Everyone Wants to Be a Hero Deep Down

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!"

Fang Ran stared incoherently at his completely renewed—no, completely reforged belt. Good god, was this really his belt?

If someone told him it was a Peerless Divine Weapon or an international work of art, he would believe them!

Fang Ran looked at the Silver Severing Dragon Tooth in his hand. He gripped what had once been a metal buckle, now a dragon-shaped hilt, while a long chain of unknown silvery metal hung down like a soft whip, like a slumbering beast.

At that moment, Fang Ran had only one thought.

Worth it.

This life of mine has been worth it.

Sure enough, putting all my free attribute points into appearance was the right choice!!

Just look at this appearance cool enough to break through the heavens!

A surge of emotion welled up from Fang Ran's heart.

Wonderful. Now my Magical Girl identity won't be exposed because of my belt.

"!!!..."

Ling, meanwhile, stared at Fang Ran's attribute screen and completely lost her ability to speak!

What!?

What was this!?

Silver Severing Dragon Tooth?

It was just a belt with a different name—how could it turn into this!?

And what the hell was that explosively cringe name, Silver Severing Dragon Tooth!?

The template attributes were even higher than her Psionic Photon Core?

Wait!

This was the template she had simplified for him.

Ling suddenly realized that, then pulled up Fang Ran's original detailed attribute panel and examined it line by line. Gradually, she found it difficult to breathe.

Her expression turned grave, filled with disbelief.

Were these really one person's starting attributes?

Could earning achievements really boost someone this much?

Or was it because of that so-called SSS-rank talent ability of his?

In the end, she silently closed the original interface, took a deep breath, and made absolutely sure no second person would ever see it. Then she looked at Fang Ran with a complicated expression as he held the Silver Severing Dragon Tooth and kept grinning stupidly because it was so cool.

Maybe she could consider him an investment and help this idiot out a little.

"Hey, Fang Ran, have you ever thought about it?" Ling asked seriously.

"About yourself."

Fang Ran froze, then smiled.

He pretended to sigh wistfully. "A lot of people have asked me that question."

"And?"

"I've already thought it through." Fang Ran suddenly became serious. "In the future, I plan to work in computers. If possible, I want to find a city without smog. A monthly salary above five thousand yuan would be enough, then I'd find a pretty, gentle wife. Before I turn thirty, I'd like to own my own home. That's—"

Smack!

Before he could finish, the Power Bank smacked him right in the face!

"Ah!! My nose bridge!! My nose bridge!!!"

Fang Ran immediately rolled across the floor in pain.

"Idiot! Who asked you about that!? And could you have a little ambition!! You're a participant in Night Battle! A five-thousand-yuan monthly salary, finding a wife, buying a house, and you still want to work in computers? Could you be any more pathetic!?"

The Power Bank rose high into the air, ready to smash down again. Fang Ran could feel its astonishing fury and hurriedly begged for mercy, swallowing hard.

He swallowed back the words, Actually, I'd rather pass the CET-4 first.

After waiting a while and realizing the Power Bank had not struck him again, Fang Ran breathed a sigh of relief. But then he heard its uncompromising voice.

"Get dressed. We're going out!"

"Where?" Fang Ran was stunned by the abrupt suggestion. Where were they going in the middle of the night?

After a moment of silence, a little girl's voice slowly came from the Power Bank.

"To make you believe in your own strength."

Fang Ran paused, not understanding what she meant, but he did not dwell on it. Clutching the Silver Severing Dragon Tooth fondly, he changed clothes and returned to his Summoned Beast.

Smack!

"Ah!! My nose bridge!! My nose bridge!!"

"You moron!! Who wears white when going out in the middle of the night!?"

Xiao Mi Power Bank's furious, exasperated roar in a little girl's voice rang through the rental apartment!

Luocheng at night shone brightly. Such was the image of a bustling metropolis: neon lights, lavish pleasures, and dazzling excess.

The wealthiest elite families and fallen street beggars alike—countless people struggled and fought here.

No one knew how many people lived here, or died here.

Fortunately, most of the people in this city were still ordinary, unremarkable citizens.

They kept the entire city running normally.

And somewhere high in the air—

"Say, can we change positions?"

Fang Ran spoke in a trembling voice.

By then, Fang Ran had changed clothes. He wore a long black trench coat and dark jeans.

Yet none of it was as eye-catching as the belt around his waist!

The Silver Severing Dragon Tooth seemed to retain its ability to connect end to end. Well, it had been a belt in its previous life, after all.

And the reason Fang Ran was trembling was—

He was several meters above the ground, and rising higher and higher, until in the blink of an eye, he was already four or five stories up!

Wouldn't anyone tremble in his place? Anyone would be shaking!

And the thing that let Fang Ran fly was the Xiao Mi Power Bank clutched in his hand.

That was right, the Xiao Mi Power Bank.

Fang Ran gripped the Power Bank with one hand, his entire weight hanging from it as he flew through the night sky by means of some unknown method of Ling's.

Honestly, Fang Ran felt that not wetting himself from fear had to be the courage he had built up from the station collapse and building collapse earlier!

"Heh, you can't even handle this? What are you going to do when you participate in harder scenarios later?"

The Power Bank mocked him. In truth, Ling had already taken on part of Fang Ran's burden.

Otherwise, did he really think someone with no training whatsoever could hold onto a flying anchor point one-handed while soaring through the air?

"But you can't just—"

Fang Ran protested in a quavering voice, but Ling ignored him and continued flying in a certain direction.

She was irritated too. If she had not fallen to this state, would moving such a short distance really be this exhausting?

In the darkness, she flew higher and higher. Nearly half an hour passed before Ling suddenly realized something.

At some point, Fang Ran had stopped saying anything.

"Don't tell me he fainted from fear?"

Ling froze, then shifted her attention to Fang Ran.

And she saw an expression she would never forget, even many years later.

Fang Ran had not fainted, nor was he still trembling. At some point, he had suddenly calmed down, quietly watching a certain place in the nocturnal city below.

Something seemed to have stirred an old memory, and he remained lost in thought for a long time.

The man who had kept complaining and acting unserious until just moments ago seemed like a different Fang Ran.

His gaze was so quiet, so earnest. Without sorrow or joy, he looked calmly at the city, at a street below.

Then, after breathing out a puff of cold air into the night sky, he spoke softly.

"You know?"

He suddenly spoke in a quiet voice. It was still the same voice that always loved to complain, but its tone had changed all at once.

It had become unfamiliar even to Ling.

"I've lived in this city for three years. Three years as an ordinary person."

Ling remained silent. She watched Fang Ran with some surprise, suddenly not knowing how to respond to him in his current state.

"Sometimes Fate is unfair. Ordinary people are ordinary because they are ordinary."

Fang Ran lowered his eyes, still looking at the place beneath them. He spoke softly, as though recalling something from the past, an indelible memory surfacing in his mind.

"I once saw someone get cornered by gangsters in a warehouse."

Fang Ran's voice became extremely indifferent, as if he were talking about someone else's story.

"But in the end, I ran."

Fang Ran fell silent for a moment. The memory was distant, yet he had never forgotten it.

"All I could do was call the police."

"That person seemed to end up in the hospital, and the money was never recovered."

"I've been bullied many times, but that incident made me understand very early on—"

"I'm just an ordinary person. I don't have much ability, I can't save anyone, and I can't possibly be a hero."

Fang Ran suddenly looked up at the Power Bank in his hand, his own Summoned Beast, and inexplicably said something.

"So I don't believe it, but—"

He suddenly let go. His body fell into the night, leaving the Power Bank flying alone in the sky. Ling, in her data-soul form, was slightly stunned.

What was going on?

In an alley beneath the night sky, a young girl hurried inside, only to discover there was no way out. The black-clad boss and his subordinates chasing her had already reached the entrance.

In the darkness, their black suits pressed forward with an especially intimidating force. The girl could only retreat again and again, gripping the brim of her soft hat with both hands.

