Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

At noon, the job change and awakening ceremony officially came to a close.

Of the 500 senior high school students in this year's class at Tianhe No.1 High School, only 45 ultimately awakened a combat-related profession.

There are 120 people in support roles.

The remaining 335 people are all in lifestyle professions.

The class divide was ruthlessly widened at this moment.

On the high platform, Principal He Kaishan looked at the students with different expressions below the stage, cleared his throat, and his voice spread throughout the entire playground through the amplification array.

"Students."

He Kaishan, no longer displaying the comical demeanor he had shown in front of Su Chen, adopted a solemn expression. "Regardless of what profession you awaken today—whether you are mages or farmers—you are all the future of the Great Hua Empire, and all part of the resistance against the Abyss and the Demon Race."

"Students in lifestyle-related jobs, please go to the Academic Affairs Office this afternoon to pick up your graduation certificates and job assignment letters from the municipal government. Remember, your logistical support is the strongest backing for the frontline fighters!"

More than 300 students in life-related professions lowered their heads, their eyes reddened, and silently turned and left the playground.

They knew they were out of luck for tomorrow's beginner dungeon.

He Kaishan's gaze shifted to the remaining 165 people, and his voice suddenly rose: "Combat and support class students! Go home immediately and use all available resources to buy good equipment and potions! Meet at the city center square at 8:00 AM tomorrow to prepare for the beginner dungeon test!"

The crowd scattered with a roar.

"Brother Chen, I'm leaving first!"

Wang Xiaoli, sporting his blond hair, approached, his face still flushed with excitement. "I need to hurry home and ask my dad for money. I'll sell everything I own to get a Black Iron-grade greatsword! I'll tank the damage for you tomorrow!"

He got his wish and successfully awakened the warrior class. Although it wasn't a hidden class, it was enough for an ordinary person to turn their life around.

"See you tomorrow."

Su Chen waved his hand.

As soon as Wang Xiaoli ran away, a faint fragrance of jasmine wafted over.

Lin Shiqing walked up to Su Chen.

Her eyes darted away, and she no longer had that proud, peacock-like demeanor she had before.

She bit her lip, her voice weak: "Little Su, go ahead and step on me if you want. Do you have a place to wash your feet?"

"???"

Su Chen was speechless. "You're a pervert! I was just joking with you before. Who told you to keep bothering me with your nonsense all the time?"

"oh."

Lin Shiqing gave a soft "oh," her expression a mixture of relief and a hint of disappointment.

"..."

Su Chen accurately caught this hint of disappointment and was speechless for a moment.

No.

What are you disappointed about?!

Suddenly, Lin Shiqing reached into her pocket, pulled out a silver storage ring, and quickly stuffed it into Su Chen's hand.

"Take it."

Lin Shiqing shifted her gaze to the distant teaching building, speaking rapidly, "When I was browsing the trading market earlier, I just happened... coincidentally... unintentionally saw a set of silver-grade mage beginner equipment. I've already bought it, and I have nowhere to use it, but since you're a magic-based class, I'll give it to you."

Su Chen looked at the valuable storage ring in his hand, then at Lin Shiqing's two tightly intertwined fingers, and fell silent.

just?

A coincidence?

Unintentionally?

A silver-tier beginner set costs at least three million gold coins and is extremely rare, with limited availability.

You're telling me you bought it by accident?

Su Chen sighed and handed the ring back.

"What are you doing?" Lin Shiqing pulled her hand back as if she'd been electrocuted, glaring at Su Chen. "Disgusted?"

"Miss Lin."

Su Chen said in an extremely sincere tone, "If you happen to have bought a mage set, did you also happen to have bought a warrior set? And an assassin set, an archer set? You don't even have enough fingers to wear them all, you're practically a Lord of the Rings."

Lin Shiqing's face flushed red instantly, down to her ears.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" she stammered, her voice dropping eight octaves in her guilt.

I appreciate the sentiment.

Su Chen forcefully shoved the ring back into her hand.

"He who takes a bribe is bound to do his bidding," and although the money was nothing to Lin Shiqing, she wanted to avoid owing favors as much as possible.

After saying that, he turned and left before Lin Shiqing could react, waving goodbye to her with his back turned: "See you tomorrow."

"Little Su! You...you're such a big idiot!!"

Lin Shiqing stood there, watching Su Chen's back, stomping her feet in anger, clutching the ring tightly in her hand.

She snorted angrily and huffed as she climbed into a stretch Lincoln limousine.

……

After leaving school, Su Chen went straight home.

In the old city district of Tianhe, in a dilapidated residential building.

