With shaking hands, Rob opened the dusty tome that lay on the altar before him, letting out a pained sob. His other hand drew a knife, and he slashed open a hidden pocket on the inside of his cloak, taking out a black amulet depicting a snake eating its tail.

Carefully, he let the blood that dripped out of a wound on his right arm hit the amulet until it became warm in his grip. The arrow was still stuck in his arm, clogging the worst of the wound and probably the only reason why he was still standing. With an effort of will, he ignored his blood loss, ignored how the edges of his vision started to darken, and ignored how the unnatural stillness in the air that misted his breath seemed to sap the strength right out of him.

In the distance, he could already hear the heavy steps of his pursuers, the sound of armor hitting stone, the rattling of old bones. It seemed the guardians of the tomb had escaped his trap. Not that it mattered now. He searched for the right passage in the book, leaving bloody fingerprints all over the priceless treasure, though he hardly cared about that right now. Once he found what he was looking for, he started casting the spell, infusing it with his intent in a way that was only possible after hundreds of hours of study.

The air around him took on a hazy quality, while his chanting soon reached a crescendo. Just as the first death knight entered the study, he finished the spell, slumping over and hitting the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut. “Too late, motherfucker,” was all Rob got to say before time suddenly ground to a halt. Soon, it reversed its course, pulling Rob along into a shimmering whirlpool of magic.

---

Rob opened his eyes and jerked upwards, reflexively reaching for the dagger on his side, where his hands gripped only air. Panicking, he backed up while inspecting the unfamiliar environment. Trying to think back on what could have caused his current situation, the memories of An'Khadul's tomb rushed back. He patted his body down, all the while keeping up his vigilance in case something went wrong in an unexpected way. When he was sure that he was not injured, he allowed himself to relax before starting to laugh. His laughter took on a manic edge until he fell to the floor, wiping away the tears in his eyes. “Take that, fuckers. Time for round two, eh?” he whispered.

He stood up and took a moment to inspect the room he found himself in. A bed, a wardrobe, a desk; this was definitely his apartment. “Now how far did I manage to send myself?” Just as he wondered about that, a synthetic voice spoke in his mind.

Host detected. Connection to the main entity lost. Host is uninitiated, analyzing.

A warm feeling spread through his body, one not unknown to him. “System hitched a ride, didn't expect that, to be honest,” Rob said.

Scan complete, displaying data:

Robert Fisher

Class

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N/A

Affinities

Endurance 13 (Physical)

Death 9 (Magic)

Time 4 (Magic)

Please select a class at your earliest convenience. Some features have been disabled, as the connection to the main entity could not be restored.

Rob felt himself grinning. “So I get to start over, but I keep my affinities? Sounds like one hell of a deal. And for now, no one is monitoring me.” Rob put the class selection out of his mind for now; he needed more information before making such a decision. He made his way over to the wall and flipped on the light switch, and wasn't that a novel thing. Inspecting himself in the mirror, he looked soft. He was definitely younger, though by how much, he could not say. A bit of fat clung to his face, and his skin was unblemished. His hands only had light calluses, from hitting the gym not from using any form of weapon. The many small scars that had marred his hands and arms were missing, replaced with smooth skin.

Regardless, he was not in terrible condition, and a bit of extra fat would definitely be useful once food became sparse. Taking out his phone, it took him a moment to figure out how to operate the device. Once he had that down, he checked the date. 18.06.2023, just under half a year before the system came to earth. Half a year to train, before others got the chance to do the same. That narrowed his choice of class down significantly; he needed a way to hide how strong he really was. In half a year, he could not get so strong that mundane weapons would be useless against him, and it would not do for someone to kill him because they perceived him as a threat. Additionally, he might manage to stay hidden even from the Overseers as long as they had no reason to look too closely, and arousing their interest rarely ended well. Rob shivered thinking back to the people who had angered them the last time around. Natural selection soon made sure only those who kept their heads down in that regard were left.

'Start class selection' he thought, and soon hundreds of names and descriptions were projected into his mind. He took his time looking through all of them carefully, reading the exact wording and using his knowledge of the system to make sure he knew what they offered.

The first time around he had been less careful, light warrior was what he started out as. It was not a bad class, but definitely not the best one for him. He had woken up around midnight and once he had sifted through all the options the sun was already rising. His requirements for the class were harsh but not unfulfillable. He needed something that he could advance before the system came around, something that could keep his real status hidden, something with both potential for physical combat and magic. In the end, there was only one possible class that satisfied everything.

Assassin

Advance by executing plans that end with the death of one or more targets.

Advance a small amount perpetually by keeping your identity hidden.

Hide your status as long as the other person's combined magic affinities are lower than yours.

Read another person's status as long as their combined magic affinities are lower than yours.

Improve your dexterity dependent on your combined physical affinities.

The advancement requirements were somewhat bothersome, but many other classes would only get the chance to shine once the system came to earth, and Rob planned to make the most out of his 6-month head start. After all, completely hiding his status would be just as suspicious as revealing it; he needed to advance his class, perhaps several times until he gained the ability to show off a fake status. Additionally, he had retained his affinities after returning to the past. These were the result of years of labor, and he was fairly certain that no one would be able to match them soon. Steeling himself against the pain he knew would come he confirmed his decision 'I choose Assassin as my class'.