Second awakening

After wrapping up his night, the eastern sky began to lighten, heralding the sunrise. Mike headed towards school, his gaze wandering among the people he passed.

Whenever he focused, he could see notes above people's heads, gaining deeper insights into them. 

While waiting for the traffic light, Mike noticed a particularly attractive woman. A line of text appeared above her head: [23 years old, 33-22-32, she's still a virgin, wearing very sexy lace underwear. Do you want to have sex with her?].

"Yeesh—"

"This talent of mine, always so inappropriate," Mike muttered under his breath.

The morning streets were sparsely populated as the city slowly woke up. Mike's attention then shifted to a young man in a suit, holding a steaming cup of coffee, his chiseled face adorned with a composed smile, exuding a refined and easygoing aura. Clearly, this was a promising young man with a bright future.

However, as Mike observed him, his expression grew serious, even a hint of worry flickering through his eyes. 

[Jacob, a follower of the fourth demon god, received a blessing from the demon god last night, he's in a great mood, even willing to give an extra $100 to a beggar].

Demon god followers!

Mike hadn't expected to encounter a follower of the demon gods on his way to school! "Are these guys as common as dog poop on the street?" he thought.

Calm down! Mike quickly steadied his mind and began to think of a strategy. As he pondered, the note above Jacob's head changed. 

[Don't even think about brute force, all ten of your fingers together wouldn't match one of his.]

Then, the note expanded into a long stream of text, briefly summarizing Jacob's life. 

[Jacob, a B-tier talent holder of [Fiery Zeal], a 179-level Flame Warrior, entered the sixth-ranked Warrior University in the country seven years ago, graduated three years ago, nearly a Battle General in strength, and after demonization, possesses the power comparable to a Battle General]

Reading Jacob's information made Mike feel even more troubled. "Battle General level strength, what a headache."

"I definitely can't handle this alone; I'm just a Level 10 Stormweaver, after all. Maybe I should shake things up?"

Mike was never the type to rush into a fight head-on. If there was a chance to gang up rather than face someone one-on-one, he'd take it every time! Now that he had spotted a follower of the demon god, he couldn't just pretend he hadn't seen anything.

"I need to figure out a way to report Jacob without blowing my cover," Mike thought to himself. That's when he felt the golden card in his pocket.

"Trade Secret Realm access card!" This card, serving as a key to enter the Trade Secret Realm, also had a messaging function. Even without being in the Trade Secret Realm, one could use the card to communicate, kind of like using Discord.

"Not here, let's find another spot." Mike passed by Jacob without showing any signs of recognition or alarm.

Once he arrived at school, Mike slipped into the restroom, locked the door, and pulled out his Trade Secret Realm access card.

"Foreskin, you there?" Mike didn't have to wait long for a reply. Foreskin quickly messaged back, "Yeah, the stone you put up for sale hasn't gotten any bids yet."

"[Mystic Market] buys and sells everything, right?" Mike remembered that was Mystic Market's slogan—everything has a price!

"Right!" came the reply.

Encouraged by the affirmative response, Mike pressed on. "Would you buy information on a Battle General-level demon cult follower?"

Foreskin: ....

What kind of move was this?

Why not just report the demon cult followers directly to the authorities?

For a Battle General-level demon cult follower, the official reward starts at 10,000 gold coins upon a successful report!

It didn't take long for Foreskin to catch on. He was a sharp one and instantly grasped Mike's real intent. "Trying to report a demon cult follower without revealing your identity... using Mystic Market as your firewall, huh?"

Foreskin had never seen such a clever maneuver. It was, admittedly, a pretty slick move! Through the Trade Secret Realm, connecting to Mystic Market, and ultimately reporting to the authorities about the demon cult followers. 

Mystic Market and the Trade Secret Realm would act as Mike's firewall, making it virtually impossible for anyone to trace back to Mike's real identity through these leads.

"No problem!" Foreskin immediately replied, "Depending on the completeness of the information and after verification, Mystic Market will pay the purchase fee."

"The offer from Mystic Market will definitely match, or even exceed, the official reward for reporting!"

With Foreskin's assurance, Mike quickly sent over the meticulously edited information. It included detailed data on Jacob—his talents, equipment, class, attributes, and more. It even detailed the special items the demon god had awarded Jacob, exposing all his secrets!

Foreskin was left doubting everything. "Is all this information legit?" he wondered. "How does this guy know so much about Jacob? Could it be a case of split personality where Jacob is reporting himself?!"

After reporting Jacob, Mike leisurely made his way back to the classroom. As expected, the room was buzzing with excitement. All his classmates were animatedly discussing their adventures in the Tower of Truth, and naturally, the topic of Thor came up.

"Did you hear? Thor has been taken as an apprentice by the supreme being Morpheus!" one classmate exclaimed.

"You're behind the times, man. I heard Thor has already become a Battle General-level powerhouse and is gearing up to train in the Abyssal Plane!" another added.

"Come on, that's impossible in just one night!" a skeptical voice chimed in.

"The power of an SSS-tier talent, you don't get it, nobody understands SSS-tier talent better than I do!" another boasted.

Listening to his classmates' praises, Mike felt unusually bashful. Was he really that impressive? In their stories, Thor was nearly a god, trampling the Abyssal Plane and tearing apart demon gods with his bare hands, defeating Battle Lords with a single punch.

In reality, even facing a Battle General-level demon cult follower, Thor—aka Mike—had to carefully report anonymously, wary of revealing his identity and attracting unnecessary trouble. Yet, amidst the whirlwind of his double life, Mike found a certain peace in his current situation.

Returning to his seat, Cain immediately leaned over. "Mike, did you hear? James hit the jackpot!"

"Oh?" Mike glanced at James's empty seat, wondering where he could have gone.

Cain, slightly envious, continued, "That guy awakened an A-tier talent, totally hit the jackpot. He aced the newbie instance with an S rating, and now he's in the principal's office!"

Mike responded nonchalantly, "Impressive, impressive."

"James, that lucky dog, skyrocketed overnight. I heard several Battle Generals are itching to take him as an apprentice!" Cain was used to Mike's nonchalant attitude and continued on his own, "With an A-tier talent, becoming a Battle General is a piece of cake, and even Battle Chiefs might be within reach. Who knows, he might even get a shot at the Battle Lords!"

That's the allure of the Tower of Truth. Overnight, many lives are turned upside down—including Mike's.

After envying James for a moment, Cain turned his attention to Mike and asked, "So, Mike, what level did you clear in the newbie instance?"

"F-tier and up."

"Come on, who scores below F-tier anyway?!" Cain rolled his eyes but didn't press his friend further. Instead, he lowered his voice, "Looks like Jessica from our class awakened an F-tier talent. She couldn't even get past the first level of the newbie instance..."

Cain's face fell as he spoke, clearly upset by the thought. Failing the first level meant starting at a massive disadvantage, hundreds, if not thousands of times tougher than for others. 

Even if her family was willing to pour resources into her training, Jessica's chances of turning things around were slim. An F-tier talent was like being red-carded at the start of her Tower of Truth career.

Jessica?

As Cain spoke, Mike turned slightly to look at her. Jessica's long, smooth hair cascaded over her shoulders as she sat quietly reading. The hustle and bustle of the classroom seemed worlds away from her.

Jessica was stunning, with delicate features and a figure that made her the dream girl of many. It was heartbreaking to think that her awakening had resulted in such a dire situation.

Just as Mike was about to look away, a note popped up above Jessica's head:

[Talent Second Awakening Condition: Change class to Otherworld Summoner.]

Second awakening?! Mike was taken aback. What did that mean? Jessica's talent could undergo a second awakening?!