“Holy shit!” The girl whose life Shaw saved finally realized what happened, and when she did, she screamed. The skeleton might have been reduced to a pile of bones, but that hardly made it any less terrifying in the eyes of the students.

The entire class exploded into a wave of conversations. Most of them revolved around the skeleton, but Shaw also got quite some attention. After all, she took down the skeleton within seconds of it first appearing. No one was stupid enough to think it was simply a coincidence.

But as of the moment, Shaw didn't have time to worry about what the others were saying. Her attention was occupied with her character interface. Without a word, she turned and went back to her seat. The others tried to ask her questions, but she ignored all the inquiries.

There were a few interesting things. First of all, if what Shaw heard from her previous run was correct, the attributes were scaled such that an average human male would have 10 all around. Her attributes this time were the same as the numbers last time. 10 for strength, 12 for reflex, and 10 for regeneration. It wasn’t the most impressive, but it was better than many other players. Like most human, she had no psychic skills, which was also expected.

The 5 disposable attribute points could be added to any of the four categories. If they were added to one single category, they could make her significantly tougher in that regard. Sure, she could save them for later, but that would be a stupid thing to do at this phase of the game.

Before deciding how to spend her attribute points, Shaw turned her attention to the Career field. The field said Career: Not Selected, and when she tabbed the field, a new message popped up.

Select your Career here:

(Each career will grant you additional attribute points, one random ability unique to the career, and one weapon unique to the career.)

Warrior: Combatants with high survivability.

Strength: + 7. Reflex: + 8. Regeneration: +6

Abilities: Charge. Sword Strike. Unbreakable Defense.

Weapon: Silver Sword

Mutant: Beings with unique powers and combat styles.

Strength: + 3. Reflex: + 3. Regeneration: + 8.

Abilities: Energy Blast. Frenzy. Regenerate.

Weapon: None.

Soldier: Troops that draw strength in numbers.

Strength: + 4. Reflex: + 4. Regeneration: + 4.

Abilities: Unite. Form Phalanx. Last Stand.

Weapon: Sword and Spear.

Sorcerer: Wizard with powerful spells.

Psychic: + 12

Abilities: Heal. Fireball. Freeze.

Weapon: White Staff.

Mythical: Entities of legends with significant potentials.

Strength: + 5. Reflex: + 6. Regeneration: + 9. Psychic: + 4

Abilities: Classified.

Weapon: Classified.

There were five careers in total. Each had different tactics and play styles. The Developers never mentioned it in the notification, but Shaw knew that if the players made their choices entirely based on the numbers, they would be in for a lot of pain. For example, the Warrior career usually required the players to get up close and personal with the enemies, which meant a lot of blood and injuries. For weaker players who feared pain and gore...it would be a terrible choice no matter how many attribute points it offered. And the Sorcerer career needed players who could spend days going through the spells and practicing them to use the spells to their fullest potential, so if an impatient player chose to be a Sorcerer…

Once again, the Developers never bothered warning the players about this. This would lead to a lot of players being forever set on careers that they despised.

Shaw knew she didn't have too much time, so she quickly went over her options. She was a Warrior last time, and she had decades of experience in that career. The other choices weren’t really her thing. The Soldier career was best for players who preferred to fight in groups while she preferred working and fighting alone. She was never really into learning either, so no Sorcerer. The Mutant and the Mythical careers sounded impressive, and good Mutants and Mythicals were powerful, but Shaw had little experience with those careers. Plus, she had killed enough Mutants and Mythicals in the past to know that no career was invincible.

In the end, it was the wisest for her to select the path that she had gone down once already. This was no time to explore.

Finally, she tapped on the Warrior career and watched as the message faded away. Just as it was gone, a few more messages appeared.

Congratulations! You have selected the Warrior career!

You have received the below attributes: Strength: + 7. Reflex: + 8. Regeneration: +6

You have received a new ability: Charge.

You have received a new weapon: Silver Sword.

Her character interface transformed as well.

Amy Shaw

Level 1

Strength: 10 -> 17

Reflex: 12 -> 20

Regeneration: 10 -> 16

Psychic: 0

Disposable Attribute Point: 5

Developer Comment: Garbage. Enough said.

Career: Warrior

Sub-Class: None

Abilities: Charge

Hmmm...Charge. Shaw tapped her chin subconsciously. It was a really straightforward ability. Once she activated the ability, she would be able to run right into the enemy at a superhuman speed. Of course, it could end with her getting skewered on a lance or a claw, but with a good shield and some decent armor, the charge could get deadly very easily. At the same time, it was very important to have the strength to back up that charge and the reflexes to be able to control it effectively.

