

Shiller glanced around but didn’t see the boss described as wearing a black suit and holding an umbrella. He suspected that the final boss might be inside the building, but pulling the "Scarecrow" into the building would be even more challenging. There were bound to be many monsters inside the building.

Shiller ultimately decided to give it a try. He first entered through the side door, and the "Scarecrow" followed him in. But unexpectedly, everything turned dark, and after a cutscene, he found himself sitting in a classroom again.

The boss who had been chasing him just moments ago was now sitting beside him.

"How can the monster get inside?" Shiller frowned.

"I wonder too," Brainiac’s voice sounded a bit helpless, "Can you stop ordering fried rice at the bar?"

With that, Shiller felt justified: "Since it’s possible to lure monsters, you should have anticipated this situation."

Luckily, it was just an unusual situation, and the program didn’t crash. Next, a figure resembling Shiller appeared on the podium and began to lecture.

It wasn’t basic psychology that was being taught, but rather a part of the Psychoanalysis Method. The textbook used was a book written by Shiller himself, which is about personality theory.

Shiller never imagined that one day, he would sit in a classroom listening to himself lecture. However, he also knew that his large lecture teaching skills were quite average, basically just reading from the book.

But the thing with the Psychoanalysis Method is just like that; what can be taught in the classroom is limited. The theories that students have to memorize don’t really help in actual application and writing papers; they serve just as a reference.

When Shiller saw the papers being handed out, he shook his head. The first paper tested the theories just covered in class, including some fill-in-the-blank and essay questions. It wasn’t difficult at all, and Shiller breezed through it. But then he was required to write a paper.

Shiller felt a bit troubled, not because he couldn’t write but because he realized if writing a paper was part of the test, he would probably have to fight alone. Who among those who joined the game would know how to write a paper on the Psychoanalysis Method?

Logically speaking, Harley and Tim should be able to, but they graduated a long time ago and don’t usually write. Besides, personality theory wasn’t particularly emphasized, Shiller didn’t focus on it during class and left very little homework, so they probably wouldn’t remember much. What to do?

In reality, just listening to this class should be enough to write it. But the trouble with the Psychoanalysis Method is exactly that; theory and understanding are two different things. What you write based on the content of this class is likely to be worthless. Adding your own understanding is also difficult.

Shiller wrote while worrying. It seems among all the players encountered, the only ones who might pass are those two former students, plus Charles and Lilith. The power-type superpower users basically wouldn’t pass.

"This evaluation standard..." Shiller pondered aloud.

"It’s based on your evaluation standards," Brainiac’s tone carried a hint of Schadenfreude, "A standard synthesized from your grading of student assignments and papers."

Then it’s over, Shiller immediately realized that Tim and Harley might not be able to pass.

This is because, during their student days, Brainiac wasn’t around. The students entering the psychology department had varying talents, and Shiller’s standards were relatively low. But after Brainiac came along, Shiller’s students were all carefully selected and mostly talented, like Jenna. Naturally, Shiller’s demands increased.

The raised standards elevated the overall standard level. If Harley and Tim used their old standard to write, whether they could pass was really uncertain.

He hoped they were smart enough to realize there might be an exam and come to him for tutoring voluntarily. Shiller sighed. But how to tutor was also an issue; without their own understanding, they might still not pass.

After hastily writing a short paper, Shiller submitted it. The next second, everything turned dark, and he found himself outside the psychology department. Shiller was genuinely shocked: "Brainiac!"

"Hold on a second," Brainiac was clearly checking the data, puzzled as to why Shiller hadn’t passed. Could it be that the standard for Shiller that he simulated was wrong?

"Ah, wait, you can’t write your own paper," Brainiac said, "Otherwise, it will be judged as academic plagiarism."

Shiller laughed angrily, "You mean, using my own academic results is academic plagiarism???"

"Obviously, I didn’t foresee you participating in this game," Brainiac didn’t hold back, "Because the game can be taken offline at any time, I was worried they would ask you to ghostwrite, or simply memorize your papers to cheat. Therefore, all occurrences of your academic results are considered plagiarism and thus disqualified."

