The Awakening Orb pulsed with a sudden flare of green light.
Gasps echoed through the hall as every eye turned toward the source: a broad-shouldered student with close-cropped black hair standing calmly in front of the platform. His name was already on everyone's lips.
Liam Stone.
Just like with Fin and Jenny before him, a manifestation appeared—a phenomenon unique to new Awakeners. Emerald energy shimmered across Liam's body. In an instant, a translucent staff materialized in his grasp, forged from coiling mist and laced with venomous green hues. It hovered there for a moment, humming with restrained power, before vanishing into the air like a mirage.
"Liam Stone has successfully awakened a class—Poison Mage!" the teacher announced, his voice cracking slightly from the shock.
The room erupted.
"No way! Liam?! That's insane!"
"He already broke his gene chain last year after failing to awaken. Now he pulls this off? What kind of lottery luck is that?"
"It's not just luck—he fused with a poison bloodline, remember? This class fits him perfectly! He's gonna skyrocket.!"
"Man, screw this system..."
Fin listened as a chorus of disbelief and envy swelled around him. Even he couldn't deny it—he was impressed.
Liam Stone wasn't just some overachiever. At Velin Public High School No. 5, he was a local legend. Unlike most top students who came from elite families or prestigious academies, Liam was from a working-class background, just like them.
But his fame didn't come from grades or extracurriculars—it came from a bold, borderline reckless decision. After failing to awaken during last year's ceremony, Liam had chosen to break his gene chain early. He'd fused his body with a beast bloodline—one compatible with poison—and survived the ordeal, gaining enhanced physical traits in the process.
It was a desperate move. Gene chain rupturing wasn't just risky—it was suicidal for most. Altering one's DNA at that scale without proper resources or backup was like playing Russian roulette with your life.
But Liam had gambled—and won.
And now, he wasn't just a survivor. He was something else entirely.
A Poison Mage.
A supernova.
Fin recalled the lessons drilled into them: Awakeners sat at the top—able to enter the Nexus and evolve through their classes. Bloodliners, meanwhile, were the muscle. They couldn't access the Nexus, but their strength kept cities standing.
The government called it balance.
Fin called it a lie.
Bloodliners were the soldiers.
Awakeners were the leaders.
At least, that's what the government preached.
Since the apocalypse reshaped Earth, the rules of life had changed. Spatial voids opened across the globe, connecting Earth to other worlds—some teeming with alien races, others crawling with monsters. The Nexus was one such realm, and it was only through technology salvaged from it that humanity learned to modify its own biology.
That's how bloodlines came to be. Through alien DNA, people could temporarily mimic the strength of Awakeners. But the cost was enormous—rare resources, expensive procedures, and a terrifying risk of failure.
Which made Liam's case all the more shocking.
Everyone knew he wasn't rich. So where had he gotten the money?
No one asked out loud, but Fin could feel the question simmering in the silence between every cheer.
Meanwhile, the teacher—who'd barely smiled when Fin and Jenny awakened—now looked like he'd hit the jackpot. A grin stretched across his face as he gestured for Liam to join them on the podium.
"Come here and stand beside them," he said, practically beaming.
Liam nodded and walked over, calm and composed. He gave Fin and Jenny a brief nod, which they returned without a word.
Three Awakeners.
Three names now etched into the school's history.
The teacher, still riding the high, quickly resumed the ceremony. The final ten students approached the orb—some with trembling hands, others with hardened eyes.
But none of them awakened.
Not even the ones who had taken the same gamble Liam had.
No one was surprised. Awakening wasn't guaranteed—especially not at 19, when the soul had already begun to settle.
Even so, the teacher looked satisfied. Three Awakeners in one batch was more than he had hoped for.
As the ceremony wound down, a hush fell over the auditorium. The noise faded, replaced by the heavy weight of realization. For most students, the future had just taken a darker turn.
Some looked disheartened. Others clenched their fists, trying to hide their despair. Still, they listened intently as the teacher stepped forward once more, his voice softer now.
"That's it for today. For those of you who didn't awaken, remember—this isn't the end. During the early days of the apocalypse, nearly half of humanity's saviors weren't Awakeners. Ordinary people, bloodliners, even scientists and builders—every one of them helped shape the world we live in. Don't give up."
A few heads lifted. For a moment, the students below the podium straightened their backs.
Even Fin had to admit—the teacher knew how to deliver a speech.
But he also knew the truth: once they stepped outside, reality would hit like a freight train. Most jobs were already obsolete, devoured by automation and Nexus technology. Banks, post offices, even restaurants run by humans were now rare or reserved for the ultra-rich.
For the average person, life was a constant struggle to survive.
It wasn't until Fin reincarnated here that he truly understood an old truth: technology doesn't save you. It cuts both ways.
And this—the desperation, the hunger in their eyes—was why so many students pinned their hopes on Awakening. It wasn't about glory. It was about escape.
If Fin hadn't awakened, he'd be sitting with them now, clinging to those words.
He knew how lucky he was.
The teacher, sensing that his words had taken root, gave a satisfied nod and continued.
"The entrance exams for regular colleges and Awakeners academies are in five months. Whether you awakened or not, don't waste this time. Just because today's the last day of school doesn't mean it's time to slack off."
"Yes, sir!" the students responded in unison, including Fin, Liam, and Jenny.
"Alright. You're dismissed!"
As the students began to file out of the hall—some chatting, some silent—the teacher turned back to the podium, eyes falling on the three Awakeners.
"You three," he said with a smile. "Follow me to the principal's office."
Fin followed a step behind the other two, hands in his pockets, his gaze lowered in thought. The hallway outside the auditorium was quiet, the silence broken only by the teacher's excited voice echoing off the walls.
