Before she could say or do anything, she noticed numbers appearing in the top right of her vision.

15:00.

14:59.

14:58.

A countdown.

“How do I close the welcome message?” She asked urgently, unable to stop herself from staring at the countdown. She might be hallucinating or having a psychotic break, but that’s not what this felt like. Even though it didn’t make any sense, this felt like it was really happening. And if it was really happening, then she shouldn’t waste a single second.

Another blue screen popped up in front of her which simply said, “Say close or think of it closing,” which probably should have been the first thing that she tried. After closing both messages, a new message appeared.

Say or think “Status” to see your status screen, or “Skills” to see your skill screen. Ask any questions you have, and then say or think “Class Selection” to see your class options. You must select a class before the time limit is up.

She quickly blurted out Status, ever mindful of her limited time. What she saw both confused and intrigued her.

Status:

Name: Karolina Grant

Level: 0

Race: [Human (F)]

Class: N/A

Health: 90/90

Stamina: 80/80

Mana: 120/120

Stats:

Str: 8

End: 8

Dex: 10

Con: 9

Int: 10

Wis: 12

Free Points: 0

The screen had her name, which was only slightly concerning. If whatever force was behind these blue screens could kidnap her to some white void, then it made sense that it could also know her name. Her race was listed as human, which was correct, but why did it have an “F” after it? As she focused on her Race, another blue screen popped up.

Human (F): Humans are some of the most common and balanced races in the multiverse, known for being capable of many things but not being innately talented at anything in particular. This specific type of human is just beginning to grow in strength and gain levels.

Stats per level: (+1 to all stats, +1 free point)

That description was...interesting. It both implied that there were other humans in the “multiverse,” whatever that meant exactly, and stated directly that there were different ranks or types of humans, and that she was the lowest. She closed the blue screen and then glanced over at the countdown. It read 13:04, so she still had most of her time remaining, which meant she had time to continue reading through her status.

The class was blank, which made sense as she was supposed to choose it before she entered the tutorial. However, she didn’t really know what a class was supposed to be or how it worked. She asked that question, and another blue screen appeared.

Classes are archetypes that provide power. Once you choose a class, you gain that class’s starting skills. You gain levels in your class when you perform actions in alignment with it. Every time you level your class it gives you certain stats, and every ten levels you are able to select a new class skill. Once you reach certain levels in your class, it evolves into a new, better form, based on who you are, what you have accomplished, and the class itself.

She committed that information to memory, although she didn’t understand exactly what it meant. Maybe she would understand more when she actually saw some examples of classes later and had to pick hers. She closed that screen and looked more closely at her status screen.

Her...stats, on the other hand, were concerning. Was the world now some type of video game? What exactly did that health mean? If she got hurt, would her health go down? What happened if it hit zero? It looked like health was determined by con, which she could only guess was constitution from her basic knowledge of video games, but she wasn’t sure. If only there was a way—

She was an idiot.

“What do the different stats mean?” she asked the screen, and another blue screen immediately appeared in front of her.

There are six main stats, most of which are self-explanatory.

Strength, which controls the power of your muscles and how hard you are able to hit things.

Endurance, which controls your resistance to damage and exhaustion.

Dexterity, which controls your fine motor control and speed.

Constitution, which controls your recovery speed and resistance to poison and disease.

Intelligence, which controls the power of spells, memory recall and thinking speed.

Wisdom, which controls the ease with which you are able to make connections between disparate ideas.

Constitution, Endurance, and Wisdom also control the size of your health, stamina, and mana pools.

That answered some questions but raised so many others. Did it mean that, as she raised her intelligence and wisdom stats, she would actually become smarter? If so, how much could her mind change before she wasn’t herself anymore?

With those foreboding thoughts flitting through her mind, Karolina closed all of her open blue screens and thought, “Skills”. For some reason, even though she was alone in a white void, thinking it was much less embarrassing than saying it out loud.