Shiller took a deep breath and turned away from the Psychology department. His rich experience in outsmarting other personas had taught him not to bicker with himself.

Shiller was the first to go back. Charles immediately noticed something was off with him. He poured Shiller a cup of hot tea and then asked, "What’s wrong, Professor?"

Shiller opened his mouth but surprisingly didn’t know how to describe the current situation, so he sat there silently drinking tea. Charles sat down opposite him and said, "The monsters at the university are hard to deal with, huh? Want me to take a look?"

At this point, Shiller remembered Charles is also a very skilled psychologist, even though he’s not specialized in Psychoanalysis Method, he does have Mind Reading Technique experience, which might help him pass. So he said, "Professor Xavier, how much do you understand about personality theory in Psychoanalysis Method?"

"I’m not well-versed in the entire Psychoanalysis Method," Charles said, "I haven’t had the need to study or research it."

"I think you might want to give it a try," Shiller said, "In my books on personality theory, I mention that an individual’s social identity is very similar to the human self’s social identity..."

Shiller started explaining his viewpoint, and Charles listened attentively. After listening, he said, "This actually reminds me of the High Tower in your Psychic_Battlefield, as if it’s the Tower of Babel humans once built. You know the legend of the Tower of Babel, right?"

Shiller nodded and said, "Yes, people wanted to build a Tower of Heaven to connect with God, which angered God. He gave the people in the tower different languages, causing them to be unable to communicate, and thus the Tower of Babel collapsed..."

"Yes, I think it’s a great analogy for what you’re saying about social identity and personality’s social identity. If people’s persona masks are like the people in the Tower of Babel, failing to communicate, then naturally self-doubt and self-loathing emotions arise..."

The two continued to exchange ideas, and by the time Ethan and Gordon returned, they had basically reached a point where they could co-publish their findings. Shiller finally felt relieved, Charles should be able to pass.

Then he said, "I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to explain it to Harley, Tim, and Lilith, otherwise we won’t be able to defeat the boss in our area..."

Shiller told Charles about his experience in the Psychology department, and Charles was speechless, "Luckily, there’s no boss based on me, otherwise wouldn’t they be testing my Mind Reading skills?"

"I think it’s more about assessing the level of early childhood education," Shiller chuckled.

At this time, the team heading to the Wayne building finally found the explosives hidden by the Joker and successfully integrated them into the terminal. The team members began to retreat.

As soon as they returned, Ted rushed in excitedly and said, "Look what we’ve got!"

Normally, many people should gather around to celebrate their successful mission and admire the loot they received. But in reality, the atmosphere at the estate was dead silent, with Tim and Harley sitting at the dining table, looking dejected.

Charles’s phantom sat opposite them, patiently saying, "It’s something out of your control, ladies and gentlemen. If anyone else could’ve passed, there wouldn’t be a need for you guys to review. With great power comes great responsibility..."

"The problem is, I don’t see where my abilities are," Tim said, "Just because I’m slightly stronger than Bruce, doesn’t mean I’m naturally gifted at Psychoanalysis Method. Bruce is one point, even if I’m ten points, the full score is still a hundred..."

"Then maybe at best I’m twenty," Harley laughed in frustration, "I occasionally get some inspiration, but that doesn’t mean I can truly research the Psychoanalysis Method. Most of its theories feel like dreamspeak anyway."

"I’ve figured out why this prop exists." Tim tossed the purple book prop onto the table, "Brainiac! Is this your revolutionary virtual game system?"

"This is the difficulty level you requested," Brainiac’s tone remained calm, "You’re always complaining that Battleworld isn’t challenging enough. Is this enough for you now?"

The two couldn’t refute it. They could only say that Greed was too merciful and unlike this cruel artificial intelligence, so ruthless. When everyone kept complaining about Battleworld’s low difficulty, he still didn’t bring out this deadly weapon.

Otherwise, making Psychoanalysis Method the final game content, even Batman would need at least two thousand hours to get started. Wouldn’t that meet both the game time and difficulty requirements?