"Chapter 1: The Online Chat Goddess at the College Entrance Exam Site"

"The exam begins! All candidates, please take your places on stage!"

With the examiner's loud call from the stage, Liam felt his heart tighten. Watching the boys and girls around him, their eyes gleaming with ambition and dreams, he couldn't help but sigh.

"I'm really just being forced onto the stage... I'm going to make a fool of myself up there..."

Liam sat below, idly fiddling with his hands, talking to himself in his mind.

It's been a week since he transmigrated to this world.

During this time, he learned that this world, on the whole, wasn't much different from the place he used to know. The biggest difference was that some people here had superpowers. And now, this "Superpower Assessment" was something similar to the "college entrance exam" from his former world—a very important event.

As a transmigrator, it's expected that he would have some kind of golden finger system, and he did have one.

However...

[Replica Hand System: When in physical contact with others, there is a chance to replicate their superpower talents and enhance them to some degree.]

It sounds impressive, like something meant for a destined protagonist.

But here's the problem: all powerful skills have a cooldown. His skill could only be used once a day, and the success rate seemed to be very low.

It's been a week since he got here, and he's been trying to buddy up to various people every day, attempting to replicate their powers. But up until today, he only succeeded once.

[Superpower: Energy Chains, Rating: E]

[Description: Can condense internal energy into chains and shoot them out like whips.]

This was the only ability he successfully replicated, and after being upgraded by his system, its power had reached a D rating.

In practical terms—it meant he could now control seven or eight energy chains at once to fight for him. Quite a spectacle...

Liam looked up at the assessment stage, where one candidate after another was demonstrating their powers to the examiners.

Seeing those massive fireballs and the gigantic phantom beasts, Liam's mouth twitched.

This exam site seemed to be anything but ordinary. Everyone here seemed to be extremely talented, possessing powerful and highly potential abilities.

Compared to them, Liam felt like he was wearing cheap market clothes at a high-society banquet.

Damn it, why am I feeling so inferior all of a sudden?!

Just as he was brooding, the phone in his hand, which he had been gripping tightly, buzzed.

He looked at the screen and saw a message from a friend.

[YogurtStick: Hehe, how's it going over there? Is it about to start? Good luck~.]

This was a friend he had made while playing online games during these seven days. Her username was YogurtStick, and she seemed to be a girl, the only contact in Liam's phone at the moment.

After transmigrating, Liam found himself in a world where he knew no one. With no one to talk to, he often chatted with this online friend he had never met.

After all, it's safer to talk through the internet, and it also eased some of his social anxiety.

After thinking for a moment, Liam replied:

"It's not looking good. It's about to start, and I feel like my power is the weakest here. I'm basically screwed."

A few seconds later, a reply came through.

[YogurtStick: It's okay. Even though your Energy Chains are low-level, they're a variant, right? They're different from regular Energy Chains. A sharp examiner will definitely notice that. ୧⍢⃝୨]

After a series of comforting words, she added a cute emoticon.

She seems like a quirky girl.

"A variant isn't of much use. The examiner will probably just say, 'Energy Chains, huh? Even if there's some special variation, the potential isn't high. Better go back home and farm!'"

Liam sighed, jokingly mocking himself.

[YogurtStick: Don't be discouraged~ Believe in yourself, do your best, and if you ever get a chance, I can help you out.]

[YogurtStick: I've got something to do here, so I'll talk to you later.]

Looking at the message she sent back, Liam smiled and turned off his phone.

No matter what, he had to give it a try.

After all, passing this assessment meant getting into a prestigious academy with everything covered by the government.

He had transmigrated here with just his body, no money. If he had to wait a year to take the exam again, he might have to live on air in the meantime.

...

The sun hung high in the sky, scorching everything below.

Candidates were scattered across the open ground, freely expressing their youth.

But under the blazing sun, one place stood out, looking particularly out of place.

A large canopy stood there under the sun, exuding a strong bureaucratic vibe, an air of luxury, like a special resting area for the leaders.

But seated there wasn't a group of middle-aged officials. Instead, it was a young and exceptionally beautiful woman!

Her name was Sophia, the chief examiner of this assessment, sent by one of the top eight academies.

The large canopy had only her inside!

At this moment, she was looking down at her phone, occasionally showing a hint of a smile that quickly faded away.

After all, she had to maintain her cold and aloof persona, right?

To the outside world, she was a goddess as cold as ice, with a power to match—ice-based abilities that made her unapproachable.

This aura of intimidation had saved her from many daily troubles, but it also made her life very lonely.

In reality, her personality wasn't as solitary or difficult to approach as it seemed.

So, when she had nothing else to do, she would secretly play games to relax. Her gaming teammates online didn't know who she was, so she could feel a bit more at ease.

But one day, she discovered someone very unusual.

This person often said strange things like "screwed," "no way I'll die this time," and "taking off," which Sophia couldn't understand.

But it all piqued her interest.

So, on a whim, she added this person as a friend. Whenever she had free time, they would play games and chat.

The more they chatted, the more curious Sophia became about this person. His thoughts seemed so different from anyone she had ever met, and some of the knowledge he had was beyond her understanding.

Gradually, she began to treat him as a confidant, sharing her thoughts with him, and he always offered unique insights.

The only pity was that even though he was also a superpower user, he seemed to have very poor talents. She feared he might not even pass this year's assessment...

Thinking of this, Sophia couldn't help but frown.

At that moment, a chubby middle-aged man walked over cautiously and said to Sophia:

"Uh, hello, there are quite a few promising candidates in this assessment. We've been informed that you would be inspecting and selecting core students for recommendation."

"So, should you..."

Seeing someone approaching, Sophia returned to her usual icy demeanor, slightly raising her eyes to look at him and said:

"Hmm?"

The middle-aged man saw the coldness in her eyes and immediately corrected himself, saying hurriedly:

"No need, no need, you just continue to rest, we'll..."

"No need," Sophia interrupted, "I've been resting long enough. I'll take over the next part of the assessment."

With that, she put away her phone, collected herself, and walked out into the sunlight.

In her heart, she thought to herself:

"That guy is taking the exam, and I'm overseeing it..."

"I hope he gets a reasonable examiner... sigh."