Chapter 001 - Go to Class, Get a Job_The Apocalypse Bites

Devi had been having a pretty average day; go to work, forced to go get coffee for everyone, but that all changed with the end of the world. Or at least, what she thought was the end of the world.

What else would you call the sky falling down in a cascade of lights? Though, if this is the afterlife, a lot of people were very wrong about it, she thought to herself as she scanned her surroundings.

Devi stood in a large clearing, surrounded by towering trees on all sides, with a throng of people milling about inside. All of them were wearing the same outfit she was, a plain, greenish-brown shirt and a pair of trousers made of the same material. The clothing fit reasonably well but was a lot less comfortable than the usual polysynthetic blend she wore.

She squinted at the tree line, noticing a faint shimmer in the air. It reminded her of a soapy bubble, barely visible until the light hit it just right, showing off its myriad of colors. She scanned the whole clearing, noting that the odd shimmer encircled the whole thing as far as she could tell.

As she looked over the clearing, she saw an odd-looking pillar in the center, sticking out like a sore thumb in the carpet of lush grass. Devi guessed it was around 15 feet tall, and looked to be carved out of grey stone. A few people had gathered around it, running their hands over its surface. Some of the figures began to gesture wildly to those around them, talking animatedly. Devi was too far away to hear what they were saying, and could only catch glimpses of them through the crowd.

Definitely, something to check out, later, once there are not as many people, Devi thought to herself, and then focused on the odd floating blue box in her vision.

Welcome denizen, to the cosmos!

Your journey is but starting, reach for the stars and grasp the power to control your fate.

Good Luck!

As soon as she thought about the box, it came to the forefront of her vision instead of fading into the background. When she tried to focus on the trees instead of the box, it faded from her mind except for a whisper of a thought that it was still there.

Bringing it back into view, Devi studied the odd apparition in her vision. She reached out a hand and tried to touch the window, only for her hand to pass through empty air, the window not even flickering. Devi then whipped her head to the side, but the window followed seamlessly.

It appears to be more of a hallucination than anything, Devi hummed to herself. I wonder if I’m the only one seeing something like this?

She quickly looked around, and saw quite a number of the people around her waving their hands in front of their faces, and staring off into the distance. As she continued to observe them, a few were enveloped by a faint multicolored glow momentarily, before it faded.

It appears that at least the majority of the other people here are seeing something in front of their faces, just like I am, Devi reasoned. More than likely, it’s the same one. It looks very generic. I wonder if I can make it go away.

As soon as she thought about it going away, it faded from her consciousness, to be replaced with another blue box

While your home planet Ax7-9xMw7-3qN97 (Earth) is undergoing energy stabilization, you have been placed in a Tutorial.

There are unique opportunities to be had, but danger is never far.

Look at your Status, obtain a Class and Vocation, and venture out into the wilds.

Good luck!

Devi paused to digest the new information the blue box had given her.

Looks like I’m not on Earth anymore, if these messages can be believed, though the sky is too clear to be back on Earth, Devi reasoned with herself. So going to just assume they are telling the truth for the time being.

She looked at the next line, a little apprehensive about the mention of danger. Though rewards are never without risk. I wonder what sort of rewards it could be talking about. I’m in a forest, not many rewards here.

The next line caught her attention, having seen something similar in many games she had played. It can’t be referring to classes like you’d find in an RPG, right? How would that make any sense? And how do I even check my Status-

As soon as Devi thought about checking her status, a new box appeared in front of the previous one.

Status

Name

Devi Robinson

Race

Human (G)

Lvl 0

Class

Vocation

Titles

Tutorial Attendee

Health

100

Stamina

Mana

110

Attributes

Vitality

Toughness

Endurance

Wisdom

Vigor

Presence

Agility

Intelligence

Strength

Willpower

Free points

General Skills

[EMPTY]

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

[EMPTY]

Class Skills

[LOCKED]

Vocation Skills

[LOCKED]

Guess it can be talking about things straight out of an RPG, Devi thought, surprised. Though it does not look like any I have played before.

Devi scanned over the box, noting a few things. The first thing she saw was her name, proudly stated right at the top. Her face morphed into a large smile at the sight of that. The next thing she saw was her race. If it has a spot for race, then there are probably other races than humans out there, she reasoned. If I can trust whatever this is. Though after seeing the odd lights in the sky, and suddenly being transported somewhere else, I might as well accept whatever is happening right now is real. I do not lose anything by assuming this is reality and it turns out it is not, but if I ignore this, and it turns out to be real... She trailed off and looked back at her Status, and what does the G mean next race? Could it be alignment, g for good?