He was practically buzzing with energy, speaking almost exclusively to Liam as they walked.
"A Poison Mage! That's extremely rare, you know. And a perfect synergy with your bloodline too—amazing! Your potential growth rate could rival some of the elites from the capital academies! Have you thought about applying to the Silverleaf Institute? They love rare-element classes."
Fin glanced sideways at the back of Liam's head. Calm. Silent. Unfazed. As if he'd expected this all along.
The teacher didn't seem to mind the lack of response. If anything, he took it as encouragement and kept going, throwing out names of institutions, programs, and connections like candy.
Jenny walked beside them as well, quiet but visibly pleased. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, still riding the high of her awakening.
Fin, however, let out a slow sigh.
He could already see where this was going.
A visit to the principal. A warm welcome. A few words of encouragement. Maybe even a soft reminder of the school's role in their success. It was the same routine: cozy up to rising stars early, then bask in their glow once they made it big.
Not that it was surprising.
It was just... predictable.
He wasn't annoyed by it—just tired. In a way, it reminded him too much of the corporate world from his past life. Smiles, handshakes, empty praise—none of it mattered once you stopped being useful.
Still, he didn't dislike the attention. He knew it was better than being ignored.
But he also knew it wouldn't last.
A few more turns and they reached the administration wing. The walls here were cleaner, the lighting softer, as if even the air was different. The teacher knocked lightly on the principal's office door, then pushed it open without waiting for a reply.
"Come in, come in!"
The principal stood from behind his desk—a tall man with silver hair and sharp eyes that missed nothing. His office was as pristine as ever, filled with antique books, a few Nexus relics on display, and a large digital screen showing real-time activity from the school grounds.
"Ah, you must be our new Awakeners," he said warmly. "Excellent. Please, take a seat."
Fin stepped in last, taking the chair farthest from the desk. He kept his expression neutral, arms resting loosely on the armrests.
Here it comes, he thought.
The start of another performance.
****
After being dismissed, Fin stepped out of the principal's office and let out a quiet breath. Just as he'd predicted, the meeting had been exactly what he expected.
The principal had offered smiles, congratulations, and a carefully rehearsed speech about "responsibility," "opportunity," and the "bright future that lay ahead." He'd praised each of them individually, emphasized the school's pride in their achievements, and subtly hinted at keeping in touch—even offering to write recommendation letters for the top academies if they needed.
Nothing Fin hadn't heard before in another life—different world, same game.
He hadn't even needed to speak much. Liam had soaked up most of the attention anyway, with the principal asking about his bloodline fusion, future plans, and whether he'd consider joining any local Awakener associations. Jenny had seemed more excited than overwhelmed, nodding eagerly and thanking the principal with every chance she got.
Fin?
He'd just nodded at the right times, smiled where appropriate, and kept quiet. He knew better than to believe any of it was personal.
Outside the office, 10 students from different class years waited in the hallway with three teacher accompany them. Fin briefly glance at them, memorized their faces before he parted ways with Jenny and Liam with a polite nod.
"I'll see you both around," he said, already turning away.
Neither protested.
As he walked down the corridor alone, Fin rubbed the back of his neck and muttered to himself, "Bright future, huh?"
It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the awakening. He knew how lucky he was. He just couldn't shake the feeling that everything was already setting itself up to play out like it had before.
People would smile now, offer favors, maybe even fight over him in the near future—but it would all depend on how useful he stayed.
One misstep, one bad decision, and those smiles would vanish like smoke.
Fin stepped outside into the warm morning sun and paused for a moment.
The mark on the back of his hand—the Nexus mark—faintly pulsed with a soft reddish hue.
His future had changed the moment that mark appeared.
The only question now was whether he could live up to expectations placed on him and try not to die in the process.
Leaving the school compound, Fin let his feet wander aimlessly at first, letting the chill of the morning air wash over him. It did little to clear the fog clouding his thoughts, but the rhythmic motion of walking helped. He needed time—time to think, to breathe, to make sense of everything.
In just a couple of hours, his life had turned upside down.
And not just because he'd awakened.
That alone would've been enough to shake most people. But for Fin, the bigger truth weighed heavier: this wasn't even supposed to be his life.
He had died. Plain and simple. One of those sudden, cliché deaths. One moment, he was back on Earth crossing the street, worried about his future and scraping together rent. The next? Truck -kun pounced on him like it had some kind of grudge against him. And then… this.
Another world. Another body. Another identity.
At first, he thought it was a coma dream. A hallucination. Maybe the fevered delusion of a dying mind. But the memories weren't his hallucinations. They belonged to someone else—this body's previous owner. And the longer he lived in it, the more their life became intertwined with his.
The technology. The powers. The classes. The Nexus.
Everything screamed this is real.
And then, the Awakening happened.
The orb. The surge of power. The status window. The class—Reaper.
It felt surreal. Like being handed the controls to a game he'd only ever watched others play. But this wasn't a game. There were no second chances here. No pause button. No logout option.
He looked up at the skyline—tall spires of chrome and glass stretching into the heavens like fingers reaching for something beyond human grasp. It was breathtaking, unfamiliar, and oddly impersonal. It reminded him that this world wasn't built for him.
But now, he was a part of it.
There were still too many unknowns, too many things that didn't make sense. But one thing was clear:
He wasn't who he used to be. And this world wasn't going to wait for him to catch up.
Either he adapted—or he got left behind.
Fin wasn't the type to wallow. He had regrets, sure. But if the universe had handed him a second shot at life, then he wasn't going to spend it moping about what he'd lost.
He had to move forward. Fast.
First step? Registration.