Jonathan Harlowe whistled aimlessly as he drummed his hands on his steering wheel. He had been a truck driver for the last five years, and had had to deal with an endless amount of monotony, ornery suppliers, and incompetent drivers who always seemed to think that they knew more than him. It was a hard life, but one that he had gotten used to over the years.

As his truck trundled down the moonlit lane, his concentration started to slip, and he began to daydream of what he would do with his time off. Some sleep would be nice for starters. After that, he would treat himself to something, maybe a nice meal.

A creaking noise jolted him out of his daydream, and he looked up, only to see a monolithic shape bearing down on his truck. The last thing he thought before the tree hit his truck was how mad his boss would be about the late delivery. Then everything faded to darkness, and he knew no more.

Some time later, Jonathan came to in a dark void, surrounded by nothing. Not blackness, but true nothingness. It was impossible to explain, and his mind almost broke just looking at it. However, he was made out of sterner stuff, and he marshaled his rampaging psyche before he could lose himself. Taking deep breaths, he studied the world around him. There wasn't really that much to see. The only break in the monotony of nothingness was a small button hovering in the middle of the air, glowing with a faint golden light. Jonathan floated over to it, not exactly sure of how he achieved that feat, and pressed it. It was a hasty decision, but it was the only possible way out of here as far as he could tell. Immediately, the world shifted and changed.

He was standing in the middle of an onyx citadel, completely alone. Lonely towers of black rock rose out of medieval buildings, piercing the heavens with their gnarled ends. Around him was an empty square, perhaps somewhere that was used as a marketplace by the inhabitants. Nothing stirred around him, save for a bell tolling in the distance. As he looked around, he saw that everything was made out of onyx, even the trees around himself.

A moment later, the ground started to shake, and three statues rose out of the ground in front of him. Each one was patterned after a different thing, one of them a burly brute wielding a large ax, another a robed being with a staff, and the final one was a slim figure with a bow. Jonathan frowned as he saw these. They looked oddly similar to the basic classes in some of the video games that he had played. A warrior, a mage and a ranger. Had he been transported into some fantasy world? Or was this all some dream caused by that tree falling onto him. Perhaps he was dying, and this was the last gasp of his failing brain, trying to keep him conscious. In any case, he had nothing to lose by inspecting them. As he neared the first one, the burly brute, a strange blue sheet appeared in front of him, with words on it. The words were in an alien, almost runic alphabet, but as he watched, they swirled in front of him until they were legible.

Warrior:Tier 1 Class

You are a brute, but one that is effective at his job. A warrior is made to take damage and deal damage in equal measure, relying on pure brute strength over all else. Of course, some durability never hurts as well. Be prepared for a life of sideways glances from snooty mages, convinced of their intellectual superiority.

+2 to Strength, +2 to Resilience per level.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Jonathan frowned at this. If he didn't know better, he would have said that the message was mocking him. How could mere letters floating in the air have any sort of animus though? In any case, his suspicions about this being a fantasy world were proven right. Before picking anything, he moved onto the next option.

Mage:Tier 1 Class

You are an effete academic, always buried in his studies. However, those who scorn you will soon learn the errors of their ways. You can obliterate armies with bolts of fire and ice, tear apart cities with your might. But not at this level. Starting out, you will barely be able to light a fire or chill a drink. You really didn't think that earlier part was serious, did you?

+2 to Intelligence, +2 to Wisdom per level.

Jonathan snorted at the message, noting that whatever was creating the words had a sense of humor. Before he could move onto the next one and check it out, the world around him started to tremble.

“But I didn’t select anything!” He cried out, afraid that he had accidentally picked something preemptively. However, the shaking stabilized, and another statue arose out of the ground. This one was of a weaponless, armorless man, holding his bare hands out in supplication. However, something about the statue told Jonathan that this option was vastly superior to the others. Almost in a trance, he walked over to it, and read the resulting message.

Outsider:Tier 1 Class

As the first being from another universe to visit Telvaria in eons, you are marked for greater things. Passing through the astral divide has imbued you with power beyond your ken, potential that will slowly be revealed as time goes on. For now, enjoy the benefits of your baptism by the Void.

+2 to all stats per level, +3 additional free points.

Jonathan’s eyes bulged as he read this. It was by far the most powerful class out of the ones that he had already seen. If he didn't pick this one, he would be doing himself a great disservice, even if this was all just the hallucinations of his oxygen starved brain. Jonathan took a deep breath, and mentally accepted the class. Unsure of whether this would work, he waited apprehensively.

A moment later, the statue crumbled into dust, and a wave of power entered him. Around him, the onyx citadel shattered, and there was a flare of white light before nothingness claimed him once more. A second, or an eternity, later, Jonathan was standing on the top of a green hill. All around him was a rolling, pastoral landscape, dotted with small villages and homesteads. If this was a fantasy world, it was quite clearly a peaceful one. A scrolling message appeared in his vision.

Greetings, my chosen. You have been selected for a great destiny, one that is rivaled by none. I am Sarnakthros, one of the gods of this world, and I desperately need your help. My brethren have waged war against me for countless years, whittling away my power as they went. Soon, I will be no more, just like my children. My power brought you here, and by my power you shall rise. I have arranged a few bonuses for you as well, in order to facilitate your rise. To begin, simply think the word “status”.

The message disappeared, leaving Jonathan standing there on the hilltop, as the wind whistled around his head. Before he could lose himself to indecision, he followed the message’s instructions. As soon as he thought the word status however, the ground around him rumbled.

“There you are, filth! I knew that my brother had summoned one of your kind, although I could not find you until now. Enjoy your stay in the Infinite Hells!” A sonorous voice boomed down from the sky, rattling Jonathan’s brain in his skull. Such was its volume that his nose bled. A moment later, there was a crack and then a bolt of lightning struck Jonathan, frying his body to ash in an instant. He had died.