Chapter 1: Awakening ceremony
"Slay all the demon kings and save this world, chosen heroes!"
With that one sentence appearing in the minds of everyone in the world, the world suddenly changed.
There were dungeons that appeared all over the world and in those dungeons, there were people who awakened their powers.
Ten years later, the world was completely different from the world of the past.
…
"This is my last chance…" I said with a heavy sigh as I looked down at the sheet of paper in my hand.
My name is Lin Fan and today is my final awakening ceremony.
Since the world had changed, everyone was allowed to take an awakening ceremony that would grant them supernatural powers from the age of 16-20. That was the age that scientists had declared as the period where humans had the most potential.
If one couldn't awaken during that age period, then there was no chance that they would ever awaken powers.
So if I didn't awaken my powers at this ceremony, then I wouldn't have a chance.
Those that didn't awaken any powers in this power based society were treated as second class citizens. They would never be able to get any good jobs and would be treated like slaves by those that had awakened.
But I had failed in every single attempt that I had taken so far, so it was very likely that I wouldn't be able to pass this awakening ceremony either.
There were just some people that didn't have what it took to awaken an ability and that just had to be accepted. I was most likely one of those people who couldn't awaken an ability…
It was just that I couldn't help trying still since I didn't want to let my parents and little sister in heaven down.
They had died when one of the dungeons had suddenly experienced a dungeon break.
In the ensuing wave of monsters that came out, they had been caught when my little sister had fallen over. My parents had rushed back to protect her and they had been trampled by the monsters.
When I had been called in to identify their bodies…it had really been hard for me to look at them.
That was why I at least wanted to let them know that I could take care of myself as a power awakener.
So even if the chances were slim, I had to do this.
With these thoughts in my mind, I took a deep breath and slapped myself on the face to calm myself down. Then I headed into the awakener center in front of me to register for my ceremony.
But before I could reach the reception desk, I was stopped by a group that were standing in the hall.
These people were people that I knew since I used to go to the same school as them. However, I had to drop out in the end to work full time to earn enough money to even take these awakening ceremonies on top of my living expenses.
When these people saw me, they immediately stopped to talk to me…but it wasn't as if we were friends.
After all, these were the people who used to bully me.
When they saw me here, they immediately revealed smiles like predators who had just found prey.
It took them no time to surround me and bring me away to a hidden corner.
As for resisting, it was impossible since they were all awakened. They all had the support of their families, so they were able to take as many ceremonies as they wanted. Though they didn't need it in the first place since they were all talented people who had awakened their first time.
"Thump."
With this heavy sound, I fell to my knees as I was punched in the gut.
"Ha, he even feels so good to punch!" Wang Bing, the leader of this group said as he punched me.
"Shi, shi, shi. Make him jump a bit too, I like to see him jump." Mei Tang Tang, Wang Bing's girlfriend, laughed as she pointed at me.
The rest of them were all jeering along with this.
Wang Bing gave a nod and said, "Alright, you heard Tang Tang, start jumping."
I could barely stand at this moment, so jumping really was hard…
But with how they threatened me, it wasn't as if I had a chance…
So I tried to force myself to stand up and jump for them. Unfortunately, my legs couldn't handle it and I collapsed under my own weight, falling to the ground.
When the bullies saw this, they began laughing again.
Wang Bing came forward to grab me, but before he could, there was a cold voice that said, "Leave him alone."
The moment that this voice rang out, everyone turned to look in that direction.
Standing there was Yue Ling, my childhood friend and current A Ranker awakener.
When the bullies saw her, they couldn't help taking a step back because they were no more than D Rankers. The only one among them that was a C Ranker was Wang Bing.
After being caught off guard, Wang Bing gave a cough and said, "Ling Ling, are you still hanging out with this trash? You should know that he isn't someone that someone at your social standing should hang out with."
Yue Ling gave a cold snort before saying, "Get lost."
Hearing this, Wang Bing was caught off guard again since he never expected Yue Ling to be this direct.
But she was an A Ranker…so it wasn't as if he could say anything.
He just glared at me and mouthed, "You're dead later." Then he and his group of bullies quickly left this place.
After they were gone, Yue Ling came over to help me as she asked in a gentle voice, "Big brother Fan, are you alright?"
Seeing the way that she looked at me, I couldn't help…feeling inferior.
She was my childhood friend, I should have been the one to protect her…but it was the other way around.
This feeling of inferiority ate me up on the inside, so I just curtly said, "I'm alright."
Yue Ling knitted her brows when she heard this before turning to look in the direction that the bullies had gone off in. She muttered under her breath, "I really should have taken care of them earlier…"
I didn't hear exactly what she said, but it felt like she had said something, so I asked, "Did you say something?"
Yue Ling looked back with a smile and shook her head to say, "Nope, nothing."
Then she changed the topic by saying, "It's finally your time today, big brother Fan. When you awaken, we'll be able to go into dungeons together."
When I heard this, I couldn't help revealing a bitter smile before saying, "I might not even be able to awaken."
After hearing this, Yue Ling pouted her lips out and said, "Big brother Fan, if you keep acting negative like this, Ling Ling will get angry."
Even if I wasn't in the mood, seeing her acting cute like this dragged it out of me in the end. I reached out to pat Yue Ling on the head, a right that only I had been given before saying, "I'll do my best."
Yue Ling gave a nod with a wide smile as she said, "Un, I believe in big brother Fan."
…
"F Rank, Suggestion."
The moment that I heard this, it felt like my world was collapsing.
I had been ecstatic when I heard that I had awakened a power, but…then I heard that it was a F Rank skill and it was like falling from heaven to hell…
F Rank, it was the lowest possible ranking for a skill and every skill that was ranked F Rank was considered trash. There was no practical use for any F Rank skill, so even if one was an awakener, a F Ranker would be treated like a non-awakener.
After coming back to my senses, I quickly grabbed the person in charge of the ceremony and said, "No, this has to be a mistake! It can't be a F Rank!"
Seeing the way that I looked, the staff looked at me like I was trash. He didn't hold back either as he pushed me back into my chair and said, "F Rank is F Rank! I guess those with trash powers have trash manners as well!"
Without even waiting for me to say anything, he threw me a piece of paper and walked off.
I picked this piece of paper off the ground and looked at what was written.
Suggestion: F Rank
Has the ability to make suggestions to people that will cause them to act a certain way for a short period of time. Success rate depends on the will of the target. If the target has a stronger will than the user, then the skill will fail.
When I finished reading this short description, I couldn't help breaking out in laughter.
It was over, it was all over…
This kind of trash skill, who would ever want this kind of trash skill?
My life was over.