In Sterling High School, Class 3 of the senior year, a group of tense students focused on the podium.
Today was Awakening Day.
"Come up to get the potion when you hear your name called, and do the check half an hour later," said Victor Thorne, the bald, glasses-wearing class teacher.
He called the names one by one, and the students came up to get their potions.
"Don't mix them up. The potions are matched to your genes. Mistakes could lead to accidents." Victor cautioned as he distributed the potions.
"Ethan Hayes."
Victor continued to call.
In the back row of the classroom, a handsome boy stood up. Ethan took the potion and returned to his seat with a long sigh of relief.
A century ago, a nuclear war sparked a new era of human evolution.
Since then, everyone has been able to awaken their gene before adulthood and embark on the path of evolution.
However, talent differs. Some awaken an invincible gene and are destined to stand out from the crowd; others awaken ordinary genes and can only go with the flow.
Therefore, awakening the gene is crucial!
As a time traveler, he had been struggling in this parallel world for ten years.
Without any lucky break or system enhancement, he spent this time like any ordinary person.
Today marks the turning point in his fate: the awakening of his gene!
"As a transmigrator, I'm bound to stand out. Perhaps I could awaken some badass gene! Dual genes? Triple genes? Anything is possible!"
Ethan clutched the potion, pumping himself up.
Taking a deep breath, he tilted his head back, downing the potion in one gulp.
Holy crap, it's bitter!
Half an hour later, the students from the third class filed out one by one, heading to the examination room downstairs.
"Why, isn't this our highly talented Ethan?"
A big-built, sunnily handsome boy but somewhat smirky when he grinned, approached.
"Leo 'Too Dumb'?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow at the newcomer.
Leo was a childhood friend of Ethan.
He was primarily friends with Leo because Leo was the son of a wealthy family, and Ethan would often mooch snacks from him when they were kids.
They ended up playing together in this way.
"Hasn't your class finished the test?" Ethan asked.
"I just want to see your gene level," Leo answered bluntly.
Ethan raised an eyebrow and asked, "How about you? What's your rank?"
"I?" Leo smirked, snapping his fingers.
"Bang!"
Orange flames burst from his fingertips, causing heat waves to roll around their surroundings.
Shouts of surprise rang out from the onlookers.
With an air of nonchalance, Leo sighed, "Ah, just a common A-class Flame Gene."
Ethan quietly flipped him off.
The Gene ranks are from high to low: SABCDEF.
S-rank is extremely rare.
Besides the rank, it can also be divided into Psychic-type, Beast-type, and Elemental-type.
The Elemental-type is the most precious.
Once Leo announced his Gene, envy filled the eyes of those around them.
An A-class Elemental type, what a promising future!
"Alright," Victor called out, "Gene examination begins, form up in four lines."
"Go on, don't embarrass your dear old dad."
Leo gave Ethan a pat on the shoulder, a look of been-there-done-that on his face.
Ethan only rolled his eyes and flipped him off.
After waiting for quite some time, it was finally Ethan's turn.
Ethan took several deep breaths to stabilize his nerves, and stepped into the center of the machine.
With a humming noise, the machine lit up.
A circle of red light slowly appeared under Ethan's feet.
The more circles of light, the higher the gene level.
Then another hum, a second circle of light appeared, which then stopped increasing.
"E grade, next."
Victor shook his head in disappointment. An E grade was only slightly better than an ordinary person. Ethan looked at the two circles of light under his feet, his mind a little dazed.
Am I really that useless?
Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound in his head.
A mechanical voice sounded in his mind, "Host gene awakening detected, system officially activated."
System?
Ethan instantly snapped awake from his gloom, his joy beyond articulation.
"Super Evolution System commences binding!"
"Binding successful!"
"First-time activation of the system, a novice gift pack for you. Would you like to open it?"
Ethan chose to open it without hesitation.
"Congratulations! Host has acquired an S-grade Black Steel Battle Body gene!"
As the system voice receded, Ethan felt a warm current bubble up from his heart, instantly vaulting to every part of his body.
At this moment, Ethan felt his strength increase several times over, and his senses became astonishingly sharp.
Is this the awesomeness of the S-gene?
"Ethan? Are you alright?"
Class teacher Victor asked with concern.
Among the senior year students, those who couldn't accept their weak genes, leading to mental breakdowns or thoughts of suicide, were not a handful.
"Teacher Victor, I'm absolutely fine!"
Ethan responded cheerfully.
Seeing Ethan this jubilant, Victor grew even more anxious. "Has this child gone crazy?"
Finding joy in an E-tier gene?
"Professor Victor, I would like to retake the test." Ethan said.
"Retest?" Professor Victor glanced at the technician next to him.
"This is the latest equipment from the Federation with an accuracy rate of 99%, the result will be the same even if you retake the test!"
The technician said impatiently.
Every year, he encounters a bunch of people who refuse to believe in the low quality of their own genes, believing that the machine has made a mistake.
