If Shiller were to write a psychological profile for the Batman character in the comics, it would be dominated not by prudence, wisdom or strategic prowess, but by skepticism.
Batman never fully trusts anyone.
His spirit of skepticism has become its own school. Skepticism and conspiracy theories were etched in his bones. The smarter he was, the more skeptical he was.
Shiller's answer had clearly thrown this young Batman into deep doubt.
Bruce had never imagined that someone could see through his inner self. He had utmost confidence in his disguise, and even Alfred, who had raised him since childhood, he believed only knew a part of him, not the whole.
But this professor, who looked like an ordinary man and was a polite psychology professor, gave him the most unlikely answer — one that was also the most accurate and piercing.
Up until the moment he received this answer, the surging heat in Bruce's heart told him that he was indeed waiting for someone to give him this answer — it was time to begin his revenge.
However, the person who gave this answer had like a splash of cold water on his newly kindled blood of revenge. Bruce didn't believe, he never believed, that anyone could see the devils lurking in his heart, the shadowy bats, just through psychology.
But Shiller said: "Our consultation time is up, I have a class to go to. Goodbye, Mr. Wayne."
Shiller believed Bruce was likely to dwell upon this for a long time.
If he could figure it out and promptly become Batman to uphold justice, then why was he still in class? What other classes could Bruce take? Why did he have to create problems for these hardworking academics?
Shiller believed he could most likely figure it out, and by then, the criminal organizations and the mob would give him a real headache. Thus, Shiller could happily get paid for doing nothing in school, and if worst came to worst, he could jet off to Hawaii for a holiday.
Shiller's reputation at the school wasn't bad because of his big name, but that was all thanks to his predecessor's credentials. Shiller operated under the principle of "doing only as much work as he was paid to do" — he began lecturing as soon as he seated before class, and the minute the bell rung signaling the end of class, he vanished instantly. Office hours for answering questions? Non-existent.
It had been like this for five days. Thankfully, the original Shiller seemed rather introverted and didn't have many friends. Recently becoming a professor at Gotham University, he wasn't very familiar with the staff either, so transmigrator Shiller didn't expose any discrepancies.
While eating lunch, he received a text message from Peter: "Mr. Shiller, everything has gone terribly wrong."
Attached was a depressed emoji. Shiller knew that this chat system wasn't brain-to-brain communication. He was using the system on his end, while Peter had serendipitously met an online friend. On Charles's end, he received messages while browsing an educational forum during his leisure time.
The system transformed chats with these characters into a format they could accept. For Peter, it was via a social networking app, while for Charles, it was an academic forum. If it were Thanos, it might have been some cosmic network signal or something.
So, they wouldn't feel out of the blue. The system only guaranteed that they would answer Shiller's first question, but any subsequent chatting had to be done by Shiller himself. Thus, Shiller's principal conversation partner now was the young, naively passionate Little Spider.
Without foolproof assurance, Shiller wouldn't dare to probe wily old foxes like Charles casually.
Shiller responded: "What happened? Peter? Is your pursuit of Gwen not going well?"
"Oh, that's indeed not going well, but that's not the bad thing I was referring to."
"So, what is it? Don't tell me you messed up an experiment?"
"Sort of. I knocked over what seemed like very dangerous experimental equipment, and a... dangerous creature got out. It even bit me."
Shiller knew, Spider Man's fate has been partially changed because he chatted with him. After chatting, he knew that he was Spider Man from the 616 Comic Universe. Originally, this high schooler should have been bitten during an exhibition, but because Peter fell in love with Gwen, he'd been confiding in Shiller about how enchanting and adorable his classmate Gwen was. Shiller got quite annoyed by Peter's chatter and thus gave him some advice on how to woo Gwen.
Gwen came from a wealthy family and had landed an internship with the Osborn Group during the summer break. Ordinarily, this had nothing to do with Peter, but Shiller suggested that he should be thick-skinned and apply for the same internship. Peter was a top student and really got the internship. In the end, instead of being bitten by a spider during an exhibition, he was bitten by a spider from an experimental instrument at Osborn Group…
In any case, he would have been bitten. As Spider Man was chosen by the Weaver in the Spider Totem, if he wasn't bitten today, he would be bitten tomorrow. In either case, he was destined for this bite. Shiller comforted poor Little Spider a bit, then went back to sleep.
The night in Gotham was deep and dense, perfect for sleeping. Bruce stay up all night, gazing at the moon, which has almost lost its shape in the dense fog. In his hand was a file, and on the first page was the name Shearer Andel Rodriguez.
