Superpowers

Chapter 1

Superpowers

Author: Lingering Back and Forth

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Book Introduction

What happens when an ordinary guy's crush on a haughty beauty is exposed?

Of course, I'll get a good beating! (I just don't like you)

What happens after a beating?

Of course, I want to gain superpowers! (I got incredibly lucky!)

So what happens after you gain superpowers?

An ordinary boy's life undergoes a complete transformation: he, who was at the bottom of his class, gets into a top university, becomes a special employee of a powerful underworld organization, wins the heart of a stunningly beautiful woman, and grows increasingly powerful...

Does this mean we can be a little more arrogant from now on?

"No!" Ling Yun waved his hand dismissively and said calmly, "Keep a low profile. Because I'm going to... play dumb to fool the enemy!"

Chapter One: Unrequited Love Exposed

"Ling Yun, please don't bother me anymore!"

A crisp, angry shout instantly drew the attention of all the students in self-study class. A tall, pretty girl stood arrogantly in front of a desk, looking disdainfully at the ordinary boy who was flustered and blushing.

The ordinary boy, Ling Yun, had never received such attention before, and he appeared very nervous. Not only did his face turn red, but he also stammered, "Li, Li Lingling, what do you mean by that?"

"What do you mean?" Li Lingling became even more arrogant when she saw someone watching her. Her clear soprano voice almost pierced the rooftop. "Lingyun, do you not even have this much self-awareness? I advise you to go home and look in the mirror. You're not good-looking, not tall, and your studies are bad. You think you can pursue me with this kind of low-class love letter? How ridiculous! If you weren't a classmate of mine in Class 1 of Senior 3, I wouldn't even remember what you look like!"

Ling Yun's expression changed: "What love letter? Li Lingling, what right do you have to insult me?"

With a snap, Li Lingling threw the crumpled letter onto Ling Yun's desk. "Read it yourself. What I hate most are idiots like you who have no self-awareness." Li Lingling finished speaking with a sneer, and without even glancing at Ling Yun, she walked back to her seat.

Dozens of eyes were focused on Ling Yun, displaying a wide range of emotions: pity, sympathy, disdain, contempt, indifference, schadenfreude, and amusement.

"Stop right there!" Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Ling Yun's face first turned bright red, then deathly pale. He suddenly gritted his teeth and shouted, as if he had made up his mind.

Li Lingling stopped in surprise and looked at Ling Yun. In her memory, this quiet and introverted classmate had never said a complete sentence. How could he suddenly become so fierce like a lion?

However, Li Lingling didn't care at all. She was the focus of everyone's attention, outstanding in both academics and appearance. She had been a pampered girl since childhood, which naturally fostered a princess-like personality and temperament. Since she had no shortage of suitors, she would not be polite when annoyed by them. She had publicly humiliated suitors who were much better than Ling Yun, let alone Ling Yun, who was someone she didn't even take seriously.

Ling Yun reached out and picked up the crumpled paper, slowly unfolding it: "You have no right to insult anyone's feelings, Li Lingling. It's true that I have a crush on you, but I haven't harassed you. I wrote this love letter, but I didn't give it to anyone. I don't know how it ended up in your hands?"

His voice suddenly rose, and he tore the unfolded love letter to shreds: "If I had a crush on you before, my only regret now is that I was truly blind. Otherwise, how could I have a crush on someone like you?" With that, Ling Yun threw the torn love letter to the ground.

All eyes turned to shock. No one would have expected that Ling Yun, who had always been honest and introverted, would become so decisive. His resounding words made him seem taller and more imposing in an instant. Even some students who had been bullied by Li Lingling behind her back secretly cheered.

Li Lingling never expected that Ling Yun, whom she had always looked down upon, would dare to retaliate like this in front of her. When had she, who was always so proud, ever been spoken to like this before? Her pretty face immediately turned red, and she was so angry that she couldn't speak. Pointing at Ling Yun, she trembled and said, "You...you...how dare you?"

Ling Yun didn't even glance at Li Lingling. He picked up his schoolbag from the desk and went straight out the door.

The bell rang at just the right moment, signaling the end of get out of class.

Afterwards, the students of Class 1, Grade 12, whispered about the strange thing that happened during the break and walked out of the classroom one after another.

Tears welled in Li Lingling's eyes as she burst into tears of anger. She stared intently at Ling Yun's retreating figure, her lips almost bleeding from being bitten. The proud and arrogant woman now hated Ling Yun to the core, completely forgetting that she was the one who had humiliated him first.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she walked back to her seat, took out a sleek Samsung phone from her bag, and began to skillfully dial a number.

Ling Yun strode out of the school gate, finally letting out a long sigh of relief, his mind relaxing. Just now, he had been completely driven by an excited emotion, involuntarily uttering those words as if he were sleepwalking. Not only were others surprised, but even he himself was taken aback.

"Either erupt in silence or perish in silence?" Ling Yun thought of a famous saying and couldn't help but shake his head with amusement. He walked quickly towards home. At Tongjiang High School, the last class every day was a self-study period, and school ended immediately afterward. Ling Yun's home was far from the school, so he always walked very fast after school.

