Chapter 1: Hardcore Difficulty

Tethralin. A game made by Xyvarc Corporation. Although it was a game, it was more special than any other game as it takes your soul and places it in ‘Tethralin’. In ‘Tethralin’, you are given a class and the opportunity to attain skills and abilities out of this world—just like a game. Your goal was to climb up the numerous floors of the tower, while each floor varied in size. Of course, each floor had monsters, traps, and even treasures to behold. And when you start—you either reach the end, or... no one knows for sure, exactly.

Only one life left. I’ve had no luck at all—I thought that everything was going fine! Floor 20, betrayal… I'm back at the beginning. This is my last chance.

“System! Put me on Hardcore!”

[System Notice: You have chosen the difficulty, ‘Hardcore’. Lives remaining: One. Please allocate your attributes. 15 points remain.]

Status

Health: 100/100

Mana: 10/10

Name: Zeryn Felix

Level: 0

Class: None

Titles: None

Attributes:

Vitality: 5

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 5

Willpower: 5

Intelligence: 5

Perception: 5

Wit: 5

Wisdom*: 8

Charisma: 3

Luck: 3

[*: This attribute carries over and can only be increased through real-time experience.]

Abilities: None

“What?! On Normal, I was only given 8 points! And on Easy, 5 points! Now there are 15 points? But my Wisdom... Even after playing three different classes, it's only gone up a total of three points. What am I doing wrong?”

Hmm. Last time, I was an Alchemist, with my starting Attribute Points (AP) mainly in Dexterity, Perception, and Wit. Before that, when the Floor 10 boss pummeled me, I was a Duelist—Strength, Dexterity, Agility. And my first time playing, I played a Mage because—who wouldn’t want to be a mage?

Ugh. “One life left. I’m going crazy. Why must I be so unfortunate—” Wait. Unfortunate?

“System! What does the Luck attribute do?”

[System: Luck increases the chance of ‘Luck’ affecting you.]

“What does it mean to be affected by ‘Luck’?”

[System: Luck has various effects. Wisdom is too low to give an answer.]

“How much Wisdom do I need to get an answer?!”

[System: Error.]

“System! How much Wisdom do I need to get an answer!”

[System: Error. Invalid question.]

… Are you kidding me? This fucking system!

[System Notice: You sense an ominous presence. The Luck attribute has decreased by 1.]

“Aaaaaah!” I screamed out. I slammed my fist into the ground but felt no pain.

Damn—damn you! Damn me! Screw it all!

I opened my Status, and threw all my points into Luck.

[System: Do you confirm increasing the ‘Luck’ attribute from 2 to 17?]

“I confirm. Let me see the Class options!”

[System: According to the attribute placement, there are 6 available options.]

Jack-of-All-Trades

Fool

Villager

Gambler

Alchemist

Miraculum

“What? Four of these classes I have already seen. Anybody can be the first three… Wait. Anybody can also be an Alchemist? I thought I had specialized for it! Aaah!”

I tapped the ‘Gambler’ class and looked at the info.

[System: The Gambler class is most proficient in the use of Throwing Weapons to fight, particularly cards. The Gambler class begins with the class ability, {Final Die}. Required Dexterity: 5. Required Luck: 8.]

Throwing Cards? Interesting, but it seems way too dangerous! Let’s check out the ‘Miraculum’ class.

[System: The Miraculum class is not proficient in any weapon type. The Miraculum class begins with the class ability, {Spin!}. Required Luck: 15. Charisma may never exceed 5.]

Wha—? Not proficient in any weapon!? How am I supposed to fight? And ‘Spin!’? Do I spin in circles?

“System. Revert AP allocation. I want to view the other class options.”

[System: Error.]

“ERROR? What is the reason for the error?!”

[System Notice: Due to the ‘Hardcore’ difficulty, AP allocation is permanent after confirmation.]

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. What have I done?!

“System! Please, I was being irrational earlier. I meant no offense. Please, revert AP allocation.”

[System: Error.]

