Chapter One: The Day of Awakening, Life Shaman!

The Radiant Dragon Empire.

On the small athletic field of Luzhou First High School, over a thousand anxious and expectant third-year students stood in a long line, waiting for the array masters to finish setting up the awakening formation.

“The Awakening Ceremony is about to begin!”

“To inspire everyone, our school has invited a legendary guest. He will join me in witnessing this glorious moment with you!”

As soon as these words were spoken, a mighty dragon’s roar echoed from the heavens above.

In an instant, radiant light blazed across the sky as a majestic Holy Light Dragon appeared, soaring in the clouds. Atop the dragon’s head stood a man, tall and proud.

“Lu… Lu Han?! That’s the professional star, Lu Han!”

Lu Han was once the greatest prodigy of Luzhou First High School, now a level 63 King-class professional, active on the front lines of wilderness expeditions and often seen on television—a true celebrity among professionals.

A dazzling light shone as the Holy Light Dragon cast down a brilliant path of radiance from the clouds. Lu Han leaped, striding along the light and stepping onto the rostrum.

“So that’s the aura of a King-class professional!”

“Finally, the day of awakening has come!”

“I’ve worked so hard, maxed out every subject, and prepared for so long. I wonder if I’ll have the chance to step into the extraordinary ranks of this world!”

At the head of Class 6’s line stood a youth—sword-like brows, starry eyes, a tall nose, thin lips, and sharply defined features. He stood out like a crane among chickens, cool and aloof, yet exuding an undeniable presence.

He exhaled a long breath, his gaze complicated as he muttered to himself.

Indeed, his name was Wang Chen.

He was a transmigrator.

He had already lived in this parallel world for seventeen years.

Here, not only was science and technology highly advanced, but it was also a world where everyone could awaken to a profession.

Ten thousand years ago, the game space descended, Blue Star became digitized, and reality began to resemble a game. Countless fierce beasts appeared across the globe; dungeons, secret realms, and domains constantly overlapped with human settlements.

Humanity awakened to extraordinary powers known as professions.

Professionals could level up through slaying monsters, exploring secret realms, speed-running dungeons, and pioneering the wild.

In this world, the strength of your profession was everything. A good profession could change a person’s social status entirely.

Thus, every student hoped to receive a powerful profession on their awakening day and thereby defy their fate.

Wang Chen was no exception.

After all, he was an orphan in this life, and for seventeen years, he had never awakened any cheat ability.

If he wanted to survive in this world, he could only rely on the awakening ceremony.

“The Awakening Ceremony officially begins!”

The principal’s deep voice resounded again.

At the same time, the formations across the field completed their construction, bursting with radiant light.

As Principal Ouyang Yue’s resonant voice echoed, the surrounding awakening formations all flashed brilliantly.

“The first one, Cai Kun!”

A short, plump youth in flashy clothes stepped out from the line.

As he passed Wang Chen, he deliberately tried to shoulder-check him—unfortunately, the height difference was too great and he only managed to bump into Wang Chen’s waist.

Cai Kun came from a wealthy family, excelled academically and in ability, and should have been the focus of the crowd—yet he was always overshadowed by Wang Chen, the poor kid.

So what if Wang Chen was handsome, tall, strong, had top grades, and was popular with girls? What else did he have besides these?

“Duck or phoenix—we’ll see today! Wang Chen, just watch; you’re only fit to carry my shoes!”

He threw Wang Chen a haughty glance, then pulled out a vial of potion and downed it before stepping onto the awakening platform.

He placed his hand on the Awakening Stone.

In the next instant, the formation blazed with intense light.

“Cai Kun, primary combat profession: Blood Warlock!”

The teacher assisting with the awakening announced.

“Unbelievable! The first awakened profession this year is a primary combat type!”

“Even among combat professions, Blood Warlock ranks in the top hundred. Cai Kun’s luck is insane!”

“I’m so envious!”

Cai Kun savored the envious gazes around him, gave Wang Chen a cold look, and said, “I’m a phoenix—just wait and see what you turn out to be.”

In this world, professions generally fell into three categories.

First, combat professions—born purely for battle, all of their skills geared towards fighting, making them the most sought-after.

Second, support professions—mainly focused on healing, providing beneficial buffs to allies or negative buffs to enemies. While not as prestigious as combat roles, their potential was not low, and many teams would rather bring a support than an extra combatant when tackling dungeons or pioneering new lands.

Third, life professions—these provided logistical support, such as builders, appraisers, security guards, tailors, and so forth, forming the largest group in society.

With Cai Kun setting the tone, the other students grew excited, and the ceremony’s pace quickened.

“Wu Qian, life profession, Tailor!”

“Shen Teng, life profession, Comedy Master!”

The transfer of professions proceeded swiftly. Some students, hopeful one moment, were left crestfallen the next, slipping quietly back into the crowd—most had awakened only to life professions.

After studying diligently for over a decade, none were willing to accept a life profession, relegated to the bottom rungs of society.

But reality was always harsh.

At that moment, the field was filled with both joy and sorrow.

Wang Chen waited quietly for his name to be called, hoping he might awaken a powerful profession.

“Next, Lu Shiyu!”

A name interrupted Wang Chen’s thoughts, and all eyes turned to the awakening platform.

A beautiful, aloof girl stood before the formation.

At the same time, the Holy Light Dragon above cast a luminous beam down upon her.

Her unadorned face, bathed in radiance, gained a touch of sacred charm—as if she were an angel descended to earth.

“The Blessing of the Holy Light Dragon?!”

“I knew it! Lu Han only came back today for the school beauty!”

