It all started as some urban legend. A Chinese investigator who got silenced after he had gone public with his findings, or so the story said. Young adult, barely days after their eighteenth birthday, were disappearing en masse on the same day, once every trimester.

All in all, about 1600 teenagers had disappeared worldwide over the last year, but for most of them, only three months ago. And they all had the same profile: obviously the same age, wealthy influential families, somewhat sportive with good grades, popular. Silver spooned kids with the ideal package to get their life on the right track and no reason to go AWOL, gone, without a trace.

Merely a footnote in the dreadful statistics of people who went missing every year.

Yet, it was starting to get traction in the media.

Of course, Sophia's parents had been concerned about their coming-of-age baby girl and she had brushed it off.

Unlike her peers, her family was struggling to make ends meet and could not afford to pay an extra year of tuition because of some hearsay. Besides, she might be hardworking but she was merely compensating for her lack of talent, background, and connection. She was nothing like those missing kids.

Or so she thought.

Three days after her birthday, she could not feel her body as she woke up. She could not move. She could not see. She could not scream. She could not hear anything. Only utter excruciating darkness and silence surrounded her.

Until she was suddenly blinded by blue light, only to realize she was still unable to blink or look away.

Yet, her eyes adjusted faster than she thought it could.

Welcome Human,

A world-ending scenario had been triggered and all life on your homeworld would be terminated within 49 years. Fortunately, the System had been tasked with evaluating the feasibility and opportunity of evacuating your species to the nearest habitable world within our grasp.

As a prime, young, and healthy specimen, you have been selected and tasked as one of many representatives to demonstrate the adaptability of your kind in a controlled yet hostile environment called the Tutorial, filled with magic, predators, and competitors.

You are part of the fifth wave. Your success or failure will determine how many humans, if any, might be selected in upcoming waves or later saved in future efforts to evacuate your species.

Failure to comply will result in automatic failure and termination. Any rights you think you might have do not apply here. The system does not care about your needs, wants, or even your life, only about the fate of your species as a whole, which you are here to determine.

Take all the time you need to process that information. The system will answer your call whenever you are ready.

Sophia read the message many times over as a multitude of emotions overwhelmed her. It was informative, beyond crazy, maddening, impossible, dreadful, nerve-wracking, insane, flattering, preposterous, overbearing, yet somewhat considerate? Her feelings were all over the place and it took minutes before she could formulate coherent thoughts once again.

'Okay. It sounds like scientists did miscalculated the human impact on the environment. They underestimated it by a long shot. Who would have thought? And Alien AI is a thing. Does that count as first contact? Nevermind. Kidnapping does not count anyway. Earth is dying and everyone with it. And I got inducted in a do-or-die game to determine the future of humankind? Well.. no pressure. On the plus side, humanity is already doomed so I cannot possibly make it any worse, right?'

She desperately needed to breathe. But still couldn't feel her body. If she ever had one. This place... was an affront to existence itself, making her doubt it was even real. She was not dreaming. Of that much she was certain. Both her dreams and nightmares were less sophisticated and more visceral than this. It offer no distraction which she guessed was the entirety of its purpose. It was brutally effective.

'Okay, System. Tell me what's next?'

You will be granted a free boon upon entering each of the twelve floors to help you overcome the trials that lie within. They are designed to be challenged by groups of six humans.

You will be assigned to a group after choosing your first boon, of which, you have four options available:

Cleric Archetype Fighter Archetype Rogue Archetype Wizard Archetype Divine Touch Bonded Weapon Survival Fitness Arcane Knowledge

You get a touch-based divine cantrip to either harm or heal your target based on your intent.

You also get the Gods' attention for the next two days. You might decide to become their intermediaries on the mortal planes, should they find you worthy.

You did not get years of training but you got the next best thing:

A bonded weapon guiding your hands, growing with you, self-repairing and always returning to you, should you call for it.

