‘Hm?’
All of a sudden, I found myself in a staircase and staring at a big and fat ass, my boss’ ass. I blinked in disbelief and then wished I could delete that memory of my head somehow. He turned around and saw me rubbing my eyes like my life depended on it.
“Hey, Ryan! Where the hell are we?”
“I was wondering about myself…”
I turned around while I was hoping that my eardrums were still fine. Whenever that guy opened his mouth, it made me recall some people on the internet that only talk with the caps ON. Behind me, there was a blonde middle-aged woman that I had never seen before and she looked as confused as us. Behind her, more and more confused people looked around.
On the sides, there were simple gray walls. It made me recall the emergency exit of some buildings, but the distance between them was just too small. Not even two people could pass side by side. My boss, who probably never jogged in his entire life, could barely turn around.
“It looks like there is a door ahead, boss. Someone is trying to open it, but it is locked.”
“Doesn’t that fool have any arm strength?”
People began to make a lot of noise since they found themselves in the middle of a weird place surrounded by people they didn’t know. It was a pretty confined place as well, so it was no wonder people were starting to make noise. The staircase going down took a turn to the left and since a lot of noise was coming from there, I imagined that a lot of people were here with us.
I tried to recall the last thing that I was doing before suddenly finding myself here… I was putting some coffee in my cup. While I had just arrived at the machine, my boss told me to stop wasting time and get back to work. It looked like my head was working fine and I couldn’t sense any pain in my body. So, the situation was indeed odd.
There were no windows around and the ceiling was only half a meter above us, so it was a place that made me feel a bit claustrophobic. Still, there were no sources of light, but the place was weirdly well lit.
While I was thinking about that, the door ahead opened and the people ahead began to calm down. Soon enough, the news spread and people realized that they weren’t locked there… Still, the door was locked when five people got inside the room. When the guy in front of my boss tried to stop the door from closing, he was zapped and let go of the door.
“What the fuck is this?”
“This seems like a rather elaborate prank… do you have anything to say in your defense, Mister Winters?”
I let out a sigh. It is always like that when trouble arrives.
‘What the hell is this fatass saying?’
‘Quiet you, I don’t have time to deal with you right now.’
It looked like my boss took my silence as an answer… he knew that I didn’t have the balls to prank him, much less pull a prank of this scale. Regardless, my name is Ryan Winters. I am basically a glorified handyman working for my boss’ company. I am good at fixing things for some reason. Currently, a twenty years old college student is being slaved away in order not to graduate from college with hundreds of thousands of student debt.
Right now, I’m studying business and management, hoping that someday I can overthrow my annoying boss and then take over his company. It was impossible, but he was so annoying that I couldn’t help but think of that. At least half of me was.
“Hey, can you hear anything beyond the door?”
“... No.”
After my boss’ question, the guy that was zapped replied while shaking his arm. Considering his reaction, I thought he suffered quite the damage, but I couldn’t see any vestiges of it. The door didn’t have a handle, so I couldn’t help but frown.
After waiting for around three minutes, the door was opened again and then we checked the interior, but we found nothing… There was a door on the other side, but it didn’t have a handle either.
“Hurry up!”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Get moving!”
Those five who had got in first probably had left and there were no signs of anything weird inside the room, so we got inside alongside the woman behind me and another older lady with a cane.
When all of us got inside, the door immediately closed with a large thud that put us on guard. The room was very odd. It seemed like the kind of place where you leave things that could be used, but were too old or needed some repair. It looked like a small warehouse of some sort.
While we were busy looking around, the other door was opened and then a shoulder length, black-haired woman appeared while carrying a scroll and a pen, the feather type… as if that wasn’t weird enough, she was wearing something like a very old secretary uniform, with a long blue skirt and a blouse of the same color made of what appeared to be silk. All of us couldn’t help but blink in confusion.
‘Hehehe, I bet that she looks amazing without those ridiculous clothes.’
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‘I told you to shut up already.’
Thanks to the annoying voice in my head, I made a weird expression and then the woman squinted her eyes while looking at me… for a second, I almost thought that she could hear my very unwelcoming thoughts. In any case, she turned to the others and then wrote something on the paper.
“Roy Carter, John Williams, Ryan Winters, Melissa Kent, Christina Fernandez.”
I knew that John Williams was my boss’ name, and it looked like the other names were correct too. This prank was starting to look very scary… things started to look even more dubious when she moved her hand toward the first guy and then a simple knife and a piece of paper appeared in her hands.
