《Choose Your Apocalypse (A LitRPG Apocalypse, Progression, System Fantasy) [CYA]》 Chapter 1: Obligatory Beginning Alex¡¯s computer dinged, alerting him to the time and pulling him out of his daydream. He went through the familiar motions and logged into the Video Meeting at precisely one o¡¯clock. He was the proctor, so it only made sense for him to be punctual. There were already five people waiting for the discussion to begin. He vaguely wondered how they had so little to do that they could be in this meeting, simply waiting, before even he had arrived. Not a helpful way of thinking about it, Alex. Put on your people-face. Alex sighed, recentered himself, and then unmuted his microphone, ¡°Hello, and welcome everyone. As usual, we will get started at three past the hour in order to give everyone time to transfer over from their previous meetings. Thank you, in advance, for your promptness and patience.¡± He muted himself instantly and sighed again. He was beyond thankful that video feeds weren''t required. He liked his job well enough, but sometimes he felt like a broken record. He was used to taking the reins and making other people choose what needed to get done. He then made sure that the right people would go and do those things. It was all very¡­ facilitatory. That was an odd word. Facilitatory¡­ was he using it right? Should he go look it up? He had a couple of minutes, after all. ¡°I wonder if this is my lot in life? Is this all there is?¡± He thumbed the worn gold band on his left ring finger. Is this all that she¡¯d have wanted for me? He turned in his chair, leaning back and looking to the picture of his wife. While nearly ten years old, it was still the most recent picture he had of her. ¡°I¡¯ll find my place soon, love. I¡¯ll make you proud.¡± It was at that exact moment that the lights went out, and the world¡ªas he knew it¡ªended. Alex was a communicator. More specifically, he helped other people communicate with each other in technical settings. He helped tech and non-tech people get on the same page for IT related projects. He made sure that others knew what was expected of them, and helped the people with the requisite knowledge make their decisions. He pushed back on logical inconsistencies or flaws in stated reasoning. There were many, many other buzz-phrases that could apply to what he did for a living. He always felt so awkward trying to describe what he did. He¡¯d rather just let other people talk about what they did. Now, however, he had questions, and uncounted professional hours compelled him to speak, ¡°Umm¡­ Excuse me?¡± There was no response as he seemed to be floating in black nothingness. He could hear his own voice and see his own body despite the seeming lack of light, so that was good, if strange. He didn¡¯t seem to be standing on anything, yet he wasn¡¯t falling, and his clothes were hanging on him as if gravity was affecting him. Nothing lined up. ¡°Hello?¡± What seemed like a blue-hued pane of glass appeared before him, easily visible and greatly confirming that something unusual was clearly going on. He did not particularly like the implications. Thankfully, he had something else to focus on. The blue panel had words somehow etched or printed into its surface. Initializing. We thank you, in advance, for your patience. Well, that was something that he would normally say at the beginning of a meeting¡­ Was someone playing a trick on him? Was he dead and about to go into a meeting about his afterlife? He chuckled nervously into the void. Wouldn''t that be ironic? When nothing else happened, he reached out, but his hand passed through the glass-looking panel even before the window pane disappeared. As he considered things, he felt like he was calmer than he should be. But that line of thought was quickly replaced by thoughts on the only thing to yet break the monotony of black nothingness around him. It was more like a computer prompt or notification than anything else. Like a message or prompt in a video game, or the blue screen of death¡­ He winced internally. Please don¡¯t have been a literal blue screen of my death¡­ He didn''t think that even he could find humor in the situation if that were the case. Even with the oddities, he was still himself, so he asked, ¡°Is there anything that I can do? Any way I could assist?¡± One should never ask if someone else needed ¡®help.¡¯ To offer ¡®help'' was to imply that the person being asked couldn¡¯t do it on their own. No, one should always offer ¡®assistance¡¯ because the person one was speaking to clearly had everything in hand, and Alex could simply make it easier for them to proceed. In the end, it didn¡¯t hurt to ask. This might be a dream, or a prank, or¡­ he really didn¡¯t know. He remembered sitting at his computer, in his home office, what seemed like mere moments ago¡­ Had he had a heart attack? A stroke? Had someone snuck up behind him and clubbed him over the head? ¡°Did the world end or something?¡± He chuckled nervously. Relevant Inquiry detected. Yes, your world¡ªas you knew it¡ªhas ended. Your neurochemical levels are under tight regulation to reduce the chance of trauma and speed up your Initialization. One moment please. So¡­not a prank? Or a prank in which they are willing to lie extravagantly. He grimaced, feeling momentarily fearful before it passed. He¡¯d never liked pranks. Still, if the world had ended, either he was dead and it didn¡¯t matter, or he was safe, at least for the moment. Did anything really matter? Initialization complete. Innate self-leveling is noted as more robust than anticipated. Neurochemical stabilization noted as too extreme, lessening interference. Alex sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening slightly. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± You are being inducted into the System. This is the setup for your tutorial. Your tutorial must be overcome before you are returned to your planet. Take this time to adjust, so that you are prepared for your changed homeworld. ¡°Thank you for the thorough response?¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. You are most welcome. Alex looked around, seeing nothing. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind¡­ what now?¡± We can start somewhere simple if you like. ¡°I think that I would appreciate that. Thank you.¡± He considered for a moment before he asked his most pressing question. ¡°Am I dead?¡± ¡­Is the concept of death and the afterlife considered ¡®simple¡¯ in your culture? That does not align with our information and research. Alex shook his head. ¡°No, your information is correct. I just realized that I wanted to know.¡± Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Query Accepted. You should have died, yes. In the initiation of your world, the surface was spliced together with other worlds, and you would have been killed by such a splice. Alex blinked. ¡°Would have. So¡­ not dead?¡± No. ¡°But I should have been?¡± Yes. ¡°Why could you not¡­ be more precise? Simply not have killed me with a splice?¡± Excellent question. It was found to be more energy efficient to provide an Apology Tutorial to those whom the merging would have killed outright, separate from the standard Tutorials. ¡°That¡­ says a lot, actually. So, what is the Apology Tutorial, exactly?¡± That will be revealed when appropriate. Now, however, the time for you to ask questions has passed. We are ready to begin. Thus, we need to move on to asking the standard questions to keep things moving smoothly. Would you like to keep your current name? He blinked a couple of times at the change in direction in the conversation, but he didn¡¯t feel a need to object. So, he just rolled with it. ¡°Yes? Is there something wrong with ¡®Alex Johnson?¡¯ It¡¯s not a curse in the new reality, or a children¡¯s book character?¡± No, we simply like to offer the option to change, if you¡¯d like. ¡°That is very kind. I think I will keep my name.¡± Choice Logged: Name logged and locked: Alex Johnson Human(??), 0 Decision Rating: Well reasoned That was¡­ interesting. It rated his choice? Also, why were there two question marks after ¡®Human¡¯? He almost asked, but something else was weighing on him more from the blue window¡¯s previous statements, ¡°If I may ask¡­ who is ¡®we¡¯ in this situation?¡± We are the observers of reality within the System. ¡°...I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but¡­ are observers meant to interact this much?¡± We are not¡ªand we generally do not¡ªbut this is your Initialization. And this whole process is meant as an apology, so certain concessions have been made. We find it better to make beings in your situation within the System feel comfortable during these choices. You in particular find relaxed communication comforting. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± He needed to refocus himself. It had been decades since he¡¯d last done martial arts, and despite achieving his black belt back in high school, he¡¯d never gone beyond that. Still, he often took comfort in the self-calming aspects that he remembered from the practice. After pulling in two breaths¡ªthen giving a single, long exhale¡ªhe nodded, ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Next, you will go through the rest of the Initial Choices. Then the Tutorial Aspect selection will occur. We will be less communicative during that process, to limit our influence upon you. The System will use this medium of communication going forward. Are you ready to proceed? System Notice: An active internal visualization capacity has been detected and will be temporarily enhanced to aid your decision making. ¡°I think I understand? Yes. I am ready.¡± He realized that he was still much more calm and focused than he should be, given the circumstances, but they had said that they were balancing his brain chemistry, so¡­ He only had to wait a moment before the next pane popped up, and it was a massive one, comparatively. Unlike previous ones, it seemed that he could make selections throughout the whole window. System Language Settings: Please make a selection in each field Translate intelligent, auditory communication in languages unknown to you into: English (Selected) Valley Girl Pirate Pig-Latin Bleeps Silence [NULL] No other known language found for Alex Johnson Do Not Translate Translate written words into: English (Selected) Valley Girl Pirate Pig-Latin Scratches Blank Surfaces [NULL] No other known language found for Alex Johnson Do Not Translate Content Filters Obscenities: Bleep Silence Randomly Generated Replacements Best Translation of Intent Do Not Filter (Selected) Insulting or Otherwise Offensive Speech: Bleep Silence Randomly Generated Encouragement Do Not Filter (Selected) Tutorial Addendum: You are responsible for your own choices. The System takes no responsibility for misunderstandings created due to the censoring, filtering, or silencing of speech. Choose wisely. Alex stared in subdued wonder for a long moment. This System contained an instant translator of both auditory and written communication? That was amazing! That alone was far beyond any current technology that he was aware of¡­ not that the other things he¡¯d experienced were normal by any means. Even so, some of the choices were just odd. Who in their right mind would choose to hear unknown languages all in ¡®Valley Girl¡¯... or ¡®Pirate¡¯? What would that even mean? He had a momentary imagining about accidentally selecting ¡®Pig-Latin.¡¯ A man approached Alex, a clearly advanced weapon drawn and pointed his way. ¡°Urrendersay oryay ebay estroyedday.¡± Alex continued to eat his croissant, speaking around the food in his mouth, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ What?¡± The gun came up just a bit, the alien¡¯s finger moving to the trigger. ¡°Eclareday ouyay illway otnay ebay iolentvay oryay iyay illway estroyday ouyay.¡± Alex¡¯s head hurt too much for this. ¡°Please just let me eat. I don¡¯t have time for this.¡± ¡°Iyay iedtray otay ebay icenay. Iyay avehay ootay uchmay otay oday. Egonebay.¡± The man weapon flashed, and Alex knew only darkness. He huffed a laugh, his own mind already straining at his imagining of pig-latin. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s avoid that. English is fine.¡± That also explained what ¡®active internal visualization¡¯ had been enhanced. This was going to be¡­ odd. He then considered the other options for a moment. He didn¡¯t particularly like listening to obscenities, even if it wasn¡¯t something that he ever commented on specifically. But he also didn¡¯t know how the System would classify ¡®Obscenities.¡¯ He shrugged. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s see what we get with ¡®Randomly Generated Replacements¡¯ and ¡®Best Translation of Intent.¡¯ Selecting both will probably randomly choose between those two, I¡¯d imagine.¡± He doubted such settings were permanent, but even if he could make changes later, silence could just be dangerous. If someone was charging at him, yelling obscenities, he wouldn¡¯t want to be caught unaware because the System had silenced their words. For ¡®Insulting or Offensive Speech¡¯ he once again wondered who would determine what that meant? He had a brief flash of what might happen should he select ¡®Randomly Generated Encouragement.¡¯ Alex was a bit confused. The man seemed rather perturbed, but his every word was glowing praise for Alex¡¯s work. ¡°Thank you?¡± That seemed to make the man even angrier¡­ which somehow made him compliment Alex¡¯s mother, his wife¡ªmay she rest in peace¡ªand Alex¡¯s appearance in general. ¡°You really don¡¯t have to be so nice¡­ You seem rather put out, your words aside. Can I help you with something?¡± Many of the onlookers hooted with laughter, even as the man screamed at the sky. Right¡­ I should have asked if I could ¡®assist¡¯ him with something. That was a rookie mistake. You¡¯re better than this, Alex. Alex was thoroughly confused, but he decided it was worth trying to apologize for the slip of the tongue. Well, he was going to try until the man hauled back and punched Alex in the face. Alex shook his head. ¡°Nope.¡± Obviously, he could adjust if necessary, but it would be exhausting to constantly be trying to filter through falsely ¡®encouraging¡¯ words to find what people really meant. It was better to just be insulted and know that that person was a jerk or didn¡¯t like him. For ¡®Insulting or Otherwise Offensive Speech,¡¯ he left the selection on ¡®Do Not Filter.