In response to Kai's answer, the System responded.

[You have been granted 1 additional class option]

The screen with the six class options on it flashed in front of Kai. Beneath the options, another one phased into existence. This one had no theme, no flashy symbol beside it. It was just one simple word lettered in bold white.

[UNDEFINED]

Kai selected the option mentally. It highlighted, but before he could accept, a warning appeared.

[Warning: Choosing this class means you will not have a proper class entering the Tutorial. Upon finding a class within the Tutorial or Tower, it will be upgraded to its next Ascendancy level]

Perfect, if perhaps underwhelming at first glance.

Kai would have liked to obtain some Tower-shattering cheat of a class right now, but unfortunately, the Tower did not like to play that easy.

Granted, it was possible to reach massive heights of power, but it always involved considerable amounts of struggle.

Not that Kai could complain here. Primary classes were upgraded via an Ascendancy system where, upon accomplishing class-specific quests called Ascendancy Trials, the class would level up, ascending into a new form.

For example, a Warrior would, say, kill 1000 enemies to turn into a 'Great Warrior'.

This would come with a host of benefits like additional stat bonuses, skills, equipment rewards, etcetera. It was another way that classes could diversify from the original six primary forms.

In Kai's past life, the Archetypes were those that reached the absolute highest pinnacle of their class, clearing Ascendancy Trial after Trial and becoming 'Archwarriors' or 'Archmages' and the like. For the Archetypes, it took several decades of intense fighting and sheer luck to reach their level.

But even going up one Ascendancy level usually took weeks, if not even months of dedicated grinding.

The fact that Kai could skip an entire Ascendancy level meant he could save an enormous amount of time. And considering the class he wanted, this was absolutely crucial if he wanted any level of independence going forward.

So long as he survived, of course.

Going through the Tutorial with nothing but the clothes on his back was practically a death sentence.

That was, for anyone that was not him.

[Class: UNDEFINED chosen. If this choice ends in your death, do not bemoan it, for you have admirably chosen struggle over all else.]

[You have made a Fated choice. The Tower has taken an interest in you...]

[You are now entering the Tutorial…]

'A Fated choice, huh? First time that's happened to me,' thought Kai as light began to wrap around him. Fated choices were quite significant. The more they were made, the more likely it was for an Ascender to face difficult encounters in the Tower.

But at the same time, it also became likelier for the Ascender to receive greater rewards. It was essentially like sticking a magnet on yourself that pulled both good and bad luck toward you.

Fated choices were the very definition of high risk, high reward.

Kai avoided them in his past life, but he would seek them out now. He had to if he wanted to clear the Tower when nobody before could. He needed to push the envelope farther than anyone else had ever done before. The light of teleportation fully engulfed him.

He felt the light, too.

It was hot, almost uncomfortably so, and made every inch of his skin tingle and strain as if all of his cells were being forcibly pulled apart. His stomach lurched and nausea pinged and ponged through his head.

It was a subtle reminder that the Administrator gave little to no care about human comfort when it came to teleporting or, well, anything really. Anything except tormenting living beings in its damned Tower like they were its playthings. No, scratch that, they were its playthings.

Kai closed his eyes and waited for the moment to pass.

When he felt a cool, windy breeze on his skin, he opened his eyes. He was now in a clearing lying smack dab in the middle of a thick forest. The trees were packed together tight with healthy, full branches, and though it looked just like any other forest on earth, the presence of blue-tinted leaves and sparkling bark on some trees made it clear that this was no longer earth.

To Kai, though, this was a somewhat familiar sight.

"It's the same…" Kai put his hand out, catching a leaf carried by the wind. "This is the same Tutorial."

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For a moment, Kai had been cautious of the risk that he would get transported to a different Tutorial.

The second wave he was part of took 100 million people and split them into many groups ranging from as few as a dozen to as many as ten thousand.

Each of these groups faced entirely different Tutorial levels with wildly different environments and clear conditions.

Kai was confident in his skills, skills honed by decades of fighting in the Tower, to survive a different Tutorial even without a class.

There was a potential issue in that a different Tutorial would have different rewards and treasures, but even that mattered relatively little. In the first place, Kai did not really remember where exactly all of the Tutorial rewards were, and he could not really blame himself for that.

In the grand scope of things, the Tutorial's rewards were meager, almost insignificant.

At best, you could get yourself a slightly stronger weapon or a few cool spells, but all of these were easily accessible within the Tower proper.

The items in the Tutorial were just meant to help you survive it, nothing much more. They very quickly got outscaled outside of the Tutorial.

All Kai needed was exactly one thing from the Tutorial. The only thing that really mattered: the special class hidden within it.

And to get it, he needed to forego any other reward. He needed to make sure he had absolutely nothing until the time was right.

More messages appeared under the tab.

