(Begging you to finish the first three chapters; the cheat is first used in Chapter 7, and the power system begins to be introduced in Chapters 8 and 9.)

March 1, 3230, 8:47 AM. Rongcheng Third Middle School.

Sunlight streamed through the classroom's glass windows, casting geometric patches of light onto the floor.

On the podium of Class 7, Grade 12, history teacher Li Zhengping's voice carried a heavy sense of mission.

“Thirty years ago, the Nightmare World overlapped with Blue Star for the first time.”

Teacher Li clicked the holographic projection, and historical images emerged within the classroom: the sky torn asunder, countless violet-black fissures hanging over various nations, and soldiers clad in armor from different dynasties surging out from the cracks like a tide.

“That disaster caused nearly one-fifth of the global population to disappear, until humanity discovered that as long as they established a 'territory' in the Nightmare World, they could curb the expansion of the fissures and even bring feedback to the real world.” (PS: Once the first territory is established, Nightmare World monsters will no longer descend upon the corresponding country.)

The image shifted. In the center of the projection floated the phantom of a three-legged bronze cauldron, its body engraved with the patterns of Daxia's mountains and rivers, but three faint cracks were clearly visible on its belly.

“This is our National Fortune Cauldron.” Teacher Li pushed up his glasses, his voice lowering. “Every crack corresponds to a county-level or higher territory our country has lost in the Nightmare World over the past three months.

Currently, the daxia national destiny cauldron ranks third globally and first in Asia.”

The classroom was pin-drop silent. Fifty students stared at the projection; some swallowed nervously, while others subconsciously clenched their fists.

Lin Feng sat in the third row by the window, his gaze moving past the blackboard to rest on the holographic projection hanging on the classroom wall.

It was the phantom of a bronze cauldron with three legs and two ears. At this moment, the cauldron's body rotated slightly, and the three fine cracks on its belly were clearly visible in the morning light. A row of data scrolled beneath the projection:

【daxia national destiny cauldron · Global Rank: 3】

【Territory Status: Main City x1, city-level x3, county-level x68, town-level x765, village-level x5457】

【Warning: Lost 3 county-level territories, 7 town-level territories, and 57 village-level territories in the last three months】

An oppressive tension filled the classroom. Someone secretly checked a Dream Net livestream on their phone; on the screen, a certain town-level lord was commanding militia to repair a city wall, while the bullet chat was filled with comments like “Go for it!” and “Hold the line!”

His gaze moved past the projection of the National Fortune Cauldron, looking out the window at the lowerclassmen on the playground undergoing “Compulsory Cold Weaponry” training. They held training spears and repeated thrusting motions under the instructor's commands.

Since the descent of the Nightmare World, the global education system had been completely restructured. While math, physics, and chemistry remained important...

“Martial Arts Theory,” “Cold Weapon Combat,” and “Nightmare Geography” had become core subjects on par with Language and Mathematics.

The total score for the college entrance exam was 750, of which 500 points were directly or indirectly linked to knowledge of the Nightmare World.

“Everyone, look up front!” Li Zhengping rapped the podium hard. “It’s the final day and you're still distracted?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the smart clock in the classroom jumped to 8:50 AM.

Only ten minutes remained until the globally synchronized moment of awakening.

Lin Feng looked down at his hands. His palms were slightly sweaty, but he forced himself to take a deep breath.

For thirty years, at exactly 9:00 AM on March 1st every year, one hundred thousand citizens from each country who would turn eighteen that year would randomly awaken.

No one knew what the criteria were. Some said it was genes, some said will, and others said it was pure luck.

His deskmate Wang Hao leaned over and whispered, “Brother Feng, how many do you think our class will have this year?”

“You can figure it out by calculating the probability.” Lin Feng lowered his voice. “There are a thousand seniors in the whole school, about five million peers nationwide, and a hundred thousand slots... On average, there might be one per class.”

“One...” Wang Hao swallowed hard. “Who will it be?”

No one could answer that question. Awakening had nothing to do with family background, nothing to do with academic performance, and wasn't necessarily fully related to physical fitness.

Data from the past thirty years showed that among the Awakened, there were both combat champions and patients who had been bedridden for years.

The only certainty was that once one Awakened, their life trajectory would be completely altered.

In the front row, the rich kid Zhao Kai straightened his back. He had specially worn a custom suit today, and the smartwatch on his wrist was a limited edition; the dial didn't show the time, but rather the real-time status of a village-level territory owned by the Zhao family in the Nightmare World.

On the other side, the study representative Su Yurou was quietly organizing her notes. She went over the key points of the “Nightmare World Survival Guide” once more, the edges of the pages covered in colorful tabs.

Her father was a retired village-level lord. After his territory was overrun by a Nightmare Tide three years ago, he now served as a consultant for the Rongcheng Nightmare Affairs Bureau.

Lin Feng's family was much more ordinary. Both his parents were common factory workers.

A real-time projection of the daxia national destiny cauldron hung in their living room. Before every meal, his father would glance at the number of cracks on the cauldron's body.

“Five minutes left.” Li Zhengping put down the chalk, his voice suddenly softening. “No matter the outcome today, you are all the future of the nation. Remember what the principal said—”

Before he could finish, a piercing alarm shattered the school's tranquility.

