My name is Ryan Hartwell, an ordinary high school senior. You probably would not believe me if I told you this, but I ordered a takeout, and then I crossed over to another world.
Let me rewind thirty minutes.
"Throw it over! Just throw it over here!"
Near the school fence, a young man in a school uniform glanced around nervously like a thief with a guilty conscience, urgently calling out to someone on the other side.
"Dude, are you sure about this?"
Outside the fence, a delivery driver looked at the young man with suspicion written all over his face.
"Just throw it! I will catch it right here."
The surroundings were dead silent and completely empty, but this only made Ryan more nervous.
"Really?"
The delivery driver asked again, clearly unconvinced.
"Would I lie to you about something like this?"
Ryan rolled his eyes, growing impatient with the repeated questions.
"Alright then."
The delivery driver gave Ryan one last strange look, then used his muscular arm to hurl the bag of takeout over the fence.
The hefty bag sailed gracefully through the air, clearing the fence with ease, and landed with pinpoint accuracy directly on Ryan's head.
"What the hell is in this thing?!"
That was Ryan's last thought before everything went dark.
His eyes rolled back, his legs gave out, and he collapsed smoothly to the ground.
The delivery driver stood frozen, speechless.
After a moment of awkward silence, the delivery driver looked around cautiously. Seeing no witnesses, he quietly marked the order as delivered on his phone, hopped on his electric scooter, and rode away.
Ryan lay there peacefully on the ground, using the sky as his blanket and the earth as his bed.
Death or Alive at the mercy of God.
------
About half an hour later, Ryan suddenly sat up, clutching his head and looking around in confusion.
After regaining his senses, he cursed under his breath. "What the hell did Danny order?!"
Despite his complaints, Ryan still picked up the fallen takeout bag from beside him.
The moment he picked it up, Ryan froze in place.
Underneath the torn delivery bag was a gleaming, green Watermelon
Ryan's expression twisted into what could only be described as a "kind" smile. (▼皿▼)
Carrying the massive Watermelon, Ryan walked with that same "kind" expression toward the main building of the school.
"Attention students. Gym class assembly begins now."
"Please proceed to your designated areas in an orderly fashion."
The announcement echoed across campus. Ryan did not dare linger. He headed straight inside, passing empty hallways as students gathered outside for their physical education period.
As he climbed the stairs, Ryan kept glancing around cautiously, as if trying to avoid someone specific.
Finally, without incident, he arrived at the door of his classroom.
Room 310, Senior Year.
Just as he was about to push the door open, an uninvited guest silently appeared behind him.
A sudden chill ran down Ryan's spine, making him shiver involuntarily.
Ryan rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Why is it suddenly so cold in the middle of summer?"
At that exact moment, a hand landed heavily on his shoulder.
Ryan turned around and found himself face to face with a stern, dark-complexioned man.
His heart sank with a heavy thud. The surrounding was cold, but his heart was even colder.
The man wore black-framed glasses and had his hair slicked back neatly. His face was stern, and his eyes radiated what could only be described as "killing intent."
Ryan forced an awkward smile. "Mr. Sai! What... what are you doing here?"
Internally, he was screaming. "Damn it! Why did I have to run into Vice Principal Sai?!"
Mr. Sai, the vice principal in charge of discipline, said nothing. He simply draped his arm over Ryan's shoulder and walked him toward the classroom podium.
"Let's talk," Mr. Sai said, picking up the wooden ruler from the desk with a "kind" expression eerily similar to Ryan's earlier one. "Where exactly were you during gym class?"
"Uh... well..." Ryan stammered, unable to find words.
After a long pause, Ryan seemed to steel his resolve. With a righteous expression, he declared, "Mr. Sai, do you trust me?"
To avoid punishment, Ryan decided to go all in.
Mr. Sai paused, clearly caught off guard, but did not answer immediately. "Go on. Let's hear it."
"Originally, I only planned to skip for a little while to pick up a delivery. But I did not expect there would be a watermelon inside!"
"It knocked me out cold! When I woke up, gym class was almost over!" Ryan said with the most serious expression he could muster.
Mr. Sai remained silent.