[Floor: Tutorial entered]

[Main Quest (Clear the Tutorial) started]

[Difficulty: 5 (MAXIMUM)]

[Description: You have now entered the Tutorial. Your objective is simple: it is to obtain as many points as possible within a thirty-day timespan. There are four main ways in which you may obtain points.

1. Defeating Monsters: Eliminating any of the many hostile creatures in the Tutorial will net you points. The more dangerous the creature, the higher the points awarded.

2. Surviving: For every day you survive, you will obtain 10 points.

3. Discovery: Finding special loot will grant you points. The rarer the loot or discovery is, the more points are awarded.

4. Complete Quests: Throughout your exploration, you may be offered quests to take up. Complete these to obtain bonus points.

Point totals for each Tutorial participant will be displayed in a leaderboard visible to every participant. It is your choice whether to display your true name or not.

At the end of the thirty days, those with the ten highest point totals will receive rewards. The rewards will be better depending on how high your ranking is.

You will be given a minimap to help in exploring the Tutorial. It will provide markers for points of interest such as minibosses and potential locations for treasure.

You will also obtain one Lifeline. You may use this at any time by simply calling upon it with your will.

The Lifeline will call upon the Tower to grant you the choice to select a gift from a catalog. The nature of this gift is variable, but the fewer points you have and the more dangerous your situation, the better and wider your selection will be from the catalog.

However, be warned that there is a finite number of gifts within the catalog, and once someone takes a gift, it is permanently taken.

Waiting too long may mean you will be faced with an empty catalog at your hour of greatest need.

Now go forth, Ascender, and survive.

No, do more than survive. Explore. Kill. Grow stronger. Ascend.]

[Congratulations, you have completed the quest (Choose a Class)]

[+10 SP awarded]

[Skill: Allspeak awarded. This marks you as a proper inhabitant of the Tower. You may now communicate freely with other Tower denizens provided they wish to communicate with you]

Kai distributed his stat points quickly, not sparing much thought to it. It was obvious what to take.

[+10 Agility]

[Agility: 14 > 24]

In early stages, stat points were worth more. How much they gave started to taper off over increasing thresholds, but right now, every little point mattered considerably.

This also meant that dumping stat points into a single stat made significantly more dramatic changes than spreading them out.

For example, Kai's base agility at 14 meant he was relatively fast compared to the average human, but not exceptional.

Now, at 24 agility, Kai could be considered a 'peak human', capable of sprinting at an Olympic level. Not just that, though. Agility was a multi-layered stat that boosted reflexes and coordination on top of raw speed.

This was the best stat that Kai could abuse in the Tutorial. Because he had not started out with a class, he had no way to really hurt monsters. He had no weapons or spells or armor.

But he could evade them.

Plus, if he wanted to get what he was gunning for from the Tutorial, he needed to make sure he got as close to zero points as possible. That meant no killing monsters, so dodging and running from them was better than having the strength to beat them up.

Kai closed the messages but took the time to briefly look over the minimap.

It showed a circular area covered in forest.

At the center of the forest was what looked like an island separated from the woods by a moat of water.

Four bridges from each cardinal direction linked the island to the greater forest. Above the island was a shining golden star that indicated an important point of interest.

There were many others sprinkled about, but the island had the most prominent shine to it, making it obviously the most important.

'Hm…it probably looks the same as it did before?' thought Kai. 'I don't remember much, damn. Here I thought that I'd remember more because the Tutorial was my first experience with the Tower. But compared to the proper floors, this really was insignificant, huh?

At least I do remember what's most important.'

Kai tapped his finger at the island, placing a red dot marker over it. In relation to the island, he was at the western edge of the forest, his position marked by a blinking blue dot.

By placing the marker, he added a point to the blue dot that tracked towards the center, acting like a compass.

What Kai needed was over there. He knew basically everyone was drooling at that golden star.

Invariably, it would be the first target for the vast majority of those teleported here.

He, however, grimaced at it.

If there was one thing in the Tutorial he did remember, it was that damned star.

At how many people it had killed. How it almost killed him.

Before Kai set off to the island, he tapped his name on his status.

[Do you wish to hide your name using an Epithet? Any time an individual wishes to see your status, they will see this name instead of your true name.

In addition, for any leaderboards present, that is the name that will be displayed]

"Yes," said Kai.

[Choose an Epithet]

"…" Kai thought about it for a second. He was always bad with names. Even in his past life, when he was called the 'Corpse Pyre' for his flame-related abilities and high kill count, he never chose his monikers; they were always given to him.

He glanced down at his class name and shrugged. "Undefined."

[Epithet: Undefined registered]

Now armed with a decidedly middling Epithet, a cheap T-shirt, track pants, and worn sneakers, Kai looked wholly unprepared for the dangers of a monster-infested forest.

But he strolled in with his head held high, confident in his ability to survive and navigate the foreboding woods in his scuffed sneakers.