When Lin Ke stepped out of the Awakening Stone Monument Plaza to announce this news, the faces of the Lin family were incredibly shocked.
"Is, is this real?" Su Yun had a face full of disbelief.
Lin Ke pointed to the golden emblems on his chest and said, "Mom, you have asked twice already, could it be fake?"
As for his younger siblings, they went directly to touch it over and over again.
"Lin Ke, does your awakening of the emblem mean that I might also awaken?" Lin Feifei deliberately spoke louder, attracting envious and jealous looks from the elderly bystanders, which greatly satisfied her juvenile pride.
My brother is a person with an emblem!
"There is a high hope if you work hard," Lin Shishi looked at Lin Ke, then smiled and spoke to her younger siblings. After speaking, she slightly turned her head aside, not letting the family see her complex expression.
At this time, some people nearby couldn't sit still anymore.
Several middle-aged women who often chatted with Lin's mother came over and inquired about Lin Ke's awakening.
"I told you all, you have to buy and eat those white feather chicken eggs. Experts said it can increase the probability of emblem awakening, but you didn't believe me at that time."
"Ah, I was really blind at that time. My younger son will be awakening in two years, is it still possible to start eating them now?"
The Lin siblings all showed strange expressions and lowered their heads in shame.
As for Lin Ke, a victim who was forced to eat "monster bloodline" eggs daily, his feelings were complicated at the moment. He of course knew it was useless — one day he caught Lin Shishi secretly changing the egg packaging.
The real white feather chicken eggs were twice as expensive as ordinary ones, and authoritative research had debunked the myth that eating them could increase the chance of awakening; it was just a rumor spread by pseudo-scientists.
Since no one in the family mentioned it, let it be, after all, the nutritional value of white feather chicken eggs is genuinely high, it wouldn't be a loss to buy them.
Due to Lin Ke's extraordinary performance today, Lin's father decided that they wouldn't eat at the food stall tonight and would have a good hot pot meal instead.
This night was indeed very long for Lin Ke.
He spent nearly two and a half hours video chatting with various relatives and friends. Those distant relatives who hardly contacted the Lin family all popped out within a day, constantly asking about Lin Ke's daily habits in hopes their children might also awaken if they follow Lin Ke's routines.
"Brother, don't emblems have grades and god mark attribute restrictions? Can you tell us?" Lin Feifei was very excited tonight, calling Lin Ke 'brother' more times than she had since junior high school.
Lin's father frowned and interrupted, "These are matters for the people who has emblem, why are you asking so much? Just eat your meal."
Lin Ke understood his father's reaction. The family was dizzy with the news of his awakening, and his father was worried that if his younger siblings knew too much about the extraordinary world and couldn't awaken in the future, they might become mentally imbalanced.
"You will be joining a new class next week, right?" Lin Shishi seized the opportunity to ask.
Lin Ke nodded, "Yes, all those who have awakened the emblem will enter the Emblem Prep class. This time there are forty-eight people in our second middle school who have awakened emblems. According to past situations, we will be divided into four classes for teaching, each class having twelve people."
Lin's father took a rare cigarette, then patted Lin Ke on the shoulder, "You don't have to worry about the tuition fees; we have enough savings at home."
Although he had awakened to the emblems, before getting admitted to a specialized university for individuals with emblems, Lin Ke was just an ordinary emblem reserve and not yet worth the investment from major organizations.
Despite many discounts provided by the school, the tuition fee would be ten times higher.
For civilian families, having a family member awaken to the emblems was a hugely fortunate event, warranting selling everything to afford the prep class fees, holding onto the only pathway to a brighter future provided by entering university.
Lin Fang, who had been quiet all night, said softly, "just go for it. My New Year's red pocket from the past few years is with mom and dad, you can borrow it first."
Lin Feifei, with a face that read 'I've been sold out by my teammate,' looked at her twin brother, then turned her head and went through several changes in expression before finally saying, "I, I will also contribute my New Year's money. But brother, you have to buy me good things after getting into university."
Lin Shishi said, "After entering the second year, I can work at the library. I plan to find another job as a tutoring assistant. I can take care of my living expenses, let's focus the budget on Lin Ke."
Looking at his siblings like this, Lin Ke was very moved, but also realized that the responsibility on his shoulders had become very heavy.
Even Lin's mother, who had been excited all evening, had calmed down at this moment and said, "son, you must work hard and not let down the expectations of your sister, and your younger brother and sister."
Lin Ke nodded solemnly in agreement.
...
That night was the first time Lin Ke had suffered from insomnia in nearly two years.
When he climbed up to the rooftop to watch the stars, he realized that his sister, Lin Shishi, had already claimed the best spot.
"Sis, what are you doing here?"
Lin Shishi waved Lin Ke over and said, "Time flies really fast. The last time I climbed up here was three years ago. Since then, it's been those two little ones causing a ruckus here. I thought you might come today, after all, it is a joyous day."
"Yeah, but honestly, apart from being happy, after the excitement passed, what remains is mostly nervousness," Lin Ke laid down naturally, using his hands as a pillow to look at the stars in the sky, and said, "Before, I only watched the superhuman beings and monsters fighting on TV, and found reports of adventures into different planes very fresh and exciting. However, after truly awakening the Emblem, I feel a bit scared."
The thought of people living in a peaceful world having to fight monsters terrified Lin Ke when he imagined it happening to him.
"Mom and Dad are actually very worried about you too, but they didn't want to tense up the atmosphere at dinner with the two little ones present," Lin Shishi explained, "But even if there are challenges in the future, you can finally try to hold your destiny in your own hands, right?"
Lin Ke and his sister fell silent for a while.
"Yeah, I finally have the qualification to resist fate," Lin Ke sighed deeply.
At this moment, they both remembered the event from five years ago when Yuecheng City was invaded by a different plane. That year, a small entry point to another dimension appeared in a square only half a kilometer away from the Lin family's home. Although it was quickly resolved by the authorities, the Lin family's neighbors happened to be in that square at that time, and the family of six all became victims of the monsters.
Since then, an invisible fear had taken root in the hearts of the Lin family members.
What if one day, as ordinary people, they are unlucky enough to encounter a monster?
At least now, Lin Ke, who had awakened the Emblem, had the capital to fight the monsters, no longer needing to live in fear every day.
"I will definitely become stronger and protect everyone in the future," Lin Ke said, clenching his fists.
Lin Shishi smiled and then her eyes reddened slightly.
"Sis, you?"
"It's nothing, just quite moved," Lin Shishi wiped away her tears and said, "Actually, when I heard of your awakening, apart from being happy, I was a little jealous, wondering why my brother could awaken while I couldn't. But now thinking about it, I feel incredibly proud that my brother is a divine pattern awakener."
This was probably the first time his sister had shared her feelings with him. Lin Ke didn't know what to say or whether he should comfort his sister.
"Alright, you should go to rest early. You'll meet new classmates next week. Good luck!"
After Lin Ke left, Lin Shishi logged into her school account on her mobile phone. She spent twenty minutes filling out a "Transfer Application" form and clicked send.
"As an ordinary person, there's not much I can do to help Lin Ke. I hope the school's 'Emblem Combat, Command, Logistics, and Research Department' will agree to my transfer application considering my GPA. Hopefully, by the time I graduate in three years, I can join the combat department and support and protect him in the role of a supporter," she thought as she sent the application.