Skill Information:

Natural Skill: Soulsight (D)

General Skills:

Inspect (F)

Language Mastery (S)

Class Skills:

N/A

The skill screen was less empty than she had expected it to be. She got skills from her class, and she hadn’t chosen it yet, so she honestly wasn’t expecting to see anything. She focused in on Soulsight, and a blue screen popped up.

Soulsight (D): Allows the user to passively see the souls of others when those others are visible to the user. When the user concentrates on a being with a soul, they are able to vaguely sense what that being is thinking or what they are planning on doing next.

That description was incredibly concerning. She re-read it, not able to believe what she had read. Souls exist? Souls exist, and she was able to see them? What—what was she supposed to do with that information? Then she happened to glance up and see how much time was left.

8:34.

She still had time to examine the skill screen, but not enough that she had time to veer off into endless speculation. What did it mean that Soulsight was a natural skill? As she asked that question, another blue screen appeared in front of her.

You, as does everyone, have many natural talents and abilities. However, it is only rarely that any of those natural talents manifest as a skill within the System. To be a natural skill, the ability must be inborn, powerful, and different enough from the natural talents of the rest of your race to be worth the classification. Your ability to observe the thoughts and feelings of others, done through sensing their soul, has been refined and integrated into the skill Soulsight (D).

That didn’t make any sense. She didn’t have the ability to see souls before her universe was integrated or whatever. How would that even work? Was the System talking about her knack for understanding people? That was just her being good at reading body language or facial expressions or something, right?

She looked at the other two skills that she had, but they didn’t really contain any surprises when compared with her apparent innate ability to see souls.

Inspect (F): Gives the user information about whatever they use the skill on.

Language Mastery (S): The user is able to speak, understand, read, and write all known languages.

She wondered why she had these two skills. She understood why she had her natural skill, as strange as that was, but not these other skills. She asked the System, hoping that it was a less strange explanation than her having the natural ability to see souls.

All sapient beings have the Inspect skill. All aspirants who were alive when their universe was integrated into the greater multiverse are given the Language Mastery skill to help with their integration.

Well, that made more sense than being able to see souls did. Inspect sounded useful, but there was no way to know what kind of information it would be able to give until she had a chance to use it. Language Mastery also sounded useful, but it was hard to say how useful it would actually be because she didn’t know what the state of the world was.

She took a second to reflect on her own thoughts. She was really treating all of this as real, wasn’t she? This whole situation was ridiculous, but for some reason she was treating it all as if it was actually happening. What did that say about her? Was she so desperate for a change in her life that she would accept even something this hard to believe without hesitation? Or was she just being practical, accepting that the world had irreversibly changed? Again, her eyes caught the time.

6:12.

She needed to choose a class, now, and if there was time after then she would use it to ask more questions. She quickly thought “Class Selection,” and just as expected, another blue screen popped up.

Available Classes:

Monk

Scout

Warrior

Magician

Healer

Archer

Rogue

...

There were so many. She focused on the class list scrolling down, and saw even more classes, like “Alchemist” or “Baker” or even “Thief”. She could choose to become a Thief? She needed some way of narrowing down her choices.

“What are your recommendations for what classes I should pick?” she asked the System behind the blue screens, hoping that it would be helpful. So far, it had answered every question that she had asked it and provided useful information. Just as she had hoped, another blue screen popped up.

It is recommended that you pick a combat-capable class, as your tutorial will be dangerous. Furthermore, your class list is already organized with the best classes you have available at the top. Best, in this case, is defined as classes with the highest stat bonuses and that fit who you are the best.

Dangerous doesn’t sound good. In fact, it sounds terrible, but she doesn’t have time to think about that now. She checked the countdown clock: 5:27. She still had time. She started reading each of the class’s descriptions by focusing on them.

Monk: The monk focuses on improving the strength of their own body and magic, yet is unable to use a weapon. This class is the first step on the path of magical unarmed might.

Stats per level: (+2 Dexterity, +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +1 Endurance)

This was, apparently, the class that the System thought was best for her. It gave seven stat points a level, and seemed to be a class that focused on hand-to-hand combat and magic. She had never punched anyone in her life, so she couldn’t imagine why the System thought that this class was the best fit for her. She did like the sound of accomplishing her goals with her own strength, however...

