Chapter Three: Preparations Before Changing Classes

“At last, it’s done!”
Once he reached level ten, Chu Cheng no longer felt any motivation to keep grinding and decisively prepared to return.
Returning was simple. Within the instance world, there were several teleportation points; as long as you were out of combat and not under attack for sixty seconds, you could leave the instance world and return to the main world.
The nearest teleportation point wasn’t far—about two kilometers south lay a coastal town, one of three teleportation points in this world, and also the entry point into the instance.
He wove his way there, avoiding what he could, fighting through what he couldn’t.
The monsters were only level five, and since his sole focus was running, these level five pirates didn’t chase him for long.
He soon reached the vicinity of the town. In the distance, he could see a modest bay and, along the gentle shoreline, a sizable seaside settlement. Numerous ships were moored at the harbor, mostly fishing boats, but also a five-masted flagship, three three-masted warships, and seven medium-sized two-masted warships.
This was the Royal Navy fleet.
In this world, known as the Black Sails Pirates instance, the core conflict was between the Black Sails pirates and the Royal Navy fleet. The way to clear the instance was to destroy the Black Sails pirate fleet.
The main storyline had nothing to do with them.
They were just students; even the top group in their grade was barely over level ten, with the highest in the entire year not yet at fifteen—some hadn’t even reached ten—making it impossible for them to touch the main storyline of the instance.
Whenever they entered these small instance worlds, they mostly just hunted minor monsters to level up.
Only the very strongest in the class would team up to explore, take on simple quests, or hunt down minor bosses for some benefits.
This lesson was no different. Chu Cheng dutifully went off to grind level five Black Sails pirates, while other classmates either formed parties to hunt higher-level elite pirates or raided pirate outposts—far more advanced than what he was doing.
Jogging along, he was relieved to spot a patrol of town militiamen in the distance.
These level ten-plus militia would kill any pirates approaching the town, so there were no monsters nearby.
He jogged to the town entrance and noticed a few classmates fishing by the docks. When they saw Chu Cheng running past, their eyes were filled with surprise, and some began whispering to each other.
Fishing was a life skill—fish could be used as cooking ingredients, and some special varieties could be sold for money. At higher levels, you could catch rare fish and aquatic treasures, and some advanced items required materials only obtainable through fishing.
He, too, had learned this life skill. After all, the Black Sails Pirates instance was one they visited often, and being so close to the sea, nearly everyone had picked it up, though their proficiency varied widely.
Chu Cheng was among the less skilled, still just at beginner level.
In addition, he had learned first aid and cooking; linen bandages were a product of the first aid skill.
Once inside the town, Chu Cheng went straight to the tallest building at the center, where the homeroom teacher and two teaching assistants were stationed. Since class was still in session, he needed to report his departure from the Chaos Realm for his job change to the teacher.

At the entrance, he took out the token all students possessed, and the two native guards let him in.
Inside was a training ground, and as he entered, five boys and three girls emerged.
At their head was the class monitor, Wang Weilong, who had awakened a talent upon condensing his Law Body. Now a level fourteen weapon warrior with an advanced class template, he was the strongest in the class, and ranked in the top ten throughout the school.
The others were also among the class’s top students. They always acted together, and every major class, they stirred up trouble—this time was probably no different.
Chu Cheng, who had yet to change his class, was always at the bottom of the rankings and had little to do with them.
As he hurried in and saw them, he instinctively stopped and stepped aside to let them pass, as usual. They only glanced at him before looking away.
But as they brushed past, a pimply-faced boy suddenly called out exaggeratedly,
“Hey, isn’t that Chu Cheng? You finally hit level ten?”
“No longer dragging the class down—congratulations!”
Chu Cheng’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing and walked on.
“Damn you.”
“Once I change class, just you wait and see if you dare talk to me like that.”
This was Sun Kang, another classmate. He was petty and held a grudge over some minor incident in the past, always taking the opportunity to snipe at Chu Cheng.
Chu Cheng had tolerated it for a long time, but lacking the strength to retaliate, he never dared talk back.
Clenching his teeth, he crossed the training ground and saw Teaching Assistant Liu Weifei holding a greatsword single-handedly in a thrusting stance. Not daring to interrupt, Chu Cheng waited patiently nearby until Liu Weifei exhaled a long breath, a jet of white vapor shooting four or five meters out.
“Chu Cheng, do you need something?”
“Sir, I’ve reached level ten and would like to return temporarily for my job change.”
“Oh!”
Liu Weifei finally looked at him directly and nodded.
“Very well, go ahead.”
“Remember to return once you’ve changed class; the lesson isn’t over yet.”
“I understand, teacher.”

“Go on, then.”
After bidding farewell, Chu Cheng stepped outside the training ground and chose to exit the Chaos Realm:
“Return!”
A sixty-second countdown appeared before his eyes.
The countdown ended quickly. As space warped slightly, a pillar of white light surged skyward and vanished.
The next moment, he found himself on a vast platform.
Behind him was a giant gate of light, streams of lightning converging and intertwining to form a colossal portal, which extended upward into a thunderous pillar piercing the sky.
The square was filled with such portals, and from time to time, young people about Chu Cheng’s age stepped through them, entering or leaving.
Each portal represented an instance world in the Chaos Realm, anchored to the school and accessible only to its students.
The so-called Chaos Realm was an immense sphere of chaos composed of countless realms large and small, all tangled together and constantly shifting. It was a place of utter confusion.
Most of these realms were independent, separated by world membranes. Passing through a membrane would take you to another realm.
But after some time, passing through the same spot might lead you to a different realm entirely.
The Chaos Realm was like a writhing beast made of worlds—at every moment, some small worlds broke apart or were swallowed by larger realms, while others split into several new, uniquely sized realms.
Not long after humanity discovered the Chaos Realm, it was found that by using world essence to forge a special mark, a particular realm could be fixed and anchored.
A fixed realm had its coordinates locked in place and could be reached via teleportation magic.
To anchor a realm meant to set its state at a particular stage, turning it from a shifting chaotic realm into an orderly instance world.
The Chaos Realm was ever-changing, but the instance worlds were like game instances—everything within was orderly, and under the rules, they could reset just like in a game.
Adventurers could enter these instance worlds as players, train within, and gain experience and loot by killing monsters inside.