Translator: AkazaTL

Proofreader/Editor: TenebrousGaze, JWyck & Ekko

***

Chapter 115

After reading the Manga and forum, Su Bei let out a long breath, finally done with everything.

Only one task remained—testing the new Dream Bubble’s Ability. But during the exam, creating people from thin air was a no-go. He could only use its dream-world creation function.

That function was limited to once a month and left him weak for a day, so he had to time it carefully. Especially now, while Si Zhaohua was staying here.

Otherwise, with both of them weakened, any level of danger would send them both out of the exam.

But he didn’t worry—Si Zhaohua wouldn’t stay long. He needed points and staying too long would be a loss for him. Su Bei trusted the author wouldn’t let that happen.

As expected, the next afternoon Si Zhaohua groggily opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling while gathering his thoughts, then spoke up: “Su Bei?”

Su Bei was washing up. Hearing him, he quickly wiped his face with a towel and walked in: “You woke up pretty fast.”

Si Zhaohua let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief, slowly sitting up: “What’s the situation?”

“The Teleportation High-Level Nightmare Beast isn’t dead. It tried to kill you after you used Holy Judgment. I saved you. You’ve been out for a whole day and the others are making a new plan,” he summarized briefly.

Hearing this, Si Zhaohua took a moment to process, comparing his memories with Su Bei’s words. After organizing his thoughts, he first said: “Thank you for saving me.”

When he killed the Bubble Nightmare Beast and was descending, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. In that instant, his hair stood on end and his mind was screaming danger, but he couldn’t move.

Only after the crisp sound of the collision did he feel the threat vanish and relaxed his body. Thinking back, that must’ve been when Su Bei saved him.

“Payment settled,” Su Bei returned, handing him a glass of water from the table. “How many days do you need to rest?”

“One more day should do,” Si Zhaohua assessed his condition. “My Mental Energy won’t fully recover, but I can handle a few Low-Level Nightmare Beasts.”

Suddenly, he remembered something: “By the way, why am I at your place?”

Knowing Zhou Renjie, he’d have taken Si Zhaohua with him to take care of him and given Su Bei’s nature, he wouldn’t have volunteered to look after him.

Su Bei shrugged: “That High-Level Nightmare Beast isn’t dead. You think it’ll let us go? It’s been hounding the others in the meantime. My place is safer.”

The Teleportation Nightmare Beast likely resented Jiang Tianming’s group for killing the Bubble Nightmare Beast. Though it feared Si Zhaohua and Su Bei, making it hesitant to attack them, targeting the others was easy.

Though it was weak in other aspects, its Teleportation Ability was overpowered. Plus, the S-Class members knew how to counter it, so it only dared to sneak attack them.

So Jiang Tianming’s group stuck together these days. If the Nightmare Beast appeared, they could cover for each other. Acting alone risked being caught by the assassin.

Hearing about the Beast that nearly killed him, Si Zhaohua frowned: “I didn’t ask earlier—how did it survive?”

He clearly remembered that they’d killed it.

“It was an Illusion. That one was fake,” Su Bei answered.

***

It was Lan Subing who discovered this. After learning that the Teleportation Nightmare Beast wasn’t dead, Jiang Tianming’s group reviewed the events. Lan Subing then remembered something: controlling the Teleportation Nightmare Beast used too little Mental Energy! It was about the same amount she used when controlling the Mid-Level Nightmare Beast in the wall during her first outing.

She had thought that her training had borne fruit and didn’t find it odd, not knowing the strength of High-Level Nightmare Beasts. But in hindsight, it seemed off.

Everyone turned to Zhou Renjie, the only other one who’d come into direct contact with it. He should’ve sensed something.

Zhou Renjie stammered for a while before muttering: “It didn’t struggle much.”

He’d been so panicked with a High-Level Nightmare Beast in his stomach that he assumed the pain was intense. But thinking back, it wasn’t that bad—or rather, there was no pain at all, it was all just in his head.

But he didn’t dare admit that. If he’d noticed then, they could’ve delayed the plan, caught the Teleportation Nightmare Beast, and maybe hadn’t failed.

