West Forest City No. 2 Vocational Academy, Awakening Plaza.
"Class One, Lin Mu. Special class: [Necromancer]. No talent."
The light of the Awakening Array faded.
The Director in charge of the awakening ceremony, Director Liu, glanced at the class mark floating in front of Lin Mu.
His brows furrowed slightly, and he shook his head in disappointment.
"Next."
Human joys and sorrows were not shared, but people had a mutual understanding when it came to enjoying someone else's misfortune.
The students around them whispered, casting all sorts of looks his way.
Most of them were relieved, glad they hadn't awakened such a "useless" class.
On the distant stands, homeroom teacher Feng Yumei's face was full of regret.
She lowered her voice and spoke with the teacher beside her.
"It's such a shame about Lin Mu. He's always studied so hard—he's been first in the grade every time."
"Yeah. Who could've guessed he'd awaken as a Necromancer?"
"No one at Second Vocational College awakened a talent this year, while the First Academy already has someone with a purple talent. Every class gets worse than the last..."
Lin Mu stood there in a daze, clenching his fists until his nails dug painfully into his palms. (They didn't break the skin!)
Three days.
He'd been in this world, known as Blue Star, for three days.
His soul had taken up residence in the body of a boy with the same name.
When the boy was in elementary school, community workers had told him that his parents had died in a Dungeon.
They couldn't even bring back their bodies. All they'd left him was a house and a small amount of savings.
Fortunately, he'd been an outstanding student, well-liked by his teachers and most of his classmates.
They'd all hoped he would awaken a powerful combat class and rise from humble beginnings to great heights.
But reality had struck like a heavy hammer, crushing every expectation.
[Necromancer].
Since the Great Cataclysm, Blue Star had recognized it as the weakest special class in the early stages.
Its initial summons were feeble, and its user was more fragile than paper.
In a fight against someone of the same level, it was just a walking bundle of experience points.
This was even more suffocating than failing to awaken and becoming an ordinary person.
Hope followed by despair—the enormous gap was almost unbearable.
"Heh, I thought the top student would awaken some incredible class! Turns out it's the most useless special class, a Necromancer! Hahaha!"
A fat hand suddenly landed on Lin Mu's shoulder. The owner leaned close to his ear and shouted mockingly.
His rancid breath stung Lin Mu's nostrils like a dry latrine.
Roused by the stench, Lin Mu turned to look.
The speaker was his classmate, Wang Hao.
He'd just awakened as a [Flame Warrior], a fairly powerful combat class.
Wang Hao held his head high, his nostrils nearly pointing at the sky, a sneer on his face.
Several classmates who had also awakened combat classes stood beside him.
"Exactly. I heard the skeletons Necromancers summon can be blown away by a gust of wind. They're worse than an ordinary person with a stick!"
"They take a huge investment up front for almost no return. By the time he gets his level up, we'll have already advanced to our second class!"
The other students joined Wang Hao in jeering at Lin Mu.
"Lin Mu, don't lose heart. Sure, it's a trash class, but at least you're still a class-holder. You'll be more efficient than an ordinary person when you're scavenging in the wilderness! Right, Lin, big, brain?"
Laughter erupted all around them.
Director Liu frowned but didn't intervene.
In his view, what Wang Hao had said was unpleasant, but it was the truth.
Necromancers were indeed pathetic in the early stages.
Only when a powerful faction invested a great deal of manpower and resources to carry them through to the later stages did their combat strength become impressive.
But Director Liu knew Lin Mu's circumstances.
He received financial aid every year. How could he afford that kind of support?
Director Liu cleared his throat and looked at Lin Mu.
"Lin Mu, classes are assigned at random. Don't lose heart."
"Besides, Necromancers are quite powerful in the later stages. If you work hard, you may still find a way forward. Go get familiar with your Class Panel and initial skills."
It sounded like encouragement.
But the distant, official tone hurt more than Wang Hao's mockery.
A surge of heat rushed to Lin Mu's head, and he forced it back down.
In a world where strength reigned supreme, a weak person's defense would only invite more ridicule.
He pushed Wang Hao's fat hand aside and silently stepped away, following the method the original owner had learned.
He focused his mind and opened his Class Panel.
[Name: Lin Mu]
[Class: Necromancer]
[Level: LV.0, EXP: 0/100]
[HP: 30/30]
[MP: 60/60]
[Strength: 2]
[Agility: 4]
[Intelligence: 6]
[Constitution: 3]
Skills:
[Resurrect Skeleton] (Level 1): Costs 10 MP to summon 1 Fragile Skeleton to fight for you. Maximum number: 1.
His attributes were average, with a bias toward Intelligence, as suited a spellcasting class.
