Having nothing better to do, Peter spent the rest of the class using analysis on everyone around him. This had made him realise a few things.
For one, it appeared that using analysis didn't cost him anything in terms of resources. He didn't have a mana stat that got lowered, and neither did he seem to have lost stamina. It felt like he could keep using the skill forever.
As for the opinion stats, which was what he had dubbed the four stats that appeared after he pressed the check button, he had figured out that the base value was supposed to be 0. For most people, the system would only display four zeroes. He had found a couple of people whose value and fear stats were in the negatives, but those were the exception and not the rule.
'So why is Ms Dorset afraid of me? Did I do something to her?' He was scratching his head, trying to remember if he had done anything, to no avail.
Most people either had a 0 or –1 for fear values, so she was the biggest outlier. He was genuinely confused about why her fear value was a whopping 4.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by the loud ringing of the bell that signalled the end of class.
"Well, that's it for today. Class dismissed." Ms Dorset announced before scurrying away from the lecture hall. The students followed suit as well, picking up their stuff before leaving.
There were only a few students left in the class after about a minute. Peter was one of them. Mostly because he didn't know what his next class was. It had been years since he had last been in college; there was no way he would have remembered.
But since he remembered the general layout of the campus, he quickly hatched a plan of action. He needed to go to his locker. There was bound to be something in there that would help him.
The lockers were pretty close to the poetry class, so it only took him a few minutes to get there. Old padlocks that could be opened with a number combination were all they had for security. Peter didn't even have to try hard to remember what his combination was.
0227—February 27th, Elizabeth's birthday.
That number was so engrained in his muscle memory that he didn't even have to look at the lock to put it in.
'God, how was I so cringe?' He shook his head in embarrassment.
After a bit of searching around in his messy locker, he found what he was looking for: a printed sheet of paper detailing all the classes he was taking and the credits he needed in order to graduate. There was even a handy map drawn in the bottom right corner.
He remembered little about his time in college. He was studying for a Bachelor's Degree in Arts, but it wasn't like he was particularly interested in the subject. The main reason he had picked it was because Elizabeth had picked it too. In retrospect, that was a rather stupid move.
After figuring out where his next class was, he started making his way to it. Peter was already lacking in the spatial awareness department and the transparent blue window floating in the centre of his field of vision didn't exactly help. Adding to that, the fact that he was actively concentrating on the map meant he was practically blind.
Thus, it was natural, even with a perception stat of 9, for him to miss the leg that had clearly been extended with the intention of tripping him.
Like a scene straight out of a comedy movie, he crashed face first into the ground. The force of the impact shattered the spectacles he was wearing, causing several shards of broken glass to be imbedded into his skin. The sound of several people laughing entered his ears.
Peter calmly picked himself off of the ground, face covered in blood, and started laughing as well. "Hahahaa, that was so funny guys, lmao."
Almost instantly, the snickering stopped, fading away like it was never real in the first place. Replacing it was a suffocating silence.
"Come on, why did ya stop laughing?" Peter said, while plucking out the shards of glass from his face. "I thought this was supposed to be funny."
The primary culprits of this incident were three guys who always gave Peter trouble when he was in college. He didn't remember them well, but he knew they were the sidekicks of another guy who was also into Elizabeth.
Of course, even if they were the main culprits, it wasn't just them laughing. The entire hallway was. It was always refreshing seeing someone have it even worse than you, after all.
"Who the f*ck do you think you are, talking like you're some hot sh*t?" The biggest of the three was the first to take aggressive action, grabbing Peter by the collar.
But instead of having thoughts about retaliating, Peter was more curious about what he would see if he were to use analysis on the three. The only problem with that was that he would have to manually press the button in order to activate his skill. In the situation he was currently in, it was virtually impossible to do it covertly.
[]
[Ting!]
[Mission: Bully the bullies (New)]
[Status: Incomplete]
[Condition to be fulfilled:]
[Beat up the bullies (0/3)]
[Reward: ???]
[]
'Ah, just the thing I was waiting for,' Peter thought in his head. 'You think I have read all those system novels for nothing? Ha!'
Although the situation he had been expecting had occurred, something he hadn't expected had happened too. The system window continued floating in the centre of his vision, refusing to go away.
He was truly at a loss about this. Since he knew voice commands wouldn't work, he began looking for something like a {x} button that would close the window, but to his dismay, nothing of the sort was anywhere to be found.
'Don't tell me I have to take care of these idiots with that window still there? Well, I guess I do need some sort of a handicap or there will be three bodies to clean up after I'm done.'
This thought caused a small chuckle to escape from Peter's mouth.
"What the f*ck are you laughing at, f*cker?" Bully no. 1, in typical bully fashion, said while getting all up in Peter's face.
"Just laughing, thinking about what kind of face you will make when I wipe the floor with you."
The three bullies looked at the skinny looking nerd, bewildered. A day ago, he wouldn't have dared to even look them in the eyes and now he was saying sh*t like this. How could they not be confused?
"Did you take some drugs or something, little sh*t?" Bully no. 2 chimed in.
"If you're gonna hit me then hit me already. I don't have all day to be messing about with you bozos." Peter said, putting his pinkie in one of his nostrils and digging out a booger. "Or just admit you're too pussy to swing in front of so many eyes and then f*ck off."
With a gentle flick of his finger, the booger flew off before landing squarely on Bully no. 1's nose.
For a solid 5 second, the bully didn't even know how to react. But then, anger filled up his entire being. He was so angry that he was literally shaking.
"PETERRR!!" He shouted, throwing a very predictable haymaker. Normally, a punch with nothing but power behind it would have been stupid. But in the current situation, where the bully had a hold of Peter's collar, preventing him from moving back, it was indeed effective.
But Peter didn't really have an intention of moving back in the first place. In a single moment, it seemed like the very air surrounding him had changed. The easy-going smile on his face had been replaced with an expressionless mask. The reflex he had built up through years of active combat began to kick in, transforming him from a weak-looking nerd to a dangerous predator.
Ducking to the right, Peter retaliated with a left elbow. The bully's punch only met air, whereas Peter's elbow met the bully's chin, right on the button. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Bully no. 1 instantly slumped to the ground.
"Ouch. That definitely looks like a concussion." Peter gave his verdict, looking down at the bully lying on the ground.
"You f*cker!" Bullies no. 2 and 3 instantly charged at him, trying to catch him off guard with their numbers. It would have been a good move against someone else, but not against Peter. In the apocalyptic world, he had always fought against multiple opponents by himself. Thus, the advantage in numbers didn't even faze him.
With a bounce in his step, he dashed in front of Bully no. 2 such that the bully's body was shielding him from any attacks that Bully no. 3 might throw.
In a very similar fashion as Bully 1, Peter used the fact that the bullies were charging at him to deliver a devastating elbow to both of their chins. He only had a strength of 4, so he had been forced to be a little creative. No matter how strong you were, charging chin first into a primed elbow was never a good idea, after all.
[]
[Ting!]
[Condition fulfilled:]
[Beat up the bullies (3/3)]
[Ting!]
[Mission: Bully the bullies]
[Status: Complete]
[Ting!]
[Hidden conditions fulfilled]
[Calculating higher rewards...]