Coincidentally, I was sitting in my game theory class when it happened. The teacher was droning on and on when she suddenly stopped. I didn’t know why she stopped, but I assumed it was for the same reason I did. Some words had popped up in front of my face. They came out of nowhere and didn’t have anything supporting them. Unusual.
I waited a second for the words to disappear. When they didn’t, I blinked to make the process go faster. When I reopened my eyes, I found that the words had gained an entourage. Multiple windows had popped up in addition to the one that was already there. So, with surprising calmness, I began to read them.
Congratulations, humans! You are now being inducted to the glorious ranks of the System! You will learn to level up, buy skills and weapons from the Shop, and, best of all, slay monsters! Fortunately for us and less so for you, we believe that the best form of teaching is not at all. You have three days to figure out what the hell is going on. Good luck!
Congratulations, human! You are the first person on your planet to blink since the arrival of the System. You have earned the class Blink! You have earned the title Blink! You have learned the skill Basic Blink! You have learned the skill Master Identify! You have learned the skill Lesser Dagger Combat! You have learned the skill Basic Mana Manipulation! You have learned the skill Basic Blacksmithing! You have earned 25,000 Shop Chits! You have reached your skill cap; no more skills may be learned.
Title: Blink!
Removes mana/stamina cost of Blink.
Skill: Basic Blink (Active) (0%)
Allows you to teleport to anywhere in sight. As skill level increases, there will be a decrease in disorientation.
Cost: 20 mana, 20 stamina No cost due to Blink! title.
Cooldown: 1 minute
Skill: Master Identify (Active) (0%)
Allows you to identify many beings and objects without them noticing. If you try to identify someone who can notice, you will be asked for confirmation before continuing.
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Skill: Lesser Dagger Mastery (Passive) (0%)
Allows you to single wield or dual wield daggers with the skill of someone who has been training the past two years.
Skill: Basic Mana Manipulation (Active) (0%)
Allows you to manipulate mana on the same level as acolyte-level magicians.
Skill: Basic Blacksmithing (Passive) (0%)
Allows you to blacksmith on the same level as acolyte-level blacksmiths.
Okay. That is something. I’m not sure what it is, but it sure is something. As I read through the notifications once more, I realized that it seemed a lot like those games we were studying. They had skills that progressed and shops that you could access anywhere and monsters to fight-- Holy shit! We’re going to have to fight monsters! That’s why Mr. System was giving humanity three days to prepare! We are going to have to fight monsters!
Okay, okay, okay. Calm down. First off is viewing my status, if there is one. Actually, first is getting rid of these pesky notifications. As I removed my focus from the words floating in front of my face, I noticed that the classroom was empty of people but still full of belongings. Seems many people didn’t realize we still had three days.
I stayed seated, though. “Clear notifications.” With those words, the text in front of my eyes whooshed off to the side and out of the right side of my vision. “Status.” Oh, good, now I’ve got some more floating words.
Status of Hector “Blink!” MacAvoy
Class: Blink
Level: 1
EXP Req: 100
HP: 180
Health/min: 2.4
Stamina: 100
Stamina/min: .8
Mana: 110
Mana/min: 1.3
Strength: 10
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 11
Willpower: 13
Control: 5
Perception: 9
Free: 0
Skills: Basic Blink, Master Identify, Lesser Dagger Mastery, Basic Mana Manipulation, Basic Blacksmithing
TEMPORARY NOTICE: Class: Blink quadruples requirements for level growth but also quadruples rewards.
So, if 10 is the average stat, I am just below average, which I guess isn’t terrible. I’ve got mana and stamina and my skills, but what in the world is this temporary notice? Everyone else only needs 25 EXP to level up, but I need 100? Why do I have this class? I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t even know it was a thing! What the hell is a ‘Blink’ anyway? That isn’t a class. Whatever. When life gives you lemons, I guess.
Can I change the layout? I don’t like the skills being there. Apparently, my skills are capped, so I can’t learn any more. As soon as I thought about it, my skills disappeared from the status screen. Okay, the System can read my thoughts. Good to know.
I closed my status and opened the Shop.
Hello, Hector. How may the Shop serve you today? Your current balance is 25,000 Chits.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Um, hello,” I hesitantly said. “I would like to look at a guide to the System, please?”
Searching for guides. 5,778,936 guides found. Please state your price range. For comparison, 1 American dollar is worth about 1 Chit.
“Um.” Wow. That is a lot of guides. “I would say, maybe, under 50 Chits?”
Recalibrating. 34 guides have been found. Please state any more criteria.
Honestly, that was more than I expected. I was hoping for 1 guide. “Can I have your recommendation, System?”
‘Gruhn’li’s Guide to Your Apocalypse: the System and How it Works’ is the highest rated guide on the Shop in your price range. Many reviews state that it covers the basics, but you may need a more detailed guide later. Price is 40 Chits.
