"Impossible."
The moment Lu Renyi finished speaking, Qi Yue found it strange.
"An ability user's power defies the natural order. It can only be used by paying a price. How could there be no backlash?"
Xie Qin and Jian Yi also thought Lu Renyi was joking. Even Lin Shubei, who had already seen Lu Renyi use his ability, did not believe him. He thought Lu Renyi might be casually teasing them again, as he had before.
Lu Renyi could not help sighing once more. Why did no one believe the truth these days?
"Believe me or don't. My ability really has no side effects. At most, using it too frequently makes me sleepy. Does that count as backlash?"
"Brother Lu, doesn't your brain feel like mush after you use your ability?"
"No."
"Doesn't it hurt as if dozens of needles were stabbing you?"
"No."
"Don't you feel your psychic power draining rapidly until you can't think?"
"Not at all."
"Your body doesn't feel weak?"
"No."
Lin Shubei and the other three took turns, asking about everything they experienced after using their abilities. Lu Renyi shook his head blankly throughout, as though he were listening to some absurd fantasy.
Xie Qin could tell from his expression that he did not seem to be lying and had no idea what to say. If Lu Renyi truly suffered no aftereffects from his ability, then he really was...
"You're really incredible."
Xie Qin grew even more certain that Lu Renyi was the person Xie You had told him to befriend.
If it was true, Lin Shubei felt somewhat envious too. They were both psychic types, but if Lin Shubei used his ability too frequently, his psychic power would gush out like water while his thoughts slowed. If no one was around when that happened, he would probably end up as aberrant food.
"I've never heard of a precedent like this. Hasn't anyone captured you for research?"
The Xie family was immensely influential, so Xie Qin had heard plenty about such sordid matters. Lu Renyi came from an ordinary background. If those mad scientists ever discovered him, he would probably spend the rest of his life inside a white laboratory.
"If they had, do you think you'd still see me standing here?"
Xie Qin also realized that he had asked a stupid question. He coughed lightly and changed the subject.
"Then you'll have to protect us properly later. The four of us are bound to be weak for a while after using our abilities."
Lu Renyi naturally had no objection. Still, he had always found it strange. If using an ability required paying a certain price, why were humans still so obsessed with this power?
Being an ordinary person would clearly be more comfortable.
"Greed, perhaps. Once people have one, they want two. Once they have two, they want three. Desire has no end, so of course they're obsessed with an ability that hasn't yet been fully developed."
"That's why the people who created this world according to the script established its core law: every ability user naturally born within this world must pay a price to use their ability, thereby restraining the evil in human nature."
The System's answer was distilled from the world's original purpose, perfectly dissecting human nature and explaining the world's core.
"But Host, why aren't you bound by the law?"
The System opened Lu Renyi's file. The biographical information recorded there showed that Lu Renyi was merely an ordinary person who lived in this world. If the System had not intervened, he would have remained confined to his own tiny corner.
"Awakening my ability was extremely difficult. Maybe I was lucky and got classified as an unnatural birth. That could be why I'm not restricted at every turn like they are. But I still don't understand why they work so hard."
"They have to endure pain to gain power, and the only way to reduce that pain is to keep breaking through. Even then, powerful ability users often don't live very long."
Lu Renyi closed his book and checked how much time remained in the study room. There were five minutes left, so he began listening to Lin Shubei and the others discuss the practical phase of the upcoming midterm trial.
"For the first-year midterm trials in previous years, the teachers designated three trial grounds. Each team drew a location, received a mission, and was ultimately graded according to the number of aberrants killed and the team's mission completion rate."
Xie Qin's brothers and sisters all attended Supernova Ability Academy, so he was already thoroughly familiar with such matters. He took out a blank sheet of paper and began explaining.
"Usually, they choose three from the desert, forest, ice field, deep sea, and the most unusual option, a simulated city. Then we draw lots."
"The first few are all similar. They test teamwork and survival skills, so the scores tend to be very close."
"Because a city-type trial ground doesn't have the same harsh survival environment as the other four, its missions tend to be more unconventional."
"Teams in other types of trial grounds can generally score at least 70, but it's difficult to earn an excellent rating of at least 90. The city trial ground is different. Every team that has drawn the city in past years either earned an excellent rating or failed. There were no exceptions."
Xie Qin circled the word "city" on the paper, then raised his head and swept his gaze over the others' expressions.