¡¯ And those were all the language settings, as odd as even having language settings was to consider. When no other pane or prompt immediately popped into his vision, Alex looked around for a long moment, through the massively empty black void. Then, thousands of creatures appeared¡ªranging from humanoid beings to monsters of nightmares¡ªscattered in the space around him. His breath quickened in fear for the briefest instant before a blue system notice sprang up in front of him, grounding him in the new ¡®reality¡¯ of this System. Right, I¡¯m not about to be assaulted. Not just yet anyways. It¡¯s time to Choose Your Apocalypse (Apology Tutorial): Choose a type of creature as your ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ in your introduction to the System. Oh¡­ Well, that¡¯s interesting. Chapter 2: Initial Tutorial Opponent Alex looked at the spread of creatures before him, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Still, he apparently had to choose; he thought that he at least understood that much. He looked back to the prompt, the heading overarching this madness: It¡¯s time to Choose Your Apocalypse (Apology Tutorial): Choose a type of creature as your ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ in your introduction to the System. Alex had read enough fiction¡ªand played enough games¡ªto know that the wording of that prompt was important. It wasn¡¯t the type of creature he would like to be able to kill, nor what type of creature he wanted to be specialized against. It didn¡¯t even mean the creature he¡¯d be fighting more often. He was going to be choosing what he would be fighting first¡­ Because apparently that was a thing now. The world ended, and I¡¯m going to be fighting things. It was that, or this was the craziest, most realistic dream he¡¯d ever experienced. The first option was terrifying. The second was amazing, even if he¡¯d never really had any dream like it before. In either case, this choice would really matter. It might actually be the most important choice he made. The first potential enemy he spotted was, of course, a dragon. Alright, so there are dragons now¡­ That was cool in a certain terrifying sense. But¡­ did he want to fight them? More importantly, did he want to fight one as his initial opponent of this Tutorial? He found himself imagining just that. Alex crept through the under-mountain tunnels, closing in on the horde of the ancient wyrm. This new reality was amazing, and these last few days had been eye opening in the extreme. He had so many tools, skills, and spells, and they¡¯d all led him to this moment. His silent footsteps didn¡¯t betray him as he finally entered the treasure chamber. His eyes widened as he beheld literal mountains of gold, gems, magical equipment, and other loot in this underground fastness. Glowing jewels and items of various kinds sparkled within the windfall, giving light to the otherwise pitch black space. Alex had two long breaths to marvel at what he had found before a head the size of a school bus came down faster than an ICBM, jaws snapping closed around him. Alex shook his head, coming back from his momentary, System enhanced reverie. Yeah¡­ no. I don¡¯t want to be fighting dragons regularly, certainly not right out of the gate. That, of course, precluded hydras. ¡°Why would I want to fight a dragon with more means to bite me?¡± Those were out. As were all the other variations of dragon. So many ways to die¡­ Next, he saw creatures that seemed to be created of different elements. Oh, that¡¯s cool. Then, he imagined fighting them. A funnel of water shot into Alex¡¯s mouth, the water elemental drowning him from the inside. * His sword broke against the rock elemental¡¯s stone carapace. He worked up a sweat swinging a sledge hammer at it until the stone began to crack. Only then did it finally notice him. Alex was flattened a moment later. * As it turned out, nothing physical can hurt a fire elemental, but as it also turned out, they are great at barbeque. It was really too bad that Alex wouldn¡¯t be in a position to taste the results for himself. * Lighting coursed through him as the elemental simply passed through the space he was standing in. ¡°What did I ever do to you?¡± He forced out around his spasms. The creature of electricity looked back at him with indifference. ¡°I don¡¯t like your shoes.¡± Alex shook his head, grimacing. No elementals. What about sphinx? The lovely face of a woman sighed. ¡°I really can¡¯t make my riddles any easier, Alex.¡± ¡°How do you know my name?¡± She sighed again. ¡°I think we¡¯re done here.¡± Her massive lion¡¯s paw slapped him across the face, breaking his neck. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s very fair. I love riddles.¡± He considered for a moment. ¡°But yeah, I suppose that I am not always the best at them.¡± Griffins? What about griffins? Alex was flying. He was flying! And it was on the back of a mythical creature no less. The eagle''s head looked back at him before the majestic beast spoke into Alex¡¯s mind. ¡°I would have loved to go flying with you every day.¡± ¡°I would love that too!¡± He responded through the connection that the beast had opened between them. ¡°But you chose my kind as enemies.¡± With only that warning, the griffon flipped over, dumping Alex into the sky. He fell, screaming, to splatter across the ground. Owlbears? Was that really a bear with the head of an owl and feathers? Huh¡­ He considered that option for a long moment. ¡°How would that even eat enough to survive?¡± There was no answer forthcoming. ¡°Well, I suppose the real question is, do I want to fight them?¡± So that he could get mauled, crushed, and pecked to death at the same time? ¡°No, thank you.¡± He looked to the next creature. ¡°Unicorns?¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. No, he didn¡¯t want to be in the same camp as dark wizards and such who killed unicorns. Ghosts? What about Ghosts? He had enjoyed a few shows that involved fictitious ghost hunting¡­ Alex stood proudly in his circle of salt, armed with wrought iron weaponry. The ghosts circled outside, trying to get in but failing. His technique was flawless. Except¡­ One ghost seemed to be smarter than others. It had realized a deep truth of the universe. Where there is salt, there is pepper. The black particles filled the air with ghostly power before they began drifting, much of the nebulous cloud floating across the salt circle. The results started out as a scratching in his nose that he tried to suppress. His efforts were to no avail. Soon enough, he let loose a massive sneeze, which destroyed his salt circle, his best defense. He swung his weapons frantically despite watery eyes and near constant sneezing. It was not enough, and his soul was ripped free to join the restless dead. So¡­ no ghosts. Something corporeal at the very least. The next option he noticed was¡ªof all things¡ªan elf. Wait, why would I be fighting against elves? Alex had loved working with Findelfwin over the last months, getting to know her and these enchanted woods. She was the picture of beauty, feminine in every way he could imagine, even if he didn¡¯t think of her in that way. He simply loved being with her, and he was glad that they could be friends. At the moment, they were sitting atop one of the branches of the great tree that put the skyscrapers of old earth to shame. Findelfwin was clearly distraught, and so, being a good friend, Alex asked her what the matter was. She sighed, ¡°I told my father about us.¡± Alex blinked. The king already knew that Findelfwin had been helping him get to know this new world. He frowned, feeling like he was missing something. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Findelfwin sighed again, ¡°He said that no son of his would marry a human. He wouldn¡¯t listen to reason, and I fear that I was¡­ belligerent. I am afraid that he will be seeking to kill you now.