The ringing of an alarm repeatedly went off from John’s cracked phone. He pressed the button to stop the beeping while looking down at the time. It read: 5:15 AM.

Fully dressed in the camouflage uniform and ready for a full day of training, he long earlier left the dark room where Nathan was still in deep slumber. A chime dinged inside the brightly lit elevator as the metal door pulled open from the side. John slipped his cracked phone into his pants pocket and was well on his way to the training grounds.

He exited the elevator and stepped into the cement corridor but abruptly stopped.

Immediately, Sergeant Jay and Stan stopped talking and turned to look at John’s sudden appearance.

“Hey, Johnny. Bright and early, huh?”

John nodded at the sergeant and glanced at Stan who looked away. “As directed, sir.”

“Glad you always take it to heart, but we still got thirty minutes to go. Hey, how about you follow us? We will be back before starting time.”

“Sarge! What do you mean? Why are you taking him along as well!?”

“Why not? This would be a good time to build some teamwork and comradery. You are doing poorly with first aid. That is why I am helping you find books on herbs in the other first-level worlds, right? And also why I am providing supplementary lessons on how to properly dress wounds. Since John is here, I might as well direct you both and have you two practice on each other. It’ll give your fellow Field Worker some early experience. It will be a three-way win. Come on, you two. Follow me.”

Jay stepped down the set of stairs by the entrance near the elevator before the other two could complain. Stan glared back at John and told him off in a threatening tone.

“Stay out of my way, newbie.”

Stan stormed after Jay, leaving John speechless.

I wouldn’t even if you asked, asshole. Gosh. I have to deal with this guy for the next two months? What kind of shitty luck is this?

John drooped his shoulders and followed suit. Suddenly, the sergeant bellowed from the next floor below.

“The hell you at, Johnny boy! If you ain’t down here in five seconds, you will drop and give me thirty! Five! Four!…”

John quickly descended the stairs, clunking his training boots loudly on the cement steps nonstop all the way down.

“We go not time to waste, Johnny. Keep up. You owe me thirty when training begins.” Jay reprimanded. Stan gloated with a smirk, finding a new way he could torment John. John huffed back at Stan but nodded at the sergeant and accepted his punishment.

They speed-walked down another cement corridor and came to another set of bolted metal doors. Jay opened them and the three of them entered inside.

No gentle breeze or mountain air washed over them. Instead, stale air of aged books and documents wafted in the surroundings.

Unlike the first subfloor, the second subfloor did not have an endless blue sky. But it was unbelievably tall nonetheless. John walked in and stopped, awing up at the amazing sight before him. He stood in the center of a towering shimmering pagoda with countless exposed beams and open floors.

Hovering golden orbs on each floor gently let down soft golden light, illuminating the countless shelves of books and study tables. The light continued down, reflecting off the moon-like marble floors and onto the gleaming polished rich vibrant mahogany wood rails that blocked off the edges of the floor.

“I know it is amazing, John, but keep up for now. You will return back here after survival training for specialized knowledge learning. You can awe and look around more at that time.”

Stan gloated even more, seeing John getting into trouble. And he didn’t even have to lift a finger. Cunning thoughts flashed in his mind. John noticed but could only dread what Stan had for him in mind.

The sergeant led the two, meandering between the empty tables and packed bookshelves. John saw a large sign that read, “Herbology and Horticulture: All Things Plants.” He looked over and gave Stan a peculiar look.

The heck? Is the brute unable to read? How could he not find the books on herbs? It’s clear as day.

Stan caught John’s belittling look of disbelief and indirectly corrected his assumed, but correct thoughts of John thinking he couldn’t read.

“I know where the herbs books for the first level worlds are, sir. I am having more trouble with the correct processing and bandaging technique.”

“Do you now, Stan? Ok, pull up the book for standard herbs for health potions for me then. John does not know squat yet. I will help both of you tell the difference between Sadola and Sinfindel. The two look similar, but one is used for wounds while the other is used to recover stamina. After that, I can show you two how to process and wrap Sadola for external wounds.”

