Chapter 339:

After dealing with matters in the real world, Su Bei officially began his journey. To avoid Nightmare Beasts, he certainly couldn’t go to places with many people.

He had used this time to plan his trip. Although he intended to go wherever the wind took him, he still needed to set a general direction.

Among the places he needed to avoid were countries where the main characters were located, such as the Afei Nation…

Su Bei planned to head straight north, with the Arctic as his final destination. With his ability items, he didn’t have to worry about the extreme cold. In such a remote place, he also wouldn’t have to worry about encountering too many Nightmare Beasts.

If it was just one or two, even though Su Bei couldn’t use his ability or Mental Energy right now, and his physical condition hadn’t returned to its peak, he had plenty of ability items on him—a great many, in fact. Dealing with one or two Nightmare Beasts was still a piece of cake.

In a large forest, having reached the central area and feeling a bit tired, Su Bei carefully selected what looked to be the tallest tree and scrambled up it in a flash.

Sitting on the highest branch, he could overlook almost the entire primeval forest. The vast, boundless expanse of green was enough to lift anyone’s spirits. It would be even better without those annoying Nightmare Beasts.

Watching two Low-tier Nightmare Beasts heading straight for him from a distance, a flash of annoyance crossed Su Bei’s eyes. The fact that Ability users naturally attracted Nightmare Beasts was being demonstrated to the fullest during his solo journey.

Over the past half-month, he had encountered a few Nightmare Beasts almost every two or three days. Sometimes they came alone, sometimes in groups. If not for the sufficient number of items he had on hand, he really would have had to turn back in defeat.

Fortunately, there were no Advanced Nightmare Beasts among them, which undoubtedly made them much easier to deal with. This also made Su Bei more certain that his previous bad luck was entirely due to his proximity to the main characters. As long as he stayed away from them, an existence like an Advanced Nightmare Beast wasn’t something you encountered so easily!

Su Bei took a miniature laser cannon out of his backpack and fired at the two avian Nightmare Beasts that had drawn near. His aim was true, taking them down one by one. He easily dispatched the two Low-tier Nightmare Beasts, then expertly tossed the laser back into his backpack.

Not being able to use Mental Energy was a pain; he couldn’t even use his Storage Ring. And it wasn’t just the Storage Ring—many ability items required Mental Energy to activate. With his Mental Energy temporarily unusable, the number of items Su Bei could use was very limited.

Fortunately, with the help of his classmates—who modified items and rummaged through the item vault—they had managed to gather quite a few usable items for him.

After eliminating the Nightmare Beasts, Su Bei opened his phone to check if there was anything new on the official Ability website. Although there was no signal in the large forest, the phones of Ability users were specially made and could be used in most situations even without a signal.

The official website was calm and peaceful, and the news of his death was still posted there. Acquaintances other than those in S-Class were all sending him messages, making futile attempts to ask if he was still alive. Su Bei hadn’t replied to any of them.

He wouldn’t betray the trust of his S-Class classmates by faking his death to them, but for others, there was no need to be so considerate. After all, he wasn’t faking his death because he had nothing better to do; he truly had a reason for it.

If too many people knew a secret, it would no longer be a secret. For his own safety, it was better to be cautious.

Turning off his phone, Su Bei continued deeper into the forest, following the route displayed on his phone’s navigation. “Is this route really correct? Is the thing that can help me recover quickly really in this forest?”

Su Bei asked suspiciously as he walked. This primeval forest was sparsely populated, with only a few Nightmare Beasts. It didn’t look like a place that would hide a treasure. Usually, wouldn’t such treasures be guarded by monsters or people?

“Of course. I am the consciousness of this world; nothing in it can escape my eyes.” Questioned by him, the ‘Manga Consciousness’ immediately defended itself righteously.

Su Bei didn’t doubt that point. What he doubted was: “But it’s only for half a year. Why are you so eager to help me find a recovery item?”

This was the real reason he found it problematic. A six-month period of weakness wasn’t life-threatening, so there was no reason for the ‘Manga Consciousness’ to help him out of the blue.

“I just don’t want to see you suffering. You’re pretty unhappy without your ability and Mental Energy, right?” the ‘Manga Consciousness’ said, feigning kindness.

In truth, it wasn’t that he was suffering. His couple of years as an Ability user weren’t enough to make him forget his instincts as an ordinary person.

But that wasn’t the point right now. The point was that he didn’t believe a single word of the nonsense the ‘Manga Consciousness’ was spouting. It was no good Samaritan. Even if they had some rapport and it would help out at critical moments, it wouldn’t help with just anything, especially when Su Bei hadn’t asked for it.

To be so concerned about his recovery speed… had it suddenly turned into a nagging mother hen?

Su Bei said bluntly, “What do you want me to do after I recover?”

