Chapter 1: Mass Awakening at School

East Ridge City, 8:30 AM on the last Saturday of April, in the auditorium of the second high school, students from five senior classes were lined up by class, waiting for the unified Awakening test.

The students were buzzing with conversation, as this Awakening would determine their futures.

In each class, both boys and girls stood in four rows, only a slight turn required to whisper to those around them. The chatter had been ongoing, filling the auditorium with a buzzing noise.

"Hey, Ye Nai, what superpower do you want to awaken?"

The girl standing next to Ye Nai tugged at the sleeve of her school uniform.

"Anything will do, I'm not picky."

Ye Nai, smiling, looked towards the front stage. She wasn't worried about the test results because she had awakened three days earlier.

On her thumb, there had been a fresh cut made by a planer, and that day she had also bought mushrooms complete with soil. After washing the vegetables, she noticed small white blisters around the wound, extremely itchy. Later, she felt uncomfortable and found she had a slight fever when she took her temperature in the middle of the night, while everyone else was asleep.

The fever lasted for two days with no obvious symptoms, the discomfort known only to her, thus she didn't take any medicine nor did she tell her parents, fearing they would blame her for messing up just before the Awakening.

She just drank more water, washed her face more often, hoping to cool down quickly. She was even scolded by her mother for using too much water, but little did she know, this was actually her Awakening process, granting her a superpower.

This superpower manifested in a strange way, but the catalyst was those mushrooms because after awakening she found she could release spores.

Strictly speaking, it was fungi, since spores are part of fungi, the reproductive element; and fungi serve as nature's decomposers, breaking down all organic matter, facilitating the natural cycle, and sustaining ecological balance.

Ye Nai had also verified this.

Surprised by her Awakening and subsequent fever recovery, the spores she released decomposed the kitchen waste that hadn't been cleared away. The transformation produced a small amount of energy that revitalized Ye Nai, replenishing her weak body. After decomposition, the Fungal Mycelium just before dispersing released spores back into her, bringing a wave of abundant energy that immediately rejuvenated her body, filling her muscles with a feeling of fullness and power.

Having awakened so significantly in advance, Ye Nai was overjoyed, yet she kept it to herself, being able to keep her composure was one of her few strengths.

As a newbie who had just awakened, with no guidance, unaware of the direction or potential of her superpower, she felt that if she told her family now but turned up as less talented during the official test, that would be a bigger disappointment.

Thus, she had kept the news of her premature Awakening to herself until today, hoping to obtain the official certification of her superpower Awakening and reveal it with a performance at home, to surprise her entire family.

Ye Nai's mind was filled with flowing thoughts, yet the chattering of her classmates still filled her ears.

"I hope to awaken a superpower that can make money, I need to start making money quickly."

"Do you think you can awaken?"

"I definitely can," Ye Nai said with conviction, not minding the snickers coming from around her.

"I turn adult this month, and next month I'll lose the minor's subsidy. My grades aren't good enough to secure a spot at a university out of town. I just need to awaken, even a lousy superpower will do."

Ye Nai's smile faded slightly, her expression becoming as worried as her classmates', but knowing her own abilities, her heart still leapt with joy.

"Ah, same here. I received my last subsidy last month. My parents already complain that I'm eating and drinking for free at home, but I'm still doing chores. As long as I'm at home, all the housework is mine—laundry, cooking, taking care of my siblings. They won't even take out the trash. If I were a nanny in another household, I would be making money."

"Why get upset? Just snap back at them. It's their own fault for having you in the wrong month, which made you lose the subsidy before graduating high school. It's all your dad's fault." Ye Nai nudged her with her elbow.

"Pfft, Ye Nai, your mouth, seriously." The female classmate looked at her admiringly. "If I went back and said that, I'd get a mixed doubles beating."

Ye Nai shrugged, "Well, there's nothing you can do about it. Either fight back, hold it in, or quickly figure out what to do next, or else you'll end up with uterine fibroids and breast hyperplasia."

The female classmate helplessly shrugged her shoulders. Despite Ye Nai's seemingly honest and introverted appearance, sometimes she really didn't mince words.

Their conversation was overheard by the male and female classmates around them, all displaying a related distress. Being of age but not earning money made things difficult at home, a common social phenomenon now.

Fifty years ago, the Otherworld invaded, and the Plane Channels that opened globally spewed out large numbers of mutant plants and beasts, along with organized enemies, leaving Blue Star riddled with holes. Many small and weak countries were destroyed, their lands taken over by enemies. Their country also lost half its population, farming and industry were greatly affected. Fortunately, with sufficient weapons and fearless civilians and military, the country survived.

The entire land was in ruins, productivity sharply declined, technology regressed, and the shortage of food and clothing made survival difficult for those who were left. Naturally, nobody thought about having children, but the state needed a new population and provided real money for every child from birth until the month they became an adult, which genuinely covered the costs of raising a child, otherwise the current high birth rate would be inconceivable.

Parents had grown accustomed to these state subsidies, which also laid the groundwork for domestic conflicts. Once the children reached adulthood but weren't yet able to earn money independently, parents began to settle accounts with them. That was the situation.

Of course, there were families who cared for their children, and parents who were happy to provide for them regardless of whether they were independent or not, but in ordinary families like theirs, they were in the minority.

Finally, it was almost 9 o'clock, and the school leadership arrived with the Awakening team, the homeroom teachers immediately maintained order in their classes.

The large auditorium fell silent, not even a cough could be heard.

The organization conducted the annual routine Awakening test for the senior high students. The school leaders cut straight to the point. They didn't bother with pleasantries but instructed the homeroom teachers to manage their students and follow the order of the class roll list for each student to touch the Awakening Stone on stage.

The Awakening Stone, a product of the resurgence of spiritual energy on Blue Star, made finding Awakeners previously very difficult. In the fifty years since the Otherworld invasion, only about thirty stones were discovered nationwide. Each time one was used, it required a fully equipped military escort to ensure nothing went wrong.

Ye Nai was in class Senior 3 (3), and between the previous two classes, over seventy students had quickly gone up, and the results were immediate.

This process was quick and spectacular. In less than a minute, the Awakened would emit various colors of light indicative of the type of superpower. The richer and brighter the color, the greater the potential of the superpower.

Class 1 awakened 6 students.

Class 2 awakened 7 students.

Now it was Class 3's turn.

By the time it was Ye Nai's turn, 18 people before her resulted in 2 Awakeners.

"Number 19, Ye Nai," the class teacher called from the roll.

"Here."

"Go ahead."