Stan froze. He was not much of a reader of books, especially the boring technical kind. He did not know the exact location of the series the sergeant asked for. However, seeing John’s smirk, he walked forward with a wild guess to begin his search. Jay knew Stan well and was not trying to embarrass him.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“They moved it. It’s on shelf D, row 5, and should be the first book of the second volume.”

Stan felt relieved his superior still looked out for him. He gave John a smug look that John did not understand and went to pick out the book Jay asked for.

“Okay, follow me, you two,” Jay said, leading them out of the pagoda.

John was shocked yet again at the sight around him. The two trailed away, and John followed behind them haphazardly. He was not paying attention in front of him, being completely enthralled by the new world he entered into. It was completely unlike anything he saw before. Large lone ornate eastern-styled buildings stood on broken floating pieces of land, hovering in the midst of the starry cosmos.

Suddenly, John's inattentive walking caused him to bump into Stan, who abruptly stopped.

“What the hell, John?!” Stan shouted and shoved John away from him.

John grunted from the forceful push, but he knew he was in the wrong. “Sorry, Stan. I accidentally bumped into you. It was my fault. I was distracted by looking around momentarily.”

“You purposely trying to egg me on or something?!”

“Dude. I swear. It’s nothing like that. I made an honest mistake. I apologize.”

The sergeant intervened. “Hey, Stan. I am sure John meant no harm. Right, John? But John, you should be paying closer attention.”

John nodded earnestly, but Stan wasn’t having it. He knew he was being petty, but he didn’t care anymore.

“What? I thought we weren’t accepting empty words anymore. You feelin’ sorry, John? Okay, prove it. Show me you’re sorry.”

“Huh? How do I do that?”

“I don’t know. Crawl and kneel for forgiveness if you can’t figure it out. I have to teach you earnestly to show you my apologetic sincerity, remember?”

Jay looked at John, and John glared at Stan. Screw that bastard! I’m never begging you for anything! A man doesn’t beg. At least, not from an asshole like you!

“I don’t know yet. But I sure as hell am not going to beg you on my knees! What else do you want!?”

The day already started off badly by encountering Stan, and now John did the unfortunate thing of giving Stan reign over how he would show his apology.

Stan grinned, wanting to humiliate John by eating shit. “Ha! I’ll cook up something. Don’t worry, Johnny boy. For now, you will owe me.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t call you ‘Johnny boy?’ Why? The Sarge does.”

“You are not the Sergeant.”

“And you’re in no place to complain.” Suddenly, Stan broke out in a shout, feigning a broken hip when he was actually knocked into his shoulder. “Ah! My lower back suddenly hurts. You broke it!”

John gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger.

“Fine. Call me Johnny. I don’t care.”

Stan snapped back and smirked. “Will do, Johnny boy.”

John could no longer look at Stan’s face and not be angry so he looked away.

Stan could not help but laugh inside at John’s naïveté and foolishness. Idiot. You can just refuse, stupid. Your dumb values are trapping you in nonsense. I would just have ignored such things.

Stan thought more about his last words.

That’s right. I would have ignored such insignificant things. But the idiot doesn’t. What is it? Honor? Stupidity? Pride? All of it is fucking laughable. Nothing matters when no one cares. Even your values bug me to no end, Johnny boy. I loathe everything about you.

John felt the same way and asked the instructor for what to do next so he would not have to spend any time further with Stan.

“Alright, sergeant. What do I have to do now?”

“It is not I, nor you, John. It is we. We are a team. Remember that. There is no “i” in “team.” We will be learning how to properly dress a wound. This floor here is special. You saw the library pagoda, but there are many other things you can learn here. Potions, welding, crafting: all types of non-combat roles can be taught here. We will be entering a pharmacy/apothecary/doctor’s office of sorts. Like the sign earlier for plants, this is a place for all things healing. Follow me, you two.”

The group of three entered a thick wooden double door. John followed after the other two, glancing around the place they entered. Every wall was finished with a layer of green bamboo, which formed a room that looked like the lobby of a doctor’s office. Seating sofas were placed on each side of a table that sat in the corner of the room near where the trio entered.

