Luna, who tried to suppress her laughter, finally couldn't hold it in when she saw Hin's gaze.

    “Haha,” she burst out laughing until tears flowed.

    "Is it really that funny?" Hin frowned.

    It was my true goal, protecting the world. Soon, alien spaceships or the forces of a dark empire would arrive on Earth, initiating a destruction that would render one-fifth of the planet barren until nothing can thrive. Earth's abundant resources would have been destroyed by then.

    And this loss would represent a third of Earth's total resources, slowing humanity's progress into the interstellar stage and marking the beginning of the end for many neighboring civilizations.

    I spoke of the resistance against the dark empire. By the time humanity would be ready to venture out, those civilizations would be nearly annihilated.

    Out of almost a hundred thousand worlds, not one could be saved.

    Among those hundred thousand worlds, ten managed to resist the dark empire for a long time before they finally collapsed.

    I traveled back with the goal to quickly usher Earth into the interstellar stage to aid these ten worlds and include them in the federation.

    1. Protect the valuable resources of Earth, including humans who recognize their own worth.

    2. Advance the world to join the interstellar community.

    3. Establish an alliance of eleven-star systems.

    4. Form a federation.

    These are my preliminary objectives for the future.

    I could only offer a half-hearted smile when Luna didn't believe me. It's fine if she doesn't believe.

    "Let's do this; we’ll exchange numbers for now. If there's a more secure way to communicate, I'll let you know," Hin said, offering his number to Luna.

    "Now you're my boss," Luna declared, glancing at Hin's computer.

    "You have to teach me all this," she added.

    "Let's start with something simple then," Hin said, getting up to teach her new coding techniques.

    Luna, who had been taught by me, picked up the lessons quickly, surprisingly grasping concepts in 30 minutes that would take days to learn in the future, despite the varying fundamentals.

    I had to admit that she truly had a talent in this area.

    “Alright, let’s call it a day for now,” I said.

    Luna seemed reluctant to leave, but I eventually persuaded her to go.

    As I escorted her to her car, my father stood beside me, smiling broadly.

    "What's Dad smiling about?" I turned to look at his father.

    Chat, with a smile, said, “Now I understand why you refused the daughter of my friend. It was because of this, huh? Haha,” Chat said, laughing before returning inside.

    I glanced at his back, feeling somewhat puzzled.

    "What's with him?" I confused, heading upstairs to finish programming. As scheduled, I aimed to complete it within three days, but it would be a basic system, like a tree only having a trunk. I planned to upload Yo into it to grow its branches.

    ...

    The next day,

    "Hin, Mrs. Ying wants to see you," Som informed him as she entered the room.

    Now, it was lunch break, and I was sleeping. Som woke me up.

    "Okay," I nodded, understanding. Mrs. Ying had called Som earlier and now it was my turn.

    Som looked at Hin, surprised. She had just been praised by Mrs. Ying for her exam scores but noticed the absence of the usual commendation where Mrs. Ying would declare her as being 1st place in class, but this time, no mentioning of being the top scorer.

    'Could it be him?' Som thought, watching Hin leave. She shook her head, 'Impossible. If he did, he'd have boasted about it.' Beyond not being academically inclined, Hin was also known to boast.

    I made my way to Mrs. Ying's personal teacher's room. To be honest, she had more authority than even the principal, warranting her own space.

    "Teacher Ying, I'm here," I announced, knocking on the door.

    "Come in," the voice of Teacher Ying called out. I opened the door and walked in.

    "Hello," I greeted with a respectful bow.

    "Hmm, sit down. I have something to ask you," Teacher Ying began.

    "Yes?" I asked, puzzled, but thinking to myself, 'She must be wondering how I scored so high.' According to the memory, this body was not particularly good at studying, but what can I do if the test was just too easy?  I might have resisted myself from not answering.

    Just like how 1 plus 1 equal 2, and you see the number 2 right in front you, by answering an easy question, no one would think that you are intelligent, right? As everyone knows, 1 plus 1 equal 2.

    That's what made me miss it. Because the test was too easy. Who would have thought that in the world I come from, 1 + 1 equals two would be considered advanced mathematics in this day?

    Then, memories of Teacher Ying's exam flowed through my mind.

    'This is a mess.' I thought to myself.

    [You're in trouble now,] Yo interjected.

    "What does this mean?" Teacher Ying picked up my exam.

    10/10 was the score displayed.

    "Is it about why?" I braced myself, though deep down, as if this body’s spirit was still intact, making me held respect for this teacher, so I tried to reason with her.

    "No one has ever scored full marks on my exam before. You're the first, which makes me wonder if you cheated," Teacher Ying said.

    I smiled slightly and replied, "Teacher, I didn't cheat.” I spoke the truth.

    Hearing this, she said, "Normally you only manage to get one question right and now you've got them all. How can I believe it?"

    "What can I do to make you believe me, Teacher?" I asked.

    Teacher Ying pulled out another set of tests. They were blank.

    "Do these in front of me. If you can solve even one, I'll believe you," she proposed.

    I took the exam, not saying much. I picked up a pen and completed it in 10 minutes, then handed it back to her.

    "Teacher, you must need time to check. See you tomorrow and thank you very much for always helping me out, whether it's tutoring us or dealing with our troubles," I said, expressing my gratitude as I stood up.

    Indeed, she is our class teacher. She never cared how her students were faring. If any of her students failed to solve the exams, she would provide free extra lessons. Or when Ton and I got into trouble, she was there to take care of us in place of a father too busy with work.

    If you asked what the previous me thought about Teacher Ying, he considered her a second mother. He believed in her wholeheartedly, just as I did when I looked into her eyes.

****