Suna couldn't bring himself to click the mouse. The last episode was paused exactly at the third minute, right after the opening, a skill only veterans could achieve.
After this, there was simply nothing left. He could finally leave his room and taste the sunset. No one blocked him, except his pride.
The dark room he was in was perfect. Well, granted, not ideal for his eyes because he had bought completely black window curtains to maximize the screen’s potency. But if his eyes got too sore, then he could lie in bed and immediately continue watching.
It had been three days of non-stop binge. He had let the episode stack over three months, and this was the final twenty minutes.
Suna smiled. It had been a glorious three days, and genuinely the best three days of his life.
He clicked the mouse, and the episode played. Out of nowhere, a blue letter hung on the monitor.
“Huh?” Suna grumbled. What was happening? There was no exit button. Was it a virus? Propaganda from the government to stop people from watching anime? He checked his monitor, but as his gaze left it… the words followed.
He stared at the letter, goosebumps rising across his skin.
Alright… calm down.
Suna breathed in and out.
His grip tightened around his leather chair, sweat beading down as his breath quickened. Gathering his wits with just enough, he read the blue letter.
Name: Suna Amor
Level. 0
Class:
Tier:
Rune:
Feat:
Class Skill (0/5):
General Skill (0/5):
[Teleportation Commence]
[Class Selection]
The words blared with a bright golden light and rapidly shifted from their blue color. Suna cursed, and his entire being bathed in a soft light that jumped out from the words. His vision turned into a blank white, and his body was in an absolute void.
He closed his eyes as a piercing shaft of intense light burned into his eyes.
The light was gone, and he blinked his unruly vision into focus. He was seated in a stark white room, and in the middle there was a circular table, and leaning by it was a creature. The figure standing was like it was made out of nothing, yet humanoid. A figure of a man, and it was pure white, without a face, merely a body, as proof of its presence.
Surrounding the table were ten seats, perhaps each a meter away. Suna was seated in one of them, and his body couldn't move. He tried to, but his body was unresponsive.
“Where are we?” a shaky voice near him asked–a woman, maybe in her thirties, with a face full of freckles, spoke.
“I can’t move!” a man screamed, struggling against his invisible bonds.
More voices joined in, and shrill cries grated through the room. Another woman had a panic attack, and her pupils were dilated; her body went limp. Yet, she didn’t fall; her head hung over the back of the chair, and her entire body was suspended by some invisible force.
“Hello? You! Whatever you are. She needs help!” Suna called to the creature. The creature lifted its face toward him and then looked at the fainted woman.
It ignored him.
“Welcome… I will explain everything briefly. Please do excuse me, I still have many more groups to go through,” the creature said.
Suna glanced at the woman, three seats away from him. Her body convulsed, and she rattled the chairs, but the strange binding kept her seated still. The nearest man and the girl next to her tried to calm her down. But it was useless. Her body went completely limp. Then a silence held the room.
A deep, almost insulting sigh breathed out from the creature. “We will continue,” it said curtly. “Everyone will be able to move soon after I finish my explanation.”
That shut down the insult building on Suna’s tongue. He gritted his teeth and suppressed the anger that flared inside him. Besides, others had been screaming at the creature, to no avail. A man kept throwing insults after insults, only for the creature to wait for the man to shut up. The man, an office worker with a lean, muscleless body, cursed one last time.
“Fu…” he bit his lip and just breathed out.
The creature swept its hand down, as if drawing in thin air.
[ Class Selection
Warrior
Scout
Rogue
Archer
Hunter
Mage
Cleric
Paladin
Monk
Beast master
]
Stolen story; please report.
The words blared in his vision, hanging like a bluish lantern swaying up and down. Class? Suna was not much of a gamer, he was an addicte–dedicated anime watcher. Sure, he had a slight understanding of these classes. But this was just something that seemed to jump out of a fantasy.
“Each class can only be chosen by one of you. If one is taken, then you need to settle for what is left. So I highly recommend thinking deeply about each class. I shall allow the selection in one minute. Please discuss any distribution method.”
The creature clasped its hands behind its back, followed by complete silence.
Suna looked around, only to find others were doing the same. How the hell was someone supposed to know which to choose? Would he be able to shoot a fireball if he choose Mage?
“Excuse me, these classes… What are they?” someone asked, not expecting a response. But to his surprise, the creature replied.
“Think of each class as a Pathway to power. Your skills will be shaped by them, your stats will reflect your chosen class as well, and your progression to higher power will be based on your starting class,” it explained. “Perhaps, this is a foreign concept to you currently, but your world will be turned upside down once the tutorial is over. Imagine a world full of magic and mysterious power. The class is a gate inside of you to guide such power.”
Yeah, he still didn’t get it. But he would decide on which class to choose. Archer and Hunter would be the first two out, and maybe Scout and Monk too…
“Everyone!”
Suna turned his head toward the voice. A man, quite young, perhaps only five years older than Suna. He looked like a rugby player with all those muscles unnecessary for daily life.
“I suggest we hold off on choosing these… Things. Let’s talk about it first, and assign each other to a class that will be more fitting,” the man said, his blonde, cropped hair swaying ridiculously as he smiled jovially despite the situation.
“Yes, that makes sense,” a girl sitting close to Suna said, only two seats away. And she was the one who tried to help the poor woman who fainted in her chair. Her eyes were still haunted, and she glanced at the woman, “But, let’s make this quick, though. She will need help.” She motioned with her head–hair tumbled across her shoulders.
“Now,” the creature cut in. “By focusing on your vision for the class you desire, you can claim it.”
