Life in Hell

Midnight.

After an entire afternoon of classes, Li Xin was dizzy and lightheaded, even nauseous enough to feel like throwing up.

After all-

He was a terrible student!

Back when he attended school, he was always slacking off in class. But there had been plenty of students then, so he could occasionally zone out or sleep without the teacher noticing. He was lost in the crowd, after all.

Now, though, more than a dozen pairs of eyes were fixed on him!

Before, teachers picked students at random to answer questions and rarely called on him.

Now, every single question was directed at him!

Before, teachers had to consider the pace of the whole class. They didn't teach too quickly, and as long as he paid attention, he could more or less follow along.

Now, the teachers were pressed for time, forcing him to concentrate fully and absorb information at an intense pace.

Li Xin was going insane!

How was this merely on par with senior year?

This was a hundred times more terrifying than senior year!!

Life on hell difficulty.

His grandparents were such loving people, especially his grandmother. She was always calling him her "precious grandson" and "sweetheart," showering him with affection.

Now...

When class first started, his grandmother was still very gentle.

Ten minutes later, she turned into an "old witch" and launched a terrifying assault on him.

Before: Look at my grandson, such a fine young man, so well-behaved and spirited.

Now: What is wrong with your brain? I've said it three times, and you still haven't remembered it! You're no grandson of mine!

And then there was his grandfather...

He was terrifying.

Li Xin finally understood, on a profound level, why the students at his grandfather's school had named him one of the Four Great Cheat Gods.

Seriously, it was horrifying.

The power of a teacher like that was something best left unexperienced for your entire life.

Then there was a whole bunch of veteran experts and researchers, subjecting him to inhumane mental torture with textbooks they had written themselves!

It was a nightmare!

Li Xin couldn't understand how things had come to this.

He wanted to give up every second of every day.

But-

His parents were like two little whips, strolling by now and then. The moment they saw him rebel, they crushed it.

Becoming stronger and learning to fly were like two carrots dangling in front of him.

His parents were like two sticks driving him from behind.

And he had become the donkey in the middle, forced to keep moving forward and endure this torture.

At one point, he even thought, If I hadn't awakened an ability...

Wouldn't that have been pretty nice?

With despair weighing down his steps and dark shadows beneath his eyes, Li Xin drifted back toward the dorms like a ghost.

All the teachers had told him to go to bed early.

He was utterly exhausted himself, but he still couldn't sleep yet. He had someone to meet.

-Jiang Yu, another member of Group B of the Doomsday Special Affairs Office.

Who was Jiang Yu?

She was a reborn woman with a spatial ability!

Even though Li Xin considered himself the "Child of Destiny," he couldn't deny that Jiang Yu was a "Daughter of Destiny."

Rebirth, a space, the ability to grow crops...

She was practically guaranteed to be a novel's female lead.

How badass was that?

Li Xin didn't say it aloud, but inwardly, he was both jealous and awestruck. He couldn't wait to meet Jiang Yu and see this legendary figure for himself.

Meanwhile.

Jiang Yu had spent the entire day driving a tractor and a seeder, and Academician Zhou and the others had crammed her head full of agricultural knowledge. Working in the fields had left her filthy and covered in dust.

Now, she was dizzy and lightheaded, wanting nothing more than to sleep like the dead.

But she couldn't!

She had to go see the new member, Li Xin.

Jiang Yu forced her eyes wide open and tried to stay alert, hoping she would be able to get a clear look at him later.

He was a Metal-Type Ability User!

During lunch, Jiang Yu would catch up on news from the outside world and the Special Affairs Office. Sheng An and the others hadn't returned last night, and she had immediately learned about Li Xin.

In her previous life, Jiang Yu had only been an ordinary person. She knew how far above everyone else Superpower People stood, and how powerful they were.

A Metal-Type Ability User?

That was an incredibly powerful ability.

He could control metal and do just about anything.

Not to mention that Li Xin was especially unusual. He was an "Aberrant" who had awakened before the apocalypse, and she had even heard that-he could already transform into his element and become a Metal Person.

That was a power only high-level Superpower People possessed!

Sheng An had asked her about it, so naturally, she had learned about Li Xin along the way.

He had only just awakened his ability, yet he could already turn into metal, something highly unusual.

How powerful would someone like that become after the apocalypse, once the meteorite fragments arrived?

-He had to be an insanely badass Child of Destiny, right?

With that thought, Jiang Yu quickened her steps. She couldn't wait to meet this future powerhouse!

Both of them drifted along like ghosts, dazed but hurrying, and collided in the corridor.

Jiang Yu hadn't even collected herself yet.

The young man who had bumped into her raised his voice angrily. "What are you doing?! Can't you watch where you're going?!"

Jiang Yu had been about to apologize, but now she gave a cold snort instead. "You're the one who wasn't watching where you were going. You clearly bumped into me first. Where did this brat come from? What are you doing here?"

Li Xin was in a hurry to see Jiang Yu.

It had already been very late when his classes ended, and he was worried Jiang Yu might have gone to bed, so naturally, he was anxious.

Hearing the woman in front of him call him a "brat," he instantly flew into a rage.

As a superhero who considered himself the Child of Destiny, he hated nothing more than people calling him a child or saying he hadn't grown up yet. That was his sore spot.

Li Xin said, "I was about to ask who you are! You're filthy. Are you the cleaner? You stink."

Jiang Yu: "??"

Her eyes widened, and she pointed at Li Xin. "Y-you-whose brat are you? Which staff member brought you here? You can't even walk straight. Been staring at your phone too much, haven't you? Get out of here, or I'll have someone drag you out!"

She certainly had the authority!

Aside from forcing her to study, the government treated her wonderfully. Whatever she wanted, she got.

"Drag me out?" Li Xin burst out laughing. "Go ahead and try! I'm an important person here. They could drag anyone out, but never me. You're the one they'd throw out! Get out of my way."

Jiang Yu said, "Whose kid is this arrogant? Ha. I'm under the government's protection. They've got my back."

Neither gave an inch. They glared into each other's eyes, staring each other down.

"The government's got my back too! I'm the damn Child of Destiny, and I'm a member of the Special Affairs Office!"

"I'm a member of the Special Affairs Office too! And I'm an Aberrant. Sister Sheng personally came to bring me back."

"I'm an Aberrant too! Sheng An personally brought me back!"

Wait!

An Aberrant?

A member of the Doomsday Special Affairs Office?

Personally brought back by Sheng An?

They both froze, confusion and shock flashing in their eyes.

Jiang Yu asked tentatively, "What... kind of Aberrant are you?"

Li Xin hesitated, lowering his voice. "A Metal-Type Ability User. What about you?"

Jiang Yu said, "A reborn person with a space."

Both of them: "..."

The next moment, they raised their voices in unison-

"You're Jiang Yu (Li Xin)?!"

The world fell silent in that instant.