**The Following Day**
"Attention first-year students, please form a line! Realm sorting will commence shortly!"
Instructor Voss's commanding voice resonated throughout the courtyard, echoing off the domed hall. He paced in front of the group of over a hundred students, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze sharp and focused.
Most students responded promptly, some bearing serious expressions while others still seemed exhilarated from the previous day's orientation.
Ethan adjusted his school jacket and quietly joined the line.
The courtyard had undergone a significant transformation overnight. Large holographic banners now hung overhead, displaying classifications such as:
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[EARTH-TYPE – GREEN CLASS]
[AQUATIC – BLUE CLASS]
[VOLCANIC – RED CLASS]
[DARK/NIGHT – BLACK CLASS]
[EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS – GREY CLASS]
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Each had a glowing terminal underneath it. Students were walking up one by one, placing their palms on the scanner, waiting to be sorted into realm classes based on terrain, energy readings, and card type.
"Next!"
One by one, the line progressed steadily.
To Ethan's left, a chubby guy with goggles and sweaty palms kept glancing sideways.
"Are you nervous too?" he whispered.
Ethan replied, "Not particularly."
The guy gulped. "I got a mushroom-type beast. It's stinky as well. My realm's a swamp. I hope I don't end up with the extreme weirdos."
"Extreme… what?"
"You know, the Grey Class. That's where they assign everyone who doesn't fit the typical classifications. I heard a story about a student last year who had a realm made entirely of bones and clouds."
"…That sounds intriguing," Ethan replied dryly.
The line shifted forward again.
One of the more confident girls stepped up to the terminal. She placed her hand on it, and a clear ding sounded.
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[Realm Type Detected: Ice-Frozen Terrain]
[Energy Type: Stable Frost Mana]
[Card Match: Iceborn Minnows]
→ Assigned to: BLUE CLASS]
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"Thank you. Next!"
She walked off smugly, with an air of satisfaction, brushing her perfectly braided hair.
Ethan's turn was approaching. He could not resist glancing at the instructors standing near the Grey Class area.
They appeared somewhat less enthusiastic, with one of them drinking from a dark bottle and another apparently asleep while standing.
"Next!"
It was his turn.
Ethan stepped forward as the scanning terminal activated, glowing blue in anticipation.
He raised his hand and hesitated for a brief moment.
Here we go.
He placed his palm on the scanner.
A low hum started, distinct from those before—it took longer to process.
Then…
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[Analyzing Realm Signature…]
[Terrain: High Pollution Index | Unstable Soil Composition | Toxic Air Quality]
[Primary Light Source: Artificial/Mana-Based Weak Glow]
[Dominant Energy Type: Struggling Nature Essence]
[Initial Card: Saplingkin – Tier 1]
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The scanner halted momentarily, and whispers began to circulate.
Then:
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[→ Assigned to: GREY CLASS]
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Ding.
"...Next!"
Ethan withdrew his hand and stepped aside, maintaining his composure.
Internally, however, he felt a sense of inevitability.
He made his way toward the Grey Class banner, the whispers following behind.
"Is that him again?"
"What even is a Saplingkin?"
"He might drop out before the second semester."
He took a seat on one of the vacant benches near the Grey Class station, where three other students were already seated.
One was the mushroom enthusiast from earlier—he waved weakly. Another was a girl who looked as though she hadn't slept in several days. The last one was a kid wearing some kind of headset that kept twitching and emitting sparks.
So this is Grey Class—the outlier realm types.
Yet Ethan remained unfazed, glancing up at the floating screen above.
The message remained unchanged.
[Assigned: GREY CLASS]
Leaning back, he thought, Fine. I'll cultivate a forest amidst the chaos. Let's see who will find themselves laughing first.
…
The Grey Class area had no fancy decorations, no guiding instructor. Just four metal benches, a flickering lantern, and a chalkboard sign that read:
"Sit down, remain quiet, and refrain from touching anything that appears cursed."
Ethan commented quietly, "Quite a welcoming environment it is."
The individual next to him, who appeared to be a mushroom enthusiast, nudged him. "Do you think they forgot about us?"
Before Ethan could reply, the chalkboard unexpectedly erupted in smoke.
Cough cough—
Through the haze, a man in a tattered cloak, reminiscent of a lab coat, emerged. Half of his hair was dyed orange, while the other half appeared to be actively on fire.
"Good morning, my little disasters!" he shouted, arms wide open as if announcing a surprise vacation.
Ethan blinked, while the mushroom enthusiast muttered in surprise, "What the—"
"I am your instructor for Grey Class!" the man continued, dramatically discarding a cup of instant noodles into the trash.
"Feel free to call me Professor Huxley, Mr. Huxley or Disaster Daddy. Actually—no, nevermind. Just call me Mr. Huxley."
A girl raised her hand timidly. "Sir, your head is... on fire."
Huxley calmly responded, reaching up to pat his flaming hair. "That's just my morning alarm. Give me a minute."
With a flick of his fingers, the fire extinguished.
"Alright!" He clapped his hands. "You have been sorted into the Grey Class. This can mean one of two things: either your realms are severely flawed, or your brain might be. I'm here to make sure that neither remains the case."
He began pacing in front of them.
"You won't receive the luxurious resources the Green Class does. No high-end alchemy kits, no premium mana fertilizers, no realm assistants. What you will receive instead... is something special."
He leaned forward dramatically.
"Freedom."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
Huxley continued, "Unlike the color-coded classes, you will not be instructed on what to build. You won't be provided with spoon-fed upgrades. You'll be forced to survive, forced to adapt. And most importantly, that is forced to innovate. And if you succeed… you might just become some of the most formidable creators of our generation."
Silence enveloped the room.
Zed smiled, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
"Now! Let's give you your first realm task!"
Suddenly, a large tablet dropped from the ceiling and landed with a thud beside him, kicking up a cloud of dust without affecting Huxley's composure.
He tapped the screen once, illuminating it.
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[GREY CLASS – FIRST REALM TASK]
Objective: Establish a Self-Sustaining Structure in Your Realm.
Details: Within 7 days, create a basic habitat capable of independently supporting at least one lifeform from your current card. Use of realm assistant modules is prohibited. Only manual work is allowed.
Bonus Objective: Creatively integrate your realm's terrain and energy type. Top submissions may be showcased publicly and receive additional credits.
Warning: Failure to complete the task will result in resource deprivation for one month. :)
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Huxley clapped his hands again. "There we have it! Nice and simple. You'll receive one lifeform seed from your integrated card. The rest... you will need to determine on your own."
The mushroom enthusiast appeared visibly anxious. "Wait, wait… so we don't even get the help from the system assistant?"
"That's correct!" Huxley beamed. "You're entirely on your own."
"Just you and your broken, janky little realms."
Ethan leaned forward slightly.
A self-sustaining habitat, indeed.
His thoughts raced back to the issues he faced with deteriorating biodomes in his past life. Those corrupted shelters that couldn't even support moss for more than a week.
"This time will be different."
He stood up.
Huxley observed him. "Ah, someone is eager to begin?"
"I'll start now," Ethan said, his voice resolute yet calm.
Huxley nodded thoughtfully. "You're the Saplingkin, correct?"
"Yes."
Huxley responded with a crooked smile. "That's intriguing. Let's see what type of forest you can cultivate in this wasteland."