¡± Alex¡¯s head spun. ¡°Wait, I¡¯m confused. Son? Marry? I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Hush, my sweet. We only have minutes before the first assassin is sure to strike. Let¡¯s not spoil the moment.¡± Alex jerked from that little fantasy. Speculation¡­ Definitely not a fantasy¡­ even though it has fantasy elements. He shook his head to clear it. No, that¡¯s not how it would happen. It was far more likely that he¡¯d pee on the wrong tree, and the elves would take umbrage with the act. No royalty would ever fall in love with him. Or¡­ does it mean that I would be evil? That I would try to kill elves? There were also dark elves available, but he just shuddered at that. He was not going to be constantly afraid of the dark, and the hidden knives therein. He saw dwarves off in the distance, and that got him thinking¡­ Alex picked up a rock. ¡°Hey, this is a nice rock.¡± ¡°MINE!¡± A dwarf jumped on his back, screaming and bashing his head in with a little mace. ¡°I may be being a bit ridiculous in how I¡¯m thinking about these¡­ Still, do I really want to be on the side of orcs?¡± It only took a moment for him to shake his head, removing that option. He noticed another icon of the zeitgeist, ninjas. Alex was walking down a busy nighttime street when he died, never having seen his attacker. ¡°Ha ha, because I would never see them.¡± His own imagination wasn¡¯t always his friend. Apparently that hadnt been changed by the System''s temporary augmentation. ¡°No ninjas.¡± He saw creatures that looked like angels and dismissed them too. Not only did he feel a bit uncomfortable fighting those who were, in theory, agents of god, or God, or the gods, but he didn¡¯t particularly want to fight powerful creatures who could fly. That brought demons and devils to the front of his thoughts, and he shuddered. While he might feel some moral justification in killing demons or devils, he didn¡¯t particularly want to tangle regularly with creatures whose job it was to torment souls¡­ at least in theory. Many could also fly. Nope! Then, he saw a stunning half woman, half fish. ¡°Mermaids? Hmmm¡­¡± Alex was lost¡­ in the middle of an ocean. There was no land in sight as he tread water, feeling utterly exhausted. Suddenly, a fantastically beautiful, clearly half-naked woman poked her head above water. ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Hi.¡± He panted. ¡°Do you need help? You seem to be struggling, but I didn¡¯t want to assume.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Gasp. ¡°Help, yes.¡± Gasp. ¡°Please.¡± She smiled. ¡°So, truly in need?¡± He nodded frantically. ¡°Good, we¡¯re hungry.¡± Hands grabbed at him and pulled him under. He should have known better. They offered to help, not to assist. Regardless, as it turned out, drowning was rather unpleasant no matter who was forcing his head under. ¡°Okay, that was horrifying. I couldn¡¯t even imagine a boat?¡± He briefly imagined the interaction again, but this time with a boat in the distance that he couldn¡¯t get to. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not better.¡± He sighed, then dismissed the fish-women as primary opponents. He honestly didn¡¯t particularly want to kill humans or standard human-like beings. He would defend himself or others if he had to, but he didn¡¯t want people to be his main opponents, or even just his first. Helpfully, he finally received another prompt: Would you like to activate intelligent sorting? Oh! That might be quite helpful. Yes, please. Suddenly, the fields of potential enemies began to rotate and swirl. Removing ¡®Faen¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ Removing ¡®Sapient¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ Removing ¡®Mythical¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ Removing ¡®Draconic¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ Removing ¡®Incorporeal¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ Removing ¡®Titan Class¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ When the field settled back down, it was far more sparsely populated. Alright, let¡¯s see what¡¯s left. The next option that came to him was¡­ a specific young deer? No, that was trademarked. This was just a baby deer. There is no way I¡¯m joining a fantasy world and basically just hunting, even if there might be some ways to make that fun. Removing ¡®Ungulates¡¯ from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponents¡¯ Thank you. That¡¯s better. Then, he saw what looked like a flock of birds. ¡°Just¡­ birds?¡± He frowned, then remembered the horror story of that name. Did he really want to try to fight huge flights of such creatures? Little bodies slamming into him, spending their life to open one more wound upon his flesh. ¡°Nope!¡± Monkeys? ¡°Hmmm¡­ if I remember right, they are actually stronger than people, and if they¡¯re aggressive they can be brutal. No, thank you.¡± Snakes? ¡°What is with these choices? NO.¡± Leeches? ¡°Oh¡­oh, please no. What is wrong with you people? Why would anyone choose leeches?¡± Spiders? ¡°Gah! NO!¡± Then, he saw the first of the slimes. ¡°Huh¡­ Maybe?¡± Alex ran¡ªscreaming¡ªdown various twisting hallways, taking turns at random in an attempt to throw them off the scent. A massive, blue, translucent wall sloshed up the passages behind him, keeping pace perfectly only a dozen or so yards behind him. He couldn¡¯t outrun it, now matter how much he¡¯d improved his ability to run away. He glanced over his shoulder, trying to figure out something that he could do to survive. With his eyes looking backward, he missed the indications of the trapdoor in the floor. Thus, without any warning, he was falling. On the plus side, it was a short fall. On the minus side, he¡¯d landed in a slime, and his skin quickly bubbled and dissolved. ¡°NOPE!¡± Removing ¡®Gelatinous¡¯ creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponents¡¯ Removing ¡®Mundane Animal Variant'' creatures from potential ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponents¡¯ That left things¡­ sparse. There were a group of oddly colored lights, which Alex somehow felt were magical. Will-o-the-wisps? Alex wandered through swampland and¡ª ¡°Alex.¡± What was that? ¡°Alex!¡± He looked around, seeing a lantern bobbying in the distance. Okay, that¡¯s clearly a will-o-the-wisp. I¡¯m not so dumb that I¡ª ¡°Hey, Listen!¡± Something deep within his soul rose up. He had to find that thing and kill it. Alex turned and followed the light, rage in his heart. He just had to reach it. I know what this is. Come on, brain! Can¡¯t I be the hero even once in my own imagination? Something had seized onto his ability to think, making him unable to realize, or even consider, the danger that he was walking into. The light was getting brighter. ¡°Walk into the light, Alex.¡± And he complied. ¡°That¡¯s marginally terrifying¡­ not to mention annoying. No, thank you.