His young face is deceptive to the reader. If we imagine him as a weird old academic, then everything makes sense lol.
3 years in isolation trying to figure out Science? check.
Copious oversharing the moment anyone shows the smallest amount of interest (or even when they don't)? check.
All the (technically) youngsters around him trying to warn him about the dangers of the modern/murim world, him nodding along and then carrying on as usual? check.
This is the story of some old geezer bumbling around the murim world lol