Being the Apex species on your former homeworld did you quite a disservice.

This remedial package will emulate 10000 years of directed evolution and rewire your brains, enabling the fine motor control, perceptual awareness, and instincts you sorely miss.

You get random bits of Arcane Knowledge without context clues from its original owner, effectively teaching you one cantrip and spell from the Arcane spell list.

It will make you crave more. But as a spellcaster, why shouldn't you?

-Cleric Robe and First-aid kit

-Divine focus of your choice (Amulet, Headband, Ring or Staff*)

-Weapon of your choice (Mace, Morningstar, Spear, or Staff*)

-Medium or Heavy Armor

-Bonded Weapon of your choice (Axe, Bow, Daggers, Hammers, Spear or Sword)

-Shield or any backup Weapon of your choice.

-Light Armor and Buckler

-Shortsword or Daggers

-Hand Crossbows or Shortbow

-Disarm traps and thieves' tools. Bottled Grease.

-Wizard Robe and Spellbook

-Arcane focus of your choice (Amulet, Headband, Ring, Staff* or Wand)

-Weapon of your choice (Daggers, Light Crossbow, or Staff)

Your choice of Primary Archetype is determinant. Your Primary Archetype can evolve but never be changed. You cannot assign less than a third of your boons to your Primary Archetype. You can have as many secondary archetypes as you wish but cannot assign them more boons than your Primary.

It was both too much information and not enough.

Having a god looming over her shoulder gave her the creep. She did not want to ponder the moral implications of a living, sentient weapon. Nor was she interested in bioengineering herself. Or let herself get mind rape with someone else memories. All in all, the Fighter Archetype felt both like the lesser evil and utterly inadequate.

She was no fighter and could not picture herself going up close and personal with anything to save her life.

'Could you at least show me what others chose and how they fare doing so?' She asked, putting any moral or emotional considerations aside for the cold calculating mindset of survival.

Your request for an informed decision is sensible and shows your implications for the task at hand.

Granted. Here are the statistics of the past four waves before yours.

Wave #1 Total Cleric Fighter Rogue Wizard Effective 24 6 8 3 7 Survivors 1 (4%) 0 1 0 0 Wave #2 Total Cleric Fighter Rogue Wizard Effective 48 9 26 0 13 Survivors 0 (0%) 0 0 0 0 Wave #3 Total Cleric Fighter Rogue Wizard Effective 24 6 4 6 8 Survivors 6 (25%) 1 2 2 1 Wave #4 Total Cleric Fighter Rogue Wizard Effective 1536 (384 x 4) 318 447 426 345 Survivors 117 (7%) 15 (4%) 43 (9%) 47 (11%) 12 (3%) Co-op Survival 78/866 (9%) 16 (5%) 26 (9%) 23 (11%) 13 (4%) Solo Survival 46/766 (6%) 0 (0%) 20 (9%) 26 (10%) 0 (0%)

The spreadsheet was clinical, yet redundant. Somewhat puzzling yet perfectly responding to her needs.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

As she expected, Rogue was the least popular Archetype. Yet delivered on its promises with the highest survival rate. Conversely, Fighter was an all-time popular and was second best in terms of survivability. While Cleric and Wizard had the worst odds.

Though, it did not take a genius to understand why people would choose Rogue over the two. Twice as much survival was damn appealing, no matter how reluctant she was about it.

'Can I know how many people have been included in this wave?'

Given the meager success of the fourth wave, only 6144 representatives have been chosen for the fifth wave.

'Only 6144, huh? So number of participants is supposed to go up unless a wave is a total failure. Don't know the maths behind it and I would not even hazard a guess...'

From what she could see, it sounded like some sort of equilibrium between the Archetypes was required, lest it would lead to a catastrophic failure. She supposed it was the meaning of 384 x 4 within parentheses.

They were meant to be teams of 6, yet they were only 4 archetypes. So she guessed one each and two extra was the optimal combination. She also suspected that the six survivors of the third wave were no accident.