She gave a mental shrug and looked at the next two lines, Class and Vocation. The message said something about selecting a Class-

Once again, another blue box appeared in front of the old one.

Requirements met: please choose your Class

Note: You will not be able to earn Class based XP until after you have chosen. All Class XP will be lost until your Class has advanced.

Novice Tank (inferior)

Novice Fighter (inferior)

Novice Rogue (inferior)

Novice Ranger (inferior)

Novice Mage (inferior)

Novice Healer (inferior)

Novice Support (inferior)

Devi scanned the new message box, looking at the range of Classes she could apparently choose from. Quite a number of options, she thought as she studied each one. When she focused on the top one, the Novice Tank, she got an odd feeling. She couldn’t quite place her finger on it, but it felt sturdy, protective, and heavy.

She shrugged and focused on the next one on the list, Novice Fighter and she got the feeling of combat, weapons, and contest. Is that all I’m getting to base my choice on? The general vibe of each class? She frowned, annoyed at the lack of information she was being given. That message said there was danger here, and I’m assuming these Classes will let me face that danger if it follows the logic of most RPGs I’ve played. And I don’t know if I’ll be able to change my choice later. Better assume that I won’t, and choose the best option, with the little information I have available, she thought bitterly.

Going to the next option, Novice Rogue, she felt stealthiness, shadows, and isolation. That option seemed to resonate with her. From what she could remember, rogues were stealth operatives, usually acting alone, scouting or assassinating people. Would definitely not mind having a Class that specifically lets me avoid people, she thought, remembering her interaction with the random stranger at the subway station this morning.

The next option was Novice Ranger. That one brought to mind feelings of nature, archery, and hunting. Devi, being the city girl she was, immediately removed that from her list of possibilities. Not that I don’t like nature, it is amazing and wonderful, but I would rather be surrounded by four walls and preferably a roof than spending my days wandering about in nature.

Novice Mage was up next, which caught her eye. She had always been enamored with the concept of magic, but as she delved deeper into the sciences, the space magic could reside grew smaller and smaller until she was forced to admit that the probability of magic being real was slim. Now, with the word mage staring at her, in addition to the odd spot on her Status screen declaring that she had mana, Devi was beginning to think that her assumption that magic was not possible could have been made in error. This class felt of magic, power, and control. If magic is real, then this is a very promising class, Devi thought to herself, remembering the multitude of instances where she pretend she could cast magic as a small child.

Going down the list to Novice Healer, that one invoked feelings of healing, protectiveness, and regeneration. No surprise there. It probably does exactly what it says on the tin, heals people Though the question is if it is mundane healing or magical in nature. Devi thought about it for a while, before deciding that it really didn’t matter, since she really didn’t want to be stuck healing people. Healers always get the short end of the stick from all the games I’ve played. It is safe to assume that it will be no different here.

The last Class on the list was Novice Support. From that one, she got feelings of utility, and support, along with a mixed feeling of all the other classes. Devi did not know quite what to feel about this class. On one hand, it seemed to be based on being a part of a team, but on the other, it seemed like a jack-of-all-trades sort of class, something that Devi had always liked. There’s a hint of magic about this class as well, but not quite as much as the mage one. Also, I’d probably be stuck needing other people. She paused for a moment, though, I could always just support myself instead. No real reason to be beholden to a team.

She looked over the list of classes again, filtering out the ones she absolutely did not want to choose. The first to go was Novice Ranger since she did not want to be stuck needing to be in nature. The next to go was Novice Tank and Novice Fighter. Both had feelings of needing to be up close and personal to fight, and that held no appeal to her. If I am going to need to fight something, I want to do it from far away, she reasoned. After removing those from her list, Devi took off Novice Healer as well.

That left her with only three options to choose from, Rogue, Mage, and Support. All three of the remaining classes had elements she wanted. Novice Rogue implied working alone from the shadows, which Devi could definitely appreciate. Novice Mage was geared towards magic, something that Devi had always dreamed about ever since she was a child. And lastly, Novice Support offered a little bit of everything.

Devi thought over her choices. The rogue one is the best if I want to not have to interact with people, but that is the only one that does not have a hint of magic to it, so that is a major demerit. The other options all have magic but rely on other people. Or, at least I’m assuming they do. If my mental image of a mage is correct, they need people in front of them to offer protection while they work their magic. Very frail and weak outside of their magic. The support, on the other hand, needs other people so they can support them.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Devi decided to remove Novice Rogue from her consideration. The main factor behind her decision was the lack of magic. If there is magic now, I need to have it. That left her only two options, a mage or support.

Now, how much magic do I want? Devi questioned herself. The mage seems to focus solely on magic, while the support only has it as an option. If I decided to go with the mage, I would be forced to only focus on magic, while the support would let me explore everything else. Also, both of these options are going to make me work with other people, so there is that to consider.

