Illustrated Guide to a Hundred Flowers: Who Says I'm a Good-for-Nothing?

Chen Xuan, an honors student in the twenty-first century, had his soul transported to another world where magic and martial arts coexisted. Here, high school entrance exams and life rankings worked in completely different ways. Instead of endless drills in math, Chinese, and English, students were assessed on their mage and battle-mage ranks, combat power, and practical skills. Those were the foundations on which young people built their futures. The first hurdle for new students was an elemental affinity test using a testing stone. In this world, no element ranked above another. Talent was determined solely by affinity, with clear-cut rankings ranging from SSS, a perfect 100 percent, to F, below 20 percent. Chen Xuan's entrance test made him the laughingstock of the whole school. The testing stone lit up with the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. It seemed to show broad talent, but his affinity for every element came in below 20 percent, placing him at the lowest rank, F. No one knew that beneath the five lights lay seven rare ancient elements as well, all hidden by his extraordinarily low affinity and entirely undetected. From then on, the label "good-for-nothing with every element" stuck to him, and his classmates mocked him mercilessly. After muddling through his second year of high school, Chen Xuan happened to find an old, blank-flowered encyclopedia. It had been gathering dust for a long time, showing no signs of life. Then, in an accident, a drop of blood from his fingertip landed on its pages, and the book erupted in golden light. A virtual interface appeared out of thin air. The first page showed his personal status. Every page after that featured a peerless flower and a flawless woman of striking beauty, each with a beauty rating above ninety. The encyclopedia's rules appeared in cold, clear text: earn the corresponding girl's favor to fifty percent, and he could bind her, unlock a unique element and talent, and overturn his fate as a good-for-nothing.