¡± What else was there¡­ what else¡­ was there? What¡­ else¡­ What? Mushrooms. Mushrooms? What would fighting mushrooms even look like? Alex laughed as he swung a scythe through fields of mushrooms, a gasmask on his face to protect him from the toxic spores. His chosen enemies died by the thousands as he simply harvested his way to greatness. This was laughably easy. Clearly, this was the best choice that he could have made and¡­ Oh¡­ Behind him¡ªfrom the severed corpses of mushrooms¡ªrose a shroom giant. Its voice shook the ground with a weirdly high-pitched roar, and its steps made it impossible for Alex to remain standing. The massive thing stepped on him, crushing him to paste. Alex sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that trying to imagine fighting these things is really useful, or if it¡¯s just making me sad¡­¡± What else was there? Oh! That¡¯s a classic bad guy. Maybe I could kill them? Skeletons. What would it be like to fight skeletons? Chapter 3: Initial Selections Alex ran through the catacombs, unable to find rest. No matter where he went, no matter how he hid, the skeletons always found him. Their rasping voices called to him, seemingly asking him to join them even though it made no sense. Finally, he simply couldn¡¯t run any more. He collapsed to the floor, and the skeletons drew close. The one in front reached for Alex, its voice sounding like the rattle of chains across a grave even as the System translated its words, ¡°Come with me, brother. Be free.¡± Alex was about to ask what he meant, when his arm seemed to split open, his own skeleton reaching out toward the enemy, Alex¡¯s flesh falling away. What the actual cheese puffs? A moment later, Alex¡¯s skeleton was standing over his fleshy pile, looking down, its voice a harsh mockery of Alex¡¯s own, ¡°You will no longer hold me back.¡± Alex died in impotent, twitching agony. ¡°My imagination is a bit¡­ terrifying. That¡¯s probably not how they work¡­ but why risk it?¡± He frowned. ¡°Also, ¡®What the actual cheese puffs?¡¯ Is the System even censoring my imagination?¡± That was both terrifying and sort of hilarious. Regardless, Alex dismissed skeletons as an option. The opponent that caught his attention most firmly now was¡­ a zombie. Well, there were several kinds of zombies, but he immediately mentally dismissed the two that were clearly an ultra fast version and a more undead-flesh-golem version of a zombie respectively. ¡°Honestly, who would ever pick most of these?¡± He hadn¡¯t been expecting a response, but he was pleasantly surprised when one came anyway. Through this Apology Tutorial, the System strives to offer a tailored experience to the aggrieved, regardless of common views on the wisdom of the choices. Some wish to ¡®die with style¡¯ rather than face a new, foreign existence. Judgment is not ours to make. ¡°Oh¡­ thank you? Any advice?¡± He waited for a long minute. ¡°Nothing?¡± He waited a bit longer. ¡°Alright. Um¡­. Come on, Alex, what would get an answer?¡± The System will answer any relevant question that does not unduly influence the choices beyond the level which is unavoidable by providing any information at all. ¡°That is¡­ very helpful. Thank you.¡± Alright, then. He wouldn¡¯t be getting advice. ¡°How long do I have to choose?¡± You are currently held in a state of reverse stasis. No matter how long you take with your choices, no time will have passed from the perspective of others upon your exit. This is only possible within select sections of the Choose Your Apocalypse, Apology Tutorial. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s really good to know. Thank you.¡± So, he had time to think. He had to choose what he¡¯d be fighting. Currently up for consideration: Zombies. Did he really want to fight zombies? Classically, they were slow. They were already dead, so there shouldn¡¯t be any moral issue there. On the cons side, they were relentless, and there was the problem of becoming a zombie from minor wounds. So, it would be easier to avoid injury, but any injury would be far worse. Zombie fiction was filled with everyday people finding ways to survive after the apocalypse. The only issue was surviving the initial waves of unexpected turnings. If he was going into a place where zombies already existed, and he just had to kill them? He could do that. Moreover, he could come in and help others. That would be fantastic if he could manage it. He¡¯d always wanted to help other people. That was actually what he¡¯d enjoyed the most about his job. Alex shrugged. ¡°That sounds pretty nice, actually.¡± Have you made your selection? ¡°Yes, thank you. I want to fight slow, shambling zombies.¡± Acknowledged. ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponent¡¯ set to slow, shambling zombie. Decision Rating: Generally well reasoned, marginally based upon fears and low opinion of self Next selection to be queued. He almost argued with the assessment of his decision making, but then he sighed. That¡¯s¡­ fair. The world around him seemed to dim for a moment before the notification popped up. Choose Your Apocalypse: Apology Tutorial Please select ¡®Initial Means of Damage¡¯ for your Tutorial. Alex watched as the void of this odd place shifted once more, this time filling with a truly staggering array of means of destruction. Choose Your Apocalypse: Apology Tutorial Please select ¡®Initial Means of Damage¡¯ for your Tutorial. Alex felt himself smile. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s see what we can do in this new world.¡± There were so, so many options around him, and he found himself caring less and less that he was being kept from panicking by this System. After all, there were weapons to consider. His immediate thought was for a gun of some variety. Alex took precise shot after precise shot, blasting one shambling zombie¡¯s skull apart after another. None were even getting close to him or the beautiful women and innocent children who were sheltering behind him. It seems no one can defeat me. I weep: It¡¯s all so easy! CLICK ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± One of the women¡ªIvanca¡ªasked. Alex felt himself whimper. He was out of ammo. He was going to die, followed closely by those he was trying to protect. ¡°I feel a bit¡­ queasy.¡± The zombies kept coming, shambling in by the thousands. He began hitting them with the butt of his guns, but that was too slow. Less than a minute after his last shot rang out, he was driven to the ground by the inexorable press of the undead, torn apart by hungering jaws. Alex shuddered. ¡°Nope! It did say ¡®Initial¡¯ means of damage. I would be a fool to think I¡¯d be provided with anywhere close to enough ammo to deal with all comers.¡± So, guns and other complex ammo based weaponry were out. He sighed sadly as various bazookas and RPGs vanished from his selection void, along with all the smaller and medium firearms. He also saw several vehicles vanish based on his preferences. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As amazing as it would be to strafe the undead hordes from the air with an A-10 Warthog or Apache helicopter, those took fuel, ammo, and skilled crews to keep going, all things that he did not have and didn¡¯t want to have to count on. ¡°I mean¡­ maybe a blaze of glory would be fun?¡± Alex swept his miniguns back and forth, cutting through the oncoming hordes. He felt his own magic in every shot as each one arched uniquely to blow a hole in a different zombie¡¯s head. He killed them by the thousands, but they just kept coming. ¡°Best. Day. EVER!!!!!¡± He shouted to the heavens just before both guns ran out of ammo. He sighed. ¡°Yeah¡­ I don¡¯t really need to imagine my own death again.¡± ¡°That would be fun for about¡­ five minutes.