Devi paused to think about the team aspect of both Classes. If my experience in RPGs holds up to this environment, since it seems to be loosely based on one, there will be quite a few people who choose Novice Mage whereas not that many will choose support. And since there will be fewer people who choose to be a Novice Support, then there will be more opportunities to form teams, Devi reasoned to herself. It appears that choosing Novice Support would be the best option out of all of them. They appear to have access to magic and will have an easier time finding people willing to group up with them for everyone’s benefit.

Giving one last look at the mage, Devi focused on the last option, and with a mental confirmation, selected her Class. I will still have magic, hopefully. Once she had done so, the Class selection window disappeared to be replaced with a new one. Before she had a chance to see what it said, a faint shimmer of multicolored light enveloped her for a brief moment. It seemed to emanate from her chest and expand outwards. As it did, Devi felt an odd tingling sensation, not unlike what she had experienced as the sky fell just a few moments earlier.

The sensation passed just as quickly as it started. I guess that was what the odd lights surrounding people were. They were choosing their Classes, Devi guessed. She looked at the new window that had appeared.

Class has advanced to Novice Support (inferior) lvl 0

She dismissed the box and looked at her Status page again. The only thing that had changed was the space next to her Class had now been filled in with Novice Support, and her Class skills had changed to [EMPTY] instead of [LOCKED]. Next item on the to-do list, select a Vocation.

This time, Devi was ready for the blue box that appeared once she had thought about selecting her Vocation.

Requirements met: please choose your Vocation

Note: You will not be able to earn Vocation based XP until after you have chosen. All Vocation XP will be lost until your Vocation has advanced.

Novice Crafter (inferior)

Novice Builder (inferior)

Novice Tinkerer (inferior)

Novice Socialite (inferior)

Novice Merchant (inferior)

Looking over the much smaller list of Vocations she was offered, Devi immediately dismissed the last two listings. Both of those seem horrendous, definitely public-facing jobs. I would not be caught dead doing either one of those. She then started going over each of the other options individually.

Novice Crafter had a feeling of creation and artistry. If I had to guess, and I do, Devi thought sourly, this Vocation involves creating items, like being a tailor or blacksmithing. It had a certain appeal to it since she had always loved making things, creating anything with her hands.

The next option on the list was Novice Builder. This one invoked feelings of sturdiness and large-scale projects. Constructing buildings or other infrastructure had always fascinated Devi, but not in the sense she would want to do it. More so in the way of loving to see how things worked and were made. She had always loved driving by a construction site and getting to see the building slowly being fabricated, but Devi had never wished to be the one doing the building. Since this vocation seemed to focus more on large-scale building projects, it dropped to the bottom of the three choices. There is also the fact that you would have to work with a team of people to build anything. One person is not going to be able to make anything of note.

Other than the two choices that Devi had outright refused to look at, Novice Tinkerer was the last option to inspect. When she focused, she got the feeling of innovation and research. Both of which resonated deeply with her. That is basically what I was doing before the end of the world, Devi thought to herself. And what I went to school for. The more she thought about it, the more this Vocation seemed to fit.

Out of the options, the only two I would even consider are Novice Crafter and Novice Tinkerer. The crafter seems to be focused on the craft itself. Making items and the process behind it. Whereas the tinkerer appears to be focused on researching and designing new ways to do things.

Devi was not absolutely sure of her assessment of the Vocations, though she was fairly confident it was accurate enough to base her decision on. Out of the list of Vocations offered to her, the one that Devi was leaning toward was the Novice Tinkerer. From what she could understand, it was the closest to what she had been doing before.

Having made up her mind, she mentally focused on the Vocation. Once again, a faint iridescent glow enveloped her, sending an odd sensation throughout her body. It only lasted a few moments, just as with her Class selection, before fading along with the glow.

Vocation has advanced to Novice Tinkerer (inferior) lvl 0

Another glance at her Status window showed that her Vocation was now indeed Novice Tinkerer, and her Vocation Skills and changed to [EMPTY]. Devi waited for a few moments, wondering if there were going to be any other messages giving her hints on what to do next, but nothing came. I guess that’s all I’m getting. The message just said, “venture out into the wilds.” She looked over at the looming trees on the edges of the clearing, postulating that the wilds mentioned were out there.

I think I will wait to go out into the forest. Devi looked over at the odd pillar of stone sticking out of the middle of the clearing. A few more people had made their way over to it and were placing their hands on it. That seems like a better place to explore first, Devi thought and started to walk through the crowd in that direction.

Chapter 001 - Go to Class, Get a Job

目录