The male teacher increasingly felt that the boy in front of him was deliberately trying to cause trouble.
Especially since he was wearing such a ridiculous mask, it was clearly an attempt to attract attention and gain the approval of the female classmates.
He'd seen plenty of rebellious young boys like this.
"Sit still and wait for us to reach our destination, where your homeroom teacher will come to pick you up."
The boy shrugged and said, "Just let me out of the car, then I won't cause you any trouble."
The teacher's face darkened upon hearing this; "You're the one who caused me trouble by letting you off the bus."
The surrounding students all stared curiously at the masked student who had suddenly appeared.
I have to say, everyone was wearing school uniforms, so it was kind of cool when someone suddenly put on a mask.
Passerby A looked away.
He's another eccentric teenage boy, probably having a crush on a girl in his class.
Suddenly, the car radio sounded an alarm.
[ The Mutant Beast Defense Center has just announced that monsters will be deployed in Zone C3 Great City. The Great City Defense Bureau is on its way. Residents in Zone C3 are advised to evacuate immediately.]
The car Soundlessness instantly, and no one paid any more attention to Peppa.
The students looked at each other, their faces filled with fear.
Are we currently in area C3?
To facilitate timely support and mobilization in the event of a beast tide, dozens of areas of varying sizes were divided outside each city.
The bus, carrying a load of students, was heading to the outskirts of Great City for a spring outing and was currently passing through District C3.
The occurrence of this situation is highly likely due to Tide in Penglai City, allowing some to escape through the Abyss Gate. The Mutant Beast Defense Center had calculated the release area for these escaped creatures in advance.
Upon hearing the broadcast, the driver immediately turned around and headed back to the city, his foot practically welded to the accelerator.
The male teacher quickly said, "Students, don't be afraid. We've only been out of town for a short while; we'll be back soon."
"Furthermore, Zone C3 is quite large; the alien beasts won't just drop directly on our heads."
The atmosphere inside the car gradually improved, but the students still dared not breathe loudly.
Peppa shook her head upon hearing this. "What a jinx."
Looking out the window at the scenery rushing past, Passerby A murmured to himself, "Is this Otherworld trying to force me to confront my past, which I've always feared? Is this an obstacle to my breakthrough?"
Although Passerby A didn't immediately exhibit a strong stress response like Slacking on the Sidelines, his expression was still quite unpleasant.
"But my abilities... can't help..."
A brilliant ray of light suddenly illuminated the windshield of the bus.
The students craned their necks, all stunned by the sudden sight.
"What a nice view!"
"Quick, take a picture! The sunset is here!"
"It's not evening yet, and the sunset isn't this color."
"Never mind, let's take the picture first."
"..."
Naïve young men and women thought it was just a natural landscape.
Peppa, standing to the side, shook her head helplessly. "We need to hurry and take a picture. While we still have the chance, let's leave behind a final portrait."
He muttered in bewilderment, "This world is also plagued by strange beasts."
"You want me to die right after I transmigrated, huh?"
"Where's the system? Come quick, someone save us!"
As the flashbulbs continued to go off, a huge black horn emerged from the glow of the sunset.
The driver quickly swerved to avoid it, causing the bus to overturn on the side of the road.
What appeared to be a sunset glow was actually an S-class monstrous beast resembling a rhinoceros beetle.
The car was filled with screams and cries.
Peppa, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was thrown roughly into the back of the bus like a tattered sack, feeling dizzy and disoriented.
"System, am I pretty?!"
"You won't even give me a newbie gift pack? I'm going to report you to the Transmigrators Association!"
Passerby A turned his head and glanced at Peppa, who had been thrown into the empty seat next to him, but couldn't understand what he was babbling about.
"Holy crap! There's someone here? Dude, why are you looking like a ghost?!"
Peppa suddenly noticed that the Passerby A had his mask fall off his face in fright.
"As expected, the antidote will be available within three steps!"
Peppa's eyes lit up, and she grabbed the Passerby A's hand.
"My qi and blood are fluctuating! Martial arts brother, save me!"
Passerby A's throat tightened. "I... I'm terrible at it."
