“Hey Su Jingyao, want some candy? It’s on me.”
Zhang Ping lay on the desk, holding a green six-sided crystal, squinting at Sujing Yao at the next table and asked.
Su Jingyao barely glanced at the thing.
“Beat it,” she muttered, unimpressed.
“Alright, alright, jeez,” Zhang Ping mumbled, taking his hand back. “No need to get your panties in a twist.”
Su Jingyao’s eyebrow twitched. “Look, Zhang Ping,” she said, a bit annoyed, “I get that your power sucks, but if you keep acting like a beggar out there, trust me, you’ll get your butt kicked.”
“Hey, a useless power is better than none, right?” Zhang Ping muttered defensively. “Besides, I was just asking you. Who else would I even ask?”
Su Jingyao rolled her eyes and went back to filling out her graduation forms.
“Seriously leaving already?” Zhang Ping asked, looking up at her.
Su Jingyao shrugged. “I’ve learned everything this school can teach me. Besides, my power’s for fighting, and real combat is the only way to get stronger. Joining the patrol squad is what I’ve always wanted.”
“But you’re just seventeen,” Zhang Ping sighed.
Su Jingyao scoffed. “Zhang Chen from next door graduated last week. Probably out there with some investigation team fighting mutated beasts already. And he’s only sixteen.”
“Yeah, that guy’s a real prodigy,” Zhang Ping said, a hint of awe in his voice.
Su Jingyao couldn’t help but sigh internally, seeing no jealousy or envy flicker across Zhang Ping’s face.
Zhang Ping used to be a class star – one of the hardest-working students. But on the day his ability emerged, he spent all his energy testing it out, only to have it deemed “useless” by the evaluators. This hit Zhang Ping hard. He stopped coming to class for days.
By the time he returned, Zhang Ping had become this laid-back guy we see now.
Su Jingyao couldn’t stand seeing him so discouraged. “Hey,” she said seriously, “even though your ability isn’t what they hoped for, there are tons of mutated creatures out there. Maybe someday you’ll find one that can use it! Then you’ll have your chance to shine.”
Zhang Ping just shrugged, still sprawled on his desk. “Nah, forget it. What creature would ever hand over control of its own life? Look, if I gave it to you, would you take it?”
“…”
Su Jingyao fell silent, remembering the weird green crystal Zhang Ping had been holding earlier. Just the sight of it made her stomach churn – like looking at a pile of…well, you get the idea.
“Alright, alright,” Zhang Ping said with a laugh. “I get it. I’m a dud. But hey, being a dud ain’t so bad. Maybe I’ll just go back to farming. Who knows, I might even outlive you fighters. Safer that way, for sure.”
He wasn’t kidding.
Whether it’s the patrol teams, investigation teams, or freelance adventurers, they all face crazy high death rates. Sure, being a farmer in the city doesn’t exactly pay well, but at least you’re alive. A lot less chance of getting killed compared to those combat jobs.
Living a long life? Staying put in the city seems like the smartest bet.
Zhang Ping used to be a risk-taker, though. In his past life, he was even part of a private rescue team.
Rain lashed down as Zhang Ping, a member of a private rescue team, searched the mountains for a missing hiker. Suddenly, a landslide struck. When Zhang Ping came to, he wasn’t himself. He was in the body of the very hiker he’d been trying to save – Zhang Ping, a man who’d died from sheer frustration.
Absorbing Zhang Ping’s memories, a single thought dominated his mind: “Who gets so mad over a useless ability that they die?” He owed a debt to the original Zhang Ping, after all, without this bizarre twist of fate, he might have truly died on that mountain.
That said, the original Zhang Ping seemed a little… emotionally fragile. Abilities? In his past life, he didn’t have any special powers, and he still managed to scrape by. Useless ability? More like a non-issue.
But hold on, Zhang Ping’s ability was actually kind of cool. He could burn through his own stamina and mental energy to create a green, faceted crystal. Here’s the kicker: any creature that willingly ate this crystal would become his complete puppet, body and soul under his control.
Powerful, right? Well, there was a catch. The creature had to be truly willing. Otherwise, they’d just… well, let’s just say the crystal wouldn’t agree with them.
The original Zhang Ping, bless his frustrated soul, had tried it on everything – cats, dogs, snakes, even mice. Every attempt ended the same way: a very unhappy animal and a perfectly intact crystal. He’d even gotten desperate, resorting to torture, but the soul’s resistance seemed absolute.
In the end, the original Zhang Ping grew more and more frustrated, coughed up blood in despair, and died from his own anger caused by his useless ability.
Now, this new Zhang Ping certainly wouldn’t be so extreme or irrational.
Although his ability seemed useless, he wasn’t entirely without ideas.
The faceted crystals he could create were actually quite beautiful. Perhaps he could polish them and sell them as gemstones?
After all, wealthy people often have unique tastes. What if he could sell them for a good price?
After class, Zhang Ping packed his things and walked back to the dormitory area with Su Jingyao.
Both he and Su Jingyao were orphans and had been living in the school dormitory since they enrolled.
“Don’t wait for me tomorrow; I’ll be moving out of the dorm tonight,” Su Jingyao said as they walked.
Zhang Ping nodded and smiled, “Alright, take care.”
“You too.”
Su Jingyao glanced at Zhang Ping, a hint of reluctance hidden deep in her eyes.
They parted ways at the dormitory entrance. Su Jingyao went into the girls’ dorm, and Zhang Ping entered the boys’ dorm.
Zhang Ping’s dorm was on the fifth floor. He originally had three roommates, but they had left the school a week before Zhang Ping’s self-inflicted death after their own awakening failures. So now, the dormitory was just his.
“Compared to failing the awakening, this guy’s situation isn’t too bad,” Zhang Ping thought as he opened the dormitory door, recalling the confused and pained expressions of his roommates when they left the school.
He put down his backpack and, after taking a shower, sat cross-legged on his bed.
Raising one hand, green particles began to appear in his palm. As his physical and mental energy quickly drained, the particles rapidly grew into a faceted crystal.
According to the evaluator’s analysis, his ability was a composite type and should be called “Greed Gem” by the naming conventions for superpowers.
The ability was deemed “greedy” because it sought to control everything.
And precisely because it was overly greedy, any living being instinctively rejected the Greed Gem, rendering the ability useless.
“Let’s test its hardness first,” Zhang Ping muttered to himself, holding the faceted crystal.
If the crystal was hard enough, perhaps it could be used to make something like chainmail. Fully inlaid with these crystals, it might provide decent defense.
He took out a small knife he carried with him and tried to cut the crystal.
