In the Divine Calendar 1518, May 4th, Friday.

It is a dream.

Again, this damned, strange, and somewhat eerie repetitive dream.

Chen Xiang struggled to open his eyelids but could not do so, his vision shrouded in darkness, his body unable to move,

as overlapping, near-maddening murmurs of prayers surged crazily into his ears.

"Great Empyrean..."

"Foundation of the myriad realms, weaver of reality, eternal pillar..."

"Every ray of light is your thought, every shadow is your silence; you define the essence of the universe and decree the subservience of all beings."

"O great and supreme Lord..."

"I can't even sleep in peace," Chen Xiang thought.

Who is the Lord?

Is it me?

The prayers continued, hundreds of voices overlapping, each chanting "Empyrean," washing over Chen Xiang's mind like a torrent.

He was so tired.

Time passed slowly; when he finally woke from the dream, the murmurs faded gently, and Chen Xiang abruptly opened his eyes, shook his groggy head, and struggled to get out of bed.

He pulled back the curtains and instinctively began sketching the view outside on paper: gentle breeze, morning light, dew, falling leaves.

As he drew, he fell into a trance.

"On the eighteenth year of coming to this world, things outside are getting increasingly chaotic... This era has technology that is decades more advanced than my previous life, yet the societal system seems to have major issues."

Thinking this, Chen Xiang continued to sketch the scene outside.

"I researched a lot yesterday; it seems there really is a supernatural aspect here, but true contact with the supernatural requires entering higher education institutions to study ancient mysticism?"

"Supernatural..."

He began to draw a giant from his imagination on the paper.

"Hmm, I'm still curious about how the two moons in the sky are stable; why are the tides similar to my past life?"

"By the way, I had that dream again today, and in the dream, I was still lying down, unable to move, only able to listen."

"What are those prayer voices really about?"

The giant on the paper took shape, made up of fragments, intertwined with dust, fire, wind, and still water.

He didn't know why he was drawing a giant.

He just wanted to.

Putting down his pen, Chen Xiang silently organized the information he had, contemplated for a long while, then set the page on fire, reducing it to ashes.

After doing all this, he stretched lazily and turned on the LCD TV.

The host, with bright red hair, wore an exaggerated expression, arms wide open, and shouted:

"Good morning, Eight Ring News!"

"This morning's top story is that a cargo airship was shot down over the Eight Ring by a rocket! Hey, the scoundrels of the Eight Ring are always like this..."

"This airship was from the [Giant Academy], and an important cargo has gone missing. The behemoth that occupies the Eight Ring is going to be angry; citizens of the Eight Ring, you should stay indoors lately..."

"Additionally, the Giant Academy has issued a bounty; anyone who can provide information about this item will receive a reward of one million!"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Chen Xiang glanced at the image of the missing item shown on TV, a pitch-black wooden box with a carving of a [Giant], the emblem of the Giant Academy.

He was somewhat surprised; the airship was destroyed, yet this wooden box was fine?

What could be in such a small box to warrant a one-million reward from the Giant Academy?

"The second piece of news is that the sixth prince of the Donghong Kingdom will soon visit our Great City... Of course, this has nothing to do with the folks of the Eighth Ring~"

"The third big news is that there was a riot in the Ninth Ring last night, where three thousand rioters took over the police station and the administration office..."

Amid the exaggerated tones of the red-haired host,

Chen Xiang shook his head, lost interest, and pulled back the curtains, as dawn's light poured into the room, gradually filling the entire bedroom.

He gazed at the tall buildings, the neon lights that never went out, the huge holographic projections, and the cars running on the ground and the few airships above...

He had been in this world for eighteen years now, which should count as reincarnation,

but it wasn't until last month, on his eighteenth birthday, that he awakened his past memories...

Chen Xiang lit a cigarette, somewhat lost in thought.

A chaotic society, a broken civilization, parents long gone, just an older sister and a second brother left—his sister scraping by on the streets, basically a thug, while his brother worked as a police officer.

Though being a police officer sounds decent, the reality is...