She didn't hesitate to spend the five disposable attribute points she had, adding three of those points to Strength and the other two to Reflex.

Amy Shaw

Level 1

Strength: 17 -> 20

Reflex: 20 -> 22

Regeneration: 16

Psychic: 0

Disposable Attribute Point: 0

Developer Comment: Garbage. Enough said.

Career: Warrior

Sub-Class: None

Abilities: Charge

As she finished her upgrades, Shaw could distinctly feel power flowing through her body. She wasn’t too certain about the strength, but her brain felt a little faster and her mind a little more acute. She could barely remember how many times she had upgraded herself, and every time, she was amazed by how good it felt.

At this point, she was already twice as strong and twice as fast as the average human. Even more impressively, this was done in a few minutes. And as amazing as these upgrades were, they were nothing compared to what would come later. Within a few short months, human beings would either die or become as powerful as the gods themselves. Those that survived and leveled up, that was.

Shaw pulled her attention back from her newly found strength. This power was good, but it was just the basics. She needed more. Much, much more. And to do that, she needed to kill a lot of the NPCs outside.

Even now, there were screams and cries coming from outside the classroom. Countless NPCs have been spawned in this school alone, and the other classrooms didn't have Shaw. Many died in the brief minutes after the Launch. The casualties were unprecedented.

Shaw was quick with the selections, thanks to her knowledge of what was going on. It had only been a few minutes at most since the first monsters appeared. The young woman quietly stood up and glanced around the room. She could see the eyes of almost everyone trained on her, hoping that she could tell them what was happening.

“What is going on here? What...what was that thing?” The teacher finally asked with a shaking voice. To be honest, Shaw didn't really remember her name. She remembered the date and time of the Launch because it led to 20 years of hell and horror, but the name of a random teacher? And if she remembered correctly, the woman died not long after the Launch. In other words, her name and information were worthless to her.

As the others looked to her, Shaw pondered the idea of just leaving everyone here without saying a word. This would likely lead to their death...not that she really minded. It wasn’t because she was cruel or sadistic. Shaw simply knew that these people here were not worth her time. Even if she helped them survive this and level up...and then what? Even if they somehow survived until the end of the game, they would just be more corpses on the killing field. More lifeless, meaningless bodies in a war that they didn't stand a chance in.

Perhaps for them, an early and quick death was the greatest mercy of all.

Still, for one reason or another, she said a few words before she left.

“It’s a long story. Essentially, those things are popping up all around the world, including in this school, and we need to kill as many of them as possible if we want to survive.”

This declaration led to another wave of discussion by the students. Most of the girls looked at her like she was crazy. More than a few of the students were scrolling through their phones and trying to call the police, but their phones have long been rendered useless. A few boys slowly crept up to the pile of bones and examined them with a mixture of fear and fascination in their eyes. Shaw glanced at them. These boys had quite the courage. Perhaps they would have a higher chance of surviving than the others.

Without another word, she turned and headed for the door of the classroom. Before she could reach there, a boy ran in from the hallway. He was stuttering hard, clearly horrified by what he just witnessed.

“Oh...oh my god! The things...they are everywhere out there! Quick! Barricade the door!”

Shaw frowned as a few students moved to try and block the door. Indeed, in most cases, shelter in place was the smart thing to do. If there was a school shooter in the building, then steering clear of the hallway and locking the door might save a lot of lives. But this wasn’t one of those situations. There won’t be police coming to the rescue, and the only thing hiding now would do was miss the best opportunity to level up.

She would just leave the classroom and go on a killing spree herself, but in the end, she bit her lips and decided to say a few more words of caution.

“Listen up, everyone.” She raised her voice and addressed everyone in the entire classroom. “As difficult as it is to believe this, we are in a real-life survival game now. The only way we can level up is by killing the monsters out there. If you do that, then some of you will die while others will become more powerful, but if you stay back and wait until the monsters level up, then most likely all of you will die. The best thing you can do now is pick up a weapon and start fighting.”

She was never the best at motivating people. Usually, she would let other people do that. She was in charge of the fighting. Nothing more.

It was obvious that her words had less of an impact than she intended, partially because most of the students were still trying to comprehend what was happening. Still, she had wasted enough time already. Without giving the others another glance, she turned and made her way out of the room.

She had some leveling up to do.

Some of the students called out after her, but she didn't turn back. As she left the room, a few boys looked at each other before quickly locking the wooden door.