Episode 97

Su Jin was really mindblown by this point. If he had foreknowledge, that meant he could predict the future. He would become invincible in Challenges.

Xu Ran could tell what Su Jin was thinking about, so he laughed and said, “It’s not really that incredible. Firstly, this is something that only works on people who are very closely tied to you. Secondly, you don’t have any control over it. What I sense, and when I sense it, is completely random.”

Su Jin actually felt a bit better after hearing Xu Ran explain the limitations. It seemed a little too fantastical otherwise. But even with limitations, it was still an incredible power to have. It could even save lives.

Xu Ran seemed eager to explain more to Su Jin as his way of thanking him in advance for letting Situ Jin off, so he went on, “Psychokinetic Spirit Power is often thought of as a useless one not only because it’s hard to develop. There are other Spirit Power types that are equally hard to develop. The difference is that the experience you have in developing it cannot be duplicated.”

“What do you mean by it cannot be duplicated?” Su Jin stared at Xu Ran.

Xu Ran explained, “In other words, I cannot pass on my experience in developing my Psychokinetic Spirit Power to you. We could do the exact same thing and while the method might work for me, it might not work for you at all.”

Su Jin’s eyes widened. He didn’t know that Psychokinetic Spirit Power had this limitation as well. No wonder Kano Mai was so disappointed to learn that he had activated Psychokinetic Spirit Power.

“But you’ve been pretty lucky so far. Your methods have been rather dangerous, but they’ve worked. That means there are plenty of possible methods that work for you.” He went on, “Don’t look down on something like luck. In a Handbook Challenge, it’s the lucky ones who get a chance to survive. You, me and every owner who’s still alive are all very lucky people.”

After saying all that, Xu Ran got up and said with a smile, “My visit is a little sudden, but I don’t think you’re going to be upset with me for that. I’ll help you to clean up this mess. Just don’t forget our agreement!”

Su Jin also got up from his chair. He still had many questions but he didn’t think Xu Ran could answer them all, so he said, “I hope to see you again, and I hope we’re still friends when that happens.”

“I hope so too!” Xu Ran nodded. Then he snapped his fingers and all the bodies on the floor suddenly turned to dust, flying out of the windows and disappearing into the sky.

That snap was all it took for Su Jin to realize that the difference between himself and Xu Ran was really impossible to compare. Xu Ran was already high up in the clouds, while he had only just discovered a rope that would slowly lead to those clouds.

After Xu Ran left, Su Jin immediately sent word to Kano Mai that it was safe for her to return now.

A portal appeared in the house and Kano Mai came running out. She ran straight towards Su Jin and gave him a tight slap.

Su Jin felt like his cheek was burning. Kano Mai was no expert in close combat but her body had been strengthened tremendously over time. He didn’t think even the best commandos in the military were any match for her. That was how hard she slapped him.

He looked at her sadly and sighed, “Alright, alright, I shouldn’t have controlled your mind and made you do things against your own will. I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“It’s not about that!” Kano Mai glared furiously at him with her big and beautiful eyes as she puffed her cheeks out. Her tiny nose was quivering as she inhaled and exhaled angrily, which actually made her look terribly cute.

Su Jin scratched his head, then said, “Ah, okay I get it. The next time we run into danger, I’ll make sure we fight it together. At most we’ll all die together, okay?”

“Who said I was willing to die with you?! You…you’re such a douchebag!!” Kano Mai stormed off, and left Su Jin standing there awkwardly by himself.

Su Jin rubbed his nose absentmindedly. Of course he knew exactly why Kano Mai was so angry with him. In order to gain control of her mind, he had resorted to saying something like that to her. That was a really despicable thing to do to a girl. But the bigger problem was that judging from Kano Mai’s reaction, it seemed like she was carrying a torch for him.

“Sigh! Why didn’t anybody like me when I was still an ordinary guy on the street?” Su Jin sighed glumly. He was pretty obtuse when it came to such matters, so he decided that he was just going to pretend that none of this happened and perhaps Kano Mai would forget all about it in time as well.

But the awkwardness between them didn’t disappear just because he pretended nothing had happened. While their relationship did not worsen, Kano Mai continued to be curt towards him.

It was a rainy night in B City. A man in a black windbreaker walked through the rain quietly by himself. His face was covered in camouflage paint.

This area was quite secluded in the first place, and because it was raining, there was nobody using this unsheltered overhead bridge except this strange man.

All of a sudden, a man in his forties came up from the other end of the bridge. He had nearly lost all his hair and had a bit of a beer belly. He didn’t have an umbrella, so he was all drenched and the only thing he had to shield his head from the onslaught of the falling water was his document bag.

The two were about to pass each other when the man in the windbreaker suddenly disappeared. It was as if he had suddenly vaporized and was nowhere to be found.

The middle aged man’s expression turned serious as he put his arm down and used one hand to loosen his tie. The grim look in his eyes intensified.

Clang! A shiny blade suddenly appeared in the rain and came down towards the man’s arm. But when the blade hit his arm, his arm merely trembled and gave off that loud clanging noise, as if his arm was made from steel.

The middle aged man threw his document bag into the air, then reappeared where his document bag was about to land and caught it again in an instant.

“Xu Songde, born and bred in B City. Seven months ago, you were just an ordinary office worker. Something happened at that point in time and you continued your old life, but you received huge amounts of cash. I’ve checked the source of this money and it’s all legal. The only problem is…it’s way too legal to be true.” The man in the windbreaker appeared again. The camouflage paint on his face seemed completely unaffected by the water pouring down on it.

The middle aged man looked at the other man puzzledly. The man in the windbreaker had gotten it exactly right. His life had changed completely seven months ago. He was initially an ordinary office worker who was about to be fired back then, but one day, something happened and he felt like he had been reborn.

“On that fateful day seven months ago, you received a copy of Hell’s Handbook. After surviving great dangers, you attained power. Power might not make the upright even more upright, but it will definitely enable the lowlifes to become even more despicable. And you, Xu Songde! Your despicable acts are evil beyond any hope!” the man in the windbreaker continued.

A smile spread across Xu Songde’s face. His earnest looking features looked a little crazed now as he licked his rain drenched lips.

“Despicable acts? I’m just looking for some fun and entertainment in this world of ordinary people. To ordinary folks, we’re like gods. When a child pours hot water into an ants’ nest, would you consider that to be despicable? What’s wrong? Can’t a god have some fun when they’re among mortals? How is that despicable?” Xu Songde laughed maniacally.

Anger flashed in the eyes of the man in the windbreaker, while Xu Songde continued, “I don’t know who you are, but I’d advise you to stay away or else…you might lose your life!”

“Xu Songde, over the past seven months, you have raped and killed 31 women. Your modus operandi is cruel and inhumane, so today, I shall bring judgement upon you!” A sharp knife appeared in the man’s hand and it glinted threateningly in the dim streetlights.

Xu Songde scoffed in disdain. “Humph! And who do you think you are?!”

He shook his document bag open and a vajra and his Handbook flew out. He grabbed hold of both items and ran like a bolt of lightning towards the other man.

The man in the windbreaker narrowed his eyes. His body trembled slightly and turned into nothing but rainwater, so Xu Songde’s attack landed on nothing.

“Spirit Power? No, it’s an illusion!” Xu Songde was initially shocked, but he soon realized something was amiss. He slammed his vajra violently against the bridge and sent a powerful force out in all directions.

A section of the rainwater became distorted as some electrical sparks appeared on the other man’s windbreaker. The force from the vajra had flung him backwards.

The man frowned. Just like what Xu Songde had thought, his ability to vanish into the rain was actually just an illusion caused by this special windbreaker. But the force from the vajra had damaged this windbreaker.

“Like I always say, the more intricate a gadget is, the more likely it is to have problems,” muttered the man with a sigh. He bounced back up from the ground and ran towards Xu Songde again.

Xu Songde had a threatening smile on his face now. The fact that he had survived seven Challenges was enough to prove how formidable he was. His experience told him that while his attacker was definitely more powerful than an ordinary person, he was no match for him.

He charged towards the man in the windbreaker and the two collided. But when the man’s knife struck the vajra, he also smashed a vial in his hands. A green powder filled the air in spite of the rain and exploded into a cloud of green smoke.

“Poison?!” Xu Songde got a shock and pushed the other man aside before rapidly pulling back. But he immediately started to feel discomfort. He had inhaled some of that smoke and he could feel his body grow numb. The other man seized this chance to charge at Xu Songde again. He didn’t seem affected by the green smoke at all.

“Puppet Warriors!” Xu Songde gripped his Handbook hard and several wooden soldiers appeared.

“Kill him!” roared Xu Songde.

The main in the windbreaker threw his knife at the soldiers, then pulled out two guns from his windbreaker. The sound of rapid gunshots filled the air as the wooden soldiers were forced to retreat.

Xu Songde had plenty of other weapons, but he was a cautious man and decided it was best to run since he had been poisoned. Since the wooden soldiers were keeping the other man busy, he turned to run off.

But the other man was keeping an eye on Xu Songde. When he saw that Xu Songde was trying to make his getaway, he immediately pulled his Handbook out and retrieved a round pearl. A flash of light instantly shot out and turned into a barrier around the entire bridge.

When Xu Songde realized he was trapped in this bubble, he immediately tried to attack it. It wasn’t really too difficult for him to break through the barrier, but he couldn’t do it in a short time. He gritted his teeth and yelled hatefully, “You’re the one with a death wish, so don’t blame me for getting nasty!”