In this vast city covering an entire island over ten thousand square kilometers, divided into nine rings, the outer rings are increasingly chaotic. The police station in the Eighth Ring where his brother works has been blown up countless times by rioters!

Ordinary police officers have little distinction from civilians, and in fact, they often have it worse—low pay, high danger, and almost no power.

As for himself, he was just an ordinary young man who had just turned eighteen, having awakened a month ago to memories of his past life, relying on his older sister and brother, yearning to enter a higher institution to study [Ancient Mysticism].

Lost in thought.

A gentle breeze flowed through the window, stirring the embers on the iron table, while the red-haired host's final words echoed amid the neon, dawn light, and gentle breeze.

"In short, today will be another beautiful day."

"Welcome to the [Great City]!"

Just as the voice fell,

Chen Xiang furrowed his brow sharply, hearing a subtle rustling sound from outside his room, coming from the living room.

But... there was clearly no one at home?

In the next moment, there was a knock on his bedroom door.

Knock, knock, knock!

Chen Xiang opened the drawer, retrieved a pure black Hunter 5 caliber kinetic handgun from the iron box, and called out loudly:

"Who is it?"

Covering his voice, he quietly disengaged the safety on the gun and chambered a round.

"It's me."

A slightly weary male voice replied, sounding somewhat relieved.

Chen Xiang exhaled, lowered the gun as he opened the door, and only after seeing the familiar face outside did he put the safety back on and put away the powerful handgun.

Standing outside was a young man, around twenty-two or twenty-three, with sharp brows and bright eyes, looking somewhat similar to Chen Xiang, dressed in a police uniform.

His second brother, Chen Xin, a senior officer at the Eighth Ring police station in the Great City.

"Brother, aren't you working today?"

Chen Xiang asked as he put the gun back in the box.

"A big incident has occurred."

Chen Xin frowned tightly:

"Last night the Ninth Ring went completely haywire; all twelve bridges connecting the Eighth Ring to the Ninth Ring are closed, but some rioters still managed to get into the Eighth Ring, and I was worried about you."

The Great City is divided into nine rings; the inner three are mysterious, the middle three are mostly wealthy families, and the outer three are separated by wide rivers.

Each ring is a different world, or you could say each ring represents a different class.

After a pause, Chen Xin looked at the youth before him and continued:

"Since you're okay, I'll head back to the station... By the way, your sister has managed to secure a spot for you at the Giant Academy for [Ancient Mysticism]; I'll come by this afternoon to take you to school."

Chen Xiang's breath quickened; the Giant Academy!

According to the information available, the only way to become supernatural is to enter higher education!

And the Giant Academy is the only institution in the entire Eighth Ring that qualifies as a higher education institution, both in scale and power!

It is said that there are [supernaturals] within the Giant Academy!

Of course, unlike other schools, getting into the Giant Academy is... very difficult.

Not to mention that the tuition for studying [Ancient Mysticism], which involves the supernatural, costs three hundred thousand a year, while his brother's salary is only four thousand a month...

How did his sister manage to get him admitted?

Chen Xiang took a deep breath, nodded seriously:

"Brother, I will study hard."

Chen Xin lightly nodded and reminded him:

"Remember to thank your sister; this qualification... is not easy to come by!"

After saying this, he patted Chen Xiang on the shoulder and hurriedly left the house.

After watching his brother leave, Chen Xiang paced back and forth, unconsciously clenching his fists, supernatural!

However...

After his emotions settled, Chen Xiang frowned.

If it were just that, his brother wouldn't need to make a special trip back. Even if he was worried about his safety, a phone call would suffice.

After all, being diligent at the station is no small matter.

After pondering for a moment, he walked into the living room, glancing around; everything seemed normal—an old coffee table, a semi-antique LCD TV, and a yellowed air conditioner older than himself...

Huh?

Chen Xiang let out a soft sound of surprise and stepped forward, pulling out a square object covered with black cloth from under the coffee table.

It wasn't there yesterday; did his brother just place it here?

Not thinking too much, Chen Xiang casually tugged at the black cloth, revealing a pitch-black wooden box engraved with a [Giant].

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside.