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The guy next to him, on his right, greeted him politely before turning back to his friends on the other side. He decided not to bother them and waited as more and more students entered and took seats. Then, he saw a guy pick the neat next to the one next to him, leaving a space between them. He didn't think any of it as social interactions weren't his forte.

And so, he waited for things to start.

It was only half an hour that it began. All lights shut down in the stadium except a bright one that shined on a dozen men walking towards the central platform. Ron noticed the man in front, it was the Dean. As he expected, this man would be the one to give the speech. As for the others with him, he had no idea who they were but he probably would soon enough.

The light followed the steps of the dean and his entourage while the silence was the only thing to greet them. They reached the central platform and climbed the stairs that led to its top. There was a podium with a mic and a few chairs behind it. The Dean went to the podium while the other men went to take a seat.

Then, giant holographic screens appeared mid-air, displaying the face of the Dean. He was smiling amiably, like a grandpa next door.

Ron tapped a few times on his wrist-com and activated the recording function. He planned to film the ceremony. He heard a few jeers from behind but didn't care. He didn't even entertain the belief that they were sent towards him. He just concentrated on his own thing.

The Dean coughed once before he began: "Welcome everyone to Advanced Mech University, or should I say, welcome students? Anyways, it my honor to be able to welcome you for this term, whether you are new students or older ones. Thank you for choosing our university and I hope you will fall in love with it just like I did so many years ago"

"Now, without further ado and boring words, I will let the faculty directors introduce themselves and their departments. Thank you, students, and welcome!"

The cheers were deafening. Ron never imagined that humans could make so much noise. He was so surprised, he nearly jumped from his seat. After a moment though, he got used to it and enjoyed cheering along. It felt good to be happy and express it like so.

The Dean waved to the crowd and bowed once before he went to take a seat as another man got up. He looked to be around fifty but retained a noble and fiery gaze as he began his speech: "I am the Giant Mech Control Department Supervisor, Qui Ruogang. It is a pleasure to welcome you all…"

And from then on, every faculty director introduced himself and his department. One of them was even the man in charge of clubs. Ron learnt a lot about the different things that were taught here and what they meant. It was an eye-opener. Especially when it was the Engineering Department's turn to which he belonged now. Turned out engineers were the ones who built robots and mech. He whistled at the discovery. Then, he frowned big time.

He got himself a job as an engineer, responsible for a whole project. But he didn't know shit about building robots. Wouldn't he be having a hard time tomorrow? For the rest of the ceremony, while he kept filming, his thoughts were elsewhere as he began to worry. If he got fired right from the first day, wouldn't he be royally fucked with his finances?

And the ceremony ended.

He went out to eat at the usual restaurant. The cute waitress wasn't here this time. There were only bots. He wondered if she took a leave or if she was sick. He hoped it wasn't the latter.

After his meal, he went back to the university and followed the directions from the map towards the Engineering Department. There were hundreds of other students already there. They were all accumulating near giant signs placed at the entrance of the complex. He wondered what all the fuss was about and grabbed a random dude to ask.

He was told, not without the guy showing his irritation, that this was where the classes and timetables were shown. Ron had already received these things beforehand when he came to register. It wasn't that interesting for him. He left the crowd and entered the building, looking for his classroom for the orientation.

24-B.

He found it on the second floor. It was the fourth room on the left side of the hall. He entered and spotted quite a few students already. As they saw him enter, they hurriedly got up and bowed. He wondered what this grand welcome was all about but he was still happy about it. He waved to the crowd before walking further in.

The students sat back down with excited expressions on their faces. The teacher was finally here and he seemed quite young. They thought he had to be a young genius to be such a young teacher at such a good university.

But as they saw him go take a seat at the front and not go behind the desk, they understood they made a mistake. They blushed from embarrassment. They actually welcomed a fellow student as if he was their teacher! How shameful! They all glanced at each other and understood everyone's thoughts. They would keep this a secret from everyone else. If this got out, they would lose a great deal of face.

Then, they began to glare at the back of the idiot who wore a suit to school. They would need to make sure he shut up about it too.

They shouldn't have been so anxious. Every time a new student came in, the guy got up and bowed… Turned out he was just a weirdo.