Ye Xuan had no such thoughts. On the contrary, now that he had power, he could feel more clearly than ever just how valuable knowledge truly was.
He was fortunate, in a sense. The Wangquan Baye template he had obtained didn't place heavy demands on that front. But for those whose abilities depended on imagination and creative thinking, without a solid foundation of knowledge, drawing out the full potential of their power would be an uphill battle.
That was his perspective, though. Everyone thought differently, and everyone made their own choices.
It still felt strange, having to go to school and sit through national exams even after gaining power. But at least so far, there hadn't been a single student from any school who had actually dropped out just because they'd awakened some kind of ability.
For Ye Xuan, now that he had the system and had merged the Wangquan Baye template, the urgency to chase perfect grades had quietly faded. So rather than staying home alone, the idea of going to school actually sounded far more appealing.
He stood up, stretched, washed up, and went to bed.
It was already late. Finishing his homework had taken him until ten, and now it was nearly midnight. He had to be up early.
His house was close to school, and given the unusual circumstances, he had chosen not to stay in the dormitory. Normally, students were required to live on campus, which meant waking at six and starting classes at half past. Students who lived at home could arrive a little later, so long as they made it before seven.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The next morning.
When Ye Xuan opened his eyes, pale morning light was creeping in through the gap in the curtains. The power flowing through his body made him feel briefly disoriented.
"So it wasn't a dream."
That sensation of being full to the brim with strength brought everything back at once, the fishing, the merging, the youthful Wangquan Baye template from the night before. The tremendous Sword Qi inside him surged like a river running deep.
He made his way to the bathroom. After washing his face, he reached out of habit for his school uniform, but his eyes drifted toward the blue-white robe the system had given him.
The times had changed. Ever since reports emerged of people awakening abilities through cosplaying anime characters, more and more young people had started wearing the outfits of anime and film characters as everyday clothing. Schools still technically maintained their uniform policies, but faculty had largely turned a blind eye to the trend.
What else could they do? The fantastical items flooding into reality had no nationality, but the people who obtained them did.
The abilities of characters born from human imagination were extraordinary, some powerful enough to level cities or even nations with ease. If a hostile country suddenly produced someone who had awakened an exceptionally powerful character template, wouldn't that be catastrophic?
Because of that, every nation quietly hoped to see as many powerful individuals awakening on their own side as possible, and restrictions on things like clothing had become far more relaxed as a result.
Ye Xuan hadn't done this before. Partly because he'd never thought his luck would be good enough to warrant it, and partly because he'd found the idea a little childish, a bit chuunibyou. He was a transmigrator, after all. He had already outgrown that phase.
At most, he might have tried on a costume in private. Wearing one to school had never crossed his mind.
But now things were different. Dressing like this before having a template was chuunibyou. After having one, could it really still be called that?
This was the real Wangquan Baye descending into the world, thank you very much.
He pulled on the blue-white robe, fastened the sash at his waist, and hung the Wangquan sword at his side. In the mirror stood a young man with a bright, composed expression. The fabric of his robe shimmered with faint golden threads, and the sword at his hip looked ancient and dignified, the characters for "Wangquan" carved into the hilt and glowing with a soft, steady light.
But what truly drew the eye was the bearing he carried, a calm, unshakeable confidence belonging to a young swordsman who seemed to believe that everything in the world could be cut down with a single stroke. A strand of hair shifted at his brow without any wind, and the light in his eyes gave his silhouette a sharp, striking edge.
In that moment, Ye Xuan looked like a swordsman who had stepped out of an ink painting, every movement carrying a quiet magnetism that was hard to name.
He smiled at the mirror. The young swordsman in the glass smiled back.
It was a good feeling.
Ye Xuan glanced at the time, then pushed the door open and headed out.
At the mouth of the alley, white steam curled through the air, carrying the sharp, warm scent of steamed buns. Ye Xuan stopped in front of the breakfast stall and rattled off his order with practiced ease.
"Uncle Zhang, twelve pork buns, six vegetable buns, and three cups of soy milk. Split them into three bags, please."
His eyes drifted to Uncle Zhang's rather peculiar outfit. A red scarf was wrapped around his neck like a neckerchief, a Taiji headband sat across his graying temples, and in his hands was a rolling pin of perfectly normal size, except that its ends had been painted red with a green dragon crudely sketched along the length of it.
"Coming right up!"
Uncle Zhang called back reflexively, already wrapping the order. But when he looked up to say hello, he froze. His right hand stopped mid-air and hovered there for a long moment before finally handing the buns over.
"Xiao Xuan, that outfit today..."
Then something seemed to click, and he nodded with the air of a man who had figured it out.
"Ah, trying to awaken an anime character too? Let me tell you, something like that is harder to pull off than winning the lottery!"
Ye Xuan accepted the bag while Uncle Zhang kept going.
"Look at what I'm wearing. Apparently it's a full costume set for Master Xie, the Iron Sugar Gourd. My daughter practically wrestled it off the shelf when it went on sale for eighty percent off yesterday."
"There's a two-meter iron staff as a prop inside. Not heavy, but ridiculously long. How am I supposed to knead dough with something like that? So I cut off both ends and made it into a rolling pin."
"And drawing on that dragon pattern cost me fifty yuan!"
"You know the Dragon Lord Pattern, right? The Dragon Lord Pattern is..."
"Only a legendary cooking tool can carry the Dragon Lord Pattern and the Fortune Phoenix Pattern. Master Xie's iron staff doesn't have either of those."
Ye Xuan offered the gentle correction while counting out his payment.
"What did you just say?"
"So you mean I threw away fifty yuan for nothing?"
Uncle Zhang's eyes went wide.
"Proof that you're an idiot." The pastry vendor across the lane called out bluntly.
"You just said Xiao Xuan wants to awaken a character, but you're the one who's been obsessed about it this whole time, old man!"
"You've never even watched Cooking Master Boy and you're already dreaming about inheriting Master Xie's legacy. Take a good look at yourself first. Can you even lift that staff?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Oh, shut up, like you've watched it either!"
Uncle Zhang muttered under his breath, rapping his rolling pin against the wooden counter in irritation. But as his eyes followed Ye Xuan's retreating figure, that indescribable swordsman's bearing trailing behind him, he couldn't help letting out a low murmur.
"But honestly, Xiao Xuan looks like he was born to wear that outfit."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Meanwhile, Ye Xuan was making his way toward the school gate, breakfast bags in hand, his eyes sweeping across the noisy, brilliantly dressed crowd. The corner of his mouth wouldn't stop twitching.
He had seen it plenty of times before, and somehow every time, the sight still struck him as completely surreal.
If you knew the place, you'd call it a school. If you didn't, you'd swear you'd walked into a cosplay convention.
There were black-and-red cloud cloaks from the Akatsuki in Naruto, Shihakusho uniforms from Bleach, Sailor Moon costumes with sparkling light wands, and a considerable number of people dressed as Son Goku in various forms, each carrying their own staff.
Nearly every anime character the human mind could conjure seemed to be present, and it wasn't just anime, either.
Students wearing their actual uniforms had become the minority. In fact, setting aside the handful who were too focused on their studies to care, practically no one wore the uniform anymore.
Even the head of discipline, once the most rigid authority figure on campus, was wearing Gojo Satoru's blindfold from Jujutsu Kaisen today. Although, to be fair, it looked less like a fashion statement and more like a convenient way to hide the dark circles under his eyes.
The thing was, Gojo Satoru could cover his eyes and still see perfectly well. Could the same be said for the discipline teacher?