This time, I started banging my head on the walls. Although I was in the Waiting Room and couldn’t die, I really, really, wanted to hurt something—or someone. So I hurt myself. I had no idea what to do now.

[System Notice: 30 seconds remaining. Please pick your class. If the time runs out, your class will default.]

“30 seconds remaining? What is this nonsense? Are you ser—” And then the pain in my head accumulated. I fell back.

I opened my eyes. I was in a decent-sized cave. I could see outside the cave, but all I saw were blue skies and a very expansive green field. Behind me—inside the cave—were weapons. From throwing weapons, daggers, and swords, to giant axes, bows, scythes, and even whips. This was the starting point of Floor 1.

I walked to the weapons, and the wall behind them started flickering.

[System Notice: A broadcast from the Xyvarc Corporation is on.]

I started watching the screen, though I could guess what it was. A similar broadcast first played when I moved to Easy. I still paid attention to this one, though, in case it was different. And hearing what it said definitely alerted me to the fact it was different.

“Yes. It is official. The world-wide amount of players of ‘Tethralin’ is now just over 100,000.” A man who looked like he was in his 40s spoke into the microphone. “In just our continent, the Xyvarc Corporation counts 48,000 players. Once we finally have players who finish the game, we estimate that the number of players will triple within a few short months, after all, our game has only been live for 40 days.”

40 days?! That’s impossible. I’ve been in here for at least 80 days now! I even started 20 days after it went live!

A reporter quickly asked a question during the pause, “Mr. Endor, what about the deaths being reported because of the game? Is this not murder?”

The spokesperson for Xyvarc Corporation, Jameson Endor, shook his head. “No. Every player knew the risks involved with our game, and signed the contracts. Soul technology is dangerous, and currently, research is being done for those who are in a vegetative state to return their soul after using their limited lives. Those deaths are because of those who decided to no longer pay for the fees. Next question?”

A different reporter asked, “There are currently rumors saying that Xyvarc Corporation is in cahoots with the government and private hospitals. Due to those who are comatose and vegetized, hospitals, primarily private hospitals, are making much more money now. Are these rumors true?”

Jameson Endor replied, “Of course not. Many companies may or may not be trying to slander our good corporation’s name. This is normal in the world of business. Alright. No further questions. I must be off now. Thank you.”

“Mr. Endor!—”

The screen shut off.

Unfortunately for me, I have no one who would be able to pay the fees… this is my only chance! Which weapon do I choose this time? I’ve used Magic staves, daggers, yet got furthest just by avoiding enemies and using a potion sling. Ah, right. Did my class default? Status!

Status

Health: 100/100

Mana: 10/10

Name: Zeryn Felix

Level: 0

Class: Miraculum

Titles: None

Attributes:

Vitality: 5

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 5

Willpower: 5

Intelligence: 5

Perception: 5

Wit: 5

Wisdom*: 8

Charisma: 3

Luck: 17

[*: This attribute can only be increased through real-time experience.]

Abilities: {Spin!}

Looks like it did... why did it default to Miraculum though? Is it because it required the most Luck? I took a look at my new ability to see what it did, trying to understand how this proficient-less class worked.

{Spin!} - An active ability. Spin a wheel. You might win something! [Rating: ?] (Five Floor Cooldown)

Spin a wheel… to win ‘something’?? And I can’t even see the ability rating! What the hell!

“Alright, here goes nothing! Spin!”

[System: You used Spin. The wheel will spin for 15 seconds.]

A golden aura appeared in front of me and from within a giant wheel appeared. I couldn’t make out anything written on it, as it was spinning extremely fast. Then, the wheel slowed down, making me able to see some of the words written.

“Hmm. ‘Ability’, ‘Weapon’, ‘Armor’, ‘Point(s)’, ‘Pick One’, ‘Pick Two’, ‘Jackpot’, ‘Fail’.”

And finally, the wheel stopped.

[System: The Spin has been completed. You landed on ‘Pick Two’. Congratulations! Please review the options.]

Options:

Ability: Rating [D]

Weapon: Rank [C]

Armor: Rank [C]

Attribute Point(s): 2

This—this is unfathomable!