But that "Fragile Skeleton"...
His brows furrowed again.
Lin Mu's gaze moved down, and he stopped breathing for a moment.
"What is this?!"
Talent: [Description Tamperer] (Black).
Black?!
Lin Mu's heart lurched.
There hadn't been any flash of light indicating a talent had awakened!
Everyone knew that when people on Blue Star awakened their classes, there was a tiny chance they would also awaken a talent.
Talent ranks, from lowest to highest, were gray, white, blue, purple, gold, and the legendary rainbow.
But a black talent?
He'd never heard of one!
It definitely wasn't part of the known talent ranking system!
Lin Mu suppressed his excitement.
He focused his consciousness on the talent's name.
More detailed information appeared.
[Description Tamperer]
Functions:
Description Details: Allows you to see more detailed descriptions than other class-holders.
Description Modification: You can change "one character" in a description.
Restrictions:
Uses: You can modify each target's "description" only once per day. (To avoid misunderstanding: there is no limit to the number of targets per day.)
Level: You cannot modify the description of a target more than five levels above your own.
Logical Consistency: The modification must keep the description reasonably coherent and logically sound.
Special: You cannot directly modify fundamental descriptions such as physical attributes, class, talents, or the rules of the world.
Lin Mu froze for a moment, then exclaimed, "Holy crap! I've got a cheat!"
Change "one character" in a "description"?!
One of Blue Star's core rules was that everything related to class-holders had a "description."
This talent was downright heaven-defying!
It directly affected the world's underlying rules!
Webnovels hadn't lied to him. Transmigration came with a cheat!
Mother Earth would protect every child wandering far from home!
"Hey, Lin, top student! Finished looking? Feeling despair over your little skeleton?"
Wang Hao and his group crowded around him again, still acting like they owned the place.
He seemed to enjoy the thrill of trampling the former top student underfoot.
"Your trial's this afternoon, right? Why don't you just give up, Lin? Wouldn't want to end up like your parents—go in and never come back! Hahaha!"
Lin Mu had been too busy to bother with these brats.
But perhaps because he'd transmigrated into the boy's body, the original owner's grief over his parents' deaths lingered deep in Lin Mu's memories.
And along with it, Lin Mu himself had developed a special attachment to the parents he'd never met.
Wang Hao's last remark had touched the line that neither he nor "the other Lin Mu" would let anyone cross.
Wang Hao, you've got a death wish!
Lin Mu turned around, a playful curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Oh? Wang Hao, was it? You're a Flame Warrior, right? I'll remember that."
Wang Hao saw that Lin Mu still dared to talk back, and his expression darkened.
"Hmph! Still got a mouth on you!"
He stepped forward, flames flashing across his fist as he prepared to strike.
"This is the academy. Are you sure you want to throw a punch?"
Lin Mu held up a hand to stop him, his smile growing more natural.
"How about this? This afternoon, in the [Goblin Forest] Dungeon..."
"We can spar then. Let's see if your Fire Fist is stronger, or my skeleton."
Wang Hao's eyes lit up. He'd been looking for a chance to "accidentally" teach Lin Mu a lesson.
"Sure! I'd love to! I'll show you what despair means!"
"I'm looking forward to it."
After Wang Hao left,
Lin Mu calmed himself again. He silently invoked his talent and focused all his attention on [Resurrect Skeleton] in his skill list.
[Resurrect Skeleton] (Level 1): Costs 10 MP to channel a faint Death Aura and summon from the void 1 skeleton pieced together from Inferior Bone to fight for you. It moves slowly, has a loose structure, and is extremely easy to damage. Maximum number: 1.
Sure enough, it was more detailed than the description on his panel had been!
"What if I change 'bone' to 'metal'? Or 'flame'?"
"What if I change 'skeleton' to 'demon'? 'Dragon'?"
Thoughts raced through his mind. Countless possibilities flashed past, then were ruled out by the restrictions.
Change "one character"...
"If I change 'Inferior Bone' to 'High-Quality Bone,' its combat power should improve quite a bit. But that's still not the best option!"
Safety first, then combat power!
The most direct way to feel safe was to have more allies!
"Change 'Maximum number: 1' to 'Maximum number: billion.'"
"..."
"No response? Can't I change a number into a word?"
"Can I only change numbers into numbers, words into words, and symbols into symbols?"
"Then I'll change 'Maximum number: 1' to 'Maximum number: 9'!"
This time, it worked!
The description of [Resurrect Skeleton] blurred, then changed.
He hurriedly checked the modified description on his panel.
[Resurrect Skeleton] (Level 1): Costs 10 MP to summon 1 Fragile Skeleton to fight for you. Maximum number: 9.
Before you continue