The World Changes

Outside Shuilan Middle School, a light drizzle fell.

Beyond the school gate, parents crowded together under their umbrellas, faces damp with rain and bright with anticipation. Today was the day their children's futures would be decided — whether they made it into Tianlan Magic High School, whether they'd go on to a good university, it all came down to today's exam.

You read that right.

*Magic* high school.

In this world, magic reigns supreme.

Every child was required to complete nine years of compulsory magic education. After nine years of basic magical theory and practical life skills, they all sat an exam — the equivalent of a standard middle school entrance test — and only those who passed could enter a magic high school and become a true mage.

Osmanthus blossoms had been knocked loose by the rain and scattered across the straight paths through the school grounds. When the bell rang, students poured out through the doors — some walking alone, others hunting for their friends — all buzzing about the exam.

"Hey, Mu Bai — that question about the seven elemental types: Ice, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Light, and Lightning — did you manage to get it?" asked a pale-faced boy in a small bow tie.

"Perfect score," said Mu Bai, a guy whose hair, height, and face all seemed assembled to make everyone else feel inadequate.

"As expected of our top student — even the combined-element questions couldn't stop you… Wait, isn't that Mo Fan? The one who scored a 6 on the practice exam?" said Zhao Kunsan, whose face was covered in pockmarks.

Mu Bai glanced over with barely concealed contempt at the boy walking alone under an umbrella. "That guy's about to end up just like his old man — hauling around in a beat-up pickup, doing sales runs."

"So he'd basically be a servant for your Mu family, haha!"

The three of them said it all at full volume, not caring in the slightest whether Mo Fan heard. Having had their laugh, they sauntered off, radiating the quiet confidence of people who fully expected to pass.

Mo Fan walked out through the school gate alone, a black Huang Feihong umbrella open above his head.

He glanced back at the school he was about to leave behind. A thousand things could have been said — he summed them all up in two words: *absolute disaster*.

Could you really blame him?

Mo Fan didn't belong in this world. Back where he came from, he was a genius. Ordinary exams were beneath his contempt — he'd always handed in blank answer sheets on principle. Being written off as a slacker by teachers and classmates made perfect sense, the way a university student had no reason to sit still for an hour just to earn a gold star sticker.

He had planned to put in just a sliver of effort for the real middle school exam — casually snatch first or second in the whole school, then walk into the city's best high school while thoroughly stomping all over idiots like Mu Bai in the process…

Then the unexpected happened.

A perfectly good student fell asleep for a nap on the hill behind school — and woke up here.

*Magic.*

His classmates, his teachers, his dad, his little sister — none of them had changed. What had changed was the entire world.

The world he'd known — one built on science and reason — had become a world where magic ruled everything.

Physics, chemistry, mathematics — replaced by black magic, white magic, and dimensional magic. Academic subjects — now Fire, Ice, and Lightning.

He had nothing against magic — learning that magic was genuinely *real* had knocked him sideways in the best possible way. The problem was the timing: the world had completely reinvented itself right before his exam, and left him knowing absolutely nothing about it.

So the would-be genius who had planned to play dumb before stunning everyone had become a genuine bottom-of-the-class failure, subjected to every flavor of mockery the school had to offer.

The one saving grace: the nine years of compulsory magic education covered nothing but scattered theory — practical knowledge for everyday life. Real magic wasn't something you encountered until high school.

To become a true mage, one essential step awaited: the **Magic Awakening**.

The Awakening took place at the high school opening ceremony, witnessed by the entire faculty. Even if a student hadn't mastered any theory beforehand, they could still awaken their own element.

Mo Fan genuinely loved the idea of magic. For him, this was nothing short of a perfect fantasy rebirth. He wanted to be a supreme mage — the kind who could stand atop the highest towers, commanding fire and summoning lightning, doing his small part to save the world.

The trouble was, this exam…

Put it this way: after relentless cramming in the days before the test, he had achieved the milestone of being able to *read the questions*. Whether his answers were right was another matter entirely — he'd done his best, and that was that.

"Mo Fan! Mo Fan!" In the crowd, a sallow-faced middle-aged man was waving his arm high in the air.

