Lost Lotus City, High School Number 16, 10th Grade Cssroom.

  The sunlight that fell into the css through the windows was purple today. Experts had predicted this morning that it would be green.

  The temperature was at its annual peak, and the students were sweating profusely under ceiling fans, fantasizing about an air-conditioned world, like Earth—their home pnet.

  They had only seen videos of that world, where even lower-middle-css people could afford such luxuries. Unfortunately, during its transmigration, Lotus City didn't have many industrial pnts. Many essential technologies had to be built from scratch.

  “154 years ago! Who was it that awakened the first seed of civilization, uniting the remains of our transmigrated ancestors and founding the Lost Lotus City?”

  If any other teacher had demanded that the students respond energetically to such questions, they would have failed to elicit the reaction that followed.

  “The Human Emperor, Lord Crimsonstar!”

  Nine-tenths of the students shouted enthusiastically, some of them so passionate that veins started popping up on their outstretched necks, sweat rolling across reddened skin.

  “And what was his ability, as a civilization seedling?” The teacher roared, her androgynous features simirly affected by the environment. The gazes of the students, regardless of gender, were shining with unusual brightness, all gathered on her sweaty face and neck.

  The effect of a charm-type skill was apparent.

  “Lord Crimsonstar awakened the skill to Shapeshift into alien creatures after sampling their blood!”

  “According to some less popur sources, Lord Crimsonstar's skill was to skip the Evolutionary dder, directly embodying the penultimate free-forming state!”

  “Lord Crimsonstar's skill was an extension of the first path of power—Physique Enhancement!”

  “Hot take, but I think Lord Crimsonstar didn't have to rely on the skill outside the Civilization Challenging Tower.”

  While most students were trying to come up with atypical answers for that typical question, Roark's reply caught the most attention.

  This wasn't because his answer had merits, or had some unique spin to it; the attention came from frustration and fury.

  Eighty-six pairs of bloodshot eyes fell on him, who was seated at the back of the css with his bandaged feet propped up on the desk.

  Roark seemed immune to the fire in those eyes. With a clear intent to taunt, he grinned at the teacher, whose gaze was no different from the students. In a corner of Roark's vision, a small, red panel fshed for a moment.

  [ Ragebait attempt detected ]

  [ Evaluation: Clown Grade ]

  [ Reward: 90 Clown Points ]

  85 of those points came from his fellow cssmates. That meant Miss Ena's rage was worth only 5 points.

  So she was only a rookie in the tower, with probably no more than one skill, something along the lines of minor Hypnotism or Charm.

  No wonder she kept funting it since the beginning of her css as a guest teacher!

  “That seems more like an ill-motivated political statement, Mr. Navish. You are aware that this school is funded directly by Lord Crimsonstar's descendants, are you not?"

  Miss Ena went through great efforts to keep her voice neutral. Roark enjoyed every second of her discomfort.

  “Which part of my reply was political? Is it the implications of Lord Crimsonstar's tyrannic reign? Is it a political statement because it points to the fact that he killed his compatriots by using his extra ability as a civilization seedling? Is it-"

  “Enough! That's quite enough from you!”

  [ Ragebait Elevation Detected ]

  [ Evaluation: Troll Grade ]

  [ Reward: 90 Troll Points ]

  Miss Enna smmed a fist on her desk, her lips shivering from anger. But she could not do anything to vent her anger for a couple of reasons.

  First of all, giving him any physical punishment was out of the question. Half of Roark's body was bandaged, clearly fresh out of an accident. He had been allowed to attend the css because this was the st day of school for all 10th-grade students.

  Secondly, Roark was the only student in this css who has awakened as a civilization seedling. Although a handful more were bound to awaken in the future, once they were baptized by the Civilization Challenging Tower, being chosen by the tower before entry conveyed a special status.

  Thirdly, even if she found alternative methods to punish Roark, it'd be meaningless. She was a guest teacher with no real power over the students. Who's going to accept assignments on the day of the farewell?

  “Mr. Roark, why are you trying to make trouble in my css? Are you in desperate need of attention? Did your awakening not give you enough of it?"

  Increasing the focus of her Charm skill, Miss Ena smiled coldly at the brat. Being a civilization seedling didn't make Roark immune to her skill.

  As intended, the intensified skill immediately made him feel like he was losing the favor of a loved one. His cocky grin disappeared.

  But a student from the front row said something that disturbed her focus.

  “It's not just your css, Miss Ena. He has been spouting bullshit since the first period! Every teacher left the css pissed off.”

  “To be honest, he has always had a nasty mouth. Who in this css hasn't ranted in the group chats about this guy?”

  “I think he's trying to sabotage the farewell, ruining everyone's good memories by being so unpleasant,” someone else remarked.

  “Could it be that his skill as a civilization seedling is too difficult to utilize? That could have left him so frustrated that he's venting indirectly by messing with us...”

  Roark's gaze flickered at the st remark, enjoying how close, yet how wrong, the speaker was.

  A skill too difficult to utilize? Hehe...

  On the contrary, his newfound skill as a civilization seedling was perfectly aligned with his character. All he had to do was to piss people off!

  And he loved doing it! Even before getting blessed by the Tower, he had been doing it just for the love of the game.

  Perhaps that was why he had been given this particur skill. It certainly was the most absurd one among all the skills he had heard of so far.

  Even other experienced Tower Challengers didn't suspect that his behavior was linked to his skill.

  “Since you seem to be doing this deliberately, Mr. Navish, I'm going to request that you leave my css right this moment. Let your fellow cssmates end their final lesson in peace.”

  Miss Ena tried to keep the venom out of her voice. Fortunately, her Charm Skill was still running at full throttle. Roark nodded in a daze and stood up to leave.

  ...Wait, stood up?

  Every pair of eyes in the css gathered on the thick strips of bandage wrapped around Roark's legs. As those legs started moving fluidly, carrying Roark out of the css, the bandages began to peel off, showing perfectly fine skin underneath.

  Bang!

  As he shut the door of the css behind him, frenzied yells erupted inside the room.

  “So he was pretending to be injured to avoid punishment!”

  “This whole time, he kept his feet on the desk and took photos!”

  “No wonder he came in earlier than everyone today! He probably wrapped those bandages just before the first period!”

  “What the hell is wrong with this guy?”

  Hearing the noise inside the cssroom grow intense, Roark quickly made his way out of the building, deciding not to attend the small farewell ceremony scheduled for the evening.

  “I went too far. First I need to acquire some benefits from the Tower and strengthen myself. Then I won't need to fear getting beaten up by a mob...”

  Standing outside the school's gates, he surveyed his gains of the day on the small red panel visible only to his eyes.

  [ Civilization Seed Code: U-XXX-1 ]

  [ Attributes: Locked ]

  [ Seed Skill: Harvesting Hatred ]

  [ Seed Skill Status ]

  -

  Nuisance ( 11,984/1,000 )

  - Clown ( 2301/5,000 )

  - Troll (658/10,000 )

  - Locked

  - Locked

  - Locked

  - Locked

  [ Challenger Skills: None ]

  [ Challenger Skill Status: Locked ]