It wasn't a fire alarm or an earthquake warning; it was the awakening warning bell. The speakers in every classroom rang out simultaneously:

【Attention all Grade 12 teachers and students, the awakening process is about to begin】

【Please remain seated and avoid moving】

The holographic projection in the classroom automatically switched, the image of the National Fortune Cauldron enlarging to occupy the entire wall. The cauldron began to rotate slowly, and a dark red glow emanated from the cracks.

Lin Feng felt his heart pounding violently in his chest. He looked out the window; the lowerclassmen on the playground had all retreated into the teaching buildings, and the entire campus had fallen into an eerie silence.

The sky was still azure, but a faint purple aura was vaguely visible—the energy field produced by the overlapping of the Nightmare World and Blue Star.

“It's coming...” someone whispered.

The clock jumped to 8:59:50 AM.

The voice on the broadcast turned into a cold, mechanical female voice: 【Global synchronized countdown: ten, nine, eight...】

In the classroom, fifty students held their breath in unison. Some closed their eyes, some gripped their deskmate's hand, and some stared at the projection of the National Fortune Cauldron, praying silently.

【Three, two, one】

【Awakening process initiated】

Time became viscous in that second.

Lin Feng saw a pale golden light descend from the ceiling, sweeping across the classroom like a searchlight.

Around everyone the beam passed, a faint aura emerged; blue represented unawakened, while purple represented Awakened.

The first beam swept over Zhao Kai.

A burst of purple light!

Zhao Kai was completely enveloped in a purple cocoon of light, its surface flowing with complex runes. He snapped his eyes open, a flash of wild joy appearing in them.

“Zhao Kai Awakened!” someone exclaimed.

The second beam swept over Su Yurou.

It was also purple light, but the color was fainter and softer. Su Yurou took a deep breath and looked at her hands, her expression complex.

“Two! Our class already has two!”

The pillar of light continued to move, sweeping over one classmate after another. Blue, blue, blue... Every time the blue light lit up, it was accompanied by a soft sigh.

Lin Feng watched as the pillar of light drew closer. He could feel a certain power surging within his body, like something that had been dormant for many years was waking up.

The beam of light shone on him.

In an instant, the world lost its sound.

It wasn't absolute silence, but rather all sounds were being stretched and distorted.

He saw his deskmate Wang Hao's mouth moving, but couldn't hear anything; he saw the dark red light at the cracks of the National Fortune Cauldron's projection begin to pulse.

Then, purple. It burst from his chest, instantly swallowing his entire field of vision.

Within that light, countless tiny numbers and symbols emerged, flowing like a waterfall, finally condensing into a line of text before his eyes:

【Connecting to Nightmare World... Identity confirmed... Lin Feng, 18 years old, Daxia citizen, meets awakening conditions】

【Talent detection in progress...】

【Special soul fluctuation detected...】

【Talent activated: Eye of Probability (Unique)】

【Can designate a kill drop item once every thirty days (ignores original probability, original probability cannot be 0). Charges: 1/1】

【Talent is soul-bound; cannot be stripped or transferred】

Eye of Probability? Lin Feng was stunned. Once a month, designate a drop... In other words, as long as he could kill any unit and the drop rate for an item wasn't zero, he ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) could obtain the desired item with one hundred percent certainty?

He immediately thought of the “Village Establishment Order.” According to what he'd learned in class, it was one of the most precious items in the Nightmare World, with only a one-in-a-million chance of dropping from killing a “Nightmare Legion.” (PS: This is the drop rate for the lowest-level soldiers; higher-level monsters will increase it.)

And only by possessing a Village Establishment Order could one establish a territory...

The purple light receded.

The classroom exploded into a frenzy.

“Three! Our class produced three Awakened!”

“Lin Feng Awakened too?”

Wang Hao was stunned at first, then he suddenly slammed the desk, nearly sending his textbooks and stationery flying. He stared wide-eyed and pointed at Lin Feng: “Holy crap! Brother Feng, you actually made it?!”

He rushed over in a single stride, grabbed Lin Feng's arm, and lowered his voice, shouting with both urgency and joy:

“Don't forget me when you're rich and powerful, brother! If you pull a Village Establishment Order, you've gotta take me with you! I'll be your assistant village chief—no, I'll even be the village dog! Just feed me!”

The surrounding classmates burst into laughter, and someone teased, “Wang Hao, your awareness is faster than a Nightmare Tide!”

Wang Hao didn't care at all, rubbing his hands and chuckling, “Of course! I was the earliest investor in Lin Feng! I've been betting on him since I started borrowing his erasers in tenth grade!”

Lin Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry and gently pushed him away. “Let me survive the newbie period first.”

【All Awakened, please proceed immediately to the school's Awakening Hall. Repeat, all Awakened...】

Hurried footsteps came from the hallway. When Lin Feng stood up, he felt his body was a bit light, as if he had just surfaced from deep water.

He looked at Zhao Kai and Su Yurou, who were also looking at him. Zhao Kai's gaze was scrutinizing, while Su Yurou's was pure surprise.

The three were led out of the classroom by the teacher. In the hallway, doors of other classes were opening one after another, and students enveloped in purple halos kept walking out.

Some were crying, some were laughing, and some followed the teachers blankly.

“Quite a few Awakened in our school this year.”

The PE teacher leading the way counted them up. “There are already eight on this floor alone.”