"Here, as the principal of Chengyang University, I sincerely send my best wishes to this year's graduates, wishing you all..."
The long-winded graduation ceremony speech on the stage continued, while the graduates seated below were already feeling somewhat dizzy and fatigued. Most either played with their phones or whispered to each other.
The instructor from the journalism department glanced at Wu Liang, who was similarly slacking off in the front row, holding a pencil and notebook, seemingly writing something.
Upon closer inspection, this kid was actually drawing without a care for his surroundings?
A vividly detailed drawing of a petite woman whose face couldn't be seen was depicted on the notebook, holding an oil paper umbrella and leaning weakly against a wall.
She was about to remind Wu Liang not to be so blatant in his slacking off while sitting in the front row, but then she overheard the other teachers murmuring beside her.
"I heard there's an Awakened in this year's journalism department! It's a meteoric rise for them!"
"See that person in white clothes on the stage? Seems like they're an Awakened from the Paranormal Handling Department, probably here to recruit that student! Otherwise, how could our school invite such a figure to attend the graduation ceremony?"
"Last month, there was a supernatural phenomenon that endangered nearly a hundred households in the neighboring county, and I heard it was resolved by that Awakened on stage!"
"..."
Hearing the other teachers' conversation, the instructor couldn't help but show a slight smile of pride.
The Awakened student they talked about was indeed from her class. With this teacher-student relationship, she thought that if danger ever arose, she might have some additional protection.
However, her expression was also filled with envy.
She wished it were her who had awakened. After all, if faced with a supernatural phenomenon, relying on oneself would be better than depending on others.
While they discussed, Wu Liang had long stopped writing. With a rip, he tore off the drawing he had just made and looked up at the stage.
At the center of the stage, sitting in what should have been the main seat, was an unfamiliar man in white. He appeared to be in his thirties, with an expressionless face, seemingly indifferent to the graduation ceremony.
The principal's seat was placed next to his, clearly showing the hierarchy between them.
Yet, Wu Liang wasn't surprised. He even understood the envy in the eyes of his instructor and the other teachers.
After all, now with the resurgence of Fierce Ghosts and supernatural phenomena, they were no longer just subjects of strange tales—they were real.
Four years ago, the global Supernatural Calamity erupted. Fierce Ghosts that defied scientific explanation had slaughtered people, reducing the world's population by one-third in merely a year.
That year became known as the Year of Calamity, marking a significant chapter in human history.
Fortunately, the next year, people began to "awaken."
This group of awakened individuals gained various special abilities beyond ordinary comprehension, even able to fight the Fierce Ghosts, revered almost like deus ex machina saviors.
The state quickly established the Paranormal Handling Department to incorporate these Awakened, efficiently planning and combating the Fierce Ghosts, spending a whole year clearing most active Fierce Ghosts from cities.
Thanks to them, human society could return to a relatively stable state.
But after the Year of Calamity, the entire social hierarchy experienced a dramatic change.
No matter who you were before, or how high your educational or economic status was, once awakened and recruited by the Paranormal Handling Department, you would instantly rise to power and prominence.
Supernatural phenomena still occasionally occurred, and the threat of Fierce Ghosts lingered like a Sword of Damocles over people's heads. Only the Awakened were truly effective human forces!
However, as a few of them talked with envy, the instructor casually glanced toward the venue's exit.
Standing there was a peculiar girl holding a bright red oil paper umbrella, petite and with a face full of terror.
"What's wrong with that child?" The instructor, perplexed, was about to ask the teachers next to her if anyone knew the girl.
But before she could voice her question, a horrifying scene unfolded—
The girl with the oil paper umbrella slowly tilted her head to the side, initially seeming playful, but as her terrified expression continued to tilt from a forty-five-degree angle to ninety degrees, then more until it rotated to her chest, her neck couldn't withstand the torsion and broke completely, blood spurting skywards like a fountain.
The blood that splashed out instantly painted a crimson layer over the faces of those nearby.
Screams and fear began to spread.
"Ah! Someone's dead!"
"Blood! So much blood! Help!"
Chaos erupted across the entire venue.
Yet, with the girl's eerie beheading death, the oil paper umbrella in her hand seemed to be lifted by an invisible wind, drifting into the air above the venue.
Even more terrifying was that whenever the oil paper umbrella completely shaded a person's head overhead, that person would, like the earlier girl, start twisting their head uncontrollably until it snapped and blood gushed out like a spring!
"A ghost! It's a ghost!"
"A supernatural phenomenon has erupted! Help!"
Everyone began frantically pushing toward the exits in other directions, wanting desperately to avoid ending up like a human blood fountain.
But the more they pushed and crowded, the slower the evacuation, and where the oil paper umbrella drifted overhead, the crowd only grew denser.
The once boring and drowsy graduation ceremony had instantly turned into a scene like Purgatory, the venue floor quickly dyed with copious amounts of blood, and people struggled to escape as if walking on a river of blood.