Michael tried his best to ignore the cries of his fellow classmates around him.
Failing to awaken in this world was not like failing a college exam on Earth. In the latter case, you could keep trying, and many alternatives weren't considered worse than attending college. But here, failing to awaken had no equivalent alternative.
It was like a poor man, burdened with the responsibility of caring for his two chronically ill parents while also supporting a younger sibling through school, betting on three different games with a chance to win a million dollars each—and losing everything.
In such a situation, breaking down and crying wouldn't be unusual.
The scene around Michael now was eerily similar.
Most of the students at Woodstone Public School No. 3 came from families living near or below the poverty line.
For them, successfully awakening was like having a hundred million dollars land in their lap. But for these sobbing students, that distant hope of drastically changing their lives had slipped through their fingers three times in a row.
It was no wonder that some of them broke down in tears immediately.
Michael tried not to let the dark atmosphere surrounding him affect his mindset and attempted to stay positive.
His situation wasn't any better than those around him—if not worse. In this world, the original owner of this body was an orphan living with his aunt, a widow with a child of her own to care for. Together, the family of three barely survived on the limited funds his aunt managed to earn.
For Michael, successfully awakening was the fastest way to change his family's fate, but his chance of awakening was less than 1%.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge of bitterness. Though he was grateful for the chance to live again, especially in a healthy body, it would be painful to live a life of mediocrity. Yet, there was nothing he could do about his slim chance of awakening; all he could do was hope for the best.
Michael continued to watch as more students stepped up to the podium, only to fail in their attempts to awaken.
There were only a total of 86 students in the hall, so Michael's turn was approaching quickly. Since the teacher hadn't assigned a queue and called names at random, Michael could only wait for his turn.
Just when the teacher in charge of the awakenings thought that this batch of students would only produce one Awakener, the awakening orb in front of him suddenly emitted light.
The cause of the reaction was a male student standing before him. Just like the female student who had first awakened, a manifestation appeared—standard for new Awakeners.
The male student's body glowed red, and a staff made of fire appeared in his hands before promptly disappearing.
"Brian Lian has successfully awakened a class, Fire Mage!" the teacher announced.
As with the first awakening, an uproar erupted in the hall, but this time it was even more intense.
"Damn! Brian actually awakened?! The heavens really aren't fair!"
"I know, right? He's already one of the few students who managed to ignite their life seeds before the college exams—something rare even in big cities—and now he's lucky enough to awaken too?!"
"That's not all. His knight breathing technique happens to align with the fire attribute, and now that he's awakened as a Fire Mage, the two will complement each other perfectly!"
"F*ck!"
Like his classmates, Michael also had an impression of Brian. At Woodstone Public High School No. 3, Brian Lian was one of the few outstanding students who could hold his own against those from private schools with better resources, despite his humble background. His reputation extended beyond the school—he was even somewhat known throughout Woodstone City.
This fame wasn't because of his academic achievements but rather due to his exceptional talent in cultivation.
The awakening orb wasn't the only piece of technology that Awakeners had brought back from the mysterious realm known as the Land of Origins. They introduced other technologies that significantly boosted the real world's advancement.
The Land of Origins wasn't exclusive to humans—many other civilizations of various races existed there. In fact, humans here could be considered newcomers to that world.
These civilizations had already used the Land of Origins to significantly advance their own societies. Using their methods, Awakeners managed to bring something back to this world: cultivation.
Cultivation offered a method for ordinary people to gain supernatural powers, although they couldn't progress as quickly as Awakeners, be as powerful as them, or enter the Land of Origins.
Brian practised the breathing technique of the Knight cultivation system and had considerable talent in cultivation so even if he failed to awaken, he still had a bright future.
Just as Awakeners were respected and needed in this world, Cultivators were too. One was just way too at the top to be compared to anything but the need of the two were equal.
Well, according to what has been told to Michael.
The world changed when the apocalypse descended. It was no longer just a planet but a realm.
Planet Aurora became the Aurora Realm.
Some of the cracks that brought monsters into the world remained, with new ones occasionally appearing. Some were filled with monsters, while others served as passages to other realms.
Awakeners were few in number, so Cultivators were needed to handle these realms. Awakeners advanced society, while Cultivators kept it safe. This was something that had been taught to Michael and other children from a young age.
Becoming an Awakener was more desirable, though. Cultivating required resources, and they weren't cheap—with costs only increasing as one progressed. This alone had already cut off more than half of the population's ability to walk on this path.
Generally, only the talented or the wealthy had a significant chance of achieving great success in cultivation.
The teacher, who hadn't even smiled much when Lilian Stone awakened, now had a wide grin as he addressed Brian. "Come stand here and wait," he said, pointing to the spot beside him where Lilian Stone also stood. He was thrilled that a genius from the school had just become even more exceptional—a super genius!
After settling that, the teacher continued with the Awakening Ceremony, but he was met with disappointment as no other student managed to awaken, not even those with talent in cultivation.
This wasn't unexpected.
Just because a student had talent in cultivation didn't mean they would awaken a class, especially not at the age of 18.
However, the teacher remained quite pleased, as the school now had two more Awakeners to its name.
The Awakening Ceremony continued, and soon it was time for the eightieth student to step up to the podium—Michael.
"Michael Norman!"
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing his name called, Michael nervously made his way up to the podium. Since the previous owner of this body didn't have much presence at school, he didn't have anyone cheering for him.
Soon, Michael reached the podium, and under the teacher's guidance, he placed his hands—now unknowingly sweating—on the awakening orb, filled with anticipation.