62 Class Zero - Part 2

The twenty four children passed through the school, led by the two teachers - Xun Feng and Lan Yao. While various hallways interchanged, Asura Ryuu thought about the question regarding the Beasts and Spirits. Do teachers know that among so many children in their group, majority were actually not humans at all, Asura Ryuu and Asura Tenka included?

He was curious as to whether humans had any way of recognizing Beasts that underwent a transformation and turned into human. Would there be any kind of trouble if teachers of Crimson Star Academy found out that among the twenty four children, only eight were truly human?

With this question on his mind, Asura Ryuu followed the group and glanced around, remembering the path they took. Who knows when he would need this information? In this world completely unfamiliar to him, Asura Ryuu didn't dare be arrogant and lenient, thinking that because he had ten lives, he could jump on the head of others and act high-and-mighty.

The first thing he wanted to do after coming to this vast area was to find knowledge. There was already an outline of a plan dangling in his mind as to how to achieve that. Just to be clear, Asura Ryuu wasn't thinking about how to reach those books in the library available to everyone - he was scheming on how to gain the 'forbidden' knowledge and hidden truths about the world that weren't put out for public use.

He knew very well that half of the things recorded in history books were likely falsified or misleading in some way or another - after all, in the last life he had lived on Earth, the history was so mixed up that he ended up hating the entire education system which was under his influence completely restructured later.

He knew very well how less intelligent people in positions of great importance could fare with their limited mindset. Just because someone wanted to suppress the future troubles stemming from the truth, they schemed with others in the same waters as them and falsified the truth or just plainly hid it from the public, thinking that all other people are the same as them, stupid and ignorant.

That's why when Asura Ryuu reached an important position in the society in his last life, the first thing he did was to remove all censorship and restrictions on Art, Speech and Information. Without accurate information, the solutions people come up with could potentially miss the target by a large margin. That's why his thirst for truth and information was insatiable.

The scenes of his past life flashed before his eyes as he absent-mindedly followed the group under the leadership of the two teachers.

-----

A plain-looking youth of a large build not resembling current Asura Ryuu in any sense stood before the camera, his hands crossed with an expression of immense disdain written all over his face.

"Mister, would you please be so kind to explain our viewers why do you think that your appeal on restructuring the world's system is important?"

Asura Ryuu's self in his past life glanced at the journalist with a hint of understanding in his eyes. He understood that this question was not what the journalist truly wanted to ask, but was actually what he was told to ask. That's why he didn't bear any grudge against such a dumb question. However, the disdain in his eyes intensified even more when he realized that the question was yet again asked in such a manner, as if a very dumb person asked it. He couldn't help but let out a sigh when he thought of it.

Asura Ryuu's eyes turned sharp, even though there was no way to feel that sharpness through the camera.

His disinterested voice broke the short-lived silence.

Asura Ryuu: "The question you were told to ask is one of the many reasons. The question itself isn't bad, but it is put in such a way that it assumes the viewers are all of a very limited mindset, similar to the one who came up with the idea to put that question in those words. That is, however, completely wrong.

The saying that one should always assume others are the same as themselves is a double-edged sword. It is a good thing if the one doing the comparison is a very intelligent person, but what if it's someone who got their job through various connections even though he has no basic knowledge? The person who can't solve an equation '25 + x = 79'. What do you expect of such a person? I certainly don't expect someone like that to spread truth and accurate news to people around the world."

"But that's also a kind of limited worldview, isn't it? After all, not everyone knows math.", the Journalist asked after listening to the instructions coming from his earpiece.

Asura Ryuu looked at the journalist again and noticed the cable extending from his earlobe to the device on his waist. His eyes filled with compassion and sadness for the troubles this poor man had to go through. Nevertheless, he still answered another dumb question.

Asura Ryuu: "If you have 25 dollars and I give you some more, how much did I give you if you now have 79?"

The journalist replied without any suspense: "54."

Asura Ryuu: "Do you need to know maths in order to use your brain?"

Journalist: "..."

Asura Ryuu let the silence linger for about half a minute and then coughed once to attract the attention to himself once again.

Asura Ryuu: "That's exactly what I'm telling is the problem. Asking me a question 'What if someone doesn't know math?' is a clear proof that the one in charge of ordering you around is beyond retarded. If such a person were to present you with the news that the world would change tomorrow, what would happen? I think there'd be a civil war just the next day, even if the change itself was not bad."

The journalist pressed his finger to the earphone in his ear and after a brief pause asked a question once again.

Journalist: "Aren't you afraid of the public's reaction for blatantly telling that those on a higher position than them are stupid? Isn't that saying that they are even more dumb than those who stand behind the news agency?"

Asura Ryuu suddenly started laughing maniacally, like someone who just went crazy in a moment before returning to normal once again.

Asura Ryuu: "If those watching this think that someone who would ask such a question is more intelligent than them, then I wouldn't give two shits about their opinion, you know? Berating yourself and forcibly suppressing your potential just because someone tells you that they are better than you and that your way of doing things isn't good is the dumbest thing you can do. I stand firmly behind my words so even if the entire world goes against me tomorrow or deems me a criminal or insane because of my words, I wouldn't bat an eye because there would surely be a generation that will understand a meaning behind my words. If you can't understand my meaning then, sadly, you definitely aren't the one who uses their brain to actively think but rather someone who is told how to think."

Journalist: "But mister, there are people who disagree with your proposal to change the world's system. They are accusing you of being a devil incarnate who goes against holy scriptures and wants to unite the entire world under one banner in order to better control it."

Asura Ryuu stared directly into the eyes of the journalist and then suddenly asked: "What do you think of their opinion, be honest with me. If you lose your job because of your honesty, I'll give you the ownership over one of my companies. Let this statement be a legal proof without a need to form a paper contract that I'll give this man the ownership of my company."

The journalist suddenly squinted his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew that the promise of such an influential person who is a leader of his generation wouldn't be an empty one. After taking a few deep breaths, he took out the earpiece and only then did he answer;

Journalist: "I agree with your previous opinion. Personally, I think they are the dumbest kind of people who ended up there by pure chance. I also agree that their worldview is limited to a cylindrical space made of rocks."

Journalist sighed once again and shot a meaningful look at the man opposite of himself.

Asura Ryuu smiled and added: "Indeed. They truly are ... frogs at the bottom of the well."

Asura Ryuu's hand rose and connected with the journalist's hand, after which they shook each other's hand. This moment was later passed down in history as the moment when the new era started. The journalist also became a famous figure who sacrificed his experience-rich career in order to express his opinion. The public completely supported the journalist's words as well as Asura Ryuu's proposition with a unified voice.

Billions of people firmly stood behind the plan that Asura Ryuu designed for the new world system. It gave everyone an equal starting point, but it also gave everyone a chance to prove themselves and garner the support of others through their hard work and intelligence.

This was the starting point of the Advanced Era that defined the future in which everyone could become anything they wanted to and where the mental health of people across the globe drastically improved in a few short years.

The future generations would come to remember him as one of the important philosophers, maintaining the glory brough about by his deeds for the years to come.

His last words were recorded in almost every book.

"We are the citizens of Earth, the world of beings transcending Gods. The Gods have designed us to be better than them, just like how we made Artificial Intelligence to be more advanced than us. The Gods' wrath will only come if we deny their work in our selfishness to suppress others, therefore I ask all of you to always chase the impossible. When you conquer the impossible, aim for another limit and break it! When others tell you it isn't possible, remember the words of this old man - Even when the probability is zero, it is still possible!"