Unaware that Batman had thoroughly investigated him, Shiller was deep in his dream when he heard a warning sound from the System. He was sleeping so heavily that he didn't notice a beam of blue light passing over him—
The System's alarm sounded more frequently, but Shiller still didn't wake up. It seemed like something was interfering with the System. Finally, after a series of erratic sounds, Shiller's figure disappeared completely.
"Emergency protection system activated, locating universe... locating universe... the target universe has been confirmed, inputting identity information... in progress... failed... inputting... input successful."
When he woke up again, Shiller rubbed his eyes, which were instantly blinded by sunlight. What the hell? A sunny day in Gotham City?
Pulling back the curtain—he was greeted by a sunny... New York City.
Far removed from Gotham's shitty weather, New York was sunny and bright. The morning sun was glaring. Shiller glanced out the window and realized he was probably in a high-rise apartment in downtown New York City. He turned around and saw a clutter of random things on his desk, including a bottle of wine pressing down on a work badge.
"Shiller, a psychiatrist from the New York Elderly Association Hospital... and a chief physician at that? Did I transmigrate again?"
Damn it, Shiller thought. Before he could even curse out loud, his cell phone rang. He picked up, and a loud voice from the other end said, "Doctor Shiller! Where did you go? You absolutely cannot miss the joint consultation today! Did you get drunk again?! Get over here right away!"
The phone call made Shiller's ears hurt, but realizing he was now a doctor and there probably was a serious case requiring his attention, he knew he had to do his job.
Shiller immediately grabbed his ID and ran downstairs to look for a car. He figured someone living in such a high-end apartment must have a car. He found a fairly new Mercedes in the garage that matched his key fob. He pressed the button, and sure enough, it started.
Thankfully, Shiller had visited New York in his previous life for an academic exchange. With the help of the car's navigation system, he quickly arrived at the Elders Council Hospital, the top hospital in New York.
As soon as he walked in, a front desk receptionist quickly approached him and said, "Doctor Shiller, please hurry up. The joint consultation has already begun."
Unaware of his new identity, Shiller simply nodded unhappily and headed in.
With a guide leading the way, Shiller made his way to the conference room. As soon as he arrived, the room fell silent briefly before discussions resumed. He took a seat reserved for him and observed the room without making a sound.
It seemed like he was a fairly renowned doctor and one of the top in his department. The doctors seated opposite him were apparently not psychiatrists. One arrogant-looking doctor remarked, "Indeed, letting those charlatan experts take a look first makes sense, so he won't pull any stunts or get fresh with the nurses during surgery."
Glancing at his name tag, Shiller saw the name Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange. Great, he seemed to have ended up in the Marvel universe once again.
Shiller couldn't be bothered dealing with him. Looking at Strange's appearance, it seemed his car accident was still some time off. At the moment, Strange was nothing more than an extremely self-centered bastard who offended everyone.
Shiller remained silent, reviewing patients' medical histories, while Strange seemed to be annoyed by him for no particular reason. Well, Shiller had obviously been drinking the day before and he was late to the consultation that day. Strange, a bit of a clean freak, had distaste for Shiller's disregard for his job. Moreover, Strange always thought of psychiatrists as frauds. He was wholly disgusted by Shiller.
Throughout the meeting, Strange kept nitpicking Shiller who couldn't have cared less. After the meeting was over, Strange intentionally bumped into Shiller.
Shiller was immensely irritated by him, but knew Strange was headed for a lesson sooner or later. His accident probably wouldn't be too many years away. If Strange wasn't such a nuisance, Shiller probably would've warned him. But now, let Strange go through his destined hardships.
Just as the consultation ended, Shiller picked up his phone and received a call. A worried but pleasant-sounding woman's voice asked, "Doctor Shiller, has your consultation ended? Can you make a trip to the Stark Building now? Tony isn't doing well…"
Tony Stark?
What time period was this? Had Iron Man been kidnapped? Or had he already returned?
Before Shiller had a chance to research, a car from Stark Industries arrived at the hospital's entrance. He had to quickly get in the car. A business-like looking woman sat in the passenger seat. She said, "Ever since Tony came back, you know, he's been acting strange. He's gotten irritable and started doing these crazy things. Last night, I heard him crying…"
"Miss Pepper? Are you alright?" Shiller asked tentatively. Pepper tearfully replied, "I'm sorry, but please make sure to give your full attention to this treatment session."
Shiller understood. This was after Iron Man had returned from his kidnapping, discovering that his company's weapons were used in unjust wars. He himself presumably was the psychiatrist Pepper had asked to help Tony during this difficult time.