Having just awakened their systems, everyone was too eager to explore their own systems to have any interest in studying, so the school wisely gave all the senior three students a half-day holiday.
After returning to the classroom, some students hurried off as if they wanted to rush to complete their first system tasks, ready to turn from underachiever to top student, experiencing a reversal of fortune that could change the course of thirty years.
Others were chatting with their peers, curious about each other's systems and attempting to figure out what systems the others had.
At most, one could only identify the level of another person's system but could not know the specifics of it.
From the beginning of school, everyone had been indoctrinated with the importance of "keeping your system a secret," so no one would reveal their system type.
If someone with malicious intent tried to probe into one's system to target them, even someone close could potentially divulge it, so keeping it secret was critical, and people generally wouldn't tell their family members either.
After some discussion and finding they couldn't dig out any information, everyone reluctantly left to attend to their system tasks.
Xiang Beifei and Kong Xiuwen left the classroom together, their homes were nearby, so they headed back in the same direction conveniently.
Kong Xiuwen kept running his hands through his thick, jet-black hair, looking very disconsolate.
There was a time when he took great pride in having a head of hair that even girls would envy, but who would have thought that the system would play such a joke on him!
"Am I truly destined to be forever unattractive?"
Kong Xiuwen looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh!
Curse this hair loss!
He was only eighteen years old and was already facing the most devastating process in his life!
"Is your system task difficult to complete?"
Although Xiang Beifei knew about Kong Xiuwen's system task, he still felt compelled to ask the polite question.
"It's not that it's hard to do, it's just that it's time to say goodbye to my past self, my youth is over!"
Kong Xiuwen's expression was one of tragic resolve.
Hair loss had truly begun.
Xiang Beifei knew that Kong Xiuwen was a very lax person, extremely lazy, with a severe tendency to procrastinate. To make him study was like asking for his life, and to have him stay up all night studying was as ludicrous as teaching a pig to climb a tree.
"Is the novice task released by your system easy?" Kong Xiuwen inquired.
"Just so-so," Xiang Beifei replied indifferently.
Xiang Beifei didn't have a normal system at all and had no concept of what a novice task was.
But he had a Soul Condensing Pill and a Qi-Controlling Pill in hand, so he found his way to navigate through the novice period rather simple.
After consoling Kong Xiuwen for a bit, Xiang Beifei parted ways with him and walked towards his own home.
Kong Xiuwen's father was a businessman, and his family was quite wealthy, living in a brand-new residential area, while Xiang Beifei lived in an urban village just across from the complex.
He opened the door to an old rental house. The place was aged, the furniture looked well-used, but the entire room was tidily kept.
He lived with his grandfather.
Xiang Beifei's grandfather, named Xiang Qingde, was a vegetable farmer who sold vegetables at the market.
As for his parents—
When he was very young, Xiang Beifei's parents went off to the outer wilderness to carry out tasks and never returned.
The existence of the outer wilderness was why the world had formed the Jiuzhou Grand Alliance.
How vast the outer wilderness is remains unclear to anyone.
Because humanity has yet to traverse this expanse of wilderness, they cling to a small corner of the immense, boundless territory, like an isolated island in the midst of the ocean, fiercely guarding their own.
In the wilderness beyond human territory, there exist various savage desolate beasts that continually invade human lands, devouring our territory.
To counter these invasions, humans, through the Awakening System, absorb external Spiritual Energy with the system's aid, empowering themselves to struggle against the desolate beasts.
Countless powerful individuals ceaselessly battle these desolate beasts, reclaiming their territories.
The human territories were once vast, but three hundred years ago, the Jiuzhou Grand Alliance's defenses faltered, leading to an invasion by the desolate beasts from beyond, which caused a sudden halving of human lands!
As the population has kept growing, space and housing prices have become increasingly strained, making it essential for humanity to gradually expand their territory and bring those lands under the Jiuzhou Grand Alliance's domain.
Expanding territory is not an easy task, as one must always be ready for the desolate beasts' counterattacks, and some terrains are unsuitable for residence, disturbed by poisonous gases from beyond the domain, which must be slowly purified.
To reclaim the lost lands for humanity, a noble profession has arisen within the Alliance, known as "Pioneers."
Pioneers are required to carry out missions in the outer wilderness, constantly facing life-threatening dangers.
Xiang Beifei's parents were both Pioneers.
But when Xiang Beifei was fourteen, after they set out on a mission, they suddenly disappeared.
In the Jiuzhou Grand Alliance, the status of Pioneers is highly esteemed as they battle for human territories, so the Alliance ensures the well-being of the Pioneers' families. After his parents' incident, they provided a considerable sum of compensation.
But money is something that will eventually run out; to save on expenses, they moved here. Xiang Beifei's grandfather also often went out to sell vegetables, saving money to support his grandson.
Xiang Beifei glanced at the time, it was only eleven o'clock.
Normally at this time, he would still be in class, today, school ended rather early.
At that moment, the door creaked open, and an elderly man with grizzled hair hurried in. On seeing Xiang Beifei, he immediately showed a smile.
"Beifei, you're back?"
Xiang Qingde put down the basket of vegetables he was carrying, then quickly walked over, apologizing, "Sorry, Beifei. Today was the day for your Awakening System, and I should have been at school to see it, but there was a sudden sanitation inspection at the market. To avoid a fine, I got held up, and by the time I got to the school, classes had already dismissed..."
"It's okay, Grandpa," said Xiang Beifei.
Xiang Qingde asked tentatively, "So... what level of system did you awaken?"
Xiang Beifei hesitated, then said, "N-level."
Xiang Qingde's expression dimmed slightly. N-level signified the most common of people, those whose future accomplishments were destined not to be very high.
But he quickly said, "N-level is also fine! The system is just an aid after all. As long as one works hard, any system can help us live better. Think about the Governor of Liangzhou in our Jiuzhou Grand Alliance. It's said that he is a host to an N-level system."
The Governor of Liangzhou, Shang Tianxiong, represents a rational archetype.
When he first awakened, it was an N-level system, yet he managed to become a high-ranking official in Jiuzhou with sheer perseverance, was written into textbooks, and became a model story for our times.
"I understand, Grandpa."
Xiang Beifei smiled.
In truth, he knew all too well that the higher the level of the system, the more substantial the rewards for completing system missions, and the faster one's strength and wealth would increase.
This was nearly a universal understanding.
Those like Shang Tianxiong, who rose to legendary status starting with an N-level system, are after all a rarity.
Xiang Qingde knew this too, yet he still encouraged his grandson, not wanting Xiang Beifei to become disheartened due to the low level of his system.
Xiang Beifei looked at his grandfather's system panel.
Then, he frowned slightly.
Displayed on his grandfather's system panel was a snowflake.
His system appeared to be — broken.