An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 1 Abyss World
[The remaining abyssal creatures have been cleared. Students, please leave the shelter in an orderly manner.]

The muffled broadcast reached Chu Xiu's ears. He reached out and pulled up the steel power strip in front of him, crawling out from under his desk.

The classroom that comes into view is a cold and austere, with the lingering smell of gunpowder in the air.

Unlike the classrooms of my previous life, which had large floor-to-ceiling windows and cozy white walls and wooden tables, this place had rough, unpainted military-grade blast walls on all four sides. The desks and chairs looked like products of the Cold War era, without any fancy decorations.

Looking out through the fist-sized ventilation hole, the sky above was dark and impenetrable, as if shrouded in lead gray. The playground below was covered with the corpses of mutated creatures, and the anti-aircraft gun emplacements on both sides were still rotating with their red-hot barrels.

The stench of burning corpses wafted up from below, filling Chu Xiu's nostrils and making him want to vomit.

Even though he had been in this world for almost three months, he still couldn't get used to it.

Yes, Chu Xiu is a time traveler. He went from being a recent college graduate and a corporate slave to being a high school senior.

Based on my memories, this is a world very similar to Earth.

However, in 2028, a mysterious force known to later generations as the "Abyss" descended upon the human world.

No one knows exactly what the abyss is, only that since then the sky has often been torn open, and countless powerful and terrifying monsters have poured out from them, destroying everything in sight like tireless killing machines.

Even with powerful firearms, humanity was forced to retreat in the face of an almost endless stream of monsters. After all, even if all the monsters were wiped out, the losses would have already been incurred.

Fortunately, the connection to the abyss has also opened up a path for humanity to transcend the ordinary.

Humans who enter the abyss will awaken their [talents] and [classes], and can explore different abyssal worlds to acquire powerful abilities.

It is now 2067.

Thanks to the sacrifices of countless sages, humanity finally gained a foothold, paving a path with blood and bones, and ushering in an era of awakening for all.

"Awakened Ones!"

A look of longing appeared in Chu Xiu's eyes.

No one can remain unmoved by extraordinary power.

Becoming an Awakened is also very simple. Every senior high school student can sign up for the Awakening Trial near graduation. As long as they survive, they can become an Awakened.

However, the mortality rate is very high, exceeding 60%.

Moreover, the vast majority of people awaken only low-level [talents] and life [professions] that are of little use.

Therefore, even though the allure of extraordinary power is very strong, only about half of the applicants sign up each year.

Chu Xiu himself was also hesitant and had been thinking about it for a while.

As a Chinese person who has lived in peace for many years, it is difficult for him to make up his mind immediately when suddenly asked to risk his life.

Just as Chu Xiu was pondering, a tall young man walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Achu, registration for the Awakening Trial has started. Do you want to go?"

The newcomer had a square face, a broad frame, and a muscular physique, giving him an extremely imposing presence.

This is Zhang Qingshan, the original owner's childhood friend and also their class monitor. They have a very close relationship; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they grew up like brothers.

Looking at the registration form in the other person's hand, Chu Xiu sighed softly, knowing it was time to make a choice.

After thinking it over carefully, he solemnly said, "Qingshan, I want to go."

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision by Chu Xiu. In fact, on his very first day in this world, he had consulted a great deal of information about the Abyss and was acutely aware of its dangers. However, in such a perilous world, ordinary people without power are like rootless duckweed; no matter what achievements they make, they could be destroyed at any moment by an invasion of the Abyss.

Once you encounter a creature from the abyss, you can only sit and wait to die! You'll be torn to shreds by its sharp teeth and claws in despair!
Rather than living in constant fear and placing all his hopes on others, Chu Xiu wanted to take control of his own destiny.

Even if he dies in the abyss, it is his own choice.

Of course, another important factor that prompted Chu Xiu to make this decision was that, as a transmigrator, he was not entirely without support.

In his mind, there was an ancient, black book that had traveled with him from another time.

The book cannot be opened at present, but Chu Xiu can sense that once he enters the abyss and comes into contact with extraordinary power, it will "awaken".

"Although I don't know what use this ancient book is, it's at least worth the gamble."

Chu Xiu made up his mind.

Upon hearing his answer, Zhang Qingshan hesitated for a moment, holding the registration form, and instead of putting it down immediately, he asked, "Achu, have you thought it through?"

"With your excellent academic performance, you'll definitely be able to get into a university in the inner ring and settle down in an inner ring city. It's said that if a deep abyss rift appears there, a high-level awakened individual will be there to deal with it in less than a minute, and ordinary citizens won't even notice it."

"There's no need for us to fight to the death."

Zhang Qingshan phrased it tactfully, but Chu Xiu understood what he meant.

Although one needs to enter the abyss to determine the specific talent and profession awakened, there are actually clues beforehand, one of which is the concept of energy level.

Energy level refers to the total amount of extraordinary power within a person that has not yet been activated. The higher the energy level, the more powerful the talent that is likely to be awakened. Even with the same type of talent, such as [Endurance], a person with a high energy level may awaken [Endurance (B+)], while a person with a low energy level is more likely to awaken [Endurance (E)].

The average energy level of ordinary senior high school students was set at 1.0, while Chu Xiu's was only 0.8.

In contrast, Zhang Qingshan scored as high as 8.5, placing him among the top three in his grade.

Not to mention Chu Xiu's physical attributes and fighting skills, which were also quite ordinary.

Entering the abyss like this is indeed too risky.

However, the mysterious ancient book in his mind gave him the courage to take a chance.

"Don't worry, Qingshan, I've thought it through carefully," Chu Xiu said with a faint smile.

"That's good," Zhang Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief and patted Chu Xiu's shoulder heavily: "Ah Chu, you've always been smarter than me since we were little, I trust your judgment."

"Later, you and I will go meet the members of our club and my girlfriend's best friends. We'll give them a heads-up so we can look out for each other when we enter the Abyss."

No matter how dangerous the abyss is, we brothers will brave it together!

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu's eyes showed gratitude. Zhang Qingshan and his girlfriend Chu Qin were both top students in their grade and had extensive connections. With these people taking care of them in the Abyss, their chances of survival would indeed increase significantly.

He didn't say much, but punched Zhang Qingshan once, and everything was understood without words.

Over the next two weeks, Chu Xiu seized every opportunity to hone his survival skills, strengthen his physical reserves, and intensively study a large amount of knowledge related to the abyss.

He didn't place all his hopes on a magic touch.

Time flew by amidst the intense preparations, and finally the day of the Awakening Trial arrived.

(End of this chapter)