“Thank you, System. I will take it.” All of a sudden, I heard a dinging noise. A thin beam of light descended from the sky and somehow came through the building to reach my forehead. As soon as it reached my head, I knew. I knew how to level up. I knew how to use skills. I knew how to receive a class and evolve it, not that I needed to worry about receiving my class.
“So, I need to level up to get stronger to help people withstand the monsters, and to do that I need to kill more monsters, but I don’t have monsters to kill.” I thought for a while before I realized that I might as well ask the Shop for a way to kill monsters without monsters.
Searching for training facilities. 67,168 found. What is your price range?
And I forgot about the mindreading part again. “Are there any facilities where I can sort of carry it around instead of putting down a building?”
Yes, but they are more expensive. 3 found. Displaying items.
Sands of God Training Facility
Grade: A
Rarity: Very Rare
Training Facility that spawns thousands of different creatures all at once, where you cannot leave until you fight and kill all of them. Does not offer respawns. Contained in a pocket space.
Price: 20,000 Chits
D’hurka’julilie Training Facility
Grade: A
Rarity: Very Rare
Training Facility that spawns mainly undead type creatures in waves that are preset by the owner. Does not offer respawns. Contained in a pocket dimension.
Price: 22,500 Chits
Ankle-Breaker Training Facility
Grade: B
Rarity: Rare
Training Facility that spawns spiders. Hundreds of spiders. These spiders do not do much damage but you may not leave until all are killed. Does not offer respawns. Contained in a pocket dimension.
Price: 15,000 Chits.
Well, that makes my life that much easier. The first one will get me killed almost immediately, and the third one… the third one gives me the willies. So, the second one. “System, buy the Durk-- D’hor-- Buy the second one, please.”
I heard a familiar ding and saw the same beam of light, but that was about it. I checked around me and still saw nothing. No pocket dimension training facility. Not even a normal dimension training facility.
“Uh. System, where is it?” In an apparent response to my question, a new window opened up.
Inventory:
1/30 slots filled
- D’hurka’julilie Training Facility
Okay, I should have known that. That was in the guide. Now, how to remove it. Just focus and it will appear in your hand. I concentrated on my palm and imagined the fist-sized cube that was the Training Facility appearing. It would travel through space and time, from my inventory to my hand. And, just like that, it did.
I looked at it. It wasn’t anything remarkable, but it was very smooth, and it seemed like any disease that dared to step foot onto its sterile magnificence would feel its wrath. Once again, as this had happened too many times during the day for me to not be irritated, a window appeared.
Would you like to enter the Training Facility or modify the programming?
“Modify,” I said out loud. Once I realized how idiotic I looked, my head darted around the room to make sure no one heard me. Still, no one did. I suppose they were all making peace with their lives and loved ones. I don’t really care. Loner orphan, so no family and no girlfriend. Being forced through high school until I hit 18 and am able to move out. Fortunately for me, it seems as though my chance to move out was moved up. I turned my attention back to the window.
First wave: 1 zombie
Second wave: 1 skeleton
Third wave: I skeleton and 1 zombie
I removed the second and third waves; although I was confident I could handle them, I didn’t want to take any chances. Now, when I entered, I would be able to kill a zombie and then leave. First, though, I needed a weapon.
“System, how many Chits do I have remaining?”
Your account holds 2460 Chits.
Okay. That seems like a solid amount, but I suppose I really have no way of knowing. So. My skills include Lesser Dagger Mastery, which means I should probably buy daggers.
“System, how much for a set of dual daggers with their sheaths? What you recommend, of course.”
Umlaut Dagger Set
Grade: C
Rarity: Uncommon
Plain daggers with an enchantment to make sure they stay sharp and another to make sure they stay clean.
Price: 2400 Chits total
“I’ll take ‘em. Now, for sheaths. I have 60 Chits left, so maybe thirty per sheath. Nothing too fancy.”
Basic Dagger Sheath x 2
Grade: F
Rarity: Common
The worst quality dagger sheath there is. It will hold your daggers, though.
Price: 60 Chits total
“Perfect.” All of my purchases items were sent down to my inventory, and I immediately focused and took out my daggers. They were perfect. They curved back just the slightest bit and had a serrated edge on the inside of the curve. The steel of the daggers gleamed in the barest sunlight of the room, a testament to their power. The leather wrappings were basic but well maintained. The feature that gave the daggers their name, however, was a dot on each of the daggers in the center of the hilt. When put next to each other, they resembled an umlaut.
I pulled the sheaths out and hooked them onto my belt, then slid my daggers into the leather with a slight hiss. I focused and removed the training facility from my inventory.
Would you like to enter the Training Facility or modify the programming?
“Enter,” I said.