Scout: The scout is fast and focuses on reconnaissance and spycraft, but should only fight when absolutely necessary. This class is the first step on the path of martial support.

Stats per level: (+5 Dexterity, +2 Endurance)

The Scout class seemed ridiculously over-specialized compared to the Monk, and it didn’t seem to be a combat class either. It was probably only this high up on the list because it also gave seven stat points. Beyond that, this class wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life. She had no intention of spending the rest of her life reporting threats to someone else. That wasn’t how you changed the world.

Warrior: The warrior is simple yet effective, focusing exclusively on pure combat. This class is the first step on the path of martial might.

Stats per level: (+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Endurance, +1 Dexterity, +1 Free)

Her first thought about the Warrior class was uncharitable: it gave fewer stat points than Monk. Her second thought was equally as negative: whatever else she wanted to be, she didn’t want to be simple. She wasn’t going to be a Warrior.

Magician: The magician focuses on magic and the manipulation of mana, and is a force to be reckoned with despite their fragility. This class is the first step on the path of magical might.

Stats per level: (+2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity, +1 Free)

The Magician class was interesting. Very, very interesting. It confirmed what had been implied by the Monk class description: that magic existed and was going to be a major part of this new world. She wanted to be able to do magic—it was one of her childhood dreams. But she lived in the real world, this new world that was supposed to be dangerous, and she didn’t think that being fragile would lead her to living a long life.

Healer: The healer focuses on healing and supportive magic, but must rely on others in combat. This class is the first step on the path of magical support.

Stats per level: (+3 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence, +1 Free)

The Healer class wasn’t really what she was looking for either. This new world was a chance for her to finally make a difference, or at least that’s what she hoped. She wanted to be a mover, a shaker, and she wasn’t going to become that by playing a supporting role.

She could look at more classes, but she didn’t need to. At some point, she had made her decision. The higher stats per level certainly helped, but it was the class description that had ultimately made up her mind. She had always wanted to change the world, to make it a better place, and to do that she needed to have power. Forging her body into a weapon seemed like a good first step in that process. With her decision made, she chose to become a Monk.

Immediately, she felt a warm sensation spread across her body and saw four more blue screens pop up.

You have leveled up. You are now a level 1 [Human (F) / Monk].

You have gained a skill!

Unarmed Combat Mastery (F): The user knows how to fight without using any weapons. Adds a bonus to damage done without using weapons based on strength and dexterity.

You have gained a skill!

Strong Blow (F): Gives the user the ability to strengthen their blows using a small amount of their stamina. The additional damage dealt by their attack is based on their strength.

You have gained a skill!

Combat Perception (E): Gives the user the ability to perceive and react to the movement of one physical object. This skill costs mana while in use.

She smiled brightly, sure that she had made the right choice. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders: she had been more worried about that choice than she had realized. She checked the time: 1:27. Time for just one more question. The only problem was that she had no idea what to ask. She had been so worried about choosing her class that she hadn’t thought about which questions to ask.

Well, if she didn’t know what to ask, why not ask a general question that the System could interpret? She felt nervous about putting too much trust in the System, but it had seemingly offered good advice on which class to pick. And being more uncharitable, what other choice did she have? The System seemed to govern her entire life now, so not trusting it was madness.

“What advice would you give me?” she asked, hoping that she wasn’t making a giant mistake. It took slightly longer than before, but a blue screen popped up in front of her.

Acquire power and levels to accomplish your goals. Available class evolutions are a result of your accomplishments, so it is wise to challenge yourself and accomplish significant goals. Sometimes, it is best to delay gaining a level until you have accomplished more significant goals in order to get more powerful class evolutions. Work at manipulating stamina and mana without the use of skills. Skills can be upgraded by practicing with them, using them in new ways, going beyond their current capabilities, or as a byproduct of a class evolution. Your natural skill can also be upgraded. Work together with others, but ensure that you are still powerful on your own.

She barely managed to finish reading the screen before the void went completely black once again. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opened them she was somewhere entirely different.