Ryn puffed out his chest proudly, hands on his hips, feeling quite pleased with himself.
"Ehehe, you wouldn't understand, would you? I'm super duper amazing, capable of knowing things that ordinary people don't."
"Is that so? Well then, you're truly amazing!"
Mei's eyes narrowed slightly. While looking at Ryn, she began to pack up her books, preparing to leave the seat.
What prophecy? Mei was certain that this student must have been secretly peeking at her book while she was engrossed in reading and oblivious to her surroundings.
Dr. Ryn's book was so poorly written that it wasn't popular or well-received. Furthermore, a highly respected figure in the academic world, Dr. Mobius, whom Mei greatly admired, had directly labeled the book as trash, causing even libraries to be reluctant to stock it.
The library only had this one copy that Mei was holding, so Mei was sure that the male student next to her must have been peeking at her book.
Although she loved reading, she did not like reading with others, especially a boy she didn't know.
(Key point, a boy. Foreshadowing a little something, take a guess.)
"Excuse me, I have something else to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."
Mei picked up her books and stood up, ready to leave.
She welcomed academic discussions, but peeking at her book was not okay!
"I haven't even answered you yet. Are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Ryn tapped his fingers on the table, drawing Mei's attention back to him.
"I think you've misunderstood something. For instance, you might think I'm a pervert, assuming I was peeking at you while you were reading…"
Ryn paused for a moment, and just as Mei was about to retort, they both spoke at the same time.
Ryn: "Allow me to clarify. As you can see, I was openly looking at you."
Mei: "Peeking at me? Weren't you peeking at my book?"
Ryn & Mei: "...…"
"Pfft— It seems you don't have much confidence in your own beauty!"
Ryn burst out laughing, then smiled at Mei. He was now certain that although Mei was Mei's counterpart, their personalities were very different.
Both Mei and Mei had high levels of knowledge and intelligence, but they handled social situations differently.
If the younger Mei had encountered someone harassing her, she would have already raised her book and slammed it into the person's face.
But this somewhat bookish Mei hadn't even realized someone was staring at her the whole time she was reading, and even thought Ryn was peeking at her book.
"That only means… you are even more rude and shameless than I imagined."
Mei rolled her eyes, speechless at Ryn's ability to admit to his voyeurism so calmly.
"Don't say that, friend."
Ryn pointed at the book in Mei's hand, barely able to suppress the smile on his face.
"It's mainly because I noticed you were reading a book I wrote, so I got curious and took a few extra glances, that's all. I'm not some kind of scoundrel."
"You wrote it?"
Mei was taken aback, and then her eyes instantly lit up with joy.
"Yes, I wrote it."
"That's great!"
Mei jumped up and down in excitement, then her expression changed in an instant, filled with an overwhelming sense of resentment.
She looked at Ryn as if he were her mortal enemy, raising the book in her hand as if to smash it in his face.
But fortunately, her good upbringing allowed her to control her emotions the moment she raised her hand.
Thwack—
Mei slammed the book on the table and then sat back down in her seat with a blank expression.
"Dr. Ryn, I never expected to meet you in person in such a small place…
My name is Mei, and I'm a third-year middle school student at this Senba Academy.
I have many questions and points of confusion regarding the many hypotheses and conclusions you proposed in this book. I wonder if I could ask for your guidance?"
"Guidance is fine, but… from your expression, it looks like you want to kill me…"
Ryn said, scooting his chair back, afraid that Mei might suddenly lash out and smash the book in his face.
It seems he wasn't wrong; the Queen of Thunder's personality was also present in Mei.
"Haha… how could that be?"
Mei forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes, the veins on her forehead already bulging from suppressed anger.
"It's just that, when I think about how Dr. Ryn has such profound insights into the quantum field and has written so many books, yet only the one I'm holding now contains some reasonable arguments…
While the other books are all strange and illogical…
For example, the topic of 'achieving spatial travel far exceeding wormholes, and even time travel, through the Sea of Quanta.'
And the conclusion to this topic was: 'If you want to know, try it yourself. All I can say is, those who know, know. For those who don't, I can't explain.'
And then there's this one: 'On whether humans can achieve a quantum state, and what the differences are between quantum creatures and creatures of the prime world…'
Ryn dedicated an entire book to this, explaining in detail how to achieve a quantum state, what a quantum state is like, and so on.
Because it was so well-reasoned and logical, most people believed it.
But when people eagerly tried to follow Ryn's instructions, they not only found that the experiment failed from the very first step, but they also discovered a small note written by Ryn in a corner of the book.
'The author does not guarantee the authenticity of any content in this book.
It is not recommended for anyone to attempt this.
Of course, if you can enter the Sea of Quanta, then reading this article again will open up a new world for you. If you can't, then, those who know, know. For those who don't, I can't explain.'"
Coincidentally, Mei had read all of Ryn's works and, having missed Ryn's small note, had become a firm believer in his theories.
In the end, Mei even wrote a thesis based on Ryn's scholarship and submitted it to an academic journal.
And then, as expected, it was rejected for being pure nonsense…
When Mei found out the truth, her face turned green with anger.
It was the first time the young girl had been so dedicated to something, only to discover it was all a scam!
But a-paradoxically, Ryn's research in the quantum field was highly recognized by top scientists, with even Dr. Einstein and Dr. Mobius willing to endorse him.
Dr. Einstein's achievements in the study of quantum mechanics were world-renowned and he was one of Mei's respected idols.
And Dr. Mobius had achieved world-shaking accomplishments in various fields at a young age. It was said that Mobius had already obtained a doctorate and had her own laboratory while her peers were still in high school.
Mei thought Dr. Mobius's life was super cool and dreamlike. Although it was somewhat unrealistic, Mei also wanted to be like Mobius, skipping past these boring academic studies and advancing into the mysterious fields she longed for.
For these two people whom Mei admired to be willing to endorse Ryn, he couldn't be that bad, right?
And then Mei got royally screwed by Ryn's books!
How come every single one of Ryn's theories requires an understanding and contact with the Sea of Quanta as a prerequisite, yet he never explains what the Sea of Quanta is!
A riddler-like doctor like that should be locked in a dark room and tortured with whips and candles until he's frothing at the mouth, his eyes glazed over, his tongue lolling out, presenting his behind, and unconditionally begging for mercy on his knees!