Chapter 29: Sorry, I’m a Scumbag!

『Current Talents: Fallen Benefaction (7/7), Father God Listens, Invoking Gods』

The Talent was in hand…

He still felt no physical change, but…

“Boom…”

The instant Su Ze willed it, a thunderous roar imperceptible to ordinary senses exploded.

Behind Su Ze, three hazy guardian deities materialized in full.

“Attack.”

At his command, the central guardian deity sprouted three heads and six arms as if by illusion.

One pair of arms drew a bow, while another raised a long blade and slashed through the air.

“So this is the ‘Offense God’, what an awful name…”

Su Ze silently complained in his heart.

He had no idea why his simulated self had chosen such names for the guardian deities.

With a shape like this, he might as well have called it Susanoo.

It commanded not only overwhelming physical attacks but even a hint of magical damage.

As the holder of the Talent, Su Ze understood its power perfectly…

The Offense God’s strikes carried a cold, white flame.

If it dealt a heavy blow, that flame could reduce the target to nothing but ash.

Even more so if the enemy were slain outright.

The flame would incinerate the body, grind the bones to dust, and show no mercy.

Su Ze then tested the abilities of the other two guardian deities one by one.

The guardian deity in charge of defense was easy enough to understand.

In short, it was a pure meat shield.

Its shield stayed active 24 hours a day, yet like any shield it had a limit.

Once the incoming damage exceeded that limit, the shield would shatter and the remaining damage would strike Su Ze himself.

Last came the support-type guardian deity…

It could freeze time.

However, it did not freeze the entire world.

It only froze Su Ze’s own time.

During that interval he could think at lightning speed.

With this skill, the classic manga scene where a character rattles off two pages of monologue in an instant was no longer a dream… though it was probably useless.

By comparison, using the guardian deity’s strength to shift his position while time was frozen was far more practical.

That was genuine teleportation.

Sadly, the range was fairly limited.

About 10 meters was its upper limit.

“Should I test the guardian deities’ power…?”

He had a general sense of the Talent’s might, yet without practical use it still felt unreal.

But when Su Ze looked out the window, the morning sky was clear and the entire complex was peaceful.

Under such conditions, he could at most test the time-freeze ability.

Therefore he tried the time-freeze a few times in his room.

When he finished, Su Ze returned to his desk and sat down again.

His eyes swept over the doomsday intelligence he had penned throughout the night…

“Kotodama arts.”

In the end, Su Ze’s attention settled on those words.

In the simulations, other Awakeners often mistook his Talent for kotodama arts.

In practice, kotodama arts were indeed similar to his Talent, almost equivalent.

Certain powerful kotodama arts could even rival a blue-grade Talent…

“Maybe there are even kotodama arts comparable to purple or gold grade?”

Su Ze wondered silently.

He was barely satisfied with his current combat strength.

Yet in tonight’s simulation his doomsday activities had been confined almost entirely to Su City.

Thus the intelligence he obtained was limited; perhaps if he chose a more distant spawn point in doomsday he would meet stronger Awakeners…

“Complicated.”

Uttering that single word, Su Ze rubbed his tired eyes.

It was not just a matter of Awakeners’ strength… there were also the ‘containment objects’ that popped up from time to time… and the utterly unknown end of doomsday, the Falling Stars…

There was still plenty to question and explore.

Fortunately, Su Ze still had time, but right now he needed a good sleep.

…

『Doomsday countdown: 3 days 6 hours 15 minutes』

Buzz…

Buzz…

The phone on the nightstand vibrated annoyingly.

Su Ze crawled out of bed, glanced at the screen, and saw it was a call from his roommate.

“Talk.”

Once the call connected, Su Ze spoke.

“Brother Ze, get over here, quick!”

Even through the phone he could sense Prince Xin’s lecherous grin as he continued, “That super pretty senior I told you about is sitting right across from me now…”

Su Ze almost hung up.

Last night’s simulation had not shown him any beauty matching Prince Xin’s description.

Thus only two possibilities remained: either she was not pretty at all, or her face was the only decent thing about her.

“A vixen of this caliber can only be subdued by you, Brother Ze… fine, truth is she asked for you by name, damn it!”

Prince Xin went on excitedly.

From his description, tonight’s gathering was the prelude to tomorrow’s class mixer, and everyone present would participate in the event.

“Send me the address; I’ll be there later.”

After ending the call, Su Ze got up slowly.

After thinking it over, he decided to go… who knew, maybe he would meet a gorgeous girl worth putting in a sack.

“Splash…”

The sound of running water came from the bathroom.

After showering, Su Ze picked up his phone and it vibrated again.

This time it was a message from Chen Keqing.

She sent a sticker followed by a line…

“Have you eaten the cake yet? It should taste okay, right?”

His eyes fell on the screen.

An involuntary thought surfaced in Su Ze’s mind… Chen Keqing was a good girl.

He seldom used that phrase to describe a woman, yet countless simulations had proven that no matter what happened, this girl… Chen Keqing… would stay with him to the end.

She deserved the highest praise.

She was absolutely worth Su Ze’s sincerity.

But…

Sorry, I’m a scumbag…

I promised myself to find two, so I must find at least two!

So Su Ze quickly replied.

“I left the cake at yesterday’s shop and didn’t get to eat it; could you make me another one?”

That was a lie.

The cake Chen Keqing had given him was already open on the dining table beside him, and he had eaten most of it last night; its taste was impeccable, proof of her superb baking skills.

Chen Keqing: “Huh?”

Chen Keqing: “No problem, I’ll make you another one (hee-hee)”

Chen Keqing: “Consider it payback for the hotpot you treated me to.”

Chen Keqing: “By the way, once it’s done, how should I give it to you?”

Chen Keqing: “We have two days off this week, so the timing is perfect…”

The conversation box opened immediately.

Chen Keqing sent a flurry of messages.

The topic shifted naturally from the cake to the weekend break, and Su Ze cooperated, replying continuously even when the chat grew awkward…

Of course, answering messages did not keep him from heading out to the gathering…