I immediately clicked yes on my HUD and it translated to the screen. From what I could tell the metal ball I was touching was an interface that connected to my HUD and showed it on the big screen.

A new notification popped up.

*WARNING*

You are only eligible to receive one class.

Due to your lack of mana you are only eligible for non-magic class selection.

Once a class is chosen, all stat points pertaining to the chosen class will be rewarded retroactively.

All classes come with +5 free stat points unless stated otherwise.

The notification flashed up and I read through the information diligently. This would be an important choice for me, perhaps the most important one yet.

It sucked that I wouldn’t be able to choose a magic class but a part of me had already expected that. However, the retroactive stat points would be a huge boost.

No matter what class I picked I’d end up with 9x the stat points it rewarded per level. That wasn’t anything to sniff at.

Pressing continue I moved onto the classes themselves. The first few pages showed the basic classes Panda had already told me about. He’d said that everyone got access to archer, swordsman, spearman, knight, caster, and healer among other warrior type classes.

I didn’t qualify for caster and healer but I had access to all the other ones and they were exactly what you would expect them to be. They also came with a rating which, in the case of the basic classes, were all common.

My excitement skyrocketed when I scrolled down to see the other classes. A new notification popped up as I scrolled.

*WARNING*

The following player specific classes are available to you.

A player specific class is offered based on complex criteria such as achievements unlocked by the player at the time of class selection.

These classes are rarely offered to non-players.

These classes may negate skills previously received based on skill type.

“It’s a good job we’re in here alone.” I muttered as I read the screen and quickly dismissed it.

The last thing I wanted was someone walking in on us and reading the part about me being a player. I didn’t know if the people if this world understood that term or knew that it meant I was an outworlder, but I wasn’t willing to risk it either way.

Even if they didn’t know the specifics, anyone reading the screen would definitely know I was different. Attention like that was not what I needed right now.

From the sounds of it, choosing one of these classes would make me lose my other skills. I didn’t have many, just Novice Bowman, Bow, Dhampir Dagger and Dagger. I’d raised their levels a bit and Dhampir Dagger was useful but the trade-off for a special class would probably be worth it.

“Right kid, good job clicking past that screen quickly. Now, let’s read through each of these classes in turn and talk it out.” Panda said from beside me.

He was sat cross legged on the table he’d moved with his arms folded and a stern expression on his fluffy face.

As Panda suggested, I read through the offered classes in order.

Trucker (uncommon)

A staple in American folklore, the trucker is feared and reviled nationwide. Known for killing prostitutes and abducting kids in the dead of night, these creatures of earthen myth are truly a horrifying breed.

Selecting the Trucker class will unlock the following skills:

Manaless Driver – the ability to drive any magical vehicle without needing mana.

Shotgun – Whilst riding in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle increase all damage to attacks and combat based skills.

Selecting the Trucker class will award the following stat points per level:

+2 Strength / +1 Vitality / +10 Perception / +5 free points

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*Other skills will become available through levelling up*

Despite being horrendously offensive to my former career, the Trucker class didn’t seem half bad. The Perception alone almost made it worth it.

However, I was a little worried that only three stats got extra points per level. It would leave me pretty unbalanced and I’d basically have to put all my free points into agility and intelligence, at least to begin with.

The class also seemed to be designed around driving and I didn’t have a vehicle. Also, from what I’d seen of this world, a lot of places could only be reached on foot and I imagined being trapped in a vehicle would limit the types of quests I could do.

I’d basically become the go to guy for fetch quests and that sounded awful.

Also, I’d been a truck driver back on earth. Why would I want to do that again?

“Hard pass, next.” I said to Panda who grunted his agreement.

Merchant of Chrysus (rare)

Ah, the humble merchant. What young boy doesn’t dream of growing up to own his own global conglomerate. They do say money is power after all. With a blessing from the God of Wealth himself you’d be hard pressed to find a player better suited to the lifelong pursuit of greed.

Selecting the Merchant of Chrysus class will unlock the following skills:

Overtime – after dealing a certain amount or damage to one of more enemies you can opt for overtime. This skill doubles your damage rate for the next thirty seconds.

Employee Discount – Negotiate better prices at stores starting at 5% off.

O’ Captain my Captain – 50% higher chance to persuade others to work for you.

Selecting the Merchant of Chrysus class will award the following stat points per level:

+15 intelligence / +5 perception / +5 free points

*Other skills will become available through levelling up*

There was no way I was going to choose a class named after the god whose cult was trying to take my skin. It didn’t matter how good it was.

I could see the appeal of the merchant class. It seemed to be based mostly on persuasion and that overtime skill was no joke. Having a double damage output must have made it a pretty rare skill.