The two of them stared at each other wordlessly.
Mr. Sai let out a long sigh, his tone filled with helplessness. "Honestly, I think saying you fell asleep in the bathroom would be more believable than this."
Ryan looked at Mr. Sai awkwardly. "Uh..."
At that moment, Ryan cursed Danny a thousand times over in his mind.
"Ryan Hartwell, do you know what time it is right now?" Mr. Sai's face turned cold. Combined with his stern expression, he looked particularly fierce.
Ryan jolted in fear, thinking to himself, "I am done for."
Mr. Sai was the vice principal in charge of student discipline, known for his strict standards. Students privately called him "The Reaper."
"You are a senior now! Do you understand what that means?"
"This is your last chance to change your life!"
"Gym class is such an important course, and you still dared to skip it?"
"Tell me—do you still want to participate in the Awakening Assessment the day after tomorrow?" Mr. Sai said with a darkened face and a severe tone.
"Awakening Assessment? What is that?" Ryan thought in confusion.
The first part of the lecture sounded normal, but that last sentence left Ryan completely baffled.
"I know that when you were in elementary school, you did not awaken any ability. In middle school, you still did not awaken anything."
"But that does not mean you will not awaken an ability now that you are a senior!" Mr. Sai raised his voice, speaking with passionate intensity.
"...What the hell is he talking about?" Ryan was losing his mind. He had absolutely no idea what Vice Principal Sai was saying, but he did not dare ask.
"Could this be... something new?" Ryan wondered suspiciously.
According to Mr. Sai, this is somehow related to elementary school, middle school, and high school.
But since when did something called an "Awakening Assessment" become part of the school system?
"Ryan, hard work always pays off. Giving up on yourself will only harm you. I believe in you, son." Seeing Ryan's dazed expression, Mr. Sai ended his pep talk.
"As for skipping class, I want a five-thousand-word reflection essay on my desk before the final bell today." Mr. Sai tossed the ruler aside and walked out of the classroom.
"Damn it! Five thousand words!" Ryan screamed internally. This was harder than killing him.
As for the "Awakening Assessment" Mr. Sai mentioned, Ryan had already pushed it to the back of his mind.
The sound of footsteps and chatter flooded in from outside the door.
During their conversation, Ryan's classmates had finished gym class and were heading back to the classroom.
Ryan slumped into his seat, a blank sheet of paper on his desk. The light in his eyes had completely dimmed.
"Hey! Make way, everyone!"
A loud, energetic voice rang out as a tall, muscular young man walked through the door.
He strode directly toward Ryan.
"Yo, Ryan! You alright? I saw The Reaper was not watching the field, so I figured he came looking for you." The young man asked with genuine concern.
This was Danny Maxwell, Ryan's best friend since childhood.
"Damn it, Danny! What am I supposed to do? Five thousand words!" Ryan complained bitterly.
Danny scratched his head with an embarrassed grin. "No worries, no worries. Same as always—you write twenty-five hundred, I write twenty-five hundred."
Ryan rolled his eyes. "All because of your damn watermelon. And I got chewed out on top of it."
"Vice Principal Sai must have some kind of problem. What is all this nonsense about an Awakening Assessment the day after tomorrow?"
"And he kept going on about how if I work hard, I can awaken an ability. But what does that have to do with graduating?" Ryan vented his frustration. He had been holding it in during the lecture.
"Wait, what? The Awakening Assessment really is the day after tomorrow!" Danny looked surprised.
"But honestly, you do not need to worry. People like us will not awaken anything even if we go." Danny shrugged helplessly.
"Hold on—what Awakening Assessment?" Ryan was confused all over again. He genuinely could not understand what they were talking about.
"You know—the ability assessment. We study this stuff every day." Danny said, puzzled, as he pointed to the textbooks on Ryan's desk.
Only then did Ryan actually look at the books on his desk. While they seemed similar to what he remembered, the titles were completely different.
Awakening 101: A Senior's Guide to Ability Manifestation
The 37 Essential Traits of Successful Awakeners
Daily Ability Journal: Track Your Progress
Ryan stared at the books in disbelief.
"What... the... hell?!"