Mo Fan recognized him at once and looked over with mild surprise. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Came to pick you up! Now that the exam's done, you've basically graduated. I found you a sales job in the district next door — your Uncle Guangfeng will show you the ropes. A few years of experience and you can go out on your own. If you're lucky, four or five thousand a month is very doable. Better to start working young." Mo Jiaxing said it all with his usual warm, easy smile.

The world had changed, but his dad was still his dad. That warmth hadn't changed at all, and Mo Fan felt it in his chest.

His father had mentioned the sales job before. Mo Fan, who had once dreamed of surprising his dad with top marks, now had to swallow the bitter reality that he was, by every measurable standard, a genuine failure.

But he wasn't willing to accept it.

This world still had cars, phones, computers, and refrigerators — technology hadn't changed just because magic existed alongside it. But if you couldn't become a mage, you ended up on a factory floor building those things. *What's the difference from where I came from? I'm going to learn magic.*

If everything else carried over from his old world, then his talent should have too. All he needed was to put in the work in high school, fill in the gaps, and he could still be a top student — no, a top *mage*.

After a long silence, Mo Fan said it. "Dad. I want to keep studying."

"Didn't you say you had no interest in magic?" Mo Jiaxing raised an eyebrow, clearly puzzled.

*Uh…* Mo Fan winced. He had no idea how to even begin explaining the truth — or whether his father would believe him.

Mo Jiaxing looked at his son — nearly sixteen now — and his face softened into that same easygoing smile. "It's fine. Your dad's not going to blame you for not putting your heart into it. Everyone's path is different."

"No — I mean it. I genuinely want to study now."

"Could you pass the exam?"

"No," Mo Fan answered without hesitation.

"Well, there you go. It's fine, it's fine — the ancients always said, 'of all pursuits, magic stands supreme,' but there's also the saying that every trade has its masters…" Mo Jiaxing continued.

Mo Fan's mouth twitched.

He had to mentally translate so much of this world's information, and the process left him speechless sometimes. He still remembered the day his history teacher informed the class that "Edison" was the founding father of Light Magic. An entire stampede of furious disbelief had thundered through his head.

Mo Jiaxing was patting Mo Fan's shoulder, murmuring comfort, when he noticed his son had gone quiet. Something was off about his expression.

A father knows his son. Mo Jiaxing slowly let his smile fade, his voice dropping. "You're serious."

"Yeah." Mo Fan's tone was earnest. "I want that Awakening chance. I know it's too late to regret what happened before, but I genuinely want to study properly — I want to become a mage."

He just needed one chance.

Mo Jiaxing was quiet for a moment.

Mo Fan didn't speak either.

"You really want to do this?" Mo Jiaxing asked again, one final time.

"Really." Mo Fan nodded without a moment's hesitation.

He had spent time thinking this was all a dream — the world playing a trick on him — but the evidence was undeniable. The world had genuinely changed. This was no dream.

"All right then. I'll find a way." Mo Jiaxing said nothing more.

"Dad — I already found a summer job at Tianlan Magic High School. Looking after the library. I start the day after tomorrow," Mo Fan added.

Now that his mind was made up, he needed every advantage he could get. Whether he'd be admitted to magic high school — and whether he'd receive the Awakening that came with it — depended on his father. Filling in his knowledge gaps was something only he could fix. Knowing full well he had no chance of passing the entrance exam, he'd secured this job in advance.

The pay was almost nothing — just room and board — but it mattered enormously. The library held everything he needed to catch up on.

At least he was genuinely talented. In a short time, he'd already finished catching up on the first and second grade curriculum… which, he had to admit, was about the most depressing thing he'd ever thought about himself.

Beside him, Mo Jiaxing watched his son's unwavering conviction and felt something stir in his chest. If his boy was set on pursuing magic, what reason did he have not to be glad? In this world, true status belonged to mages. A lifetime of sales work — a house, a car, a comfortable life — none of it could match the worth and respect that came with a magic school diploma.

"Let's head home. Leave this to your dad." Mo Jiaxing nodded and said no more.