In his memory, the one-man show would soon burst open the roof of the bus like opening a can, and then they would have a buffet.
All twenty-eight people on the bus, including the teacher and the driver, were slaughtered by the monster.
Only the Passerby A in the corner escaped unscathed, because the beast didn't even notice his presence.
The interior of the car was like a living hell, leaving a deep scar on the young mind of the Passerby A, so much so that he was unable to escape it even as an adult.
At that moment, Passerby A shouted at the beast and threw things at it, trying to attract its attention and buy time for the other students to escape.
However, because of his special talent, the beast didn't even glance at him.
"So what if I have superpowers? I... am just a piece of trash with useless abilities..."
After that, Passerby A often wondered: if he had the Slacking on the Sidelines, to have Fairy, or even to have Yao Yuan's abilities, would his classmates' fates have been different?
But he was not one of them; his abilities were merely insignificant.
Like Slacking on the Sidelines, as the rhinoceros beetle approached, Passerby A transformed back into that helpless boy, his mind filled only with the desperate cries of his classmates, his body gradually turning grayish-white.
The Passerby A's reaction left Peppa speechless.
"Are all the martial artists in your world as cowardly as you? You're already scared to death before the fight even starts."
"With useless martial artists like you around, your world is truly doomed."
Passerby A shook his head repeatedly. "I... my ability can't be used for fighting, it's useless, useless."
Peppa's eyes widened. "You're a gifted ability user?"
"Damn it! God is so unfair, why did He give his power to a scoundrel!"
There are no useless abilities; you just haven't found the right way to use them. Every ability has its own way of being used.
"You're like a Passerby A, completely invisible. Take a good look at how otherworldly martial artists handle desperate situations!"
The Passerby A dazed for a moment, realizing that the other person had said something similar to him in real life.
But he... really was just a Passerby A, lacking the protagonist's ability to turn the tide.
Bang--
The approaching rhinoceros beetle raised its claw and gently slashed, splitting the bus open like a can.
The people inside the car were pale, screaming, crying, and defecating/urinating everywhere...
"Hey, look at your dad!"
Peppa stood up straight and shouted at the beast; his tall, straight back resembled a pine tree standing tall.
The strange beast was attracted by the sound and turned its head to look.
Peppa turned to the Passerby A and said, "Your abilities can't be any less useful than mine, right?"
"Everyone close your eyes!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a blinding white flash erupted from Peppa's body, as if someone had thrown a flashbang into the car.
The beast was instantly blinded and began to sway its body as if it were drunk.
The students who had closed their eyes beforehand were unaffected; some, however, quickly scrambled to climb out of the car after regaining their senses.
Peppa was the first to rush out, laughing triumphantly, "So what if I don't have a system? I managed to turn this dead end around!"
"I'm free!"
Peppa suddenly ran like a 100-meter sprinter.
Before he could run a hundred meters, a stream of green venom shot through the air and struck Peppa, instantly melting him into a pool of blood.
The rhinoceros beetle was furious; it had been provoked by an ant.
Seeing the other side turn into a puddle, it finally felt a little better.
Passerby A stared blankly at the pool of blood, lost in thought.
"Each ability has its own way of being used..."
When he first heard this as a teenager, it didn't move him much.
But now, he seems to understand something.
The Passerby A couldn't help but recall the time when he fought alongside other Hunter, and how he seemed capable of even playing in high-level matches.
"My abilities... don't seem so useless after all..."
Passerby A slowly stood up, the grayness on his body gradually fading, and he regained his color.
The beast roared loudly, reveling in the fear on its prey's faces as they lay dying.
Passerby A walked step by step toward the strange beast, and the beast did not notice his presence.
"So this is the correct way to use my talent..."
Passerby A arrived beneath the strange beast, his right fist continuously gathering power.
It's time for this nightmare to end.
boom--
Slacking on the Sidelines and delivered a powerful punch to the beast's belly.
The enormous beast suddenly shattered, and along with it, the scene constructed in this Otherworld also collapsed.
Rest in peace, everyone.
At that moment, Passerby A let go of the past and made peace with his own abilities.
A surge of energy erupted from the surrounding void and merged into his body.