¡± But what a glorious five minutes they would be. He¡¯d already dismissed firearms. He wouldn¡¯t go back on that decision. ¡°Let¡¯s go through the more¡­ unusual options first. Shall we?¡± His eyes landed next on¡­ a pencil? Alex¡¯s face was entirely stoic as he dove and rolled down the hallways, jamming sharpened number 2 pencils into zombies, only occasionally pulling them back out for further use. Some zombies he pinned in place, others he outright killed. Well¡­ rekilled. That was confusing. If he was going to be killing zombies, it would likely behoove him to figure out the right terminology. Regardless, he went through pencils by the hundreds, pulling from the sheaths he¡¯d strapped all about his person. He was as deadly when throwing them as when using them like melee weapons. Even so, the hordes were unending. He finally got down to his last pencil while in a conference room that reminded him of the room in which he¡¯d interviewed for his first job. Zombies were looking in through the glass from both inside and outside the building, even as more came in through the doors, seeming almost to hesitate. He was holding a pencil after all. He didn¡¯t want to die to zombies, not again. He didn¡¯t want to rise again. He would go out on his own terms. ¡°How about a magic trick?¡± He positioned the pencil perfectly on the table, then gestured to it. ¡°I¡¯m going to make this pencil disappear.¡± The zombies rushed him, and he slammed his own head down on the table¡ªintervening pencil not-withstanding¡ªending any chance of rising again as an undead. ¡°GAH!¡± Alex spasmed violently at his own imaginings. ¡°That was¡­ a new sort of awful.¡± The rest of the vision had been¡­ interesting, but while such skill with pencils would undoubtedly have been amazing in the world he¡¯d left behind. He had a niggling sense that slow zombies would just be the start of things. He didn¡¯t want to be trying to fight zombie lich, void-dragon, skeleton hydras with a pencil¡­ There was probably a creature like that. He sighed. It had been far too long since he¡¯d played video or table top games. Work had just been too all consuming of late¡­ For the last few years¡­ Alright, for the last half-decade or so, but he was getting distracted from the matter at hand. Work was forever done, and he had to pick a weapon. What about a garrote? Alex flipped and spun through the undead, behind him one head after another popped off, some more energetically than others. Doing this didn¡¯t technically kill the zombies, but it did disable them so it counted for the same thing. The bodies would continue to wander around, and the heads would be really annoying to anyone who wanted to come this way without boots, but that hardly mattered. This was great! Pop. It was like living life on easy mode. Pop! He was almost to his base of operations. He could grab a nap there. Twang. Twang? That was odd. He turned around to look, only for the zombie he¡¯d just tried to garrote to latch onto him, bearing him to the ground. His wire had broken. Well¡­ I find this situation unideal. Alex grimaced. That was ridiculous. Though, to be fair, the System¡¯s translation of his intent there at the end had been rather accurate. As he considered things, it was possible that his choice of opponent wasn¡¯t ideal either. Still¡­ he didn¡¯t relish anything else killing him. So, it was likely just the number of times he¡¯d imagined himself dying to zombies that was the issue. Focus, Alex. He had a weapon to choose. Mushrooms? Again? How would that even¡ª? A mushroom giant stood over the ruined city, glaring down at Alex. The zombies were gone, along with almost anyone who could become a zombie. The shroom-man had grown in size and power with every kill while Alex had remained the same. Now, there was only one creature remaining who could challenge fungal supremacy. Alex yelled his defiance as the massive spongy foot came down. Alex shook his head. He seemed to have an odd thing about mushrooms¡­ at least when considering them as a weapon or an enemy. ¡°Who would see mushrooms as enemies? At least as a weapon they could be poisonous.¡± Still, he dismissed that option. Battery Acid was¡­ oddly specific and hardly useful against zombies. An air compressor that used air as the weapon seemed like it would be finicky and have an incredibly close range. ¡°Plus, I like my haircut.¡± Nanobots were just smaller zombies that could zombify anything. So¡­ ¡°Nope!¡± What¡¯s this? In the current image, it was him¡­ talking with a zombie? Then just walking past it. How was that doing damage? ¡­then he saw himself fighting humans alongside the zombies. ¡°NOPE!¡± He had no interest in joining the zombies, nor in controlling them. Next, he dismissed fighting with what looked like familiars of various kinds. There was an oddly muscular ostrich-hawk looking thing, and he had the feeling that it would happily eat him if he wasn¡¯t careful. ¡°Probably shouldn¡¯t tarry on that option. No, thank you.¡± For some reason, there was a badger who seemed to be able to see him, and it flipped him off. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ weird.¡± Alex had the distinct impression that it was set on killing someone in particular, and Alex wanted none of that. Then, as he continued to dismiss off-the-wall ways of doing damage, he was presented with an iconic, bi-colored spherical object that caused him to clear his throat. ¡°I feel like¡­ this has to be a copyright violation?¡± Well¡­ if Earth was gone, did copyright matter? Regardless of copyright, though, the idea of a zombified electric rodent was¡­ unpleasant. Besides, if he had to fill out a party of six, would he just have five zombies for the remainder? ¡°I do not choose you.¡± The last odd-seeming options all seemed to be instruments. ¡°Instruments? Singing? Killing zombies with songs?¡± ¡°Die, little zombies, and die again.¡± Alex intoned as he strode through the streets, corpses dropping back to the ground as he passed. ¡°Don¡¯t leave your bed, or you¡¯ll soon find your end.¡± Larger undead creatures closed on him, falling to dust and nothingness at the sound of his voice. ¡°Die, little zombies, and die again.¡± Alex did not have the largest repertoire of songs¡­ ¡°Lower your head, or undead blood you¡¯ll spend.¡± He sang for hours, walking through the deserted cities, reaping undead existences. Then, a massive creature charged toward him, bright orange ear plugs obvious within its ears. There is no way that works to block my power. It did. He died quickly to the massive brute. ¡°I was never much of a singer.¡± He dismissed all the musical selections, including the option that clearly indicated his own voice. ¡°Alright! On to the more conventional methods.¡± The next thing he was presented with was himself, wielding various magics. He felt momentarily elated. ¡°I can¡­ I can use magic!?¡± Alex threw fireballs to burn away his foes. Inverted sloped walls of stone rose up to block the advancing hordes and prevent them from clambering over. Lightning flickered through the masses, chaining from undead body to undead body, leaving charred skeletons in the wake of the powerful spell. He then drew water out of some of the oncoming corpses, leaving them brittle husks that shattered at their next step. He was like a god from the mythologies of old. Nothing could stop him. Suddenly, he felt a spike of incredible pain, almost like he had a charley horse in his brain. Something told him that he¡¯d used all of his mana, and he was suffering damage to his magical self because he¡¯d tried to cast while empty. ¡°Oh¡­ this¡­ this is just bullets with a bit more variety.