Even without him saying it, his face full of guilt gave it away. Under pressure, he admitted he might not have felt pain. Analyzing this, they deduced the killed Teleportation Nightmare Beast was likely an Illusion created by the Bubble Nightmare Beast.

“...Then we just need to catch it again. This time, there are no Illusions to hide it,” said Qi Huang confidently after a long silence.

Mistakes were made and not only by one person. Lan Subing, Zhou Renjie, and those who missed the clues all shared some blame.

Zhou Renjie bore the most, but now wasn’t the time to point fingers. Fixing the damage was key.

Her confidence inspired the group and they began brainstorming. The old method wouldn’t work—the Nightmare Beast now wore gloves and appeared only briefly, giving them no reaction time. They needed to trap it, perhaps with a long-range Control-Type Ability.

***

“So, have they found a solution?” Si Zhaohua asked curiously, listening to Su Bei’s account.

He shrugged: “I don’t know.”

Truthfully, he only knew so much because Jiang Tianming told him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cared. They were busy finding long-range Control-Type Ability Users, too occupied to update him.

Si Zhaohua was itching to act. He didn’t want to rest, he wanted to join the others in finding ways to kill the High-Level Nightmare Beast. At least he could kill some regular Nightmare Beasts!

But his Ability was sealed and his Mental Energy was pitifully low, keeping him grounded.

Noticing his mood, Su Bei scoffed: “Focus on recovering first. It’s better to be in top shape and break this Illusion in one go.”

As they spoke, someone knocked from outside the room. Su Bei’s mother never knocked, so it could only be Feng Lan. He opened the door and there stood the White-Haired Boy.

His white hair was unusually messy, dark circles around his eyes in stark contrast against his pale face.

Seeing his state, Si Zhaohua was surprised: “Feng Lan, what’s wrong?”

“He hit a bottleneck,” Su Bei chimed in with a grin.

Feng Lan didn’t refute, calmly replying to Si Zhaohua’s question: “It’s nothing.”

Noticing Si Zhaohua’s pallor, he hesitated, then added: “You’d better recover fully before going out.”

Si Zhaohua blinked, not understanding but Su Bei caught his drift, reacting: “True. If that High-Level Nightmare Beast sees you so weak, it might guess you can’t use that skill again soon.”

The cooperation between the two High-Level Nightmare Beasts, to fake the death of one, showed their high intelligence and close bond.

Si Zhaohua, having killed the Bubble Nightmare Beast, was already hated by the Teleportation Nightmare Beast. Only fear of his skill and Su Bei’s presence kept it at bay. If it saw him weak and unable to use his Ability, it wouldn’t miss the chance.

Si Zhaohua nodded helplessly: “Alright, I’ll rest another day. Thanks for the heads-up. If you guys have things to do, go ahead—don’t mind me.”

“Do we look busy?” Su Bei casually slung an arm around Feng Lan’s shoulders.

Si Zhaohua was speechless.

The next few days, Su Bei outwardly maintained his slacker persona by doing nothing. In reality, he really did nothing. Sorry, slacking was too comfy, especially during an exam with no training. He was already eager for winter break.

He knew winter break wouldn’t be smooth sailing, but it’d be easier than school.

While he slacked off, Jiang Tianming’s group was fervently executing their grand plan. They’d recruited many willing Ability Users—winning the campaign was a big deal. Five hundred points! Who wouldn’t want that?

In a spare moment, Jiang Tianming shared their plan with him. It was simple: use Si Zhaohua to lure Nightmare Beasts together, then use a dust explosion to kill them in bulk.

Normal attacks, like guns or swords, couldn’t harm Nightmare Beasts, hence Ability Users’ importance. Only they could fight them.

But Jiang Tianming’s dust explosion wasn’t ordinary. They used Qi Huang’s flames, Wu Mingbai’s coal dust, and Jiang Tianming’s aluminum powder, all Ability-produced, capable of harming Nightmare Beasts. With Mo Xiaotian it would’ve been even better, but he wasn’t on their team.