Seeing that he had put it so directly, the ‘Manga Consciousness’ no longer concealed the truth. “As a popular character, if you really stay offline for too long, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the readers. So, the author wants you to make an appearance in the grand finale, play your part as a special surprise, and save everyone from dire straits.”

Bringing back a popular character who has been written off for the grand finale, if handled well, could even generate a trending topic online.

Su Bei was familiar with manga tropes, so of course he understood the author’s motive. He thought for a moment. “So, what’s in it for me?”

The ‘Manga Consciousness’ had clearly anticipated this question and replied immediately, “Isn’t recovering ahead of schedule a benefit?”

“If you think that counts, then never mind.” Su Bei sneered. “I don’t need that little benefit.”

He had originally been determined not to participate in the rest of this season’s plot, even without the threat of death. A small favor like this certainly wasn’t enough to make him change his mind.

Understanding that Su Bei now held the upper hand, the ‘Manga Consciousness’ quickly conceded. “Alright, what do you want then?”

If it stated its offer first, based on past experience, Su Bei would easily bargain it down. But if Su Bei made the first move, although he would surely ask for something outrageous, at least the power to negotiate would fall into the ‘Manga Consciousness’s’ hands.

Su Bei thought for a moment and realized there wasn’t really anything he wanted. The ‘growth plan’ he had mentioned to the author before was just a joke; he didn’t want someone else designing his ability.

“Set me up with a hardware store next to the Ability Academy,” he finally said. “A fully-equipped hardware store with a complete defense system.”

“…”

After a long silence, the ‘Manga Consciousness’ spoke with a complicated tone. “You really are consistent, from start to finish…”

Actually, Su Bei wasn’t that obsessed with the hardware store, since opening one near the academy wouldn’t make any money. But as the ‘Manga Consciousness’ said, a man has to be consistent, right?

Besides, to be a bit chuunibyou about it, he quite liked the idea of becoming a ‘sweeping monk’ type of character. The trope of the down-on-his-luck shop owner near the academy who is secretly a powerful senior—just thinking about it made his chuunibyou soul burn with passion!

Furthermore, opening a hardware store didn’t mean he had to settle down there. He could just close the shop or hire a clerk to watch it, and then come back whenever he wanted a break to pretend he was a simple, honest little business owner.

Wait? Why say ‘pretend’?

Ahem, aside from that, the most important reason was that Su Bei felt he needed a relatively safe residence near the school.

It was a known fact that the ‘King of Abilities’ manga would have a third season. The crisis in the second season was mostly unrelated to him, but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t be dragged into the third.

If the author didn’t plan on pulling a time skip, then the main setting for the third season would likely still be the academy. In the second season, the academy had always been a safe house, but would it remain so in the third? Su Bei didn’t think so. Only when the academy itself was no longer safe could the readers get a fresh new experience, right?

Of course, this was just his speculation, but it was never a bad idea to make extra preparations for it.

This request wasn’t difficult at all. Fearing Su Bei would go back on his word, the ‘Manga Consciousness’ agreed on the spot. It also decided it had to max out the hardware store’s defenses; otherwise, it would feel bad about how simple the request was.

While talking with the ‘Manga Consciousness,’ Su Bei hadn’t been idle. He followed the map deeper into the forest. The dense miasma in the surroundings would have knocked out an ordinary person by now, but Su Bei had items to protect himself, so he wasn’t afraid at all.

He had to admit, this was one of the good things about being an Ability user: not only could you use abilities yourself, but you could also create items for others to use. However, most ability items were very expensive. Unless it was a barter-style equivalent exchange, trying to buy useful items with money often meant they were available in name only, with none actually for sale.

“Red mushrooms…” Having arrived at the destination, Su Bei lowered his head and searched the area.

He was looking for a type of red mushroom that was a deadly poison to ordinary people. It could drastically increase blood flow, causing the consumer to explode and die. But Su Bei’s body contained the seal from the ‘Substitute Doll,’ and this seal could withstand the energy. In turn, this energy could also help break the seal.

Red was quite conspicuous in the green forest, so Su Bei quickly found his target. He walked over, squatted down, and pulled a mushroom out by the roots. “This is it, right? How do I eat it?”

“It’s deadly poison no matter how you eat it, so suit yourself,” the ‘Manga Consciousness’ replied nonchalantly. To it, the taste didn’t matter; only the effect was important.

Su Bei’s mouth twitched as he looked at the mushroom, its roots still covered in dirt. “Is one bite enough?”

If one bite was enough, he could just take a bite from the part not covered in dirt and be done with it. A little dirt never hurt anyone. But if he had to eat the whole thing, then it was probably better to wash it.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that troublesome. The ‘Manga Consciousness’ replied, “One bite is enough.”

Su Bei nodded and took a bite from the tip of the mushroom cap. Then, his vision went black, and he collapsed with a thud. Before ‘dying,’ he didn’t forget to scrawl a few words in the dirt with his hand—“The murderer is…”