"Hurry up and come with us obediently!"

The imposing middle-aged man in a black suit spoke to the trapped girl.

"No!"

The middle-aged man frowned and signaled for his subordinate to act. But just as the subordinate had taken two steps forward, the whistling sound of something falling from high above suddenly came from ahead!!

The subordinate's face immediately filled with panic, and he hurriedly stepped back twice. The instant he moved back, a Black Shadow crashed down from the sky with a bang!

Bang!!!

A figure in a black trench coat fell from above. He stomped down hard on the ground, using no technique to soften the impact, his bent knees resisting the force of the fall.

Yet a savage aura rushed outward, and an inexplicable presence rose around him. Instead of falling, he forcibly straightened up!

Black hair. Black clothes. His face could not be seen.

"Who are you!?"

The subordinate shouted!

"Forget that! Safety comes first!!"

Seeing the inexplicable Black Shadow standing in front of the girl, the middle-aged man immediately grew anxious and directly ordered his subordinate to attack.

The black-clad subordinate at his side swiftly reached into his jacket with his right hand and drew a pistol!

Fang Ran watched the scene before him. Normally, with gangsters pointing guns at him, he should have been scared enough to wet his pants. Yet strangely, he felt nothing at that moment.

Perhaps recalling that long-ago incident had left him distracted.

I'm just an ordinary person. I always have been.

It's something I've known for twenty years.

But ordinary people are not ordinary because they want to be ordinary. They are only ordinary because they are ordinary.

Even ordinary people like us, who possess no strength at all.

"But if it were possible, deep down, everyone—"

The Silver Severing Dragon Tooth silently appeared in Fang Ran's hand. Facing the direction of the incoming bullet, he spoke his final words as though they were for himself—or perhaps for everyone.

"Wants to be a hero."

Clang!

A flash of silver light cut through the night sky!

The Silver Severing Dragon Tooth swept out in a half arc. Fang Ran did not need to worry about whether he could hit it; the weapon's mysterious power directly knocked the bullet away!

"Mon—"

Before the man could finish, Fang Ran directly knocked them unconscious. His body felt unbelievably light, as if he could do anything.

"What are you trying to—"

The imposing middle-aged man panicked at once when he saw Fang Ran, but he too was immediately knocked unconscious.

The evening breeze died down, and Fang Ran suddenly fell silent. He stared blankly at the hand gripping the Silver Severing Dragon Tooth, not knowing what he was thinking.

Then he turned to look at the girl. She wore a delicate white outfit, and beneath her soft hat was a frightened face like that of a pitiful little animal. She was forcing herself to remain calm as she watched what had happened.

"Are you all right?"

He asked softly. The stunned girl did not answer, and Fang Ran sighed in relief before turning directly toward the empty air.

"Let's go."

Then his body rose into the air and merged into the night sky, leaving only the girl clutching her soft hat behind, as if she could not believe what had just happened.

Naturally, Ling was carrying Fang Ran through the air again. Ling was slightly astonished at that moment!

Back then, it had taken her half a year to break through her own understanding and believe that she truly possessed abilities. And that had required using them, training, and telling herself every single day that it was real.

Originally, she had planned to let him get some initial practice tonight.

But he had acknowledged and believed in his abilities all by himself, just like that?

Was this really the same Fang Ran she had only just met—the stupid, brain-dead guy who turned into a frenzied complaint machine whenever he got nervous?

Or was it simply because she had only just met him and did not understand him?

Ling pondered this, and her consciousness happened to catch sight of what was occurring in the alley.

The pretty young woman in the exquisite white dress stood there blankly for a moment, then cautiously walked over to the imposing middle-aged man. Looking guilty and embarrassed, she poked him and said:

"Um, Second Uncle, are you... okay? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away from home."

Ling: "..."

So much for putting on a deep, cool act, playing the hero and saving the beauty—Second Uncle had botched it and beaten up the girl instead.

This guy really was the Fang Ran I knew.

From this chapter onward, you should realize this wasn't just a simple comedy. (Knock knock on the blackboard! This is important!)