Oooh my head is killing me. I should really stop drinking so much when going out with my friends. I made a weird dream.

Then I realize it is not a hangover when I hear shouting outside and pounding on my door.

What to do, what to do, wait don't panic. I start taking a few deep breaths to anchor myself. A blinking blue dot appear on the right top corner of my vision and when I concentrate on it a blue screen appears in front of me.

Notifications

You have several notifications available do you want to read them now?

I freeze an undefined time (a few seconds only in fact) then think: A system? This is a damn system. Am I dreaming of being in a game or what?

Nope. Sorry this is real. Get a grip man. You know what. I think you have other priorities now. Come back to me when you are not trying to survive the next minute.

The window collapse and a solid blue dot appear on the right top corner.

Ok I got a system and a snarky one it seems. Let’s go back to my current situation. These creatures can be killed but I need something more effective than random appliances. First consolidate my door barricade then find some weapon.

I start to gather and pile furniture against the door in order to gain a few more minutes. I, then, quickly go past my bedroom to my workshop. I look thoughtfully around the room. My worktable is full of tools, electronic and mechanical components, and various scraps. Nothing there is of immediate interest apart from some tape roll.

In a corner is my cosplay stuff. I grab my leather corset. It is one of the few items that are real as can be. What I considered as a nice prop until now should give me some basic protection to start with. As I am used to wearing it when staying at the market, it should not hinder me a lot. I quickly put on my leather boots and discard everything else on this side. Unfortunately, all my cosplay weapons are fakes made of foam.

I then focus on the crate containing my portable forge. I grab my heavier forge hammer hoping it will be enough as a secondary weapon.

Back to my kitchen I grab a good kitchen knife and a broom handle. Removing the unnecessary part, I tape the knife to the 1-meter-long wood staff in order to create an improvised short spear.

As I finish the weapon, I hear that the bashing against my door is now becoming hacking.

Going back to the door as ready as I can be I get a glimpse of the axe.

I don’t like my odds of a short spear versus a war axe. I need to find something to better my odds.

I focus on the blue dot. System you there?

Of course, what sort of question is that? Like I could go somewhere else!

Anything you can give me to improve my odds?

Not my role here but I will give you your notifications

The System has been successfully installed. You can now use it at its full capacity.

Throw skill discovered. You can now throw a toaster and hit an elephant with some accuracy.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Throw increase by 1. Yeah, you can hit a rhinoceros with some accuracy.

You killed a feral goblin. 100 XPs awarded

You are now level 1

You gained 1 attribute point

Due to your original first fight, you have been given a random skill

Random skill selected: identification

Class selection is now available

Improvised weapon crafting skill discovered.

When I see the notification for the skills, I feel like some knowledge has been imparted to me about them. It is quite nice as I find that a few more rolls of tape are needed if I really want my spear to be useful.

A class? Can you give me the list? I hope I can find something immediately useful.

The system then displays an enormous list.

Any way to reduce that list?

Yes, you can just filter like you would do in your favorite search engine

I fiddle a little with the filter to a few interesting classes.

Battle Mage: A magic user who focus on combat. Complement his magic with some fighting skills

Wizard: A powerful spellcaster whose spells are based on intense study and magical theory.

Sorcerer: A magic user who made a contract with an external entity to gain power

Runesmith: Empower runes with mana to create powerful effects.

Witch: A practitioner of mundane magic.

Some seriously interesting stuff there but each of them seems to focus on some part of magic which bothers me. And then I stumble on the one I know I will not pass

Magical Jack: A Jack of all trades on all magic possibilities. Magic knowledge is vast, and your starting experience will be very limited. It will accrue through level progression or discovery and research.

Yes, that’s what I call the jackpot. I want to select Magical Jack as a class.

Magical Jack class selected. As of level 1 you gain the following:

Mana attribute unlocked. Your current mana is 200/200 mana regen rate .8 per seconds

Mana sight unlocked. You can perceive mana when you activate your mana sight

spellcasting unlocked

You have gained a free starting spell to choose at your convenience.

Looks good. Can you give me a list of starting spells to choose from?

The list is quite short, and I quickly select the one that should help my immediate survival.

Mana bolt spell learned. Not really a Kamehameha but perhaps you can tickle your enemies to death.

As the mana bolt spell knowledge enter my mind, I know my odds dramatically improved.

Can I have a summary of everything? Like a status? And of course, a status screen appears.

Status

Name: Damien

Level: 1

XP to next level: 0 on 200

Class: Magical Jack

Profession: None

Muscle: 10

Agility: 12

Vitality: 9

Stamina: 5

Wit: 12

Will: 8

You have 1 unassigned attribute point

Hit points: 90/90 Regeneration 0.5

Mana: 200/200 mana regen rate .8 per seconds

Skills

Throw: 2

Identification: 1

Improvised weapon crafting: 1

Mana sight: 1

Spellcasting: 1

Mana bolt: 1

I will dig on the attributes and some skills later. Now is the time to see if my spear and my mana bolt can help me.

I ready myself as much as I can looking at the growing opening in the door.

Finally, a good chunk of it drops down and a few seconds later a feral goblin enters the corridor. I immediately thrust my spear towards it successfully skewering it but as I try to retrieve it, I only get the broom handle as the goblin in its death throes cut the tape with its claws. Oh crap.

You defeated a feral goblin + 100 XPs.

Spear skill discovered.

Another feral goblin finds its way through the hole in the door, and I launch my first mana bolt at it.

It is not tickling the creature which hisses at me looking in pain. I answer it quickly with another mana bolt in the face and see it crumble.

You defeated a feral goblin + 100 XPs.

You are now level 2.

You gained 1 attribute point

Nice.

An intense pain blossoms on my side. While I was distracted by the notification, one of the warriors sent its javelin through the door. That’s bad, really bad. I am feeling dizzy due to the shock and my blood is flowing through the wound. Seems my corset saved me an immediate death.

And if that was not enough, this warrior is getting through the hole with a short sword in hand.

I am toasted! Again?