The wind that rushed at my face as I was falling to the earth had ceased. The golden light that had obscured my vision had vanished. In fact, I was longer falling to my doom. Instead, I found myself standing in the darkness, once again. “Jesus. Where am I now? Why is it always dark? Can’t you think of anything else other than darkness?”

The stale air of the darkness contained an aroma of mildewed wood. The ground beneath me had a weathered and worn texture. It bowed and creaked with every movement of my feet. While I contemplated where I was and what to do, a surge of text swarmed my mind.

New Achievements Unlocked! X3

Achievement Unlocked! Cold-Blooded Murder

Holy shit, you murdered someone! You took the life of another human being. Their blood is on your hands. Did you enjoy it? Hopefully, this doesn’t unlock something horrific from deep within. Probably not. But in case it did, then this should help your new career as a serial killer.

Reward: [Opal Player Killer Box]x1

Achievement Unlocked! Master Procrastinator

You finished just in time. Could you have waited any longer? Well, yes, technically you could have. Two whole seconds left to spare. You couldn’t even wait till the last second. That would have been entertainment. Anyway, I guess two seconds is fine considering you would have experienced the most gruesome and horrifying death you could ever imagine if they had ticked away. In that case, I will upgrade your award by a single tier.

Reward: [Jade Procrastinator Operator Box]x1

Achievement Unlocked! You Have Class

You’ve unlocked your classification. Of course, you didn’t have a say in what that classification is. You better like it. It will be a part of you for the rest of your short life! Enjoy!

Reward: [Opal Class-specific Weapon Box]x1

The achievements forced a smile on my face. I wasn’t torn up about the cold-blooded murder achievement. It didn’t matter to me as the man deserved to die. He had choked a woman to death. I had guessed he did her favor by ending her life, saving her from Cleo’s master’s way of death. However, I wished I hadn’t received it, mainly due to reason that he would have died a more tortuous death. Oh, well. At least I got a reward for it.

With tentative steps and outstretched arms, I fumbled my way through the eerie space, my hands brushing against the rough wood. With every step came a creak that amplified my annoyance with where I found myself as I navigated the maze-like space, hoping to find my way out.

Without warning, I stepped into emptiness as the floorboards beneath me gave away. Panic flooded my senses as I plummeted downward, my body crashing against the unforgiving surface below. A bright orange light blinded my eyes as I tumbled head over heels down a flight of stairs. My limbs flailed attempting to grab anything to slow my fall but to no avail. I landed hard on the wood floor at the bottom of the steps.

With pain shooting through me, I choked out, “Light. At least there’s light.”

As I lay there with my back throbbing with pain, Cleo’s voice echoed through my head.

Good Morning, Earth. It’s me again, Cleo. It is with great sadness to report that the human who gave me my new name, Isabella, did not survive the second test. Oh, well! Anyway—congratulations to all of you that are hearing my voice. That means you passed the second test. There were over 300 million orbs left scattered around as the clock expired. There are now a little under 1.6 billion humans remaining. Woohoo! That means it is gift time!

As many of you have seen from your achievements, you have been gifted something amazing. Well, in your eyes it would be amazing. Anyway, you all have been assigned a classification. What is this classification you wonder? Well, I am glad you asked. Each classification has been meticulously hand-tailored, by yours truly, based on your very being as a human: your deepest desires, your hatred, your strengths, and your weaknesses. You may not even be aware of what these are to you. But I do. I know it all. Anyway, I hope you like them! After this announcement, I will be unlocking them all for you.

Moving on to the next subject. You all have probably noticed that you are located in some unknown place. Well, that is part of the third test! Yes, another test! In fact, there will be five more tests after this one! Let me explain the current test.

The third test entails finding another orb. This time these orbs will be much more difficult to find. But don’t worry you will have plenty of time to find one. We are giving a whole month, 30 Earth days, to find and touch an orb. Also, don’t worry about someone stealing it from under your nose. These orbs will not be consumed or absorbed. These orbs can be used an unlimited amount of times. That means you all can work together instead of murdering one another. Fun! Of course, you may still kill each other if you wish. That is also fun.

