A Cultivator in the World Dominated By Awakeners

Earth, Year 2223!

In this era, Earth has become a place for Awakener and Cultivators, two groups of humans who possess superpowers—everyone's dream.

Becoming a Cultivator is something that anyone can do, but becoming an Awakener is much more desirable because they awaken a System, gain a class and skills from that System, and only need to kill monsters to grow stronger.

This is different from Cultivators, who need a scripture and then slowly absorb Spiritual Energy to reach the first stage.

Of all the people who attempt cultivation, more fail than succeed. In fact, the failure rate is over 90%.

Those who fail remain ordinary humans, and even among those who succeed, most stagnate at the first stage without being able to progress further.

Because of this, Earth's powerhouses are dominated by the Awakeners.

Compared to the difficult path of cultivation, everyone just wants to awaken.

Every year, the Awakener Association sends representatives to high schools to help students awaken using Awakening Crystals, which are said to have a very high success rate.

If someone fails to awaken even with the help of an Awakening Crystal, then it can be confirmed that they will never be able to awaken in their lifetime.

In anticipation of this opportunity, students don't dare try cultivation beforehand because once the body starts absorbing Spiritual Energy, the chance of awakening drops drastically.

At Manchester High School 3, all students had gathered in the school courtyard, staring at the stage before them where a group of men in black suits were walking up with large suitcases that they then placed on the table.

When the cases opened, they revealed large crystals shaped like strawberries, clear in color and emitting a faint mysterious glow.

A middle-aged man with a cold expression stood next to the crystal, looking at the students indifferently.

The students didn't dare meet his eyes directly because the pressure he gave off was enough to stop them from breathing.

"I'm Dom!" the middle-aged man said, not using a microphone, but his voice was heard clearly even at the back, as if it blended with the air and spread wherever air could go.

As he spoke, he picked up a clipboard that seemed to contain a list of names.

"Whoever I call, come up to the stage," he continued.

"First, Ivy Wilson!"

As that name was called, everyone spontaneously turned their eyes toward the bespectacled girl whose round glasses were so large they covered half her face. She had braided black hair and pale white skin as if she had rarely seen sunlight.

She stood in the corner, quiet and withdrawn, but with an air of confidence.

When her name was called, she walked toward the stage and climbed up the steps without a hint of nervousness.

"That bookworm… I didn't expect her to be so calm," said one student.

"Maybe she doesn't even care whether she awakens or not," replied another.

Ivy quickly arrived beside Dom, and Dom pointed at the large crystal.

"Place your hand on this crystal," he said.

Ivy gave a small nod and immediately placed her hand on the crystal, which suddenly began flickering nonstop.

Rumble!

Suddenly the sky rumbled, and a massive dark cloud appeared above the school—a strange phenomenon that had never happened before, shocking even Dom.

From the dark cloud descended an army of undead wielding swords and spears, clad in armor and riding skeletal horses.

At the same time, Ivy's body suddenly emitted a terrifying dark aura that rose up and connected to the undead army, which, upon closer inspection, numbered over a hundred.

"How is this possible?" the students couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Did she awaken as a Necromancer, the class that controls the undead? But how can the awakening phenomenon be like this? She already has an army of undead? Don't Necromancers usually have to seek out their undead?"

"Did she awaken a High-Rank Skill as well?"

"How can a bookworm be this lucky?"

"Yeah, I don't believe it."

"Anyone can awaken powerful skills if they're lucky."

"Yeah, but not a bookworm, at least."

…

The undead army above descended toward Ivy, turning into dark light and merging into her body.

Even more shocking, Ivy's eyes suddenly turned bright red, visible even behind her glasses that usually darkened under sunlight.

But the darkness of the glasses couldn't hide the red glow of her eyes.

Everything happened quickly before returning to normal—but anyone who saw this knew Ivy was not ordinary. Even Dom looked at her in awe.

"May I go now?" Ivy asked Dom.

The latter unconsciously nodded.

"Yes, you may go to the Awakener Association to register yourself," he replied.

After that, Ivy calmly stepped down, walking past students who no longer dared underestimate her just because she was a bookworm.

This bookworm might be destined to become a top-tier Awakener, a pillar of humanity.

"William Curtis!" Dom's voice echoed again.

This time, it was a tall young man reaching 195 cm with large muscles.

Just because he looked strong didn't mean he could remain calm like Ivy.

His nervousness was obvious.

Ivy's success didn't encourage him. In fact, often when one person successfully awakens, the next fails.

He froze a bit as he stood before the table.

"Hurry up, kid!" Dom sounded annoyed by the delay.

Startled, William quickly placed his hand on the crystal.

Fortunately, as he touched the crystal, his body emitted a faint glow, though not as dramatic as Ivy's.

He suddenly looked excited, but Dom didn't react at all.

Perhaps to him, this was nothing but a minor awakening.

"Done. Go!" Dom said as the glow around William faded.

The young man quickly left, looking very happy.

Dom called the next student, who seemed excited due to the two consecutive successes.

Unfortunately, he failed—and so began the streak of failures.

After him, seven more students failed in a row.

"Oliver Whitemoon!"

The next was a handsome boy with slightly curly white hair and a rather messy appearance—his school uniform stained with black grease that seemed impossible to wash out.

Instead of being nervous like the others, he wore a pessimistic expression, occasionally scratching his head.

It wasn't without reason. Last night, after returning from his part-time job at a repair shop, his body somehow absorbed Spiritual Energy for a few minutes on its own—something he couldn't explain, especially since he hadn't studied any Scripture yet, so it should've been impossible.

Though it was only for a moment, the fact remained—he had absorbed Spiritual Energy.

His chance of awakening had drastically dropped.

Arriving on stage, he placed his hand on the crystal without hesitation.

And the result? Not even the crystal flickered—unlike others who failed but at least triggered a single flicker.

Dom's expression darkened as he saw it.

"You fool, have you already started cultivating?" he asked coldly.

Oliver didn't know how to answer—too afraid to say anything.

"Leave, now!" Dom snapped, and Oliver quickly stepped off the stage, receiving strange looks from other students.

If someone failed to awaken purely because they had cultivated, they were considered utterly foolish and disgraceful.

Of course, no one could say with certainty that it was purely due to cultivation. After all, the chance to awaken was incredibly small.

But Oliver didn't lose hope in his dream of becoming a superpowered human.

He knew something was strange about his body—how it had absorbed Spiritual Energy on its own.

It might be a sign of some hidden talent.

Cultivation may be difficult, but it's a different story for those with talent.

To confirm this, he needed to visit the Cultivator Association—only ten of which existed in the UK, with one located in Manchester.

He would go now, feeling there was no more reason to stay at this school.