Class 3, First High School.
"The class change ceremony is about to begin. Today will decide who makes it across the single-plank bridge!"
"I hope I awaken as a Holy Mage. I'll turn into a living artillery platform and wipe out monsters in waves to defend our school's honor."
"Are you crazy? Being a mage already requires insane luck, and you want to be a Holy Mage?"
"That's a hidden class. The chance of triggering a hidden class during the public class change ceremony is less than one in a billion. What, do you think you're the chosen one?"
Inside the classroom, the students were restless.
Nervous.
Excited.
Voices overlapped as everyone talked at once.
The once-every-three-years class change ceremony was about to begin. It would determine the fate of every senior student present. No one dared to take it lightly.
In the third row from the back, by the window, Qin Fan slowly exhaled a breath and looked outside. His expression was complicated.
As a transmigrator, Qin Fan had already lived in this parallel world for seven years.
During those seven years, he gradually adapted to this unfamiliar world. He learned the language and came to understand its culture and history.
A hundred years ago, the world underwent a dramatic change.
A revolutionary game called Divine Realm merged with reality.
After the fusion, the Earth's size expanded by tens of thousands of times. Countless secret realms and dungeons appeared across the world. Monsters rampaged freely, and disasters spread across the entire planet.
In such an era, class changers were born.
To resist the monster calamities, everyone who reached level 10 and turned eighteen had to participate in the class change ceremony and choose their first class.
Some awakened combat classes and soared to success.
Others received life classes and became, essentially, cooks.
Clearly, first classes were divided into many different tiers.
At the top of the pyramid were combat classes.
Mage.
Archer.
Warrior.
Then came enhancement classes such as Enchanters, Blacksmiths, and Alchemists.
Finally, there were the most common and most numerous classes of all—life professions.
Chef.
Miner.
Herbalist.
But even cooks were not the same.
A life profession Chef and an ordinary cook from the normal world were completely different in status, ability, and value.
The meals prepared by a Chef could rapidly increase a class changer's attributes. If consumed regularly, these buffs could even become permanent over time.
An ordinary cook, however, could only satisfy hunger.
In other words, once you successfully became a class changer, even the most ordinary life class meant you had stepped into a completely different world.
From that moment on, you were no longer an ordinary person.
On the podium, the teacher continued speaking endlessly.
Before the ceremony began, he was carefully explaining the characteristics and development paths of thousands of possible first classes.
"Without a doubt, combat classes are the most desirable and the most sought-after among the three major categories."
"But does that mean enhancement classes and life professions have no future simply because they rank below combat classes?"
"No. That is not the case."
He used the Enchanter profession as an example.
The weakness of Enchanters was that their early development required enormous resources. They had to spend massive amounts of materials to gain experience and learn the properties of enchantment materials.
Without the support of a wealthy family, most people would struggle to survive this stage.
However, once an Enchanter gained enough experience, their rarity made them incredibly valuable.
Even a simple weapon enchantment job could earn them a reward that ordinary people would consider an astronomical sum.
"Remember this. No class is inherently worthless. I give this sentence to all of you."
"Of course, because everyone's talent is different, the class you ultimately obtain will still depend on your own abilities."
The homeroom teacher finally finished speaking.
Among the students below the stage, the word talent immediately sparked another wave of discussion.
After the world changed, every person awakened a talent at birth.
Talent ranks ranged from F to S.
The level and characteristics of a talent could greatly influence the class a person awakened.
The teacher had repeated this countless times.
Yet Qin Fan still listened carefully.
His talent was E+ rank Cooking Mastery.
A fairly useless talent.
But Qin Fan did not want to become a cook.
He still hoped to obtain a combat class.
The reason was simple.
Among the thousands of classes, combat classes had the strongest ability to earn money.
After Divine Realm merged with reality, the government implemented a special policy.
Before their first class change, the country would provide all necessary resources for free.
After the class change, that support would disappear.
From that moment on, leveling up, obtaining equipment, and acquiring weapons would depend entirely on oneself.
Not everyone was born into a wealthy family.
After the first class change came the second.
Then the third.
As an ordinary citizen, Qin Fan had to face a harsh and realistic question.
How would he survive?
Combat classes were so popular largely because even expensive classes like Mechanic or Summoner could enter dungeons alone, hunt monsters, and sell monster materials for profit.
However…
Throughout the history of class change ceremonies, people with E-rank talents rarely awakened combat classes.
Although Qin Fan had always performed well in class, his low talent rank remained his biggest weakness.
Smack.
Someone patted him on the shoulder.
A chubby face leaned forward beside him.
"I'm finished," the boy groaned. "D- rank talent Stone Skin. I'll probably end up with an enhancement class."
"Qin Fan, your talent is E+, right?"
"That's even worse than mine. Have you decided what class you want yet?"
The chubby boy's name was Fang Dahai, Qin Fan's desk mate. He was straightforward and blunt.
"Not yet. I'll leave it to luck."
Qin Fan clearly didn't want to continue the conversation.
Fang Dahai stared at him.
Leave it to luck?
Based on past ceremonies, talent level almost always determined the class someone would receive.
With a D- talent, the best he could hope for was an enhancement class. There was also a chance he might get a life profession.
And Qin Fan's talent was even worse.
What?
With an E+ talent, you still want a combat class?
Do you think the Goddess of Luck secretly favors you?
Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, Fang Dahai turned around and started chatting with the girl next to him.
At that moment—
Ding.
"The class change ceremony is about to begin. System activation in progress…"
"System binding successful."
"A beginner gift package has been issued. Would you like to claim it?"
Ding.
"Beginner gift package contains SSS-rank talent: Beast Affinity."
The system notification suddenly echoed in Qin Fan's mind.