It made sense considering the class itself was in the rare category. +15 intelligence was also pretty good but it offered no bonuses to HP and fighting stats and that seemed too important to ignore.

“Nope.” I said to Panda who nodded as I moved onto the next option.

International Man of Mystery (legendary)

Infiltrating evil cultist hideouts, stealing all of their books, and ploughing through their nice shiny gate in a dramatic exit. Sound familiar? Well it should and the fact that you did exactly that is why you’ve been offered this legendary class. The only thing you’re missing is your very own Miss Moneypenny to sexually harass before a mission – but I’m sure we can get you one if you ask nicely.

Selecting the International Man of Mystery class will unlock the following skills:

Man of Many Faces – Whilst out of combat you can change your appearance at will. Your appearance will revert to normal if you are attacked, attack someone else or choose to end the skill.

Mission Dossier – the quest system will evolve into a mission dossier. Completion of missions will unlock better rewards… should you choose to accept them.

Selecting the International Man of Mystery Class will award the following stat points per level:

+5 Intelligence / +5 Perception /+5 Agility /+2 Strength /+2 Vitality / +5 free points

*Other skills will become available through levelling up*

“Ok, this one is awesome!” I said, looking at Panda with excitement in my eyes.

I mean what kid didn’t want to be a super spy growing up? Not to mention the ridiculous number of stat points I’d earn per level.

Legendary classes really knew how to up the ante. The mission dossier skill seemed interesting, though I wasn’t too keen on the face changing thing.

It’s not that I was a narcissist or anything but I had the impression that I was going to be fighting constantly in this world. Yet this class was more geared towards hiding. Using the man of many faces skill I could potentially get close to an enemy to launch a sneak attack.

However, that was unlikely to work on monsters. It was definitely the best option so far and I was interested, but it still had something missing.

I only had one option left so I hoped it’d be a contender. If not though, I’d be pretty happy with the International Man of Mystery class.

Apex Predator (unique)

Well would you look at that, your fighting style has been so varied so far I’ve had to create an entirely new class for you. Before you start feeling too special I’ve already had to do this for over 500 of the 10,000 players brought here.

So far you’ve used a bow, a dagger, a vat of acid and a truck to slaughter your way through the countryside. This class is the amalgamation of those styles.

Besides, in the beginning I thought you were going to become a bog standard stealth archer and that’s way too mainstream to entertain me.

“Is it normal for the system to talk directly to a person like that?” I asked Panda.

He turned back to me with a confused expression on his face.

“It’s normal for it to passive aggressively alter notifications to make them more specific to the person receiving them. This, however, is pretty extreme. Also the only people I’ve ever heard of with unique classes are all exceptional adventurers, including the mithril class guys.”

Selecting the Apex Predator Class unlocks the following skills:

Acid Arrows – Every projectile you shoot from a bow will cause acid damage to the target.

Acid Dhampir Dagger – Gain 10% of inflicted damage with a dagger as HP. Daggers inflict acid damage.

Environmental Hazzard – Killing enemies using the environment awards bonus experience.

Selecting the Apex Predator class will award the following stat points per level:

+7 strength / +5 vitality / +3 perception / +3 agility / +1 intelligence / +5 free points

*Other skills will become available through levelling up*

“Well shit kid. You lucked out.” Panda said, turning towards me and flashing me the thumbs up.

He was right. The Apex Predator class was perfect. It was versatile and I’d gain 24 stat points per level. Compared to trucker which was an uncommon class and only awarded 18 stat points, that was quite the bonus.

Doing some quick mental maths I realised that I’d gain 171 stat points retroactively. That was a huge bonus to gain immediately.

Acid arrow sounded cool, though I wondered if I’d be able to shoot accurately if I lost the novice bowman skill. Then again I didn’t know if I was going to lose it at all. Apex Predator was kind of like an archer class after all.

Acid seemed to be the hallmark of the damage type I’d get. It sounded like a horrible way to kill but if the hunter I’d melted was anything to go by, it’d be effective.

“I think I’m gonna go with this one.” I said, looking towards Panda.

“If you don’t choose this one I’ll slap the shit out of you.” He chuckled.

I asserted that I wanted to choose the Apex Predator class and the screen went blank.

I stared at it for a long moment as a little wheel appeared in the bottom right-hand corner. It reminded me of a loading icon from a game. The screen flashed and an actual loading bar appeared.

I felt my body get uncomfortably hot as I saw that my hands were glowing a sickly green colour. The loading bar advanced across the screen as I began sweating and feeling sick.

My stomach felt full to burst and my eyes felt so full of pressure I thought they might pop. I felt my muscles bulge through my shirt and then the loading bar finished and a little tick appeared next to it.

I bent over and vomited violently.