Gotham City, on a morning that was not particularly bright but still warm, Shiller put down his coffee cup, hearing the sound of his colleague Anna's high heels. Shortly after, a fuming American sweetheart with blonde hair walked in and said, "The damn, lazy devils at the new student registration desk have taken the day off. You go fill in for one day."
Shiller replied, "I'll head there now. This cup of coffee's on you."
"In your dreams!" Anna roared, and Shiller, chuckling, left the café with his coffee in hand, looked up at the perpetually overcast sky of Gotham City, and began his fifth day in this place.
In his previous life, Shiller was a psychologist. After a plane crash, he was tossed into this city that had a certain charm despite its uncouth customs. Luckily, he was neither a hero nor a villain but an easy-going and stable university professor – exactly his old field of work, a Professor of Psychology.
As Shiller was relishing the fact that he could slack off for another day, the system in his mind pinged, displaying the message: "Received a chat request from Peter Parker."
While heading toward the registration desk, Shiller replied in his mind: "What's up, Peter?"
"Hey! I'm starting my internship at Oscorp tomorrow! You have no idea how rare such an opportunity is for me! Plus, Gwen... I mean, she's going too, and we'll be together. It's just terrific! We can discuss things like genome helix bodies, those super awesome massive machines..."
Shiller silently thought to himself, no girl would want to discuss these with you, snap out of it, Little Spider.
Ever since Shifter arrived here, he gained a "American Comics Chat System," and the first person he unlocked was none other than the chatterbox Peter Parker aka Little Spider, who had been going on and on for four and a half days about his teenage struggle; his crush on Gwen, his desire to pursue her, but not having the courage to.
While encouraging Peter, Shiller arrived at the registration desk, sat down to sort out the forms, waiting for this year's freshmen to register.
Something strange did strike Shiller. He had been in Gotham for quite some days now and hadn't seen the Bat Signal lit up. There were no villains causing trouble either. Life was tranquil, as if the locals genuinely were unsophisticated.
Soon, students started registering one after the other, carrying a pile of materials. Shiller's task was to record their names and dorm numbers.
"Next!" Shiller called out without looking up; there was already a long line in front of him. A male student sat down, and Shiller asked: "Name?"
"Bruce Wayne."
"Bruce... Male Dormitory Building 2, Room 306," Shiller wrote, his pen paused momentarily. He subtly looked up and examined the student: blue eyes, black hair, and quite handsome. Shiller asked, "Wayne?"
"Indeed, I am Wayne."
Shiller repeated the dorm number: "Male Dormitory Building 2, Room 306. Did you not hear it clearly? Take your form and leave quickly; people are waiting behind you."
Now it was Bruce who was taken aback. He picked up the form and asked: "Which department are you a professor in?"
"Psychology. Don't take my class, kid," Shiller replied.
Bruce found him interesting, but Shiller was annoyed. Just his luck that he had to time-travel to become a university professor when Batman was just about to start college! That explained the absence of the Bat Signal!
Plagued by ill fortune, Shiller was all too aware of the dangers of the Batman series. Especially since now, Bruce was just an 18-year-old kid, and a detestable playboy at that!
Bruce said nothing. He picked up his form, thanked Shiller, and left. Having managed the new student registration, Shiller was about to head back to his university quarters for a nap when he remembered he had left his keys in the office. As he was climbing the office stairway, he ran into a tall, skinny professor coming down. Shiller greeted him: "Hello, Jonathan, did you also come to pick something up?"
"Yes, did you forget your keys in the office again?"
"Oh, right. I did. Anna rushed me out in a hurry this morning and I forgot. I'll pick them up real quick and leave. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
The moment Shiller crossed Jonathan, a chilly sensation crept up his spine. Jonathan... Jonathan Crane!
The super criminal Scarecrow!
With his back to Shiller, Jonathan didn't notice Shiller had turned his head and was staring at him. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had just learned Batman was just starting college, he wouldn't have remembered. An image of Scarecrow flashed in his mind—Gotham University's Professor of Psychology, holding a PhD in both Psychology and Chemistry, the future Scarecrow who would unleash carnage using the fear gas, Jonathan Crane!