The sky gradually darkened, the wind howled, and a dazzling flash of lightning streaked across the sky. A few seconds later, a rumble of thunder echoed from the horizon. Ling Yun looked up at the sky and saw that large swaths of dark clouds, as black as ink, completely covered the entire expanse. It seemed a storm was imminent. Ling Yun hadn't brought an umbrella, so he quickened his pace again.

As Ling Yun jogged through a secluded alley, he suddenly stopped, glancing at the group of people squatting or standing at the alley entrance. They were dressed in brightly colored clothes, their faces smirking, and two of the men, with cigarettes dangling from their lips, were giving Ling Yun hostile looks. It was clear at a glance that these people had ill intentions.

"Zhang Yunfeng?" Ling Yun suddenly recognized one of the hooligans, whose face still held a hint of childishness, as his classmate Zhang Yunfeng. Zhang Yunfeng was a poor student who often skipped classes, but instead hung out with local thugs, making him a notorious troublemaker in the class. Many students both feared and hated him.

"Ling Yun!" Zhang Yunfeng grinned, cracking his knuckles as he approached Ling Yun. "I heard you've got some nerve, daring to insult my girlfriend in public?"

"Who is your girlfriend?" Ling Yun took a step back, feeling both disgusted and fearful.

"You're playing dumb, you country bumpkin." Zhang Yunfeng enjoyed seeing the fear in the other person's eyes; it gave him a sense of accomplishment. "Of course it's Li Lingling. Weren't you so arrogant just now? Weren't you so good at scolding my girlfriend? Come on, you're a man too. Men shouldn't scold women. You try scolding me."

Ling Yun's expression changed: "Li Lingling is your girlfriend? I didn't insult her, she humiliated me first, I was just retaliating."

Zhang Yunfeng narrowed his eyes: "Fight back? You think you're worthy of fighting back against my woman?" His face suddenly turned fierce. He rushed to Ling Yun's side and kicked her in the abdomen with a loud thud.

Ling Yun couldn't dodge in time. He cried out in pain, clutching his stomach and staggering back a few steps. Before he could react, his scalp tightened, followed by a sharp pain. A large hand grabbed his hair, and then two loud slaps landed heavily on Ling Yun's cheeks. A burning pain shot through him, and Ling Yun's face immediately swelled up.

Zhang Yunfeng's roar came from above Ling Yun's head: "Damn it, what are you? How dare you talk back to my girlfriend? It's normal for her to humiliate you. You're a useless piece of trash. You only deserve to be humiliated. Do you hear me?"

Ling Yun felt a surge of heat rush to his head. Ignoring the pain from his hair being pulled, he suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes staring directly at Zhang Yunfeng: "Zhang Yunfeng, you hit me today, but I will make you pay tenfold in the future."

"Hey, pretty tough, huh?" Zhang Yunfeng laughed instead of getting angry, turning around to the group of thugs who were slowly walking over and saying, "Boss, this kid's not convinced, what do we do?"

"No need for him to submit. Didn't your girl call just to tell us to beat him up and vent our anger?" A middle-aged thug with a cigarette dangling from his lips said with a sneer. "Then what's the point of talking? Let's kick him to a pulp."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, big brother." Zhang Yunfeng smiled sinisterly, grabbed Ling Yun's hair, and punched Ling Yun hard in the stomach again. While Ling Yun screamed and clutched his stomach, he kicked Ling Yun to the ground several times.

Ling Yun struggled to his feet and lunged at Zhang Yunfeng with all his might, but he was not good at fighting, and his physical strength was far inferior. How could he be a match for Zhang Yunfeng, a seasoned fighter? Moreover, several thugs were watching him menacingly. Before he could even get close, one of the thugs tripped him up again. The thugs swarmed around him and kicked Ling Yun's curled-up body viciously.

Ling Yun kept his lips tightly closed, enduring the excruciating pain without uttering a sound, while a fire burned within him.

Seeing his stubbornness, Zhang Yunfeng flew into a rage and increased the force of his kick by three points: "You country bumpkin, still so tough? Let's see if your body is tougher than my foot. Damn it, do you think I can't see that you have a crush on Lingling? Anyone can see through your stupid look. Let me tell you the truth, that damn love letter of yours was taken from your bag and given to Lingling. So what? I just wanted Lingling to humiliate you, and you dare to fight back? You're a real piece of trash."

Ling Yun suddenly raised his head, his two icy gazes fixed on Zhang Yunfeng. The intimidating look made the thugs feel a chill run down their spines, and they involuntarily stopped in their tracks. Zhang Yunfeng even took a step back.

Ling Yun gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his mud-covered hands, his icy gaze sweeping over the crowd as he said, word by word, "Zhang Yunfeng, I just said, if you hit me today, I will make you pay tenfold in the future. If you have the guts, kill me today, otherwise you will regret it. Including you scumbags, you are all the same. As long as I am alive, I will make you pay the price."

Damn! Not only Zhang Yunfeng, but even the thugs were genuinely enraged. They'd seen people pretend to be tough, but never anyone pretended to be tough like this. The middle-aged thug puffed out his cigarette and gave a sinister smile: "Fine, since you're so good at pretending, then we'll grant your wish today. Brothers, kick him to death!"