¡± His regeneration was too low to refill his reserves before he was fully overwhelmed. ¡°Well.. that was expected¡­¡± Still. Magic. ¡°It did say ¡®initial.¡¯ I doubt it will be that powerful at first, but it could grow¡­¡± He scratched behind his right ear. ¡°System, if I don¡¯t select magic now, can I get it later?¡± All means of damage¡ªboth offered and not offered¡ªcan be learned or acquired throughout the myriad worlds of the System. ¡°How hard is it to learn magic if I don¡¯t select it now?¡± Skills that are earnestly sought can always be earned if the price is deemed worthwhile to you. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair, I guess. A little ominous too, but fair. Thank you.¡± He dismissed magic for the moment. He didn¡¯t want to be a glass cannon, and magic type characters were notoriously squishy at early levels. Levels¡­ ¡°System, will there be levels? Or is there some other¡­ system?¡± There is no other system, just the System. Levels are earned with experience. Experience is awarded based upon: Deeds accomplished Skills improved Enemies slain Quests fulfilled Other as required ¡°That¡¯s vague but helpful. Thank you.¡± He supposed that he¡¯d have to pick something else to use. ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe I should ask some more clarifying questions.¡± Chapter 4: Means of Combat Alex was a bit irritated, but it couldn¡¯t really be helped. If he understood things correctly, he shouldn¡¯t choose magic. But he really wanted magic. It¡¯s okay. It seems like you can learn it if you want to, Alex. Now, focus. What do you want to use first? He had a brief fantasy of a flamethrower, but it had the same ammunition issues as guns and early magic. A bow would be a bit better. Arrows were reasonably easy to make or find¡­ in theory. There were at least fewer types of arrows than there were types of bullets. He knew at least that much. He was pretty sure. He sighed. The very fact that he wasn¡¯t absolutely sure, meant that he probably shouldn¡¯t pick a bow and arrows. ¡°Wait¡­ I was expecting to somehow know magic, but not how to make arrows?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I might be an idiot. Excuse me, System? What will this selection actually mean? Will it just be equipment or will I somehow¡­ be taught?¡± You will gain a basic proficiency in the Skill or Skills required to enable whatever you select. If required, you will also be granted basic equipment for use with the provided Skill(s). You will not be granted understanding in supporting Skills such as any variation on ammunition creation. ¡°Once again, that is very helpful. Thank you.¡± So, he¡¯d know how to use a bow, receive a bow and likely some arrows, but he¡¯d not know how to make a bow or arrows. Arrows¡ªor bolts for that matter¡ªcould be recovered and used more than once, unlike bullets, but there would still be an inherent shortage of ammunition. ¡°What about a sci-fi gun? A blaster or the like? A plasma sword?¡± Such weaponry is not considered entry level equipment, and therefore not provided as an option for your ¡®Initial Means of Damage.¡¯ Alex grunted. ¡°Understood. Thank you.¡± Then he hesitated. ¡°Wait¡­ that means they exist.¡± He grinned broadly. ¡°I¡¯m very much going to try to find a plasma sword. And a gun that can blast massive holes into things.¡± He nodded to himself. ¡°This will be.¡± If that was going to be a goal of his, he should pick a sword to start, especially since guns had already been ruled out. That wasn¡¯t a bad idea, actually¡­ except most swords were designed to kill through soft-tissue or organ damage. That was easy and effective on an unarmored human, but a zombie? Soft-tissue damage would likely be virtually useless. That meant knives were out, too. Knives were just swords with a shorter range. He also remembered something from his martial arts days. ¡®In a knife fight, everyone gets cut.¡¯ In a knife fight against zombies, that would translate to being bit. ¡°No, thank you.¡± He could use a club or warhammer of some kind. That would be effective. ¡°Hey, that might actually be¡­ good?¡± But any idiot could use a blunt object effectively. He would be magically learning how to do something that any idiot could do. He sighed. So, he wanted a weapon that was effective, essentially unlimited in use, not so exotic that it would be impossible to replace if it broke, and something that was enough based on skill that it was worth using a magical impartment of knowledge in order to get. That was a heavy burden. Weapons that fulfilled those requirements would make a very short list. Poisons were out, they were definitionally limited in quantity, and he could just see himself running through gardens, hunting for esoteric herbs to make anti-zombie poisons. He¡¯d die. He¡¯d die while pulling weeds. He didn¡¯t need to imagine it to know it was true. A halberd would be great for keeping distance, but in a tangle of bodies it would be hard to keep control and remain effective. A katana could work, but while they were iconic weapons, they suffered from the same issue as most other swords. They were primarily designed to do soft-tissue damage. True, they could cut bone, but they weren¡¯t specifically designed for it. Additionally, they were mainly a pull-cutting weapon, which limited their use in crowd scenarios¡­ he thought¡­ probably? He continued to oscillate back and forth between blade and bludgeoning. Then, he glanced down at his hands. Nothing would ever be as close to him as his own body. He could never drop his limbs, and if they tangled up with an opponent, he¡¯d have amazing leverage to work them free. ¡­but that would be putting him very up close and personal with zombies. That seemed like a very, very bad plan. Finally, he remembered a weapon he¡¯d always been fascinated with but never learned how to use. When he¡¯d asked his instructor about it, he was told that it wasn¡¯t a useful self-defense weapon, because it was designed as an infantry weapon for heavy duty, hacking and slashing. The dadao. It was essentially a large machete that had been redesigned for war, and it could be used in one or two hands. He looked around at the remaining options, the dadao was not among them. ¡°Excuse me, but would a dadao be an acceptable choice?¡± Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Yes. The dadao is included within the Skill: Great Blade Basics, Common Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ As an exotic variant, a more limited Skill would be granted for its use at the starting level: Great-Blades Basics - Dadao, Common To offset the limited nature of the specialized Skill¡ªand in keeping with the original use of the weapon¡ªa second Skill would be granted at the starting level: Advanced Kinesthetics, Common Is this acceptable? Alex frowned. It sounded like he¡¯d be getting a highly specialized weapons Skill, and a secondary, broadly useful but not explicitly combat Skill. ¡­and he had no idea what that actually meant. It sounded like an amazing plan, but would he be crippling himself in some way that he didn''t understand? ¡°I appreciate this offer, but¡­ I don¡¯t know enough. You said that I¡¯d get basic equipment, but would a weapon such as this be provided, or will I have to find one? How fragile will it be? Will there be ways to upgrade, repair, or replace a blade like this?