A woman in a fitted military uniform, with her silky black hair tied into a bun, manned a desk at the back of the room.

“Hey, beautiful lady. Your shift over yet, Annie? Are you ready for our date?”

The young pale woman rolled her eyes. “Get lost, Jay. But who are the handsome fellas you brought in?”

“Who on earth are you talking about, love? The only handsome man here is me. And I am asking the pretty lady behind those counters for a date.”

“I’m taken.”

“Who dares!? Let me at him!”

“When did I say it was a he?” Annie said with a straight face and Jay’s jaw dropped. But then she burst into a chuckle. “Alright. Stop playing around, Jay. I know you have a pretty lady upstairs; Alexa or something, right?”

John’s eyes stretched wide at hearing Jay was seeing Alexa, and his body lifelessly drooped down in defeat.

“I don’t like two-timing men, Jay. I’m called ‘ball crusher’ for a reason. Try me, and you’ll get a sharp knee where it hurts.”

Jay and Stan gulped down their fears from Annie’s threat. It was so loud the two looked at each other and huffed away at the coincidence. Jay laughed while Annie gave an odd look at the two. “A quarreling couple, Jay?”

John and Stan swore at Annie’s daring question.

“Fuck no!” Stan blasted.

“No way in hell!” John yelled out.

The two glared at each other with sparks flying left and right.

Annie took no offense and grinned, fully knowing she was going to incite such a response. “Well then you two better stop. We have a saying that hate leads to love. Who knows, maybe you two will become really good friends.”

“Dream on, Asian lady,” Stan refuted, glaring at the woman.

“Not happening. Ever. I’d rather die than be friends with that guy.” John responded.

Stan jerked his head in John’s direction. His face turned shades of red. John’s comment made him feel like he was the worst person on the planet. The media and many of his supposed friends in the military gossiped and unjustly told him so as well.

“Jeez! Why are you making me sound like an evil scoundrel?! I’m not a fucking monster! You know what?! I can make your death wish happen, Johnny boy. You can go meet your dead parents right now in the afterlife.”

Jay facepalmed himself. John furiously jerked and snapped his head at Stan. John’s face warped with deep lines, further contorting as he seethed in anger. He did not know how Stan knew about his deceased parents, but seeing the guilty face plastered on Jay, John figured it out. It all seemed like one big joke on him.

“That’s it! Screw this! Screw you, fucking bastard!” John shouted. His breaking point snapped, and he lunged at Stan. Stan was momentarily surprised that John retaliated first. He thought John was the spineless goody two-shoes, who would never start a brawl no matter what button he pushed.

Stan tried to pull back, but John’s fist connected and smashed into his lip and nose. A loud crunch echoed from the hit. Bones and cartilage were clearly broken, but Stan did not flinch.

Instead, his eyes widened, and his face warped with a scary rage. All Stan saw was red, and he went berserk. He instinctually launched a kick at John's abdomen, holding nothing back. The immense force of the strike sent John flying and crashing into the wall of the building.

John hit the wall hard and gasped for air before falling down into a coughing spell. He held his stomach and suddenly vomited all over the floor. Stan did not stop, he was completely blinded by rage and madly sprinted toward John for more blood.

Jay immediately grabbed Stan and put him into a chokehold.

“What the hell are you standing around for Annie!? You started this! Go help out that damn newbie fool puking out blood over there!”

Jay snapped Annie back to reality. She jumped up from being paralyzed by the sudden events that happened. She only made some jokes, but it quickly escalated and got out of hand. She hurriedly turned and looked at John. He really was puking out blood.

Seeing the sight, Annie forgot to breathe. Her heart raced as panic set in. Extremely worried, she grabbed a medical kit from under the counter and then lifted herself over the counter before sliding over and off.

John looked over, seeing two Annies running over in his direction. They screamed out something at him, but he barely heard her. Everything began to fade out. John tried mumbling back that he couldn’t hear her, but all strength left his body. His vision turned dark, and he collapsed face down into a pool of his vomit and blood.