When the system came, a lot of humans just died. Simply ceased to be, nobody could explain what had happened to them and nobody reported seeing them in their tutorial. Doctors, children, some of my friends from the Marines, you name it and someone from that demographic simply did not make it into the tutorial. Same with all the races we ended up with on Earth. Some of us believe that many of the people in the universe died before even making it to a tutorial, due to reasons we can't yet put our finger on. The Breaker is the only human anyone knows of who got an error when the tutorial started and still lived.
* Except from the textbook "The Science and Methodology Of The System", quote by Director Jonathan Ryan of The United New Earth Armed Forces.
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Waking up in a forest isn't something one commonly does, which makes John doing it twice in a day some sort of achievement in John's mind. Luckily not being gnawed on, John awoke to a sunset. Or at least he assumed it was a sunset, and considering he didn't feel particularly well rested, he was probably correct on that count. He also noted that the direction he was walking was not north as long as the sun was still setting in the west.
Brushing himself off, he first noted that the previously bleeding arm had seemingly healed much faster than was possible. It was still clearly damaged, but sounds like that don't just scab over in an afternoon as his did. 'Did the healing from the mana have some kind of residual effect or do wounds just… do that now?' he thought to himself. He pulled up his status screen to see if it has any clues
John Williams Race: [Human?] Traits Skills Class None Adaptability Level 1 Human Tenacity
Free Points 0 sys err(1); Agility 11 Constitution 8 Dexterity 7 Intelligence 16 Strength 13 Willpower 20
'Well that isn't very useful in this particular situation. Could I get some more in-depth information?'
Checking Privileges...
Grade insufficient. Privileges previously heightened. Privileges sufficient for further information.
John Williams Race: [Human?] {G} Traits Titles Class None Adaptability [Strategist Frontrunner] Level 1 XP:50 /100 Human Tenacity [One Punch Man] Mana 283/400 Mana Regen: 50 / Hour sys err(1); Health 178/200 Health Regen: 200 / Day Free Points 0 Bonuses: Totals: Status Effects: Agility 11 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 11 Lesser Physical Enhancement (1H23M) Constitution 8 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 8 Dexterity 7 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 7 Intelligence 16 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 16 Strength 13 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 13 Willpower 20 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 20 Skills...
'Well that's definitely better. Thanks, incompatible neural network. You're very welcome, incompatible neural network.' John thought to himself. Cutting the self-aggrandizement short, he studied his stat sheet for something to explain why he would have healed so quickly, and soon found his answer.
Lesser Physical Enhancement (1H23M)
Overuse of mana to heal yourself has caused your body to become slightly enhanced for a period of time. This will result in slight physical exhaustion at the end of the duration of enhancement.
That explained why he had healed so quickly as well as the missing pain in his abdomen that he just noticed. The slash on his side had healed almost fully in the time he had been asleep. 'I had better use this buff while I have the chance. At the very least use it to make some sort of progress in surviving'
John quickly settled on trying to find some people in this forest before the buff was up. He walked while yelling out for people in the vicinity, and he got a response relatively quickly. Walking towards the person who responded to his shouts, the sound seemed to only get farther away even though he swore he heard the person getting closer. Pushing on, he nearly bumped into the horrible being - the monster - he had apparently been walking towards.
Wakwak
Level 12 (Elite)
A demonic bat looking man had rounded a tree directly in front of John, letting out a horrible screech, mirroring John's own horrified scream. John immediately attempted to get away to little success, as the wakwak appeared just as bloodthirsty as the gremlin before it. Deciding he was getting nowhere, and seeing no other way out of it, John came up with a plan. It wasn't the most complicated plan, but there was beauty in simplicity.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Running between trees to throw off the wakwak's rhythm, John increased the distance between him and his enemy slowly. Once he decided he had enough of a lead, he entered the first clearing he saw and made his stand. Planting his feet and looking for a weak point on the wakwak as it approached, John sent a portion of mana into his fist and readied to punch the demon in the eye, a presumed weak point, using its momentum against it. Yes, it was the same strategy he used on the gremlin, there's not a lot of strategies an unarmed man can do, but at least this time he had titles to enhance this particular strategy. The punch landed with a small shockwave, destroying the eye, the brain behind it, and a couple of bones in his hand. Not that it mattered, as the now brainless wakwak wasn't going to be doing much fighting.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Wakwak (Level 12)! Experience has been awarded. Additional experience has been awarded for defeating an Elite! A very large portion of extra experience has been awarded for defeating an enemy more than 10 times your level! You have gained a title(s)!
