Afternoon, inside the classroom.
A middle-aged teacher with a shiny bald crown was lecturing earnestly at the front, while below him sat a group of students in the prime of youth.
At the back of the classroom, second-to-last row by the window.
A handsome boy rested his chin on his hand, staring blankly ahead, clearly lost in a daze.
"…Fifteen to sixteen years old is the optimal period for awakening abilities. Tomorrow will be the day you awaken yours.
"Generally speaking, the initial strength of an ability at the moment of awakening reflects its potential. To a large extent, it determines your upper limit in this field.
"So, the classification of ability levels is essentially tied to that initial strength.
"But this isn't absolute. For example, Inheritors cannot be judged by initial strength alone, and certain special abilities are exceptions as well…"
The homeroom teacher, Old He, spoke as he walked slowly across the room.
His gaze drifted casually and landed on the boy who was spacing out. He paused.
The boy's deskmate stiffened.
He subtly adjusted his posture, his eyes flicking down to his desk as he quickly checked everything.
At the same time, his mind raced, already thinking of how to explain why he had secretly brought restricted comics to school again.
"Back to reality," Old He reminded gently.
Baili An snapped out of his daze. When he turned his head, all he saw was the teacher's retreating back.
And that gleaming patch of sparse hair.
"Phew… good thing it wasn't me." The teacher returned to the front, and the deskmate let out a breath of relief.
Then he looked at the culprit beside him, admiration in his eyes.
"As expected of you, Baili An. If that were me, I'd be stuck doing half a set of monster theory papers."
"Top student in the whole school. What about you?" someone from behind chimed in.
"Aren't I first place too?"
"…Right. Sure."
Baili An smiled faintly but said nothing.
The anxiety he felt about tomorrow's ability awakening eased a little, and he began to pay attention to the lesson again.
…
His name was Baili An.
He had arrived in this world over a year ago.
In his previous life, he was a second-year civil engineering student. Out of sheer curiosity, he had once wondered:
Was it possible to design a teaching building that could safely accommodate a fighter jet landing?
So he had directly messaged his instructor through a work app.
The only reply he got was, "You think I don't watch videos online?"
A baffling answer.
So he decided to research it himself. But the process quickly became unbearably dull, and out of boredom, he casually sketched a three-tomoe eye pattern on his scratch paper.
The next moment, he blacked out.
When he woke up in the hospital, it took him some time to realize that he had transmigrated.
And he hadn't inherited any of the original body's memories.
At first, he struggled a lot. The shock alone was overwhelming. Only gradually did he begin to understand what kind of world this was.
Culturally, it wasn't too different from Earth. In some areas, even the level of technology was similar.
But…
Spiritual energy resurgence. Ability awakenings. Dimensional realms merging. Abyssal invasions.
This was a world of the extraordinary.
And also a world filled with danger.
Leaving aside the abyssal threat that could wipe out humanity, and the occasional riots caused by unstable secret realms, even human society itself was far from peaceful.
Friction between powerful nations never truly stopped. Violent organizations and abyss-worshipping cults persisted despite repeated crackdowns. Criminals misusing their abilities appeared from time to time…
In such a world, Baili An had once again become an orphan.
Even if he wanted to live a quiet, carefree life, bad luck alone could mean a fireball falling from the sky one day and reducing him to ashes.
From what he later learned, the previous owner of this body had likely been murdered alongside his parents, silently and without a trace.
Faced with this reality, the pressure on Baili An was immense.
He couldn't even sleep peacefully, often waking from nightmares of being killed.
At first, he kept calling out for some kind of system.
Later, he comforted himself with the thought that maybe it was just delayed.
Eventually, he accepted reality.
To make matters worse, the previous owner's parents had both been researchers with no combat ability. Abilities were often inherited, so Baili An didn't hold much hope for gaining anything powerful.
The pressure to survive became his motivation to study.
Over the past year, he had pushed himself relentlessly.
Relearning the sciences came easily to him, but subjects like geography and history in this world had to be rebuilt from almost nothing.
The terrain was nearly identical, but place names were completely different. After the resurgence of spiritual energy, the course of history had diverged entirely, and even historical figures varied.
But that wasn't the hardest part.
The real challenge was the study of the extraordinary.
Abilities. The abyss. Secret realms. Monsters.
Memorizing all of it felt like trying to cram the lore of an entire fantasy universe into his brain.
The only small mercy was that he didn't have to study English here.
Fortunately, his hard work paid off. With relentless effort and a bit of natural aptitude, he managed to catch up on all subjects within a year.
He even ranked first in the entire city in the entrance exams and entered Huiping No. 1 High School.
…
Time passed.
Soon, the final class of the afternoon was drawing to a close.
"It's been over a month since the start of your first year. I've come to understand each of you to some extent."
Standing on the podium, Old He looked at his students, his gaze filled with encouragement.
"As for tomorrow's awakening ceremony, I'll say one last thing.
"In today's society, people tend to measure a person's value based on their ability rank.
"But ability rankings are standards created by humans, and any human-made standard is bound to have flaws.
"So whatever rank you awaken tomorrow, treat it as a reference, not an absolute. And don't let your ability define your entire life.
"We can't control society as a whole, but you can control your own mindset.
"No matter the outcome tomorrow, don't let it make you arrogant or cause you to look down on your own future."
"That's all. Class dismissed."
"Thank you, teacher!"
The students stood and bowed in unison. Once Old He left, the classroom gradually became lively again.
"Old He really is a good teacher."
"After awakening, we'll be divided into different tracks. I wonder if we'll still have him. He's a sixth-rank ability user, so he'll definitely teach the ability classes…"
"I'm ordering milk tea. What do you want?"
"Tomorrow's the big day. If I could become an Inheritor, that'd be amazing. Even a non-combat one would be fine."
"My parents both have C-rank abilities. I'd be happy with a B-rank."
"Hey, the second season of Snow Maiden just came out. Wanna watch?"
"You really have your priorities straight…"
"I'm more worried you'll awaken something weird."
"…"
There were no evening study sessions in this world's high schools.
Baili An quietly packed up his desk and left the classroom.
His grades were excellent, so he was fairly well-known in his year. Occasionally, classmates would ask him questions.
But his social circle was simple.
No particularly close friends.
Still, he got along well enough with everyone.
In a world filled with the extraordinary, where abyssal disasters threatened all of humanity, and where the truth behind his predecessor's death remained a mystery…
There was no way Baili An could relax and simply enjoy life.
He wanted to become stronger.
Strong enough to live without fear.
If tomorrow's awakening granted him a high-level ability, that would be ideal.
But even if the result was disappointing, he wouldn't give up.
No matter how difficult the path, he would find another way to pursue true power in this extraordinary world.