The room was left speechless; everyone stood in shock, looking at Khal, who had a somewhat nervous expression on his face as he looked up.

  Principal Lou started to walk over to the priest, his expression clearly furious. “We're not here to joke around, High Priest. I asked what grade the blessing he awakened was, not for you to stand there and make a fool of yourself.”

  The priest frantically moved his hands, sweat pouring down his face. “Principal Lou, I take my job very seriously, and my A-grade blessing status window inspect is never wrong!”

  He continued. “The only thing his blessings description reads is, ‘Endless Adaptation.’ And the only skill it possesses is a passive skill called ‘Adaptation,’ not to mention his initial stats are all below 8.

  Khal stood frozen, thoughts racing. F grade? Where did he get that from?

  It doesn’t seem that he can read the full details of my status window; the system hasn't even graded my blessing.

  Another system window popped up, surprising Khal.

  As I thought, my system seems to be different from everyone else's. What is truly bothering me is that level 0 cap… Everyone starts at level one; is this trying to tell me I can’t level up? And where the hell is my stats tab?

  Murmurs rippled through the auditorium.

  “What? No way his blessing is F-grade! Only grade A and higher blessings can trigger a divine effect.”

  “Well, not exactly,” another student whispered. “A divine effect can happen under two conditions: if the blessing itself is of a high grade or if the individual has extraordinary talent. It looks like Khal’s was talent-based… Though it seems like his luck ran out, and he awakened trash.”

  The murmurs grew louder. Khal turned to face the crowd. The admiration in their eyes had now been replaced with pity. Contempt.

  “Khal.” Principal Lou called.

  Here’s the thing, Mister Khal, Although you triggered a divine effect during your awakening, it seems that it was due to your talent. And while your ability sounds impressive... since the dawn of the Awakened, there has never been a powerful blessing with such a short description and lack of skills.”

  Lou sighed, shaking his head. “I hope you understand; my hands are tied here and I'm afraid I cannot be of help...”

  Tch. Khal clicked his tongue. These idiots only see things one way. If the blessing’s description isn’t lengthy, they assume you’re doomed to fail. Even the system treats it this way…

  “Think nothing of it.”

  Khal shoved his hands into his pockets and walked toward the exit stairs, his expression frustrated. Not me. Just wait. I’ll show you all.

  “Mr. Khal, wait a second!” Principal Lou called after him.

  Khal ignored him, pushing past the crowd. The students moving aside, parting as though he carried a disease.

  “So what if he’s the young master of the Dragul family? He’s just trash now.” A student whispered.

  “This is a slap in the face to the Draguls. Who would’ve thought their talented young master would become a waste?”

  Laughter followed, but Khal didn’t spare them a glance. He kept walking until he reached the exit, pushing the heavy doors open and letting them slam shut behind him.

  Outside the school.

  Men and women in sleek suits stood waiting. Guild representatives. College scouts.

  A few days ago, these guys had been eager to curry favor with me. Now, they are avoiding my gaze.

  Tch. Khal clicked his tongue, holding his head down.

  At the front of the school, an expensive black sports car pulled up. The black-tinted window rolled down, revealing a muscular man in dark shades.

  “Get in, Khal.” the man voiced, not giving Khal a glance.

  Khal approached the car, resting his hand on the driver’s door. “How did my third and fourth brothers awakening go?”

  The man said nothing, not even glancing at him.

  Khal sighed and got into the back seat. The car driving off from the school.

  Khal leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. How long is this going to take?

  John adjusted his rear-view mirror, an arrogant smirk tugging at his lips. “So an F-rank blessing, huh?” He lifted his hand dramatically. “Failure: Young Master of the Dragul Family. Once a prodigy, now zero! Haha!”

  Khal ignored his taunts, his focus locked on the system window.

  About time. Khal sat up, focusing on the window.

  Tutorial huh… It sounds like if I say yes, it'll move me to a separate space, even if it's only my mind and not my body, I'm not sure how long I'll be gone for, and the dimwit John will notice eventually.

  Khal lifted his head, looking at Jhon, still ranting in the front seat.

  Sigh, “Whatever, f**k this guy.”

  “Yes.”

  The smart choice would probably be to choose normal or maybe even hard... but if I truly want to get stronger, I need to stop choosing the easiest routes.

  Khal stretched his arm out, pressing the window.

  Bright blue boxes materialized around Khal. One by one, they vanished, taking pieces of him with them.

  Khal disappeared.

  “Your siblings are going to have a good laugh when they find out about this,haha, F grade.”

  Jhon looked back at the rear-view mirror once again, and Khal was nowhere to be seen.

  Skrrrt!!

  John quickly stopped the car.

  “Hey, come out, kid this isn't funny… KHAL”

  Khal’s body began to reappear in a new environment. As he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark forest. The trees had blackened bark, and a blood-red moon cast an eerie glow over the land.

  “Well, that was quite abrupt. I don't have stats; the least you can do is hand me a weapon.” Khal argued, No answer came from the system.

  Sigh, it doesn't seem like the system will be giving me any help or a hint on how exactly I'm supposed to do this, so I'll have to rely on myself.

  Khal started to venture into the forest, grabbing a nearby log he saw along the way.

  So how exactly am I going to defeat a gray wolf? He thought.

  if im not wrong gray wolves are typical level 3 monsters that travel in packs, and even though the system never mentioned that i can die in the tutorial there's no way i can—

  Khal stopped in his tracks, not moving a muscle, sweat dripping off his forehead, his face flustered.

  What is that? Khal thought, staring at two bright yellow dots looking in his direction from in the bushes.

  Rustle

  A wolf's head came out of the bushes, growling, its mouth dripping saliva, its eyes locked on Khal.

  I know this is supposed to be extremely difficult but sending a regular human after a level 5 monster is insanity. Is the system trying to get me killed?

  Khal slowly started to back away, trying his best to stay calm.

  SNAP

  Khal stepped on a twig.

  “Shit.” He spoke aloud.

  FWOOSH

  The wolf came charging, jumping towards him, his mouth widening for a bite.

  Khal swung the log.

  GRAAKH!

  Khal was too slow. The beast chomped down on his left arm, blood spilling everywhere.

  BAM!

  Khal fell on his backside.

  “GET OFF ME!!” Khal shouted in pain, punching the wolf with his right arm. IT HURTS, F**K IT HURTS SO MUCH.”

  SHIT, IT STILL HURTS… SO MUCH.

  Khal kept punching the wolf.

  “Get the hell off me!!”

  SPLRTCH!

  Khal sunk his thumb into the wolf’s eye socket, crushing it’s eye.

  YELP!

  The wolf cried, releasing Khal.

  Khal rolled over on his stomach, using his right arm to drag himself away. It doesn't hurt as much anymore but it still hurts so much. I need to get out of here; I’ve never experienced such pain in my life.

  GRAAKH!

  The wolf clamped down at the back of Khal’s neck, shaking its head, deepening the wound, blood flying everywhere.

  It's… getting… blurry… I'm… dying.

  Khal’s vision started to get even blurrier until… it went dark.

  GASP!—HAAAH… HUFF… HUFF…

  “What the.”

  Khal jumped up. touching his body all over and looking around. “I’m in the same area I was when I entered the tutorial zone."

  New chapters drop every Saturday at 5PM EST — steady, heavy, and worth the wait.

  Stay sharp, and remember: adaptation is survival.