Su Chen pushed open the door, revealing a cramped studio apartment with extremely simple furnishings.

He was a war orphan.

Eighteen years ago, a rift in the abyss outside Tianhe City erupted, and monsters ravaged the city. His parents perished in that catastrophe, leaving behind only this house and a meager pension.

If he had awakened a livelihood-related profession today, he might have spent his entire life eking out a living in this dilapidated house.

But now it's different.

Su Chen washed his face and pulled an iron box from under the bed. Inside was all his savings from the years, a total of two thousand yuan.

With the 10,000 gold coins in the bank card that Principal He Kaishan had given him earlier, this would be all the starting capital he needed for his next project.

Half an hour later.

Tianhe City Job Change Trade Market.

The place was bustling with activity, filled with high school seniors and their parents frantically buying things in preparation for tomorrow's beginner's test.

Many families have already prepared their money, just waiting for the awakening ceremony to end so they can buy their children a nice set of gear.

"Top-grade bronze-level fire magic wand! Only 100,000! Hurry, get yours now!"

"Warrior Heavy Armor, +3 Constitution, only 50,000!"

"..."

Su Chen wasn't in a hurry to scramble with them; instead, he browsed the items slowly and methodically.

The students are all level 1 now, and level 1 equipment provides very few attributes.

His initial attributes are already high enough; increasing them by a few points is merely icing on the cake.

He was looking for a weapon that suited him.

Half an hour later, he stopped in front of a stall.

On the stall was a drab gray staff, with a dull red crystal embedded at the top.

[Exploding Staff]

[Rank: Black Iron]

[Usage Requirements: Level 1]

【Spirit +2】

[Additional attribute: Upon killing an enemy, deals 10 points of fire splash damage to all enemies within a 2-meter radius.]

……

Although this staff is of the Black Iron grade, it only provides 2 points of Spirit, making it no different from a normal grade weapon.

It's just one more additional term.

Upon seeing this additional entry, Su Chen's eyes lit up.

For ordinary mages, it's not that it's useless, but rather that it's not very useful.

If it were a permanent AOE splash effect, it would be fine, but its trigger condition is very demanding—it will only splash once after an enemy is killed.

Not only is the frequency low, but the damage is also a paltry 10 points.

If things go wrong, it could attract other monsters and cause a total wipeout.

But it's different for Su Chen.

He doesn't need high direct damage; he relies entirely on applying poison DOTs to kill monsters.

Any monster that is attacked by him will be afflicted with [Poison].

Isn't this an absolutely divine skill?

The stall owner was a fat man with a face full of scars. When he saw Su Chen pick up the staff, he immediately said, "10 yuan, no bargaining. This is a genuine black iron-grade equipment."

"What?!"

Su Chen sent out the same voice message as Hua Qiang.

Is your stick made of gold, or is a cheap ruby ​​made of gold?

He said, "One thousand."

"Damn it!"

The stall owner nearly choked on his words: "Young man, you can't haggle like that!"

Su Chen looked like he was about to leave: "Boss, only the two points of Spirit are useful with this staff. The additional attributes are definitely negative debuffs. If it accidentally splashes onto too many monsters, there's a risk of wiping the whole party. Have you thought this through? After today, no one will buy level 1 weapons anymore. We'll have to wait until next year."

"..."

The stall owner looked displeased.

He really misjudged that staff; it hasn't sold in three years.

"Take it for 10,000 yuan. To tell you the truth, I bought it for 15,000 yuan. When I saw that it was black iron grade, I thought I got a bargain, but I was just blind."

"Swipe your card."

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Chen took out his bank card and transferred 10,000 yuan.

Then he went to the pharmacy next door.

"Boss, give me fifty bottles of basic mana restoration potions and ten bottles of basic health restoration potions."

"Alright, we have a special promotion today: buy ten, get one free, so we'll give you five bottles each."

Compared to the mixed quality of equipment, the price of potions was more transparent, and it cost Su Chen a total of six hundred silver dollars.

There was only a pitiful 1,400 yuan left in the card.

Su Chen walked out of the trading market, found a deserted alley, and equipped the [Explosive Staff].

[Hint: Equipment successfully equipped, Spirit +2.]

He opened the panel and looked at his high spirit attribute of 27 points, feeling great.

"Never has there been such a wonderful start, cheer for me..."

If this game had a game planner, it would probably be torn apart by players by now.

Unfortunately, this is the real world, not a game, so there's no such thing as cheating.

"This is all thanks to my hard work and sweat!"

Su Chen put away his staff, already looking forward to the newbie dungeon the next day.