"So which one do you prefer?"
"The city."
"I want the forest."
Everyone except Lu Renyi answered "the city" in unison. They tacitly ignored Lu Renyi's gesture of protest. Once he had boarded their pirate ship, he had to obey them.
It was clearly the most challenging option, yet these people acted as though they had spotted some grand prize.
But that suited Xie Qin too. He was not exactly someone who stayed out of trouble.
"What a coincidence. I like the city too."
What was the point of earning an above-average score? Either they would take first place, or they might as well not compete.
"But there might not be a city trial ground this time, and even if there is, we might not draw it."
Although Lin Shubei also wanted the city trial ground, he still had to consider the odds. They could not simply go wherever they wished, although the problem was not unsolvable.
"We should be able to go. If it really doesn't work out, I'll talk to Teacher Jiang. He was so insistent on tying Lu Renyi and me together that pulling a few strings shouldn't be a problem."
Lu Renyi saw no need to worry. Four members of the protagonist's group were here, including the protagonist himself, and Xie Qin had specifically brought up what made the city trial ground unusual. Could they possibly go anywhere else?
Lu Renyi himself would rather go somewhere ordinary and earn an ordinary score instead of being forcibly tied to the protagonist's group and exhausting himself fighting for first place.
Lu Renyi had just asked the System whether any other members of the protagonist's group would be going to the city besides Lin Shubei and the others. The answer nearly gave him a heart attack.
The System did not hide the broad direction of the future plot from Lu Renyi. Apart from events that the protagonist would uncover through his own investigation, the System would tell him directly whenever he asked.
"Yes, Host. The remaining members of the protagonist's group will all appear during this midterm trial. It will count as their first official debut."
After receiving a definite answer, Lu Renyi gradually wilted. Lin Shubei and the others merely assumed that he was silently protesting because they had rejected his choice.
"If Teacher Jiang learns that you're using him, he might make things difficult for us. Then..."
"Then he'll decide we don't work well together and keep demanding that we train together."
Lu Renyi grew increasingly lifeless. He looked as though he had stayed up for several nights and could not even be bothered to open his eyes.
"Come on, you don't need to be this upset. We're only choosing a trial ground. Do you really think you're not strong enough to handle it?"
"Don't try to provoke me, Xie Qin. It won't work. And I'm not like this because of which trial ground we're going to."
"Then why?"
Xie Qin tilted his chin at Lu Renyi, indicating that he was all ears, but Lu Renyi simply could not tell them.
"System, am I supposed to tell them, 'You're about to meet the comrades who will fight beside you in the future. You'll meet in the city trial ground, overcome all kinds of hardships, and break out of the encirclement. But I need to complete the cannon-fodder self-improvement mission, so I've come to join you'?"
"System, can I say that?"
"I'm sorry, Host. You cannot."
The System's uncompromising voice extinguished Lu Renyi's last glimmer of hope. He sighed deeply and spoke with a hint of pity under Lin Shubei and the others' increasingly baffled gazes.
"I just think this trial is bound to be eventful."
The protagonist's group was gathering. As the group most likely to encounter danger, how could they avoid running into some? They had plot armor protecting them, but Lu Renyi did not.
Then, under equally dangerous circumstances, who was most likely to die?
Lu Renyi: Hahaha. In the game of guessing who would die, it took me 0.1 seconds to find the right answer.
"Teachers will supervise the trial ground to prevent vicious competition and fatalities. Other than that, there shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?"
Xie Qin could not guess what was going on inside Lu Renyi's head, so he could only comfort him with what he knew.
Lu Renyi nodded casually in acknowledgment, but he still looked listless and uninterested.
"Our study-room time is up. Let's go. At this hour, if we leave late and run into someone, it'll probably be quite awkward."
The midterm test was only a few days away, and the results were tied to their class assignments next term. They might encounter classmates on the way. When competitors met, someone muddleheaded might inevitably make a scene and leave everyone looking bad.
Besides, the study rooms had been packed these past few days, with many people even sitting outside the doors. If Jian Yi had not written a program to reserve one at the exact release time last night, they would have had to find somewhere else.
Qi Yue was the first to sling on his backpack and charge out of the study room. He nearly collided with someone at the door, but the quick-eyed Lu Renyi pulled him back, then looked at the people already walking inside.