Su Bei was puzzled: “A dust explosion needs a small, confined space. You can’t kill that many Nightmare Beasts like this, right?”

If they couldn’t kill enough at once, even if the Nightmare Beasts were foolish, they wouldn’t fall for it again, especially with an intelligent High-Level Nightmare Beast commanding them.

Jiang Tianming, the Manga’s brain, had a solution: “We chose a factory. It’s not huge, but who said the explosion needs to be limited to only the inside?”

Su Bei learned that he’d found an Ability User with the [Mirror] Ability among the other examinees, able to replicate scenes like mirrors.

By pre-setting the Ability, they could create two to three factories, all exploding simultaneously. This could handle most Nightmare Beasts, if not all.

Wu Mingbai’s voice came through: “If we kill most of them, the rest should be manageable. At worst, we grind a couple more days.”

The nearby Si Zhaohua, overhearing Jiang Tianming’s call, shook his head: “Aren’t you underestimating the other examinees?”

Jiang Tianming, unfazed, was curious: “How so?”

Unlike Jiang Tianming’s group, Si Zhaohua, as a young heir, studied leadership: “You don’t think other schools’ S-Classes are pushovers, do you?”

Su Bei instantly got his point, chuckling at his own oversight.

Their school had seven or eight S-Class-Students; other schools wouldn’t have fewer. They might struggle against High-Level Nightmare Beasts, but saying they couldn’t handle regular ones was underestimating them.

Their earlier struggles were due to the two High-Level Nightmare Beasts’ presence, making point-hungry examinees cautious, fearing attention, and the sheer number of Nightmare Beasts, too overwhelming to kill alone.

But if they could wipe out a big chunk at once, the rest could be handled easily by others. Su Bei hadn’t considered this, subconsciously downplaying the importance of the side characters’, since the Manga focused on Jiang Tianming’s group.

That was wrong. To readers, this might be a Manga where side characters didn’t matter. But living in this world, those “side characters” could be capable Ability Users.

Jiang Tianming reflected: “You’re right. But it works out—more points to farm.”

At the mention of points, Si Zhaohua panicked. Having given Su Bei a third of his, he was likely the lowest scorer of the group.

How could Si Zhaohua stand being last? The next evening, feeling that his Mental Energy had nearly recovered, he left Su Bei’s place.

With him gone, Su Bei could use the ‘Dream Bubble’ freely. That night, he used it while sleeping, studying his Ability.

Falling asleep, Su Bei entered a pure white dream world, where he felt like its master, able to control everything.

With just a thought he built a realistic small world, picking a simple family of three eating at a table. He stayed invisible, checking their Destiny Compasses.

Built as ordinary people, their pointers were typical: small pointers slightly left, large pointers in the upper half.

Satisfied with the realistic setup, he nodded and began experimenting. Today, I will understand my Ability thoroughly!

Waking in the morning, his body felt exhausted, drowsy and ready to collapse, as if he hadn’t slept for a week.

But he was also exhilarated. After a night of study, he’d made huge strides in understanding his Ability! He hadn’t fully grasped all the Compass’ functions, but he finally understood the large pointer’s role.

As he’d guessed, [Destiny Gear] was a comprehensive system, encompassing not just luck but all aspects.

Only the small pointer’s direction represented luck. The large pointer meant something else entirely, each position corresponding to specific events. For the upper half, 10 o’clock meant travel, 11 o’clock meant eating, 2 o’clock meant conversation...

The lower half represented causes of death: left side for murder, right for natural death.

Six and twelve o’clock were special.

Six o’clock, the bottom, meant suicide; twelve o’clock, the top, meant a major event, good or bad, just significant.

What kind of event it is, can be read with the small pointer. At twelve o’clock, a left-leaning small pointer meant a good event, and vice versa.

With only one night, he only figured out the twelve positions’ meanings. Other details could wait until the following month.

But this research alone gave him tons of info, boosting his confidence. Before, he relied on adjusting the small pointer, gambling on luck. It never failed, but it was nerve-wracking. The small pointer couldn’t go to the lower half, leaving him without a killing move.

Now, he could truly manipulate others’ fates.

