Urban System in America-Chapter 57 - 56: WHAT IS THIS?

On the other side, Rex and Adrian watched everything with bated breath, their eyes glued to the screen... especially when Professor Clement stood up.

Looking at his embarrassed state, they couldn’t help but chuckle—albeit coldly.

Resizing the window slightly, Rex hurriedly opened another window and initiated the next phase of the plan, the processing started immediately. his cursor hovering over the confirmation button—but he didn’t click it just yet.

"Just a bit more... just a bit..." he muttered under his breath.

Beside him, Adrian watched everything with his breath hitched, staring intently at the screen.

—

Back in the conference room.

Under the varying gazes of other professors, Clement let out a long sigh, his shoulders sagging in defeat.

Fully activating his lifelong Oscar-worthy acting, he finally spoke in a low, sorrowful tone:

"Well, now that you’ve asked... even though I didn’t want to share something like this.... I’ll humbly ask for advice from my seniors and peers."

"Oh, go on..." motioned the department head, feeling intrigued.

Keeping himself as pitiful as possible, Clement continued, "In fact, for the past few months, a student has been severely disturbing the atmosphere of our class...

He paused dramatically, then went on.

"At first, without any explanation or notice, he had been skipping classes. As a teacher who tries to be understanding, I tolerated it and gave him space.

You know...Sometimes students go through phases and just need a break to ... recalibrate."

His words, surprisingly empathetic, drew confused glances.

Although they found it a bit strange—especially coming from someone notorious for his narrow-mindedness and rigid temperament, but they didn’t interrupt or say anything and just nodded in acknowledgement.

"And in the past few days, he finally returned after I repeatedly reached out to him, even going so far as to practically beg him. Because I believe that, with proper care and attention, even the most spoiled student can be brought back on track," he said, voice thick with conviction

"Ohhh, and...?" asked the department head, as everyone else listened attentively.

"But maybe the fault lies with me... or maybe something’s wrong with my teaching. Clement said, shaking his head solemnly. "Because ever since he came back, his behavior has been—well—alarming. He refuses to take advice. Acts out. It’s like he’s... challenging authority at every turn."

The room grew quiet. Everyone’s eyes narrowed and ears sharpened.

"Oh? What happened?" asked the department head, his tone unreadable.

"At first, I thought it was just him having difficulty in adapting and it was still within the tolerance range.

But then it escalated and recently, his behavior has been getting more and more uncontrollable."

"Don’t be so whiny—just get straight to the point," said the department head, a frown etched into his weathered face.

"Oh, yes... y-yes. Clement stammered a bit, but it wasn’t known whether it was true or just acting.

Taking a deep breath, he continued,

"First, he started severely misbehaving in class. Arriving late became routine. Even though I advised him multiple times, but instead of listening, he snapped back with disrespectful remarks."

He paused, letting the weight of his words linger.

"And when, I tried to engage him and asked some simple questions in the class, instead of answering, he would take jabs at me and mock me.

"In my over twenty years of teaching career, this is the first time I’ve encountered a student like this. I know I shouldn’t be talking behind a student’s back, but... but he left me with no other choice."

Clement exhaled as if the next part pained him deeply.

"But all of that pales in comparison to what he did recently."

"Oh? What did he do?" asked the department head. His eyes narrowed

The others leaned forward with furrowed brows, not expecting a student to go this far.

"Some of you may have heard—just a few days ago, a fight broke out between students in the cafeteria."

"Yeah, I seem to have heard rumors... but I’m not clear on the details," said a professor.

"Really? Why didn’t I hear about it?"

"Me neither."

Others chimed in.

"Well," Clement said gravely. " It’s totally true, a student beat another so badly that the poor guy got his nose broken and had to be hospitalized."

Hearing this, gasps broke out in the room.

"And the one responsible—the one who started the fight—was this same student. His name is..."

Silence. Absolute silence.

"Rex Lee."

A few professors stiffened in their chairs.

"What...?"

"How dare he?"

"Does he think this is still a place for studying?"

Outrage rippled through the room. Some professors immediately flared up, some murmured in disbelief, but most stayed silent, watching everything with critical eyes.

"Wait... I think I’ve heard that name somewhere," a professor interjected.

"Yeah, that name rings a bell," said another.

"Oh, isn’t he the student who’d been absent for a while?"

"Oh yeah—I remember. Wasn’t he the nephew of Vice-Chancellor John?"

A sudden hush fell over the room.

Ahem

"Is this true?" the department head finally spoke, turning toward Clement, his eyes narrowed.

Clement gave a heavy sigh and spoke slowly, "Yes. As much as I didn’t want to bring it up... he is. But as a teacher, I must remain impartial. If we can’t uphold fairness, how can we claim to educate the next generation?"

Hearing this, some professors looked at Clement in a new light. Some were even impressed.

They hadn’t expected him to be so dedicated—that despite pressure from the vice-chancellor, he stood firm.

"And in light of his serious actions, Clement continued firmly, "serious disciplinary action must be taken. We must set an example."

He took a breath, straightening.

"So, I suggest that he should be expel—"

But before he could finish his sentence, the projector behind him flickered, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Suddenly, the presentation from the previous speaker disappeared.

Everyone looked at the screen, confused.

The screen went black for a second. Then, a strange interface appeared:

>> Connecting...

>> Access granted.

>> Launching secure media interface...

[████░░░░░░░░░░] 22%

Processing data packets...

[████████░░░░░░] 58%

Decrypting video file...

[███████████░░░] 84%

Seeing the unusual interface. A wave of confusion washed over the room. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Clement was about to continue his passionate speech—as if he were a brave man standing up to a tyrant dictator—but found that no one was paying attention to him

Every pair of eyes in the room shifted behind him, their expressions clouded with confusion.

He turned slowly, his gaze locking onto the glowing loading screen. And a frown crept across his face.

The rest of the room buzzed with murmurs.

"What is this?" he muttered.

Buffering media stream...

[█████████████] 99%

Finalizing playback environment...

>> Playback ready.

>> Executing...

[VIDEO STARTS]

>> ...

(End of Chapter)