They were twins. The one on the left had black hair streaked with red, while the one on the right had red hair streaked with black.
"Sorry."
"You're a little short."
"So neither of us noticed you just now."
They fit Lu Renyi's impression of stereotypical twins in comics perfectly. Their hairstyles were symmetrical, and they took turns delivering a single line each.
"Sorry. We thought no one would be blind enough to run into us at the door as long as the time wasn't up."
Lin Shubei strode forward and shielded Lu Renyi and Qi Yue behind him. Standing before the twins himself, he responded in the same mocking tone.
"Huh?"
"You're pretty interesting."
"Thanks for the compliment. We're leaving."
Lin Shubei had no intention of tangling with them. Qi Yue and Lu Renyi were unharmed, so he had no reason to pick a fight.
But just because he did not want trouble did not mean the two opposite him were equally well behaved.
"Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Chu Zichuan."
"I'm Chu Ziji."
The two reached out at the same time. After gripping both of Lin Shubei's hands, they laughingly stepped forward and threw their arms around him.
"We know you. You're Lin Shubei, the one who clashed with Zhou Cheng, won the match, and indirectly caused his death, right?"
Chu Zichuan spoke quietly, but ability users had extremely sharp senses and could easily hear what he was saying.
"You two want a fight?"
Qi Yue's thinking was much more direct. Chu Zichuan and Chu Ziji had approached them of their own accord and even brought up Zhou Cheng. They were most likely here to demand justice for him.
Jian Yi tugged on Qi Yue, signaling him not to act rashly. She had just briefly used her ability and seen a fragment of the future. Chu Zichuan and Chu Ziji were not here to cause trouble.
"You?"
"Want to fight us."
"Fight?"
"We're from Class S."
"We don't want to bully you."
Xie Qin found their habit of speaking a few words at a time rather grating, but blocking the doorway was not a solution. He did not want everyone else to watch them make fools of themselves.
"The academy issued a notice. If you're truly curious or disagree with the result, you can ask the principal for the details instead of blocking the doorway and making everyone uncomfortable."
Xie Qin turned sideways, intending to make room for Chu Zichuan and Chu Ziji. He did not want them to get the better of him, but he wanted even less to block the doorway.
Chu Zichuan shook out his flamboyant red hair and extended a hand to block Xie Qin.
"We've already introduced ourselves. Courtesy calls for reciprocity. Aren't you going to tell us your names?"
"There's no need. If we meet in the trial ground, it won't be too late to do it then."
Lin Shubei had grown tired of them grabbing his hands. Seeing that words were useless, he simply broke free and went straight to exchanging threats.
"Fine. We'll be waiting for you in the city trial ground."
"Interesting people are rare, after all."
"By the way, we were already Level-Six ability users when we were tested before the school year began. Don't blame us for bullying you when the time comes."
When Lin Shubei saw people gathering around them, he had no choice but to put on the sunny, cheerful persona he used around outsiders and give the twins a false smile.
"Then I'll have to ask you to go easy on us."
Lin Shubei theatrically stepped aside and invited them in. Then he saw Lu Renyi staring at him with a complicated expression. Although he was puzzled, this was not the place to talk, so he could only return to the dormitory first.
But Lin Shubei could wait. Lu Renyi could not.
"System, are you sure this is a proper hot-blooded shonen comic?"
The System carefully reviewed the comic world's attribute table and answered with absolute certainty.
"Yes, Host. The protagonist's group is fighting for the greater good of humanity, outwitting corrupt officials, and crushing aberrants with overwhelming force. As matters currently stand, it is an orthodox hot-blooded shonen comic."
Lu Renyi remained somewhat doubtful. When Chu Zichuan and Chu Ziji first appeared, he had thought nothing of it and merely assumed that two more members of the protagonist's group had arrived.
Then, the next moment, he saw the two of them grabbing and embracing Lin Shubei in broad daylight without the slightest decorum. Yet no one around them found it strange. Even Lin Shubei saw nothing wrong and merely assumed they were provoking him.
For a moment, Lu Renyi wondered whether he was living in a BL-oriented world.
The System thought briefly after hearing his question.
"The protagonist has no romantic storyline. Those strange scenes you saw are probably just the author's twisted sense of humor."
"Wow."
Lu Renyi began to feel sorry for the future Lin Shubei. If the author's twisted sense of humor evolved along with the plot, he might encounter many more scenes like this in the future.