“Take it and read the paper thoroughly if you want to remain alive. The same applies to all of you.”
The voice of the woman was as cold as it could get, to the point that the first guy didn’t hesitate in following her orders immediately. My boss also took a piece of paper and a knife without saying anything, even though usually he would just shout at her and ask what nonsense was going on.
I accepted mine knife and paper as well, and I felt a shiver when our eyes were locked for a moment. Her gaze seemed a lot colder for a moment.
‘The straight-laced type, huh? I like to mellow these types.’
I felt like sighing… I don’t remember the last time I heard this annoying voice so many times in a row. It must be because my mind was all over the place thanks to the situation. Still, I soon recovered my focus when I began to read what was written on the piece of paper.
Instructions:
Your old life is over. The only way to live now is to fight. We only welcome those in our settlement that are willing to survive and strive. If you want to be able to do both, use the knife that you received and your wits.
To use the system, you can use mind commands. The system can follow simple and complicated commands, but they need to be precise to work as they should. The words: status, map, party, and inventory can be easily used in your mind to access those functions when you obtain them.
You can’t commit the following actions within the settlement. If you commit them, you will have to pay a fine determined by the closest guard. If you can’t pay it, you will have to spend a determined amount of time in jail.
Money and power can give you anything as long as you have enough.
Those were some weird instructions… The final one was particularly concerning. It made me think that those who had power and money could do anything, considering the third instruction, it seemed that as long as you had money, you also didn’t have to worry about the consequences of your actions.
‘So, nothing changed?’
‘I guess so…’
I turned the paper and then found some more paragraphs, but they weren’t instructions. That seemed like a skill list, but it was too odd to be true…
Inventory (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 02)
Upon reaching level two, you gain the ability to carry and manage up to 20 types of items in your inventory, organizing them for easy access. This skill allows you to store items you acquire during your journey.
Party (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 03)
Upon reaching level three, you gain the ability to create and manage a party of up to 3 members, allowing you to share experience and gold gains. With this skill, you can invite others to join your party, making it easier to work together on objectives. This skill also allows the group to share progress on quests, so everyone stays updated on their collective goals.
Chat (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 04)
Upon reaching level four, you gain the ability to send text messages to other members of the group, facilitating basic communication. This skill enables you to communicate in real-time with others in the world, whether through private messages or group chats.
Friend List (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 05)
Upon reaching level five, you gain the ability to add up to 10 friends, see their status and location, and communicate with them. This skill allows you to track and maintain connections with others. You can check when your friends are alive, awaken their conditions and send them messages.
Trade (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 06)
Upon reaching level six, you gain the ability to trade items and currency with others. This skill lets you open up trade deals, offering items, resources, or gold in exchange for other goods. When dealing with anyone, you can negotiate the terms of the trade.
Map (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 07)
Upon reaching level seven, you gain the power to view the areas that you have been in and the details of the current one. This skill automatically records your journey as you explore the world. It provides a simple map of the surrounding area and marks places you’ve visited, such as towns, landmarks, and points of interest. The current area is displayed with basic details, such as terrain type, weather conditions, and notable geographical features, like rivers, forests, or mountains.
Social (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 08)
Upon reaching level eight, you gain the ability to interact with others and the world in many manners, improving relationships and gaining minor social bonuses. At the basic level, you can gain access to some quests and you can create them for others as well.
Mana Control (Basic) (Apprentice Lv 09)
You gain the ability to wield mana and recover it, which is necessary to obtain advanced classes. This skill helps you manage your magical energy more effectively, allowing you to cast spells and use skills.
I blinked several times in confusion, and then decided to check that, and soon I blinked several times in even more confusion.
Name: Ryan Winters
Class: Apprentice Lv 01 (00/100)
Job: (00/000)
HP: 50/50
MP: 50/50
SP: 50/50
Strength: 05
Magic: 05
Dexterity: 05
Vitality: 05
Wisdom: 05
Endurance: 05
Toughness: 05
Spirit: 05
Adaptability: 05
Free Points: 00
Skills:
Job Skills:
‘What the hell?’
‘What the hell indeed.’
“It is time to move. You need to leave the room now for the next group to enter.”
We didn’t have time to deal with the confusion. The door opened by itself and then we were forced to move again. My boss looked at me with the look on that side: explain this fucking nonsense right now. I just ignored him because I had a feeling that he would no longer be my boss.