“Welcome Player.”
An electronic voice woke me up and as I slowly open my eyes, I thought that I woke up in the wrong side of the bed. Everywhere in the room is brightly white. Even the floor. Now I started panicking, because the last time I remember is that I fell asleep in my sofa. So how did I end up here?
Then out of nowhere a blurry figure pop in front of me.
“Welcome Player.”
Player? What is happening here? Was I kidnapped and forced to join a prank show?
“Who are you,” I asked.
“I am an artificial intelligence created by the will of the world to guide new players. You can call me No. 158,” the blurry figure answered.
“Okay. No. 158, what do you mean by player,” I continued to ask.
“Players are people who are summoned to live in the world that you are about to send in.”
Summoned? Send to another world? A lot of things are going through my brain. Still No. 158 continued explaining.
“You are to be send to Traum, a world where games are the norm. Currently you are in the white space to be able to select your class.”
Then a screen flashed in front me. There are four pictures in the screen. The picture in the farthest left is holding a book. The next picture is holding a rosary. Continuing, the other one is holding nothing, but you can see the muscles bulging out of his shirt. And the last is a picture of a normal person.
“Things are going too fast. I cannot comprehend what is actually happening here,” I explained to No. 158. Though I could get the gist of it, I still couldn’t believe that I am going to another world, changed into a character that looks like picked out of a game. I just hope this is a prank.
“I’m sorry but that is best way for me to explain everything,” No. 158 justified himself.
“Okay. So what would I do,” I said resigning to my fate, hoping that after I do everything, No. 158 will just say to me, ‘Say hi to the camera. This is all just a prank.’
“First, you will choose your class. What is in front of you is what you would call an interface. That is how new information will appear,” No. 158 explained while I continue nodding.
“First click in one the pictures to see the relevant information about the class that you will choose.”
I did as I was instructed. I first clicked on the picture of the person holding a book. Then the interface changed. The other three pictures are gone then a text of words popped out of the screen.
Bookworm:
A character that is filled with knowledge. Specialize in deciphering and using knowledge to overwhelm opponents. Has the special stat KNOWLEDGE.
“Knowledge is Power.”
A bookworm for my class eh. With that I am now sure that this is a prank. After all, most games don’t use this kind of class for players to choose from. It is normally a warrior, a mage or a thief. Although I don’t play games too much, I am playing once in a while, so I know my stuff.
“You could change what you would want to read by swiping your fingers on the screen,” No. 158 instructed me.
I swiped the screen like how I normally swipe with my phone. Next came the other picture.
Devotee:
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
A character that follows the light and hate all evil. It uses miracles and faith to vanquish every evil in sight. Has the special stat FAITH.
“With my faith, you will be free from evil.”
What the heck is a devotee? Swiping the screen, the next information came out.
Athlete:
A character that believes might right. Uses the muscles in his arms to make a place in the world. Increase of 30 HP every level.
“I will conquer the world, with my body.”
And the last picture came after I swiped the screen.
Civilian:
A character that is your everyday person. Has no specialization but is a jack of all trade. Has no special stat but has the ability to make this class into a sub-class outside the sub-class limit and be able to gain stats and skills.
“I fight for my rights.”
As I am quite sure that this is a prank, I immediately chose the Civilian class. After all, I am just a civilian that was kidnapped just to be pranked. And also based on its definition being able to have two main classes is cool.
I pressed the confirmation button on the screen and a message popped up saying, “Do you want to choose this class?” and I said yes. A light covered me and that was when I realized that this was not a prank at all. I screwed up, should have chosen athlete or bookworm.
“Congratulation for having your new class,” No. 158 congratulated me but I don’t feel exactly happy of what I did there just now.
“May I change class,” I desperately asked No. 158, in my dismay I can’t.
“So now that you have chosen your class, please say ‘Status Screen’,” No. 158 instructed me.
“Status Screen.”
Then the interface came again with new texts, just looks like this:
Aron (No Title)
Race:
Human
Main Class:
Civilian (LVL 1)
Sub-class:
None
HP:
75/75
MP:
75/75
Dmg:
35-40
Armor:
10
Affliation:
None
ExP:
0/100
I swiped my finger on the screen and voila, I can see my skills. Currently I have three skills two passive and one active.
Tax Policy (LVL 1) (Passive Skill)
Everything that you buy or have to go to a new place will have an increase in the normal price. Every level decreases the prices.
Current increase of payment: 100 gold every purchase
10 gold every entry
“It is your duty to pay.”
Fit in (LVL 1)(Passive Skill)
Immediately learns the language and dialect of the inhabitants. Every level increases language comprehension.
“Welcome to that place and that place….”
Labourer’s Anger (LVL 1)(Active Skill) (MP: 30)
Your anger will be transmitted to your enemy, increasing damage relative the skill’s current level.
Damage increase: 10%
Critical chance: 10%
Critical damage: 5%
“Did you just say overtime?”
Oh, this skill are actually quite fitting for a civilian, especially my active skill. Ah, overtime, how I hate that word. But this Tax Policy, this skill gives me a headache now. To think that I have to pay more than a hundred gold just to purchase some things.
“Now that you have checked your stats and skills, it’s time for you to check you inventory. Please say Inventory,” No. 158 instructed.
“INVENTORY.”
Low – level Potion x 5
(Recovers a small amount of HP)
Bread x 5
(Recovers a small amount of stamina and eases a little bit of your hunger)
Allotted Space (100)
Available Space (90)
Gold: 150 G
Quite good for a start. I hope that with my meagre amount of gold, yes it is a little because of my Tax Policy skill, would be enough for me to live for a while.
“The tutorial is done. Please walk towards the door in front of you to go to the next world. Good luck,” with those words, No. 158 is gone. In front of me is a door. I walked towards the door and held the door knob, hoping that the other side is just a group of cameraman and an actor that will assure that this is just a prank.
I opened the door and was disappointed because there is no one there just a black space. With that, I strengthened my will.
“Let’s do this Aron,” I comforted myself and finally stepped inside the space. And it became quite a roller coaster ride.