"Yesterday, a roar erupted from the depths of the Pacific Ocean; a ninth-rank Beast Emperor is suspected to have broken through. Coastal cities are advised to strengthen their defenses."
"One month ago, a lapse in the defense grid of Bright Dawn City, Sichuan Province, led to a beast tide invasion, resulting in the tragic deaths of tens of thousands of citizens.
Under the investigation of the eighth-rank powerhouse, Li Qiang the Gale Sword, results have been found. The press conference will begin promptly at nine o'clock tonight."
"Liu Yang, an outstanding graduate of Magic City Awakener University, broke through to the fifth rank yesterday and has officially decided to join the Ash Guild."
"After four years, an S-rank Awakener has appeared in the United States once again. The awakening category is the Elemental Wind System. This Awakener has been recruited early by Houston Awakener University."
"..."
After browsing the trending news.
Astret put down his phone and rubbed his brow forcefully, feeling a headache coming on.
Based on the extra memories in his mind combined with the information above, he was certain that he had indeed transmigrated.
The world he transmigrated to was called Blue Star, where civilization, technology, and development were roughly similar to his previous life.
However, there were two important additions: Ferocious Beasts and abilities.
The former were terrifying, bloodthirsty monsters ravaging Blue Star.
The latter was the source of power humans used to resist the beast invasion.
"I just drank a bit too much at my grad school graduation party, and I woke up in another world. Where's the logic in that?"
"And if I'm going to transmigrate, couldn't I get a better start?"
Astret was somewhat speechless.
According to the memories he just acquired, his predecessor was also named Astret, a senior at Jiangcheng No. 2 High School.
Aside from his somewhat outstanding looks, he was extremely ordinary in every other aspect.
Even the ability he awakened was only E-rank [Weak Electricity].
"Abilities..."
Astret pondered as he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Tiny blue-white electric arcs danced at his fingertips.
If this were his previous life, this trick would have caused quite a sensation.
But on Blue Star, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Because in this world, everyone awakens an ability at the age of sixteen and becomes an Awakener.
Abilities were varied: some could control wind and fire, some could transform into beasts, and some could heal wounds... There were also quality differences between different abilities. According to Blue Star's rating system, abilities were divided into nine ranks: SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, and F.
The vast majority of people could only awaken D-rank or E-rank abilities.
Only a small portion could awaken C-rank or B-rank abilities. Those who could awaken an A-rank ability were considered the chosen ones!
As for the higher S-rank, SS-rank, and SSS-rank abilities, they were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, appearing only once every few years or even decades.
During the ability awakening two years ago, without any surprise, his predecessor had only awakened the E-rank ability [Weak Electricity].
Abilities were further categorized into Elemental, Enhancement, Mental, Recovery, Natural, and Special types.
His [Weak Electricity] belonged to the Lightning-type under the Natural category of the six major ability types.
Lightning-type abilities were considered quite good among the many types of abilities.
But with only an E-rank rating, the lethality of [Weak Electricity] was destined not to be very high.
For example, the electric arc currently wrapped around his fingertips had about the same damage as a stun baton, or perhaps even less.
"Did I transmigrate just to be a human stun baton?"
"I also want to dominate the world and become a powerhouse..."
Extinguishing the arc at his fingertips, Astret rested his chin on his right hand and looked forward with a sigh.
He was in a bright classroom. It was currently break time, and classmates were chatting with each other. In front of him was a blackboard.
In the bottom right corner of the blackboard, a countdown for the Gaokao was written: '1' day.
In his country, Great Xia Nation, the Gaokao was held every year on June 7th to select students to enter Awakener Universities for further training.
Today was June 6th, and the Gaokao was set to take place tomorrow.
One must know that,
Because of the existence of Ferocious Beasts, Ability Users belonged to a special class; while respected by the public, they also possessed various privileges.
Simply put, Ability Users were superior beings.
Note that those who have awakened an ability are still just Awakeners and cannot control much power.
Only after a period of cultivation can one transform from an Awakener into an Awakened Warrior, possessing the ability to fight head-on against powerful Ferocious Beasts.
And Awakened Warriors are divided into nine ranks, from first to ninth.
Each rank is further divided into lower, middle, and upper tiers.
But even for the lowest first-rank lower tier, a common Awakener would need four or five years of cultivation to advance.
However, if one enters an Awakener University and receives guidance from mentors, this process would be significantly shortened.
This is why the Gaokao is so important.
However, for someone like him who only awakened an E-rank ability, the probability of getting into an Awakener University was infinitely close to zero... "Don't they say transmigrators all have benefits? Where's the system? Save me!"
Astret muttered to himself. As soon as he finished speaking, an electronic notification sounded in his mind:
"deep blue system activating..."
"System activated successfully. Starter Pack being distributed..."
"Starter Pack distributed successfully. Would you like to claim it now?"
Hearing the notification in his mind, Astret's eyes widened and his mouth hung open:
"A system... there really is one?!"
After the shock came a surge of wild joy!
As a transmigrator, he naturally understood what a system meant.
It meant he had the chance to change his fate against the heavens and reach the peak!
"Phew—"
Astret took a long breath. After calming his emotions, he didn't choose to claim it immediately but asked in his mind:
"What's in the Starter Pack?"
"200 ability points and the S-rank ability [Violet Heaven Divine Lightning]."
"[Violet Heaven Divine Lightning], an S-rank ability?!"
Astret's eyes flashed with intense light, and his breathing became rapid.
He didn't know what ability points were for the time being, but he knew about S-rank abilities.
This was a rare quality of ability seldom seen on the entire Blue Star!!
Just like the article published in the trending news earlier.
The United States, which was as powerful as Great Xia Nation, had only seen another S-rank Awakener after four years!
Great Xia Nation hadn't seen an S-rank Awakener in two or three years either!
And S-rank Awakeners, as long as they didn't die young, would eventually grow into giants of their fields! Guardians of their regions!
"System, if I claim the Starter Pack, will I get an S-rank ability?"
To be safe, Astret confirmed once more.
"Yes."
Upon receiving the affirmative answer, Astret's eyes sparkled slightly.
S-rank ability!!
The opportunity to change his fate was here!
"Jingming, stop daydreaming. Old Chen is here," his desk-mate whispered.
Astret snapped back to reality and realized that class had started at some point.
Standing on the podium was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut. He was the homeroom teacher of Class 5, Chen Fan.
"Once class is over and I get home, I'll claim the Starter Pack immediately."
Although his heart was burning with excitement, Astret knew that claiming the pack in the classroom wasn't a good idea.
So he suppressed his emotions and listened to the lecture attentively...