When Su Bei walked into the bathroom, his mind was still a bit foggy, as if covered by a cloud. He could vaguely hear sounds coming from the innermost bathroom stall, but he couldn't make them out clearly.
Wait—something felt off.
As his mind suddenly cleared, Su Bei realized an important detail: the opening ceremony was about to start.
Based on his past experience, the bathroom should be packed at this time, given that once the ceremony began, no one would be able to use the bathroom for an hour or two. That was also the reason he was there now.
But the bathroom was completely empty—except for someone likely in the farthest stall, all the other stalls were unoccupied.
Slowly realizing the oddity, Su Bei turned his head and abruptly noticed a yellow warning sign at the bathroom entrance, likely marked with something like "Do Not Enter."
How had he missed that sign earlier?
Before he could think further, Su Bei, trained by his father, a former soldier, sensed a faint movement behind him.
Someone was approaching!
Almost instinctively, he controlled his breathing, avoided turning around, and pretended not to notice, continuing to walk forward as if to inspect the yellow sign at the entrance.
The presence behind him grew closer. With each subtle shift of the air, Su Bei quickly deduced the person's movements behind him.
The person was likely about his height, emerging from the farthest stall after hearing his footsteps. Su Bei could even hear the faint sound of metal slicing through the air.
Now!
Almost as if he had eyes on his back, Su Bei swiftly gripped the attacker's wrist just before the knife could cut into his neck. Without hesitation, he pivoted back, smoothly executing a judo throw that sent the attacker crashing to the floor in front of him.
"Bang!"
The man hit the ground with a heavy thud. Just as Su Bei had anticipated, the attacker was about his height, dressed in black and wearing a silver mask that only revealed purplish-red eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
The knife slipped from the attacker's hand and clattered to the floor, caught off guard by Su Bei's sudden response.
Footsteps echoed from outside—staff from the school, hearing the commotion, were coming to investigate.
It seemed that the footsteps were enough to alarm the attacker. Before Su Bei could remove the mask to see his face, the man bound in his grasp suddenly turned into a wisp of black smoke, dissolving into thin air.
"An ability user," Su Bei muttered with a grim look, realizing he probably wouldn't find the attacker again. As he prepared to stand up, a sharp pain struck him, and he let out a stifled groan. His mind felt as if it had been hit hard, and everything went black as he collapsed.
When he opened his eyes again, Su Bei found himself in a completely white space.
Above, left, and right, everything was pure white without any noticeable boundaries or walls—it was as if this place had no limits.
Where was he?
He remembered fainting in the bathroom, and hearing the footsteps of school staff. Normally, someone who found an unconscious student would take them to the infirmary or a classroom.
But this place was neither of those.
After a moment's hesitation, Su Bei chose to get up from the floor. Since he had already opened his eyes and saw no one around, pretending to stay unconscious didn't seem like a smart move.
Better to stand up and explore, take control of the situation.
Rising to his feet, he noticed that the only object in this white space was directly in front of him—a desk and a chair, with two books stacked on the desk.
Looking around once more to confirm there was nothing else, Su Bei walked over, pulled out the chair, sat down, and examined the books on the table.
To his surprise, the first book was actually a comic. Its cover featured a colorful cast of characters, with a dark-haired boy in the center, his expression resolute and full of determination.
To his left and right were a boy and a girl. The girl on the right had long, light-blue hair tied into twin braids, with cold, blue eyes and a piece of tape forming an X over her mouth as if she couldn't speak.
The boy on the left, in contrast, had brown hair and orange eyes and wore a cheerful expression, looking more like the typical protagonist of a shonen manga.
In the background were several other characters of varying ages, all gathered together to form this vibrant comic cover.
At the top was the title: King of Superpowers.
The only familiar word in the title was "Superpowers," an extraordinary ability only a rare few could awaken, with varying types and strengths.