I will warn you that these orbs are much more scarce. They will be tucked away out of sight. You will have to use your newly obtained classification if you want to have a chance of finding one. And since they are so scarce we are allowing a single warning of when you enter the vicinity of an orb. When you enter within 25 miles of an orb, you will hear a loud dinging noise followed by a giant beacon of light that will last a minute exactly. This noise and light will only be heard and seen by the person who entered the vicinity. If you exit the vicinity and enter again, another warning will not be given. You’ll have only one chance to look for the beacon of light before it fades.

Oh! I almost forgot the best part. Everything on the planet has been shuffled around. I call it, The Great Shuffling. Land masses, buildings, oceans, and even all of you people have been shuffled. By shuffle, I mean relocated, reformed, transformed… get it? The world as you know it is no more. You all have been randomly relocated on this new world. That means just because you may have touched an orb next to the spot where someone else had touched an orb doesn’t mean you’ll both be relocated to the same place. In fact, the odds are next to zero of that happening!

We have reformed everything into an amalgamation of the culture and lifestyles of your world. You will find new cities, architecture, transportation, and people. These new people are what you would refer to as NPCs in a video game! They give the new cities and the new countrysides life. Oh, and there are now loads of monsters. Lots of them. They are very dangerous. So be careful! Or don’t. I don’t care.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I have now unlocked all of your classes and abilities. They all may be reviewed in your head. Remember, use your brain! There are also guides placed sporadically around the world. Only one human per guide.

To conclude everything I said: World has shuffled and transformed, one month to find an orb, a single warning when entering with 25 miles of an orbs vicinity, and lots of monsters.

Good luck and get cracking! Actually, scratch that. Drop the luck. And the good. Keep the cracking.

Cleo’s voice disappeared as a storm of text flew in its place.

Class unlocked: Veiled Hunter

Rank: Opal

Class abilities unlocked.

Abilities unlocked: [Stats], [Inventory], [Party], [Chat]

Groaning, I pushed myself into a sitting position, sliding my butt on the floor to the nearby wall. “What the hell is a Veiled Hunter? I’ve never hunted in my life.”

“While I can’t say for certain what your exact classification has been tailored for—ability-wise of course—but I can tell you the basis of it,” an unknown voice said to my right.

A man with squared glasses walked with confidence around the corner, from where I was seated, holding a couple of thick leather tomes that adorned an unknown script on their covers. His short salt & pepper hair was neatly styled, slick to the side as he stood upright and attentive, exuding a scholarly aura. He wore a white collared long-sleeve button-up, not much different than the one I was wearing, that fit tightly against his torso. A long opened blue vest sat over top of his shirt which paired well with his fitted blue pants.

“Forgive me. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Alexander Sinclair and I am the proprietor of this building,” said Alexander. “Continuing, from where I left off; the prefix of your class Ve—”

Cutting him off and lifting my finger in the air, “What building is this?”

Alexander gave me a stone-cold expression and cleared his throat. “You interrupted me. Now if you would let me finish what I was saying I will answer any question you have. Afterward.”

The pain from the fall combined with Cleo’s voice spewing an overload of information plus my classification assignment, I had forgotten to assess my surroundings.

Towering bookshelves lined the walls filled to the brim with leather-bound volumes and scrolls adorned with intricate script. Rays of sunlight filtered through a row of stained glass windows casting vibrant colors across the tomes and the wooden floor. Cozy hidden nooks and alcoves that appeared to be reading corners, each furnished with plush chairs and ornate tables. Elaborate murals depicting scenes of creatures painted on the ceiling.

“It’s a library”, I said. “It’s absolutely stunning.” I stood to my feet to face Alexander.

His lips pried open, watching me stand and tower over him. I had at least half a foot on him.

“I… yes… yes. You are correct in that assumption. It is a library of sorts. My personal archives, really. Sinclair Archives is the name,” said Alexander. “You are a very tall human.”

“So I’ve been told,” I smiled at him. “You may continue on what you wanted to say earlier if you don’t mind.”

Alexander’s face lit up, “Oh, absolutely! As I was saying, The prefix of your class Veiled refers to the power of the ethereal veil. And the suffix Hunter refers to, well, a hunter. Combine the two and you get a hunter that is able to harness the power of the ethereal veil. Simple. Now what type of hunter, abilities, and other characteristics you will obtain is based solely on you.”