Superior Giantslayer
You have vanquished foes far beyond your level alone, showing incredible battle and tactical prowess. +1.1% damage to enemies above your level, multiplicative. (100 levels max)
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Congratulations! You are now level 6! You have 48 free stat points!
Congratulations! You have gained the skill: Charged Attack
Charged Attack LV.1
By directing mana into your hands, feet, or other muscles, you can charge a physical attack with mana, increasing damage proportionally to the mana expended. +1% damage for every 5 mana invested.
'Man, I'm getting good at this. I didn't even flinch at the blue screens this time! Kinda shitty conversion from charged Attack, but it'll probably get better.' John thought as he surveyed the scene. The now-dead wakwak was a hideous creature, some man bat hybrid from the bowels of hell, and yet here it was in the flesh. 'Wait, hell? Where did I see something like that recently… the first notifications!' With a thought, he brought up the notification from when he first woke up and focused in on the section about the tutorial.
You and 814,539,762,019 other sapients from your universe have been transported to The Tutorial! As your universe was previously uninitiated in any system, The System has determined you and all other beings in your universe will take part in a tutorial before being returned to a habitable planet in your universe. As of right now, you and 99,999 other beings are in the tutorial scenario [Forest Of The Damned]. Good Luck, Earthling!
[Forest Of The Damned], Legendary Difficulty Tutorial.
The Forest Of The Damned is a place where the lions run the circus. Behind any tree could be any number or variety of creatures native to hellish dimensions, from your run of the mill demon to your more esoteric Being Beyond Comprehension. As a legendary difficulty tutorial, the dangers are great, especially for a tutorial. But where there is risk, there is reward! [Forest Of The Damned] is widely believed to be among the most difficult tutorials, but also the most rewarding. Good luck, [Human?]!
'Well shit. Why did I have to be flung into a literal hell difficulty tutorial? I didn't sign up for main character shit, system!' John thought, directing his anger at the blue box ahead of him. Letting the anger pass, John brought up his status again, and, sure enough, there were 48 free points there, waiting for his assignment.
John Williams Race: [Human?] {G} Traits Titles Class None Adaptability [Strategist Frontrunner] Level 7 XP: 175 / 390 Human Tenacity [One Punch Man] Mana 283/400 Mana Regen: 50 / Hour sys err(1); [Superior Giantslayer] Health 158/200 Health Regen: 200 / Day ... 0 more. Free Points 48 > 0 Bonuses: Totals: Status Effects: Agility 11 > 20 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 11 > 20 Lesser Physical Enhancement (53M) Constitution 8 > 20 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 8 > 20 Dexterity 7 > 20 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 7 > 20 Intelligence 16 > 23 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 16 > 23 Strength 13 > 20 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 13 > 20 Willpower 20 (+0) (+0%) (+0%) 20 Skills...
'Okay that spread seems good to me. Even foundation to build on, can't really go wrong with that.'
Confirm?
Yes'
Are you sure?
'Yes, damn it!'
Implementing changes...
The moment John finished thinking his second confirmation, his mind and body felt flooded with power. So much power, than he fell to his knees in a combination of agony and pleasure. His muscles, bones, the very fibers of his being felt like it was getting an upgrade, like going from flesh to steel. The process simultaneously felt horrible and wonderful. Then, all at once, it stopped. On his knees, John inspected his gains. His flesh, which had felt like steel during the process, once again felt like flesh. An attempt to bite his cuticles, however, revealed a different story. It felt like trying to bite through a particularly hardy piece of well done meat, not wanting to be split. He expected this to be the case for all of his skin, though he couldn't be sure without testing it, which he wasn't exactly thrilled to attempt as that required taking hits. Assuming 10 is base human, he definitely feels like he could be twice that, especially in thinking speed. John felt like he could do almost anything in the confines of his mind.
Returning to his previous mission of trying to find people, he continued his walk through the forest, yelling for anyone nearby.