The catch was the cost. Adjusting the large pointer used far more Mental Energy than the small one, even within the same direction (upper or lower).

Moving it from top to bottom or vice versa consumed three-quarters of his Mental Energy.

And he had Advanced Mental Energy! For others, reversing life and death might cost them their life force.

But it made sense—the law of energy conservation probably applied here.

Being weak all day, Su Bei stayed in his room, barely going out. At dinner, Feng Lan and Su Bei’s Mother’s noticed his pale face.

His mother asked him worriedly: “Xiao Bei*, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Getting sick now meant they couldn’t go to the hospital. But thanks to Feng Lan’s warning, they had stocked up on medicine along with food, otherwise she wouldn’t have known what to do.

“It’s fine. I just stayed up late,” he answered casually. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

Feng Lan gave him a thoughtful look, clearly guessing he didn’t just stay up late or Su Bei wouldn’t be so sure he’d recover tomorrow.

***

“Boom!”

The next afternoon Su Bei was standing by the window and saw countless Nightmare Beasts rushing in one direction as if bewitched. He knew Jiang Tianming’s plan had begun.

He didn’t join them. It was obviously going to succeed and his role would be minor at best. Better to save energy.

The sight of a horde of Nightmare Beasts charging in one direction was striking. Throughout this exam, he couldn’t help but marvel, knowing that this world’s monsters were author-created. Before, he could only imagine such a scene in a zombie apocalypse.

“Boom!”

A massive explosion sounded from the east, and even from afar, towering flames were visible.

Checking the group chat on his phone, those aware of Jiang Tianming’s plan asked post-explosion whether it succeeded. With nothing to do, he idly browsed the chat, gleaning plenty of info. A Tracking-Type Ability User had located the Teleportation Nightmare Beast.

Not to fight it. Except for people with cheats like Si Zhaohua, nobody at their level could kill High-Level Nightmare Beasts. It was to observe its location in real-time and avoid it.

In hindsight, they realized that their earlier attempt to gang up on the Teleportation Nightmare Beast was too reckless. If they had fought the real one, they might not have won.

Just Zhou Renjie swallowing it could’ve eliminated him. If it could teleport freely, why not out of his stomach?

Notably, this discussion inspired Zhou Renjie to develop his Ability to restrict others’ Abilities.

Others being able to use Abilities in his stomach was a fatal flaw of his Ability. Wu Mingbai had already beaten him this way. If he could restrict that, his strength would soar.

Back to the chat, many examinees were out killing Nightmare Beasts. Now was the best time—no need to worry about being overwhelmed by thousands or ambushed by the Teleportation Nightmare Beast.

The latter could still kill them, but if they hesitated now why even bother taking the exam?

As a freshman assessment, this beast tide wasn’t overly severe. The initial heavy losses were due to the Ability Government’s cover-up, leaving people unprepared.

Su Bei had earned enough points and had no urge to work. These days, he stayed home like a good boy. Feng Lan hadn’t planned to go out either, but at dinner the next day, he suddenly stood and exclaimed: “Uncle Li!”

Caught off guard, Su Bei blinked: “What’s wrong with Uncle Li?”

Feng Lan put on a jacket while frowning: “Uncle Li’s in danger.”

Shocked, Su Bei realized something. With the Nightmare Beasts no longer a threat, the Ability Government, previously aligned with them out of necessity, could resume their old plans.

——————————

Wyck-Note: This government’s too realistic for a fantasy novel.

Ekko-Note: True dat.

Tenebrous-Note: x3

* Chinese has several prefixes that indicate closeness or affection. Xiao means "little" or “young” so "Xiao Bei" is "Little Bei". Another is the "Ah-" prefix, used in different regions of China (not sure where what comes from), so someone named “Chen Chu” would be referred to affectionately as "Ah-Chu"....I have no regrets XD

P.S. This is also a reference, I wonder who gets it.

P.P.S: Even though a manga is a Japanese comic, the names, setting, etc. used here are all Chinese. The author used his premise, without giving a shit it seems. I can respect that.

NOTE :

Write a Review on Novel Updates for a Bonus Chapter.