A Superpowered Person's Kindness Could Never Be Repaid

"...Where is this place?"

Z City. Neon lights shimmered along the streets, and a clear female voice echoed through them.

A woman in classical white robes, carrying a sword, had suddenly appeared in the middle of the city street. She looked around warily.

Curiosity about the unknown mingled in the young woman's gaze as she stared in puzzlement at the surrounding skyscrapers.

The furnishings, layout, and various creations here were all vastly different from those in the place she had come from.

"I remember resting in the Mist Cloud Pavilion. When I came to, I was here. And the sky is already bright. Is some sect master messing with a junior using spatial teleportation?"

The woman's clear voice echoed through the empty street, but even after a long while, no one replied.

It was early morning. The woman glanced around, then vanished from the spot in an instant, without stirring the slightest ripple.

At the spot where she had stood, a modern surveillance camera had faithfully recorded everything.

Early in the morning, Fang Can gave a small yawn.

Because of the time difference between the two worlds, he had gone from staying up late listening to stories to arriving in the present world at daybreak. In a few hours, he'd have to sling his schoolbag over his shoulder and head to class again.

As for whether he could skip school? Of course not!

New Nation's laws for ordinary citizens were extremely strict. Even truancy counted as a crime for students. Without a valid reason for taking leave, the police really would show up at your door to ask what the hell you'd been up to.

And if you were the sort of delinquent who skipped class for days on end, congratulations! On the annual Carnival Day, you could look forward to seeing your name on the list.

Anyway, New Nation truly treated ordinary citizens like screws in a machine, allowing no deviation or transgression.

Perhaps that was exactly why Carnival Day had passed so quickly. After all, it was the only excitement people got in their otherwise ordinary lives.

This country, founded after the Great Cataclysm, had an obsession with the sun, freedom of beauty, the governance of Korea, the backbone of France, the turmoil of Africa, and the labor laws and academic pressure of India... It had collected the worst traits of every nation. There was nothing inaccurate about that description.

Fang Can had heard there were other countries in this world besides New Nation.

But because of restrictions on the internet and official documents, even textbooks weren't allowed to mention the specifics of other countries. So Fang Can had remained in a state of "knowing nothing of the Han, let alone the Wei and Jin," and didn't even know what those countries were called.

Fighting off his growing sleepiness, Fang Can finished washing up and changed into his Mid-City High School uniform.

Feeling clean and refreshed, Fang Can couldn't help but sigh. Taking a bath and the like in another world just wasn't as convenient as it was in the modern world. With his mild obsessive-compulsive streak, he always felt like he hadn't washed properly.

He slung his schoolbag over his shoulder, left home, and squeezed onto the subway with the office workers, heading toward Mid-City High School.

When Fang Can entered Class 1, Grade 12, he saw several classmates heatedly discussing something.

Only after walking closer did he realize they were eagerly debating which city would be selected for this year's Carnival Day, and guessing which game would be voted in.

"I voted for Sin Approval. What about you guys?" a freckled student said excitedly.

A somewhat chubby boy grinned. "I still like Citywide Unlimited Combat. It was only three years ago that we found out the real experts were among the people."

"Rapid Pursuit would be good too. We've known about that game for ages, but it's never been voted in."

As the students chatted, they saw Fang Can and smiled. "Fang Can, what did you vote for?"

"I didn't vote." Fang Can shook his head and casually brushed them off. "But if I had to choose, the Human Purge Project would be pretty fun."

Hearing Fang Can's answer, they all nodded in agreement with his taste.

They were still chatting when the school bell rang. Everyone who had just been talking and laughing immediately composed themselves and returned to their seats.

Before long, a middle-aged man carrying a lesson plan walked into the classroom.

The first class of the day was Chinese.

"The class representative, collect the homework I assigned last lesson. Everyone, turn to page seventeen."

At their Chinese teacher's words, everyone flipped to the assigned page in unison.

"Last lesson, we reviewed the classic pre-Cataclysm essay Zou Ji Advises the King of Qi. Today, you need to pay even closer attention. This is important material for your upcoming exam."

Following the Chinese teacher's instructions, Fang Can saw the content on page seventeen:

<A Superpowered Person's Kindness Could Never Be Repaid: A Satellite Shot Down from Earth's Suborbital Orbit!>

The Chinese teacher adjusted his glasses. "Now, let's all read the contents of these two pages together."

At the Chinese teacher's command, everyone, Fang Can included, read the two pages aloud in unison.

[...Late at night, after F-Superman had finished handling official business, he still hadn't rested...

In response to his attendant's concern, F-Superman said through his exhaustion, "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. Though we superpowered people possess strength above that of ordinary people, that doesn't mean we can slack off."

As he spoke, F-Superman gazed up at the pitch-black night sky and sighed, "If only the whole world could be as peaceful as this night sky."

With that, F-Superman bent down, picked up a pebble, and tossed it into the sky. "Damn enemy!"

In the next moment, the sky suddenly blazed bright. A white streak cut through the dark night, illuminating the earth like a falling star.

Seeing the attendant's puzzled gaze, F-Superman explained, "That's a surveillance satellite from another evil nation. I just used my super strength to knock it down."

What a wonderful F-Superman! What wonderful superpowers!

A superpowered person's kindness could never be repaid, a superpowered person's...]

In the classroom, Fang Can followed along with his classmates as they prepared for the exam, earnestly reviewing material they had already studied once.

Meanwhile, with the eruption of the Energy Tide, New Nation had secretly entered a state of emergency.

Across the hundreds of cities in New Nation, every city near the Energy Tide was undergoing a strict investigation.

As information networks spread throughout modern society and reports poured in, it took only a few hours of investigation to spot something fishy.

Within the Dragon Group, an organization composed entirely of superpowered people from New Nation, a scarred middle-aged man examined the collected reports.

He lightly tapped the wooden desktop with his right hand, his gaze fixed on the video footage before him.

During this period, more than a dozen people in ancient clothing—of varying appearances, ages, and sexes—had suddenly appeared within camera range at the moment the Energy Tide erupted.

Thinking of a certain hypothesis, the middle-aged man couldn't help twitching his mouth. "Twin World? Is there really such a thing? Interesting. Very interesting."

At that, the middle-aged man said, "Have the Dragon Group go and bring in every...human in the footage."