As I touched the door, a feeling of dread came over me, unlike anything I''d ever felt—a sudden weight pressing on my chest, my breath hitching as if I was standing at the edge of a vast abyss. But it left as quickly as it came. Instead, it was replaced by a stretching feeling, and then a sense of vertigo, as I disappeared from the room. I had closed my eyes, but then, I was forcibly stopped.
I opened my eyes and looked around, but there was nothing to see, except for those same strange geometrical symbols that stirred something deep inside me, pulsing to some unknown, mysterious beat, and floating in blackness. Blackness was the only way to describe it. It was the true absence of light, the void. The void felt cold and oppressive, as though the absence of light carried a tangible weight, pressing against my skin.
The symbols seemed to pulse in time with my own heartbeat—or was my heart keeping time with them? I couldn’t tell, and that scared me more than the empty blackness all around.
Out of nowhere, a voice came, the first voice I have heard since the system came. It was deep and resonant, reverberating through the void as if it spoke directly into my mind.
“Greetings, young one.” It greeted me, “I see Dodec has marked you. I will be having a word about this to him. Balance must be observed. Continue on your way, young one.”
The name Dodec stirred some memories, but once again, I could not quite place where they were from. I felt warmth, like I was familiar with him, but yet there was also some further depth to him, like a predator waiting to strike.
With that, I stretched once more, but this time, when I opened my eyes, I was in another stone room, but this time, there was a plain wooden desk. Behind the desk, there was a thing. It was a completely white, humanoid shape. It said:
“Hello. Welcome to the Tutorial Briefing. The Tutorial will begin in five minutes.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Who are you?” I quickly interrupted.
“I am a representation of the System.” It replied.
I then quickly tried to ask about who I met in the void-like place, but my tongue failed me. I was absolutely incapable of talking about the meeting. So instead, I quickly asked the first question that came to mind.
“What am I?”
The System replied, “You are a cultivator, a being that can absorb Essence to advance your core, by either absorbing it from where it naturally resides all around us, or if you are more martial minded, absorb it from your slain enemies.”
“Damn.” I thought to myself. “Absorbing essence? From nature or... enemies? What kind of RPG nightmare have I landed myself in?”
“The Tutorial Rules are as follows:”
A new screen popped up in my vision.
Tutorial Rules
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">You must attempt a mission every 48 hours</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">You can enter a mission either alone, or with your group</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Missions are graded Easy, Normal, Medium, Difficult, Extreme, and Impossible</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">The death rate for each level of mission is 1%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 99%</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Gain Tutorial Points (TP) by succeeding in missions, killing beasts, or killing other cultivators (You gain half of the total TP that the defeated cultivator had)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Gain essence to level up your core</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Struggle For Supremacy</li>
</ul>
“So, encouraging people to kill other people doesn’t make me trust the System much more.” But I kept that unsaid. “Mandatory missions every 48 hours? Death rates up to 99%? Oh sure, this all sounds like a fantastic idea. Let me just sign my life away right now.”
Of course, I didn’t voice these complaints, and instead asked another question.
“What’s my core?” I asked.
“It is the core of your existence, holding all of your archives. You advance it by gaining essence by absorbing it from where it naturally resides all around us, absorbing it from your slain enemies, or completing successful crafts. There is a path for everyone, but everyone must Struggle For Supremacy. Entering Tutorial in two seconds.”
“Wait! What is the Syst-”
But my protest died in my throat as the world around me flickered and dissolved, bringing back the vertigo and stretching feeling. Whatever the Tutorial was, I had a sinking feeling it wouldn''t be a walk in the park.
“Entering Tutorial.”