"Forget it, let's allow Ethan to retest." Victor suggested.
Victor felt somewhat uncomfortable. After all, Ethan had lost his parents at a young age, taken away by the beast tide.
The fact that this child has been able to survive until now is really not easy.
"Alright, fine."
With an unwilling expression, the technician cleared the data and restarted the device.
"Just this once! After testing, you must leave! Don't come back to bother me again!"
The technician vented at Ethan, appearing disgruntled.
Buzz-
The machine began to hum as it started.
Below Ethan, a circle of light gradually emerged, closely followed by a second one.
"Just watch, it's going to be the same as before," the technician rolled his eyes.
Before the words had settled, ka ka ka ka!
Four rings of light suddenly illuminated beneath Ethan! "Holy crap, is this A-level?" The technician's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
But before he could recover, the red light circle trembled violently and instantly transformed into a dazzling gold color.
In an instant, the entire testing room was bathed in golden light, so bright that one could hardly keep their eyes open.
"Holy hell!"
The technician bounced up from his chair.
"Holy shit!" Victor also abruptly straightened his body.
"This... this is a freaking S-level gene!"
Victor was so excited that his forehead turned red, and his voice changed tone.
"Holy Shit! An S-class! Ethan Hayes actually awakened an S-class gene!"
"Damn, our school has produced an S-class big shot!"
In the testing room, everyone was so astonished that their jaws nearly dropped.
A few other technicians came over, staring at the golden halo under Ethan's feet.
"Oh my god! It's really an S-class!"
"Mr. Finch, the lucky dog, came across an S-class!"
"I've been doing this job for nearly ten years. I haven't even touched an S-class hair!"
The sourness from several technicians was unbearable.
Technician Mr. Finch and Victor were as excited as if they had won the lottery.
An S-class gene was simply a rare treasure!
"Quick, quick, Ethan, come with me next door, let's see which series you belong to!"
Victor excitedly, his face all red, pulled Ethan and dashed towards the adjacent testing room.
"Wait for me!"
Mr. Finch also followed along eagerly.
The rest of the students and technicians didn't care about the ongoing test anymore and squeezed over.
Normally, everyone would have to finish testing their gene level before they could test their gene category.
However, Ethan is an S-rank big shot, so naturally, he can take a shortcut.
Under the gazes of the crowd, Ethan extended his hand into the instrument. A nanoneedle, too fine to be seen by the naked eye, pricked his finger.
A few seconds later, the test results were out.
Superpower Gene!
"Holy crap! An S-rank Superpower Gene!"
Old Man Victor jumped up excitedly, like a child who had won the lottery.
Although the Federation always maintains that gene categories are not ranked, everyone privately has their own preferences.
The most awesome gene would have to be the Elemental Gene, with its overwhelming offensive power.
Next is the Superpower Gene, and the Beast Gene can only be ranked third.
"Hey, Old Victor, I heard you are not playing by the rules? You let the student test the category without completing the gene level test. That's not okay!" At this moment, a pot-bellied middle-aged man with a thermos cup in his hand sauntered in.
This is Mr. Harrison, the homeroom teacher of the senior third-year Class One. Like Victor, he also teaches a key class.
The two classes have been in constant open and covert competitions, and these two teachers are no exceptions.
"By the rules, Old Victor, your monthly bonus will kiss goodbye."
Mr. Harrison opened his flask with a smug expression on his face.
Victor smirked, "Ethan possesses an S-level, Superpower Gene!"
"S-level or not, the rules are the rules... Halfway through his sentence, Mr. Harrison suddenly reacted, "Wait, what did you just say? He is an S-level?!"
Mr. Harrison gawked, looking at Ethan in disbelief. "I don't have time for your nonsense!"
Dragging Ethan, Victor pushed Mr. Harrison aside and rushed out the door.
With a clang, Mr. Harrison's flask was knocked over, spilling hot water all over his shoe.
"Ouch! That's hot!" cried Mr. Harrison.
"Ethan, remember, when you meet the principal later, take as much as you can. Don't be shy!"
When they arrived at the principal's office, Victor advised.
Ethan nodded.
Although Old Victor was known to be stern, everyone could see that he truly cared for his students.
No sooner had the words been spoken than a tall and burly man with an aura of wildness walked in. "Ethan Hayes!"
The Principal's voice echoed thunderously, making Ethan's ears ring.
"I didn't expect this. After so many years, our Sterling High School has produced another S-grade gene, and it's a Superpower Gene at that! Astounding!"
The Principal, with a beaming face, patted Ethan's shoulder, the intensity of his pat nearly toppling Ethan over.
If Ethan hadn't awakened his Black Steel Battle Body gene, he might have been knocked over by now.
"Sorry, sorry, I got a bit too excited." The Principal apologized, scratching his head, "I have a B-grade Brute Force Gene, so I tend to be pretty forceful and sometimes have trouble controlling my strength when I get excited."
The Principal sat down grinning, his gaze subtly glancing at Victor.