Chapter 357

On the street outside Endless Ability Academy, there was a very strange hardware store. Strange in many ways. After all, what kind of hardware store would open next to an ability academy? They have absolutely no use for it!

You have to understand, the land around Endless Ability Academy was prime real estate, worth its weight in gold. After most of the Nightmare Beasts were eliminated, Ability users became less crucial, so logically, the prices should have dropped. But then spatial rifts appeared in the blink of an eye, and as a result, the land prices around the academy rose instead of falling.

Especially with a Vampire space nearby, which had driven the prices up even more. Wang Lele had asked about it once, and the answer she got left her utterly speechless. Forget buying a house here; even the price of a single square meter was far beyond her reach.

Under such circumstances, the fact that a hardware store that looked completely unprofitable and had no one coming or going could open nearby as if it were just for show made one couldn’t help but be curious.

“So that’s why you want to check out that hardware store after school today?” Qiao Xin was speechless, retorting sharply, “I see you don’t have enough homework.”

Wang Lele giggled, pressing her palms together in a pleading gesture. “Come on, come on! It’s a shop right next to the academy, so you don’t have to worry about any danger.”

“That’s not necessarily true. The academy went through a period of great chaos before we enrolled,” Qiao Xin countered seriously. “Back then, it wasn’t just the area around the academy; even inside the academy was extremely dangerous.”

Wang Lele grabbed her arm, swinging it back and forth. “Please? We don’t have anything to do after school today anyway. What if we stumble upon some great opportunity?”

At this, she glanced around, and after confirming no one was nearby, she whispered to Qiao Xin, “Let me tell you, my curiosity isn’t just random. I heard from a classmate who passes by this store after school that almost every customer they’ve seen going in is either a handsome guy or a beautiful woman. I guarantee it, there’s definitely something fishy about this place!”

Seeing her act like this, Qiao Xin could only nod helplessly. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do after school, so a little adventure wouldn’t hurt.

“We’re here! This is it!” Arriving at the entrance of the hardware store next to a small alley, Wang Lele planted her hands on her hips, looking extremely proud. Although the hardware store was next to the academy, its location was rather inconspicuous. Paired with the off-putting “hardware store” sign, practically no one ever came by.

Qiao Xin looked up at the store’s name and read it out, word by word, “‘Destiny Hardware Store.’ What a strange name.”

Wang Lele had a completely different opinion. “It sounds so mysterious! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s hurry inside and see!”

Pushing the door open, the scene inside was a great disappointment. It wasn’t the mysteriously decorated place Wang Lele had imagined. It looked like an ordinary hardware store, just with a lot of extra gear-themed decorations.

Inside, a young woman who looked to be eighteen or nineteen was dozing off behind the counter, not in the least bit disturbed by the sound of the door opening.

Wang Lele and Qiao Xin exchanged a look. Finally, Qiao Xin gritted her teeth and spoke up, carefully trying to wake the sole employee. “Miss? Miss?”

Fortunately, the other person was only dozing and woke up at the first call. After waking, she hastily wiped the corner of her mouth and put on a standard professional smile. “Welcome. How may I help you?”

This time, Qiao Xin didn’t know what to say. She looked at Wang Lele, signaling for her to take over.

“I wanted to ask if you could help me fix a clock?” Wang Lele had clearly come prepared, taking out a broken mechanical clock from her storage space.

The clerk took the clock, examined it carefully, and then offered a confident smile. “A small problem, it can be fixed. The price is three hundred and fifty yuan. How would you like to pay?”

It really is just a repair shop? Although the girl was very disappointed, she paid the money first.

Then she watched as the clerk before her easily fixed the clock with her ability, placed it on the counter, and indicated that the repair was complete and she could take it.

Wang Lele: “?”

Her face was full of disbelief. “It’s fixed just like that? What does this have to do with a hardware store?”

She had originally thought the clerk was a craftsman who needed to use hardware parts in conjunction with her ability to fix things. But now it seemed no parts were needed at all!

The clerk gave an embarrassed smile. It wasn’t the first time she had been asked this question. She explained skillfully, “I’m not the owner. The boss only required that I know how to do repairs, he never said I had to use hardware parts.”

Hearing this, a sense of excitement resurfaced in Wang Lele’s heart. Based on her years of intuition from reading manga, she deduced that the owner of this hardware store must be extraordinary.

“Then what’s the point of the owner opening this hardware store?” she asked curiously. “Opening a hardware store here can’t be profitable, right?”

“That’s true. We hardly get a customer in a blue moon.” The clerk wasn’t very guarded and nodded in agreement. “As for this shop, you can think of it as a sort of hangout for the boss? He occasionally gathers with his friends here.”

