Ma Long hurries after him, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the school's biggest loser just became its most dangerous student. Ling Yu stays behind, her purple eyes fixed on Si Chen's back with a look of genuine curiosity.
Later that night, the campus of the men's dormitory falls into a quiet, uneasy calm. Inside their room, Ma Long is practically vibrating with excitement, shouting about how Si Chen has finally awakened. He tells their other roommates that the school gangs are going to think twice before messing with them now.
Xiang Zuo, a roommate with an undercut and a bad attitude, listens with a look of pure boredom. He pokes Ma Long in the head, mocking the idea of an awakener needing to do basic cardio in the rain. Across the room, Xiang Yu does not even look up from his computer, convinced that Ma Long has finally lost his mind.
Xiang Zuo reminds them that they are all in this bottom-tier dorm for a reason. In his eyes, they are the four biggest failures in the entire school. He conjures a small orb of red magic in his hand, his face twisting into a sneer as he tries to assert dominance. He claims that awakening more than one class is impossible, labelling Ma Long and the others as nothing more than useless support types.
Xiang Zuo boasts that he is the only one in the room with a real combat class, a nucleus mage. He admires his own muscles, convinced that he has been getting stronger and might actually make it into a decent club soon. But on the other side of the room, Xiang Yu reminds everyone that the final rank test is tomorrow, and that is when their true worth will be put on display.
Elsewhere, a massive portal burns with a fierce yellow flame at the entrance of the E-rank training demon lair. A man in a white lab coat steps through the shimmering gate, his presence commanding respect from the guards. Gong Ting, the student council president, walks out of the training zone with a stoic expression. Ling Yu follows close behind, her eyes scanning the area.
Gong Ting orders the training session to end for the day, his voice calm and authoritative as the other students bow. He stops and looks over his shoulder, sensing someone waiting in the shadows. He finds Gong Cheng leaned against the wall, his head and arms covered in heavy bandages, waiting for his older brother.
Gong Cheng, his face a mess of bandages and medical tape, is absolutely fuming as he shouts at his older brother. He cannot stand the humiliation and demands that Gong Ting take care of the guy who did this to him. Gong Ting remains perfectly stoic, his eyes fixed on some distant point while his brother rants about how he was bullied in front of everyone. After a long silence, Gong Ting's yellow eyes narrow as he gives a simple, cold response, promising to handle the situation personally.
The sharp blade of a steak knife glides effortlessly through a thick, rare piece of meat, the juice pooling on the white porcelain plate. Gong Ting and Ling Yu are seated at a long, candlelit dining table in a room that screams old-school wealth. Ling Yu leans back, casually asking what his plan is for dealing with the newcomer who beat his brother.
Gong Ting does not answer immediately, his gaze shifting to the side as he considers whether this Si Chen is truly as powerful as the reports suggest.
Ling Yu sits elegantly in an ornate red chair, noting that Gong Ting has already scouted every high-ranking student in the school for his club. She points out that with fewer than ten D-ranks in the entire student body, he has practically monopolized the top talent. She leans in slightly, her purple eyes glinting in the candlelight as she mentions that most students do not have the same access to high-level demon lairs that he does. In her view, those at the bottom have no real path for improvement, forever trapped in their mediocre ranks while the elite continue to grow stronger.
Far from the luxury of the dining hall, Si Chen is out on the school's running track, his silhouette a lonely figure moving through the heavy night rain. He is pushing himself to the limit, carrying a hundred kilograms of weight while grinding out a twenty-kilometer run despite the downpour. His mind is focused on the science of awakening, knowing that physical strength is the foundation upon which extreme class powers are built. He believes that without a strong enough vessel, no one can truly harness their full potential.
Rainwater streams down Si Chen's face, but his expression never wavers from its cold, intense focus. He knows that his current level of training is still nowhere near what he needs to face the horrors of the future.
His thoughts drift back to the year 2160, a time of utter despair when the demon king known as Wrath emerged from the demon lair to bring ruin to the world. In his memory, the sky is a hellish shade of red, filled with the massive, writhing tentacles of the demon king as it begins its slaughter of humanity. The most painful memory is of his sister, Shan, lying lifeless in his arms under a gray, rain-slicked sky. She was murdered by the demon king's own hands.
The silhouette of Wrath looms over a pile of corpses, the gate of hell forced open behind him to let the other demon kings spill into the mortal realm.
Back in the present, Si Chen's eyes burn with a dark, vengeful light. He has set a singular, absolute goal for this first stage of his new life. A demonic, star-marked eye stares back from the darkness of his memory, representing the monster that took everything from him.
His mission is clear. He must kill Wrath. He calculates the time he has left, knowing that there are only three years before the demon king's descent. He has to grow faster than the monster if he wants to change history.
Suddenly, the vibration of a phone breaks his concentration, and he looks down to see a name on the screen that should not be there. The caller ID shows a picture of a smiling Shan, her hair in pigtails, with the words Incoming Call flashing brightly against the dark, rainy background.
Si Chen puts in his earpiece, his hand trembling slightly as he answers the call from the sister he thought he had lost forever. Shan's voice is energetic and loud, immediately complaining about how many times he called her today.
Si Chen stands motionless in the middle of the track, listening to her voice like it is a miracle. She excitedly tells him about a competition she has entered, hoping that winning the prize money will finally solve their problems with the rent. Si Chen closes his eyes, his internal monologue revealing how many times he prayed to the heavens in his past life for a chance to start over and save her.
Shan notices the silence and asks if it is raining on his end, her playful voice a sharp contrast to the cold reality of the stormy night. A small, sad smile touches Si Chen's lips as tears begin to mix with the rain on his cheeks, and he manages to choke out that it is nothing. Trying to keep his voice steady, he admits to himself that he just needed to hear her voice again. The simple sound of her breathing is enough to validate everything he has gone through.
Shan remains oblivious to his turmoil, promising to see him as soon as her competition is over and telling him to wait for her good news.
As the call ends, Si Chen looks up at the rainy sky, finally accepting that his life has truly begun again. He turns and starts running again with renewed vigor, shouting to himself that he has three more laps to go. The determination in his heart is absolute. He will become stronger than anyone, at any cost, to protect the sister he has been given back.