Celestial City High School, teachers' office.
"Su Mo, it's been three days since you awakened. Why haven't you joined a single team yet?
In just a week, the college entrance exam starts. This is the most important moment of your life."
A man in his thirties wearing a suit sat there, talking earnestly to the young man in a school uniform sitting across from a desk.
Su Mo lifted his head, looked at Wang, and said seriously, "Teacher, I want to be DPS."
"Nonsense!"
Wang slammed the desk, jabbing a finger right at Su Mo's nose and snapped,
"You got a pure defense talent after awakening, and now you want to play DPS? If this isn't bullshit, what is?
Do you have any idea how good your awakened talent is? There are people who would literally kill for the chance to awaken to something like that, and they never will.
And now you're telling me you want to be DPS! What the hell is going through your head?"
Su Mo shook his head and, still looking determined, replied to Wang, "But it's my dream."
"Dreams? Dreams don't mean shit! Let me tell you, the cheapest thing in this world is a goddamn dream.
If you've got a talent, you better know how to cherish it. With what you have, getting into the best school—Huaqing University—is a sure thing.
If you just develop it well, our whole school could be proud of you one day."
Wang glared at Su Mo, voice getting louder, spit nearly flying into his face.
Su Mo knew deep down that Wang only wanted what's best for him, since when he first awakened, all he got was a high-level defense talent: [Extreme Defense].
It lets him block and completely isolate all kinds of damage for a short duration.
But after a night's sleep, his talent upgraded into a unique-level talent: [Absolute Defense].
No fancy explanation—just true absolute invincibility, immunity to all damage, period.
On top of that, he awakened another growth-based talent.
Heart of Slaughter: Every time you kill an enemy, you gain one free attribute point.
The stronger the enemy, the more attribute points you get. No cap on stacking!
As awesome as Absolute Defense was, this growth talent was just as crazy.
If he let this power grow, he wouldn't just be unbreakable—he'd be the strongest DPS too.
Su Mo didn't bother arguing with Wang, just nodded and said, "Okay, teacher, I understand."
Wang smiled back, nodding. "Alright, go find your teammates. I want to see you shine at the college entrance exam ranking trials."
Su Mo nodded, said yes, and left the teachers' office.
But once he stepped out, finding teammates was the last thing on his mind.
Instead, he walked right off campus to a weapon shop.
It's only been three days since his awakening, and truth is, on the very first day, his teacher had already brought him to the school's dungeon for a trial run.
But honestly, with just [Extreme Defense], he was nothing but a punching bag—did zero damage to monsters.
Even the weakest goblin took him half a day to fight head-on.
And even after all that, he only managed to badly injure it, not even finish the kill.
At first, he'd really thought about just joining a team and being their punching bag.
But after his talent upgrade on the second day, that idea was dead to him.
Instead, he woke up early and went straight to order a weapon.
Today, his custom weapon was finally done.
A team? Teammates?
Sorry, after that talent upgrade, he stopped caring about any of that.
Absolute Defense meant he was totally untouchable.
Heart of Slaughter could let his strength grow without limit.
Teaming up would just freak his teammates out, and if they got in trouble, he'd have to bail them out too.
So the best option? Go full lone wolf.
...
"Your Guan Saber is ready. Need us to deliver it for you?"
"No need, I'll carry it out myself."
After paying off the balance, Su Mo watched two store clerks haul over a giant Guan Saber, nearly two meters long.
The Great Guan Saber was 1.8 meters, exactly his height, with a forty-centimeter blade and the rest a long handle.
The whole thing, except the blade, was matte black—all weight and power, looked solid as hell.
Honestly, only this kind of heft matched his hundred-pound strength.
He'd first wanted to get a machete, but those just looked kind of lame and didn't have much class.
Plus, too light—a few hits and you'd need a new one. Total waste of money.
But a Guan Saber? It's got weight, it's got presence.
Swinging it looks badass, and going monster hunting with this thing is perfect—a match made in heaven for him.
Su Mo gripped the saber with both hands, planted his feet, and heaved the hundred-pound blade onto his shoulder in one go.
And just like that, with everyone staring in shock, he carried the thing all the way back to school.
Damn, nothing tops acting cool. Being cool forever? That's the dream life.
Truth is, the way he effortlessly hoisted the hundred-pound saber onto his shoulder and walked back into school—they had to admit, it was stylish as hell.
At first, he just wanted to show off, maybe find a corner to chill before heading back to the dungeon.
But the second he walked in, tons of people started whispering and pointing at him.
And a bunch of younger girls were already looking at him like he was their hero.
So then he just straight-up carried the hundred-pound Guan Saber over half the campus to the entrance of the Trial Secret Realm.
As soon as he got there, he let the Guan Saber drop from his shoulder to the ground—boom! The sound made the whole concrete floor tremble.
Everyone nearby couldn't tear their eyes off him.
Right then, a guy in a white robe hauling a blood-red saber on his back strutted up, looking all arrogant:
"You must be Su Mo. Name's Zhang Qi, from Class 3, Senior year—my awakened profession is the Divine Saber.
I'm also the only high-level Professional Awakened this year. How about joining up with me?"
Su Mo glanced at him, at first kind of interested that the guy was a Professional Awakened.
But after seeing that cocky attitude, he just shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not looking to team up right now."
With that, Su Mo ignored him and walked straight into the Trial Secret Realm entrance.
Not like he planned to team up anyway, but even if he had to, it sure as hell wouldn't be with someone like that.
There are two kinds of awakenings: one is ability awakening, like Su Mo's.
The other is professional awakening, like this dude here.
Ability Awakened are stronger in the early game—the better your talent, the stronger you are at the start. Professional Awakened, they're the opposite.
Watching Su Mo go into the dungeon, Zhang Qi's face immediately soured.
After all, he was the only student this year who awakened a high-level DPS class.
Before, tons of Defense Profession Awakened tried to team up with him, but he always turned them down.
Now, the one time he swallows his pride to invite Su Mo—rejected, just like that.
His ego just took a serious hit.
All around them, students started whispering.
"Whoa, he's actually going into the Trial Secret Realm solo?"