[You are the Child of Calamity.]
[You were born with an ominous constitution that attracts disasters. Born from your already deceased mother’s body, you began a life of exile with your father while still an infant.]
[Your father was eventually killed by enemies, but you miraculously survived, wandering alone in this world.]
[—You possess survival abilities far beyond ordinary people.]
[Your parents were ordinary wizards, and their enemies who hunted them were far more powerful wizards. While still in the womb, you were cursed along with your mother by the enemy. Your mother died during childbirth, but you survived, carrying the curse.]
[This curse transformed into an ever-present calamity, causing you to brush with various forms of death countless times throughout your life.]
[Wherever you went, there were street murders by thugs, storms ravaging towns, sudden small-scale wars, landslides, and ambitious humans killing each other over money and profit... Each time you nearly died getting caught up in these events, and each time you survived through your powerful will to live, extraordinary recovery abilities, and a bit of strange luck.]
[You never knew whether you were attracting calamities, or if the curse was drawing you toward places where disasters would occur.]
[Calamity and you were like separated twins, no matter how far apart, always mysteriously meeting due to the resonance in your blood, coming together again.]
[As you frequently appeared at death scenes yet always survived, people who became familiar with your face suspected you brought misfortune. Thus, you gradually earned the title “Child of Calamity” and didn’t dare stay too long in any one place, fearing what might happen after people recognized your face and suspected you of bringing disaster.]
[Until a dark wizard captured people in a small town, and you, who happened to be wandering there, were unfortunately chosen along with others to become this dark wizard’s experimental materials.]
[The dark wizard wasn’t afraid of your supposedly ominous constitution; rather, he was very interested in the curse you carried.]
[You even became his laboratory’s new favorite, the only non-disposable experimental subject.]
[In the end, all the other experimental subjects captured with you died, but you stubbornly survived once again.]
[You had lost count of how many times you had brushed with death, yet each time you struggled to escape from Her grasp.]
[You lived until the dark wizard’s tower was breached, and you were rescued as a survivor. Your wizarding aptitude was discovered, and you even had the chance to join the academy and become a wizard apprentice.]
[Your disaster-filled life seemed to finally turn toward good fortune, about to welcome a peaceful, stable, and ordinary life.]
[Someone like you should seemingly want nothing more.]
[But were things really that simple?]
“The Wizard Academy has three main schools: Elements, Bloodline, and Life, focusing on controlling natural elements, researching and developing supernatural creature bloodlines, and understanding the human body’s essence respectively. Each school has numerous branches within...”
Bai Yi opened his eyes, awakening from what felt like drowning in deep waters. Among the lengthy system narration, a voice clearly hung in his ears, seeming to contain some kind of magic that unconsciously drew in his spirit.
But this mild effect could be shaken off with just a slight focus of concentration. It was more like light hypnosis.
“Alright, apprentices, make your choices,” said the young female wizard who had finished introducing the schools to everyone.
Some people around him had already started speaking unconsciously under this guidance, following their hearts. Bai Yi appeared to be like them, mumbling after his eyes glazed over for a moment.
“I choose...”
His thoughts raced at lightning speed in that instant.
According to the story’s introduction, for true wizards, the curse on this body wasn’t anything special. After joining the academy, as long as he worked hard, completely breaking the curse wasn’t impossible. If he performed exceptionally well, he might even be able to request help from powerful wizards directly. As long as he didn’t actively seek out dangerous places later, he could safely study and grow in the academy, perhaps even stay on as a teacher in the future – a bright future was clearly visible.
—So why had he become this character? Only those with deep obsessions would become protagonists in the nightmare game, with the system translating their wishes into missions.
Moreover, coming to this instance was guided by “Hope Resonance,” indicating he could gain something here that would help in reality. Therefore, Bai Yi couldn’t simply learn wizard spells, even though this appeared to be another extraordinary system.
But there wasn’t much time left for the real world. Even if he brought out another extraordinary system from the nightmare fragment instance and spread it to the whole world, what difference would it make?
[“This time, I must survive!”]
Bai Yi was amazed by human will for the first time.
So many deaths would drive normal people insane. Yet this character was still stubbornly struggling to live.
“Such pure and shocking obsession, such will to survive at any cost... If told destroying the world would let him survive, he would probably do it without hesitation?”
“Oh, right. Now I am this character.”
Bai Yi, instantly getting into character, curved his lips.
“—I would do it without hesitation.”
The text in mid-air dispersed like smoke, and the frozen world began moving again. Among the wizard apprentices properly choosing their schools, a discordant voice rang out:
“May I ask which school has stronger survival ability?”
Whoosh—
In an instant, everyone’s gaze was drawn over.
Under everyone’s stares, the thin youth in the gray apprentice robe remained calm and collected. He just raised one hand high, like asking a question in class, repeating his question:
“Please tell me, which school has stronger survival ability? The answer to this question is very, very important to me.”
Others’ gazes at him became even stranger. Being able to join the academy was already good enough, yet someone was being picky here?
But that female wizard just laughed, showing no anger. “Little fellow, you’re brave. Understanding clearly before making a choice also fits a wizard’s wisdom.”
“...If you want to know which school has the strongest vitality, I can tell you it’s the Life school wizards.”
“...Especially the potion masters.”
“Thank you very much for your help.” Bai Yi politely bowed. “Then, I choose the Life school.”
“A clever choice.” The female wizard in white robes laughed, throwing a wooden tag marked with identity information to Bai Yi. “Keep your apprentice certificate well, it’s also your proof for entering and leaving the academy. Without it, you’ll be attacked by the magic beasts at the main gate.”
“I am Julian, instructor of the Life school, teaching potions, anatomy, botany...”
She clapped and stood up, collecting the crystal ball that recorded all student information, walking out of this classroom-like great hall, not forgetting to add:
“Interested apprentices can choose my classes.”
Only after the female wizard had left did the other apprentices recover from their shock. The few apprentices closest to Bai Yi looked at him with incredulous eyes.
A red-haired youth who was luxuriously dressed with a sapphire-encrusted knight’s cross sword at his waist, looking like he came from nobility, even let out a strange cry and made faces at him. “Fellow, I guarantee you’ve now been remembered by all the apprentices this term. How did you have the courage to question the respected wizard?”
It seemed wizards held extremely high status in this world, so the native NPC inhabitants were deeply in awe of them, like common people facing high rulers – they didn’t dare even simple questions, fearing to offend them...
In other systems, once you entered, you would be accepted by other extraordfinary beings of the same system, only needing to look up to the top figures of the system. Like in the martial arts system, beginners didn’t need to maintain such an exaggerated low posture toward those more advanced, unless facing big shots like the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, Pei Hefeng. Otherwise, most martial artists actually interacted as equals.
But this world was clearly different.
Nobles certainly understood wizards’ weight in this world better than common people. The noble youth before him saying “respected wizard” with every breath was enough to show that even becoming a wizard apprentice was probably just higher status than common people, but absolute reverence still had to be maintained toward true wizards. Or rather, only becoming a true wizard could cross the threshold between mortal and supernatural?
Red-haired Jonas didn’t know the thin gray-robed youth before him had analyzed so much information in just that brief moment. He only saw the youth fiddle with the wooden tag in his hand, putting it in the wide pocket of his gray apprentice robe, then raise his head.
He sighed, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. “I didn’t want to either. But I have no choice – protecting my own life will always be the highest priority for me.”