“What kind of hunters are there? What are the abilities? How do I use them? How do I know what abilities I even have?” I said.

Alexander smiled. “Well, you came to the right place. I have a deep understanding of this world. Classifications, abilities, items, monsters, and whatever else that you may run into; I have the information for it.”

I cocked my head at him. “How? Didn’t you touch an orb? Wait—you’re an NPC?”

Alexander’s face changed to a puzzled look. “NPC? I am unsure of what that is. That is rare for that to happen. What exactly is an NPC?”

“Oh, shit. I figured you would know since Cleo mentioned about NPCs in cities,” I said. “Are you actually real? Or a robot—or something?”

“Of course I am real! I don’t know what you are going on about. Who is Cleo? And you still didn’t answer my first question about NPCs?” said Alexander, as he pounded on his flesh to prove that he was tangible.

I responded, “Well, I don’t know, then. All I know is that NPC stands for non-playable character. You look pretty real to me so I guess it doesn’t really matter. Cleo is that thing that speaks in our heads. Don’t you hear him?”

The eyebrows of Alexander’s face rose to the top of his forehead. “Er—right. That would be your…inner voice?”

“Argh—never mind. Let’s just move on,” I said with an exasperated tone. “How can I open the boxes I got from my achievements? You do know about the achievements, right?”

“The achievement ability! Yes, of course. Every human with a classification has access to this ability,” he said. “And in order to obtain your loot boxes all you must simply do is think about opening them. It should be instinctual once you attempt it. The boxes will appear in front of you, for all to see, and they must be opened in the same order obtained. You don’t have to worry about that as your ability will handle that for you. Let’s go on and give it a try.”

I gave Alexander a nod in agreement. “You got it.”

Alexander backed away, leaving a big enough space between the two of us which I could only assume was for opening the loot boxes, gesturing toward it with his hand.

Should be simple enough. I did pass the first test just by thinking about the answer. And so I did the same. Loot boxes, loot boxes, loot boxes!

A tingly sensation tickled the back of my head, just above the nape of the neck, and coursed downward through my spine. I fixated on the space ahead of me waiting for the boxes to appear.

Three ornate chests appeared in the air in front of me and fell to the floor, landing with a loud thud. Alexander reacted with a grimace as the chests hit the floor, reaching his hand toward the floor and retracting it immediately in a fist.

The chests looked crafted from an exquisite wood, perhaps mahogany, as they glistened with an absurd amount of gemstones lining the edges. The gemstones adorned to the chests seemed to correspond to the name of the gemstone used in the reward item description. Two had opals while the other had jades.

Open next chest: [Opal Player Killer Box]?

Alexander swallowed before saying, “A…player killer box? You have killed someone? You’ve only been here for 15 minutes! When could you have killed someone?”

My excitement to open the box was too high, I ignored his question and commanded Yes.

“Tell me there isn’t a body on the floor above. I use that for storage!” complained Alexander.

The chest furthest to my left started to move, lifting itself off the ground as it floated a couple of feet into the air where it stopped. The lid sprang open with a burst of vibrant light. Glittering particles filled the air, swirling and cascading as they fell to the ground. A triumphant tune played as I awaited my treasure with a grin that curled up to my eyes.

Right in front of my face, an item began to materialize through the shining light. A chorus of soft chimes accompanied the item as it fully appeared.

A pair of gloves appeared before me, floating in the light. The gloves looked to be made of sleek dark leather that featured a fingerless design. The surface of the leather was adorned with metal studs that seemed to twist and coil around its entirety. And before I could scrutinize it any further, it vanished, along with the chest.

[Windpipe Wrecker Fingerless Gloves of the Edgy Killer] obtained.

[Windpipe Wrecker Fingerless Gloves of the Edgy Killer]

A pair of edgy black leather gloves crafted from the skin of an Obsidian Serpent that specializes in wrecking windpipes using just your hands. There wasn’t enough skin to add fingers to the gloves but there are the metal studs that help exude the edginess of the wearer.

Each time you choke another surviving human to death with these gloves equipped, the following permanent bonuses are added:

Increase Constitution by 1

“Oh…oh,” I muttered. “That can’t be good.”