Hearing her say that, Qiao Xin’s interest was piqued as well. “To use a shop in a location like this as just a hangout, your boss must be quite rich, right? Is he a senior from Endless Ability Academy?”

“He is… Boss? What are you doing here today?”

Just as she was about to answer the customers, the clerk’s eyes widened in surprise at the young man who had just pushed the door open.

Wang Lele and Qiao Xin immediately turned their heads, and both their eyes widened. They had imagined the owner would be a rough middle-aged man or a white-bearded old man, but they never thought he would be such a stunningly handsome guy!

The young man was dressed in a black trench coat and wore sunglasses. He looked very tall, nearly one meter ninety. His blond hair was dazzling, and even the sunglasses couldn’t hide his good looks. He raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly not expecting to find customers in the store.

Wang Lele quickly snapped out of it, her eyes shining. “Hello, Senior! I’m a second-year student at Endless Ability Academy, can I add…”

“Wait? ‘Destiny Hardware Store’…” Before she could finish, Qiao Xin seemed to realize something, her eyes widening. “Are you Senior Su Bei?”

That name was clearly not an unknown one in the Ability World. Wang Lele’s eyes also widened as she looked at Su Bei again. This was a legendary senior from their academy. In fact, that entire year’s S-Class was legendary; many of the major figures in the Ability World today had come from their class.

Although Su Bei didn’t hold any important position in the Ability World, it was obvious that not even a fool would look down on him for it. It was said that even in an S-Class teeming with hidden talents, Su Bei’s strength was among the absolute best.

Seeing that he had been recognized, Su Bei simply nodded, taking off his sunglasses to reveal his purple eyes, which held a faint smile. “I am. What brings you two here?”

The clerk proactively started to explain for them, “They came to…”

Before she could finish, Wang Lele hurriedly interrupted her, looking at Su Bei with expectant eyes. “Senior Su Bei, we came looking for you! Does your shop only sell hardware?”

Su Bei’s lips curled into a smile. Of course, he could tell Wang Lele was lying. How could someone who didn’t even know he was the owner possibly know that the store sold other things? They were probably just regular students who came to have a look out of curiosity.

However, since she had asked the right question, he didn’t mind benevolently giving her an answer. “No, I also sell destiny here.”

That’s right. This was actually his real source of income besides venturing into spaces, but very few people knew about it. However, for this kind of business, quality was better than quantity. As long as there were customers, it was fine; too many customers and he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Sell destiny?” Wang Lele and Qiao Xin showed surprise in unison. “What does that mean? Can we buy it too?”

Su Bei generally didn’t turn away business, and he didn’t look down on these two just because they were students out for an adventure. “Of course. To change today’s luck, it’s one hundred and fifty thousand. To change the luck of a specific day in the future, one hundred thousand. To change destiny, the price is determined by the situation. For assistance in a space, the price depends on the space. And of course, you can also come to me for other intelligence services.”

After all, he was still the leader of the ‘Destiny’ organization. Even those who hadn’t joined could buy intelligence directly from him, but only when he was present.

After speaking, while the two girls were still in a daze, he took off his trench coat, hung it on a rack, and nodded to his employee. “You can take next week off. You’ll still be paid.”

As someone personally interviewed and hired by Su Bei, the clerk had truly learned from her boss. Upon hearing this, her entire demeanor brightened instantly. Without the slightest intention of asking why, she gave a ninety-degree bow. “Yes, Boss! Goodbye, Boss!”

After saying that, to the utter astonishment of the two students, she packed her bag with lightning speed and, exuding an air of joy, quickly left the shop.

Su Bei leisurely sat down behind the counter and looked again at the two somewhat bewildered girls. “Is there anything I can help you with? It’s going to get busy here in a little while.”

A hundred thousand yuan was nothing to a graduated Ability user, but it was far too much for those still in school. Qiao Xin rubbed her nose, a little embarrassed. “Sorry, we don’t have that much money. But can we ask how changing luck works?”

Although she couldn’t afford it now, she was already tempted. There would be opportunities to shop here again in the future, so it was good to ask in advance. In the Ability World, countless people wished for a chance to cooperate with Su Bei and never got one. Now that she had found a way, she naturally wouldn’t let it go.

Su Bei patiently explained a few things to them, but before he could finish, someone arrived at the door.

It was a familiar face.

“You got here so fast?” Seeing the person, Su Bei raised an eyebrow and asked knowingly, “Did you have someone watching this place?”

The equally handsome, silver-haired young man took off his gloves and placed them on the coat rack, saying as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “You never send messages proactively, so this is the only way to find you. How long are you working this time?”