Lu Shiyu was Wang Chen’s classmate and the school’s most admired girl, with rumors that her admirers could line up from the north gate to the south.

But what made her even more fascinating was that she was Lu Han’s younger sister.

After seeing the Holy Light Dragon’s blessing, everyone realized Lu Han’s visit was to support his sister.

Wang Chen’s only intersection with Lu Shiyu was being the top student whose grades always surpassed hers.

After receiving the blessing, Lu Shiyu glanced seriously in Wang Chen’s direction, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the awakening platform.

In the next instant, the formation’s light surged.

A vision appeared in the air—a woman, elfin and crowned, holding a floating orb, journeying between countless worlds.

As the orb shone, several worlds in the void were instantly frozen.

“A world phenomenon!”

“Wow, a phenomenon of this scale means at least a Legendary profession!”

“The pressure is even greater than what’s described in the books—and it looks like a mage-type combat profession. Could she be an Archmage of Forbidden Spells?!”

The students erupted in excitement.

In this world, professions—apart from life types—were graded by rarity: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Hidden.

Typically, the rarer the profession, the stronger it was.

World phenomena only appeared during the awakening of Legendary or Hidden professions.

According to millennia of imperial records, the odds of awakening a Hidden profession were about one in a billion—out of over a billion students each year, only a handful ever did.

Legendary professions were more common—every ten years, a small city might see two or three.

Thus, with Lu Shiyu’s awakening, every third-year student was envious—she was certain to have a Legendary or even Hidden combat profession.

“Lu Shiyu, primary combat Hidden profession: Snow Queen!”

The teacher announced with excitement.

“A combat type, and Hidden at that!”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

On the stage, Principal Ouyang Yue was overjoyed.

In all history, the Snow Queen profession had appeared only three times, and each time, they grew to become gods—peerless in power.

Even among the vast rankings of professions, the Snow Queen could make the top fifty.

With such a Hidden profession, Lu Shiyu would be a focus of imperial training—unless she ruined herself, her future was bright.

With this, the school would be showered with honors, and Ouyang Yue himself would bask in the glory.

“Excellent!” Lu Han looked at Lu Shiyu and nodded with a smile. “As expected of the Lu family’s bloodline.”

“Wang Chen!”

“You’re our school’s top genius, your grades always better than Lu Shiyu’s. Maybe you’ll awaken a Hidden profession too!”

Someone in the Class 6 line called out.

“Grades are worthless!”

“Lu Shiyu got such a strong profession because she received the Holy Light Dragon’s blessing in advance!”

“I boosted myself with a transfer potion—all thanks to family resources!”

“Wang Chen lives in the slums. He’s probably never even seen an awakening potion!”

Cai Kun’s sarcastic voice came from afar.

Wang Chen frowned and glanced over—it was Cai Kun, the first to awaken.

He felt helpless. Cai Kun was a well-known rich kid—his father, Cai Bi, was a platinum alchemist, and the family was loaded.

Wang Chen, on the other hand, truly had nothing.

“Wang Chen!”

“You’re so poor—you couldn’t afford an awakening potion, could you? Want me to lend you one? All you need to do is call me daddy!”

Cai Kun shook his empty vial.

Wang Chen sneered at him.

If it were a close friend, Wang Chen wouldn’t hesitate to call him “daddy” until he went bankrupt. But faced with such blatant provocation, he had too much pride. Besides, awakening potions were priceless—he didn’t believe Cai Kun had a second bottle.

“Quiet, everyone!”

Seeing Class 6 growing rowdy, the awakening teacher frowned.

“Next, Wang Chen!”

Wang Chen walked toward the awakening platform.

At the same moment, Lu Shiyu, who was just stepping down, felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of Wang Chen’s name.

She looked at him, her cheeks flushing.

“Um… Wang Chen… good luck!” she said softly as he passed.

“Thank you,” Wang Chen replied with a simple nod, focusing back on the platform.

Seeing his indifferent response, a hint of disappointment flashed across Lu Shiyu’s face. She could only return to her class and melt into the crowd.

“Wang Chen…” On the stage, Lu Han frowned slightly. He’d watched his sister grow up and knew her well—could that look in her eyes mean she had feelings for Wang Chen?

“Principal Ouyang, is this the top genius you mentioned—the one most likely to awaken a Hidden profession?”

“Yes, that’s Wang Chen!” Ouyang replied. “Since joining our school, he’s excelled in every subject! Especially in combat theory, battle instincts, elemental affinity, and team strategy—he’s scored full marks in all, even in natural affinity, which you struggled with back in your day! That’s why I dared to guess he might awaken a Hidden profession!”

Ouyang smiled proudly. Aside from his poor background, Wang Chen was a model student with no flaws.

“Really? Let’s see, then.” Lu Han’s eyes shone with interest.

As they spoke, Wang Chen stepped into the awakening formation.

A flash of light enveloped him. The awakening assistant’s brow furrowed, and he announced reluctantly, “Wang Chen, support type? Common profession? Life Shaman.”

The teacher had long heard of Wang Chen’s reputation as a prodigy—how could he awaken only a common profession? Even if not as good as Lu Shiyu, it should have been at least a rare one!

“…”

The audience was silent.

Then—

“Pfft! Support, common profession, Life Shaman? That’s Wang Chen’s profession?!”

“All the hype about him being the top genius and a seed-level candidate—this is it?”

“Haha! A shaman, and not even a good one—it’s the worst shaman subclass! Worse healer than a cleric, weaker elemental power than a mage, and worse buffs than other support professions!”

“Yeah, who’d want to team up with such a useless, trash profession? If it were me, I’d rather carry more potions than share experience with him!”

After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in thunderous laughter.