All individuals with superpowers were sent to the "Endless Abilities Academy" upon discovery and could only use their powers in society once they graduated.
Coincidentally, Su Bei had just awakened his own ability and today was the first day of his freshman year at the academy, where he'd been assigned to F-Class.
Shifting his focus back to the books, Su Bei didn't open the first one yet. Instead, he looked at the second book. It was much thinner, only four or five pages, with a plain white cover and no illustrations.
Curious, he briefly flipped through it. The inside was also black-and-white manga.
After some thought, he set the thin book aside and began reading the first one.
Although he didn't know the purpose of these two books, it was clear that someone wanted him to read them.
For now, he was like a fish on a cutting board; his only option was to comply with this mysterious demand.
The manga, just as the cover suggested, was a classic shonen story. The main character was the black-haired boy, Jiang Tianming.
Jiang Tianming and the brown-haired boy, Wu Mingbai, were both orphans, while the blue-haired girl, Lan Su Bing, was the daughter of the Lan Corporation. The first volume followed the trio as they unraveled the truth behind their orphanage director's supposed "suicide," uncovering a dark conspiracy involving human experimentation.
Throughout their shared adventures, the trio developed a deep bond and each awakened unique powers.
Wu Mingbai, who had always had the [Earth Element] ability, managed to keep it a secret despite his sunny disposition. By the end of the first volume, readers discovered his "dark side."
Lan Su Bing awakened the power of [Words of Power], though it seemed cruel for a socially anxious girl who could hardly speak to gain an ability reliant on speech.
As for Jiang Tianming, the protagonist, he awakened [Death Summoning] and managed to call forth a woman resembling him to defeat the main antagonist in the final showdown.
In the last scene, Jiang Tianming woke up in a hospital bed, staring at his hand with a shadowed expression: "The third one."
Setting aside the cliffhanger, Su Bei found himself enjoying the manga. The trio's personalities were intriguing, and the story had plenty of twists.
Each character's power was unique, which brought Su Bei, a mere F-Class with a weak ability, some amusement.
Su Bei's ability, "Gears," allowed him to create gears of varying patterns and sizes based on his mental strength—a typical F-Class ability.
Thankfully, he never intended to rely on his powers for a living. Although his mother had died giving birth to him, his father, who passed away five years ago in the line of duty, left him a sufficient inheritance for a peaceful life.
Su Bei planned to quietly earn his diploma in F-Class, then open a hardware store and enjoy an early retirement—a life well-suited to his ability.
But now, before he could even attend the opening ceremony, he had been inexplicably brought to this space to read manga. Even if the story was entertaining, why did he have to read it?
Frowning at the final scene, Su Bei had a sudden thought. If these three had all awakened their powers, then they'd soon receive invitations to the "Endless Abilities Academy."
With a slight smirk, he decisively opened the second book.
As he expected, the second manga opened with the trio receiving their academy invitations.
Within a few days, academy staff would come to assess their power levels and assign them to classes, exactly like his own enrollment process.
The academy's class system wasn't set in stone; students could advance based on increased mental strength and experience, which sometimes made even "useless" powers valuable.
Lan Su Bing had initially been placed in A-Class, but due to her inability to speak, combined with her request, she was reassigned to F-Class. However, once she could speak, she could easily move up.
Wu Mingbai, due to his limited ability application, was placed in D-Class.
Jiang Tianming, though capable of more, was assigned to F-Class due to his depleted mental strength after the final battle in the first volume, which rendered his powers undetectable.
They were also enrolled in the "Endless Abilities Academy" and placed in F-Class. Seeing this, Su Bei's expression grew even more complex as he muttered, "Could I actually be in this manga?"
Flipping the page, he saw that on the first day of school, a murder had occurred in the bathroom. A male student lay in a pool of blood, surrounded by scattered gears.
Seeing this, Su Bei's expression turned blank.
If he wasn't mistaken, the student lying dead on the floor was likely… himself.