[ Class Selection
Warrior
Scout
Rogue
Archer
Hunter
Mage
Cleric
Monk
Beast master
]
Suna blinked, and one option disappeared. His eyes widened, and the [Paladin] had indeed disappeared.
He looked around, and some faces were clearly horrified, mirroring his own.
“Did someone take the Paladin?” Suna asked, annoyance tingling under his skin. They were thrust into this bizarre scenario, and someone tried to get ahead without care for others.
“I’m so sorry,” a man wearing an office outfit said, his face turning sickly purple, sweat running down his neck. “I–I just focused on it, and it claimed itself”
He looked honest at least.
“That is a lie. You will get a question to confirm the selection first,” the creature confirmed.
The office man got quiet really quickly. He let out a soft sigh, his glasses reflecting the white light dappling over them like a spotlight cranked to maximum power. The glasses fell and cracked against the floor.
“Yes, yes! I chose Paladin!” the office man laughed, his mouth quirked in a visceral grin, and his eyes might as well burned with a cruel gleam.
“Are you kidding me!” the Jock screamed, body stretched to lunge at the office man.
“Kidding you? Yes, this is all a joke! Clearly, some sort of television program or something!” he burst out hysterically. “No, this is a dream, like, come on! Who believes in.. In all of this?”
“Dream, yes, this is a dream!” A man seated beside the Office man perked up. He smiled and let out a long sigh. “Thank you for telling me.”
Maybe it was a natural conclusion.
But Suna bit his tongue hard.
Yep, this is not a dream.
Suna let out a sigh, then he put on a smile. People do stupid stuff under conditions like this. He decided to be understanding.
“Guys, let's calm down and bite our lips. We’re not in a—"
[ Class Selection
Scout
Archer
]
“Huh?” He paused. If he could rub his eyes until they were bleeding, then he would. Suna chuckled, and he blinked repeatedly.
There were only two classes left.
He gazed around, and some people lowered their gaze, including the girl who was so worried about the fainted woman. But, those who got on Suna's nerves the most were those who stared back at him.
“Oh, screw all of you! You, rugby player over there!” Suna called the jock, who tensed at his voice. “Didn’t you once suggest that all of us have a discussion first? Huh? What happened to that?”
“I’m not a rugby—” the jock grunted, somehow finding that accusation offensive, as shown by the low growl in his voice. “I’m obviously the most fittest to be a Warrior! What is so wrong with picking it? And this is just a dream anyway!”
“Dream! You idiots think this is a dream? Bite your tongue or roll your eyes to the back of your head for all I care!”
“Lies!” the office worker screamed. “Lies! This one shouldn’t be listened to! Look at the bags under his eyes!”
“Having eyebags makes someone untrustworthy?”
“I suggest,” a resolute, yet calming voice cut in, “We calm down.” The creature walked. In his hand were ten crystals. Suna did not know where he had stored such a shiny object during his earlier appearance, each smaller than a finger, and each held a different color.
The creature continued. “These are three main ways to grow stronger. One is by taking another life and increasing your levels. Second, by overcoming tribulation and earning a feat. Third is by destroying Runes, which are these small crystals. Runes exist inside every living creature's heart, so don’t forget to… Get it out. Runes can also grant you skills and equipment, so they’re quite important.”
Get it out? As in, cut a heart open? And what creature? Someone like this one?
Suna wondered, but then he noticed something. He could move. And the creature had just put all of the Runes on the table, right in the middle of them.
His eyes flitted to the others. None had realized–or registered it might be more accurate… Then his eyes locked onto the jock. The jock went tense again, and in unison.
They ran.
Suna rushed ahead, knocking his chair off. But the Jock had the same timing as him. He was fast, faster than him. The jock reached the table. He smashed his hand down and destroyed two runes. A loud crack resounded.
Those were not the powers of humans.
Another crack, three runes gone. It all happened so fast. But Suna was finally there. He lunged in, jumping, and his hand hit the table. Pain shot through his hand, and Suna swore. The Jock brought another fist down, another three crystals destroyed. Suna flinched from the sound; his head jolted from the tremor alone.
With betrayal still stinging him, Suna screamed. He smashed his head down on the last two runes. One glowed with green light, and the other with blue light. Glass shattered, and his head spun with the pain. But with a bloodied grin, he rose and turned around to see the gaping mouths of these traitors.
Shadows writhed around the crystal he had just destroyed, wrapping around Suna’s hand. Slowly, they shone and manifested into a dark midnight gauntlet that fit snugly. His hand felt light, incredibly so.
[Rune Of Strength Destroyed]
[Rune Of Armor Destroyed]
[Phantom Gauntlet] [Unique] – Forge to nature shadows and to manipulate them. When worn, when light is the brightest and shadow are focused, Phantom Gauntlet shall grant lightness befitting of a shadow. If light were weak and shadow were a blanket, Phantom Gauntlet shall grant unnatural power.
Name: Suna Amor
Level. 0
Class:
Tier:
Rune: 2
Feat:
Mana:
Class Skill (0/5):
General Skill (0/5):
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 0
Vitality: 0
Arcanery: 0
Sense: 0
Silence held like a thin thread and snapped. Around them, all seven stood and shouted at once.
The office man pointed a shaky finger at both Suna and the jock, who both had become public enemies, apparently.
“S–See I told you not to trust someone wit–”
“That was most well done!” the blank creature’s voice rang out. It clapped and clapped, unafraid, surrounded by the humans. “This kind of sense is what will keep you alive. So please do pay attention to them. Now, we cannot proceed unless every living person here has chosen their class. So please decide.”