'Can I know what other 'representatives' from this wave chose?'

That information cannot be disclosed.

'Of course you can't.' She thought sarcastically before reasoning:

'With so many participants, complete imbalance should not be an issue. Did not get to make the pragmatic choice but at least it keep things personal. So, time to pick my poison.'

Cleric was a hard no. If gods existed, they could not be benevolent, as her life on earth and current predicament should be proof enough. Either Gods were responsible for nothing and were therefore irrelevant or nonexistent. Or Gods were responsible for everything and were a bunch of irredeemable arseholes. You can't have it both ways. And the system stated they existed, therefore they must be evil. Besides, her devotion to unknown gods was none existent and she liked it to stay that way.

She gave the idea of a ranged Fighter some consideration. But it would probably upset the balance of any group if the Archetype meant for close combat chose its only ranged option instead. She did not mind being selfish. But she still had to account for the fact she would be part of a group that might question her choices.

Rogue also had ranged options and, according to its listed starting equipment, offered some versatility and quite a bit of utility outside of combat. Too bad there weren't straight out of combat options, like crafter or gatherer. Yet, she really did not like the boon attached to that archetype.

Finally, magic was any teenager wet dream, so she could not deny the appeal of the wizard Archetype. But its atrocious survivability gave her pause. She remembered it to be true in any media picturing wizards and witches. They were the embodiment of glass cannon, powerful but fragile.

'Can I have tools to list pros and cons?'

Interesting request. Few ever asked. Even less so agreed to the terms of services:

1. Editors' privileges are granted in exchange for complete access and transparency of anything you ever wrote or read using said tools for recording purposes.

2. Every user of the right accreditation level will have access to any iteration of your personal library in perpetuity.

3. As a user, you would also have access to every resource available to your current level of accreditation.

4. As a user of system services, system censorship may apply to any inappropriate content without any notice.

5. As a user, you have to agree not to disclose any information you learn there to any non-user.

6. As a user, being unfaithful to the spirit of this chart in any shape or form, either by obfuscation (Art.1) or divulgation (Art.5) will get you banned.

...

Whatever Sophia had expected, this wasn't on her list. She could not see the end of those terms of services but the first few articles pretty much summed up the 'spirit' of it that was fleshed out in greater detail thereafter.

Using those tools she would have to lay bare her every thought for anyone to see and even trying to self-censor would get her banned. Conversely, the system had every right to censor and deny her whatever content it wanted. Also, she could not tell a soul about what she learned or she would also get banned.

But according to statistics, she was more likely to be dead than alive three months from now so, who cared about privacy?

'Correction: if I agree to those terms, can I have access to the thoughts of any previous human users about their Primary Archetype?'

Any information cannot be disclosed before you agree to the terms of services.

'Fine. I will bite. I agree with your very abusive terms of services'

Only three humans before you agreed to the terms of services, Fighter, Cleric, and Wizard respectively. However, both the former and the latter were prolific in their thought about the Rogue Archetype as well. Do you wish to read chosen excerpts about those four Archetypes from the three available sources?

'Yes, please?'

Cleric Fighter Rogue Wizard They have nice little tricks but good or bad, they are essentially dogs on a leash, wagging to their masters. Saved my skin countless times but anyone reading this, do yourself a favor: DON’T PICK CLERIC.

The bonded weapon is a scam. But hey, still alive so I must be doing something right.

Finally learned magic. Who would have thought it would be so useful for wielding a Sword, right?

I came all the way back the the third floor to loot a first-aid kit from that poor Cleric's corpse. Pretty sure my label should read Scavenger by now. Nevermind.

I'm so freaking LONELY. Wish I had died like anyone else.

Today, I buried my last companion. He was a nice fucker, that he was.

I wish there had been more people like him in the tutorial.

He should be alive and I should be dead. But life isn't fair, is it?