Shiller took a deep breath, continued up the stairs without changing his rhythm, realizing that Jonathan wasn't Scarecrow yet. Since Bruce was only 18, he hadn't graduated from college yet and hadn't become Batman. Jonathan wasn't yet the renowned world-class psychologist either, only having a bit of fame within the academic field of "Emotional Psychology." Shiller was even more famous than him for now...
Now, Shiller was a world-renowned master in criminal psychology and abnormal psychology, a renowned psychological researcher, and Gotham's most famous psychology professor.
So, Jonathan's attitude just now was quite good… What use was that! Shiller wouldn't concoct gas! He was a pure arts student, and Jonathan was a Chemistry PhD!
Indeed, once you've mastered science, you're fearless wherever you go…
Shiller knew full well that the grand stage of Gotham City was about to raise its bloody curtain, and he was just a scholar without any power, a weakling who had trouble moving chairs and was a pure knowledge-based talent. He didn't stand a chance against these famous super villains, not to mention the background thugs from the comics, who could easily kill him with a gun!
His worry became reality. The next morning, Shiller, who usually goofs off in the school psychology office, had just made coffee when he heard a clear knock on the door.
"Professor Shiller, may I come in?"
Shiller took a deep breath. Are students really coming to this crappy psychology office? Doesn't he understand that I'm here on paid leave?
Outside the door was Bruce Wayne!
Shiller could only grit his teeth and say, "Please sit, what troubles you that you want to discuss?"
"Can I not just have a chat if there's nothing wrong?" Wayne gave a shrug, demonstrating the demeanor of a playboy without a doubt.
Shiller pushed up his glasses, and said, "This place is for students to seek psychological counseling. If you don't have anything to discuss, you may leave."
Shiller swore his words were duller than an airplane announcement, but Bruce still asked with interest, "Okay, then I have a question. What do you think is the meaning of life?"
Shiller took a deep breath and opened the American Comics Chat System in his mind. He remembered he had won a random chat opportunity because he had previously provided guidance on Peter Parker's relationship issues. He quickly wrote in his mind:
"A kid, who lost both his parents and swore revenge against all criminals, disguises himself as a playboy. Now this kid comes asking me what is the meaning of life, how do I answer him to make him stop bothering me? I'm waiting online, quite urgent."
Soon, a reply appeared: "As a teacher, to your question, I believe you should maintain full patience and provide psychological counseling to this unfortunate child from two aspects… "
Seeing the name in the message box, Shiller knew it was Charles Xavier! Professor X!
No wonder the founder and principal of X-Mansion was a master of this.
But Shiller noticed Charles' avatar was clickable. He clicked on Charles' avatar in his mind, a dialog box popped up: "For the first chat, you can randomly copy one of the chat object's abilities (low level), would you like to copy it?"
Shiller, not knowing why, clicked "Yes".
"Low-Level Telepathy loaded."
Shiller felt a blur before his eyes, then a bunch of noise and many unfamiliar emotions came rushing into his mind, leaving him unable to distinguish. It took a while for Shiller to realize that he had indeed gained a part of Professor X's abilities.
Mind sensing was Charles' special skill, combined with a brainwave amplifier, he could brainwash the entire human race. But what Shiller got was a weakened version. He could only vaguely sense the other person's emotions and some quick thoughts that flashed through his mind, and couldn't directly read minds.
Yet this was enough. Shiller focused on Bruce and found his mood was quite chaotic. Yes, he was not as casual as he appeared.
Given Batman's life experience, he should have just returned from studying abroad, and the reason he entered the university was probably just to disguise his identity as Bruce. The real Batman would have grown immensely sick of this boring daily life, with every drop of his blood screaming "revenge", "revenge against these criminals".
To Bruce's eyes, the professor in front of him seemed to have suddenly fallen into a deep thought. Shiller had a pair of slightly special grey eyes, and when Bruce was stared at by these eyes, his sharp intuition started to alarm——he felt as if he was being scrutinized, seen through.
Then Shiller said, "Perhaps you have been waiting for someone to give you this answer, a definitive answer. If getting this answer will give you more things to do and you won't bother me again, then I'm willing to give you this answer."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Revenge." Shiller stared straight into Bruce's eyes and said; under Bruce's suddenly dark facial expression, he repeated, "The meaning of life is revenge."
Despite Bruce's face looking as gloomily as the Gotham sky, Shiller said, "Are you satisfied now, Mr. Wayne?"