Trap got me today as well. I wish I knew how to disarm the damn thing instead of having to activate them preemptively and get BURNED.

Not sure why it is even an option. Everyone can learn magic. I wish I had taken the time right from the first floor instead of rushing in like a fool.

The Twin Sister is honestly not that bad. Compared to other gods, that's it. All grey gods are actually better.

Edit: Hi. I survive the tutorial and I have some good tips if you are considering Cleric.

Whatever gods make you an offer, make sure they are either neutral or neutral-something, and do consider their portfolio.

Trust me on it: flexible boons are better than stronger ones.

And that jackass went on and almost got himself killed, again. Fighters are the WORST.

Edit: if you are reading this and consider Fighter, just do it. They are freaking heroes and keep everyone alive.

I mean it. All roles are important but any group without its fighter is as good as dead.

Hi. A quick word from a tutorial survivor to any current runners:

ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR ROGUE

Even if you don't understand why, that's the golden rule. Just swallow your damn pride and admit they know better.

Hello from a tutorial survivor. Today, let's talk about spellcasters.

First, only pick Wizard if you want to learn EVERY spell. That's their only pro.

Even an archmage never picked wizard. But back to the basics.

Sorcerer: brew a potion, and discover if you have a bloodline. Very cheap. Brutally effective.

Warlock: make a pact with a shady patron and get some magic boons from it. Basically the reverse of a Cleric. Make sure not to botch your protection circles, unless you want to become a demon's pet.

Magus: You get Sword and Sorcery. Jack of all trades, master of none. A nice dip for Fighter and Rogue.

Arcanist: same as Wizard but self-taught. Extremely hard but equally rewarding. Start as a Cleric, and refuse all offers. Become Arcanist. And beg the God of Magic to take you. Good luck!

a.k.a. Healer. Blood bank. Slave to their gods will.

Do not listen to them, they will get you killed.

a.k.a. Meatshield.

You need them more than they need you. Until you don't.

a.k.a. the filthy backstabbers

Same as Fighter. Honestly, who needs a Rogue once you know 'Knock' and 'Shatter'?

a.k.a. the Oil Magnate

"Many are called, but few are chosen." But guess who got to rule in a world of magic? :]

The only thing Sophia could say after reading it was that she wasn't disappointed and that all three of them had colorful personalities and were quite opinionated. And so she started writing her own notes.

Cleric Fighter Rogue Wizard + life-insurance & dental

shiny weapon

high-survivability

out-of-combat utility

incredibly good instinct*

magic is bread and butter / must-have — selling one's soul to one's god

sentient weapon?

diminishing return curve?

bad reputation

* at what price?

not worth dying for

might be a trap, dead end?

Then, she immediately proceeded to make another note.

Magic? Might get it from another source. Possible Sorcerer Secondary Archetype.

Healing? Not worth selling one's soul for it. Either befriend a healer or steal one's first-aid kit.

Survivability? Fighter and Rogue are toe-to-toe. But implied obsolescence later on?

Reputation? Fighter have a good rep for taking the hits (which I don't want). Cleric has mixed reps. Rogue has a bad rep (for being too selfish/opportunistic?) Wizard has a bad rep (projected usefulness? personality?)

Fighter with a bow would not get as much benefit. Rogue with a bow or crossbow? Wizard with a Crossbow?

Rogue - Magus - Sorcerer? Doubling down on magic to stay relevant while keeping the one-third rule?

'Hey, can you tell me if my intuition is correct?'

You are the first human representative to plan that much ahead of committing to any Archetype.

But the information you wish for is far beyond your credentials. I can neither confirm nor infirm your hypothesis.

'System, is my current credential limited to tutorial-related content?'

Correct. Do you wish to peruse more of your peers' notes?

'Actually, do my credentials allow me to access tutorial-related content from other species?'

That's highly irregular but there is no rule against it.

'Okay. Show me the most popular content written by a primary rogue survivor.'