¡± Analyzing inquiry¡­ Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Potential influencing information detected. Escalating request. Please hold, and you will be assisted by the next available Watcher. Your inquiry is important to us, and we appreciate your patience. Alex couldn¡¯t help himself, he huffed a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s comfortingly familiar, in an alien sort of way.¡± A moment later, another System box appeared.¡± Alex, rewards are granted with a fair degree of regularity within the Apology Tutorial in one form or another. Those rewards are tailored to the needs of the recipient or the recipient may select them directly. Our goal is not your death specifically; though many do die, and some even choose death outright. If you are due a reward, and there is a reward that will help you, it will generally be granted. No more can be said at this time. Thank you for your inquiry. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said genuinely. The¡­ Watcher had just given him a lot of information. He almost reconsidered the firearms, as it seemed like these rewards might be often enough to keep him topped up on ammo, but¡­no. He shook his head. Even if he could count on his equipment being updated or replaced with some regularity, anything with as limited a usage as ammo would be in short supply or¡ªin the best case scenario¡ªhe¡¯d be stuck carrying a massive amount of it around. He chuckled. ¡°That would be a great problem to have, if I had a gun.¡± He lifted his hands, waving them about and pretending to be horrified. ¡°Oh, no! What will I do with hundreds of bricks of ammunition!¡± ¡­did ammunition come in bricks? Cases? Boxes? Crates? He wasn¡¯t actually sure. He¡¯d definitely shot guns before, but for some reason he couldn¡¯t recall the proper vernacular. Regardless, it hardly mattered. ¡°I choose the dadao.¡± Acknowledged. Choose Your Apocalypse: Apology Tutorial ¡®Initial Means of Damage¡¯ set to ¡®Dadao¡¯ Decision Rating: Shaky reasoning, based mostly upon childhood desires and guess work. Next stage to be queued. ¡°Oh¡­ well, that¡¯s not encouraging¡­¡± His decision was based on shaky reasoning? The black void vanished from around him, and he was suddenly standing at the deadend of a long hallway. Some hundred feet away was a simple door to exit the odd passage. He felt an instinctive need to pass through the door. Unfortunately, halfway between him and that door stood a zombie, clearly long dead, hunched with decay, looking the other way. He felt a weight suddenly pull against his right hand, but before he could look down, another System box appeared. Quest [The Hallway]: Please exit the hallway in whatever method you see fit. Reward: Your Race Rank will be determined and level 1 will be granted. Your starter Skills will be granted. Prepayment: Your starting weapon has been granted. Apology Tutorial Addendum: Good luck. Alex glanced down at the dadao in his hand and almost laughed. I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t select something like magic. He could only imagine what he¡¯d do if he had been ¡®granted¡¯ magic, without any Skill with which to use it. ¡­no, he actually couldn¡¯t imagine that. He didn¡¯t have the first clue about how magic actually worked in the System. Alex took a moment to look around the odd, dead end hallway. It was five feet wide with a smooth¡ªnot slick¡ªsurface. There was no ceiling that he could see, the walls just continuing up to the point that he couldn¡¯t perceive them any longer. I bet I could brace off the walls and climb if I had to¡­ At the far end was the door out, his goal. He let out a long sigh. He needed to focus on the moment. His eyes instantly widened, and he squeaked involuntarily in fright. His sigh had apparently been loud enough for the zombie to hear it. The thing was now looking over its shoulder at him with one undead eye. And, apparently, Alex had been allowed to feel fear once again. That was just excellent. ¡°Well, Alex, pull yourself together. We¡¯re in it now.¡± Alex stared back, meeting the gaze of the one undead eye. Well¡­ he assumed that he was. There wasn¡¯t actually a pupil, so Alex was guessing. The zombie head was continuing to twist toward him, seeming to be turning both horizontally and vertically at the same time to get a look at him. It was an utterly inhuman movement. Alex glanced down at the dadao in his hand and almost laughed. He was so hopped up on nervousness and fear that he could hardly think. His entire body trembled. The suppressive effects of the System were just gone all of a sudden, and it felt like all the stress and terror he should have been feeling up to that point were crashing down on him all at once. The zombie let out what could have been a grunt, but it also sounded like a hungry wheeze. It fell down, twisting at the waist so it landed on its chest, while its backside hit the ground as well. Its spine gave out a series of cracks and pops that would make any chiropractor proud. Alex did bark a laugh, then. That was what he had been afraid of? It just fell over. Then¡­ it started to scrabble toward him. The hands were clawing at the ground, dragging it forward, even as the legs bent and kicked, trying to drive it at him. Alex squealed in horror once again. Even starting some fifty feet away, the undead thing began to cover the distance between them with terrifying speed. Alex took a step back and bumped into a solid wall behind him. Something deep within him rebelled at that. If he fought boxed in, he¡¯d have no options. He needed to go forth and meet it. That way, if things went badly, he could retreat. Before he could talk himself out of it, he stumbled forward. His gait firmed, and his steps became more solid after the first couple foot falls. He was committed. He knew what he had to do. Alex sprinted down the hallway. At the last moment, he juked to the side, stepping around the questing arms, planting one foot before stamping down his other on the creature¡¯s back. His stomp-kick slammed the monster to the floor with an audible crunch. Then, with a powerful, two-handed, downward blow, he drove his dadao into the back of the creature¡¯s head, ending its life just like that. He braced his shoe on the skull beside the blade and pulled it free before turning and striding casually to his goal. ¡°Where¡¯s my button?¡± When one didn¡¯t appear, he smiled and slapped the wall regardless, ¡°That was easy.¡± And it had been. If this is what it took to succeed in the tutorial, he was going to be just fine. Alex smiled to himself as he took the last step before his attack. Just as he¡¯d imagined, he juked to the side around the grasping fingers, planting his left foot firmly on the floor before stomping down with his right. As it turned out, however, rotting corpses did not make great footing. He sucked in a startled breath as the flesh on the thing¡¯s back shifted and moved like a rug on an oiled floor. Alex¡¯s foot went out from under him, forcing him into a partial split even as he slammed down onto the undead creature. Fortunately, his weight was enough that he still broke many of the bones in its upper torso. Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t seem to affect the thing overmuch. Its arms reached back, ignoring the common movement restrictions that had undoubtedly affected its shoulders in life, and it grabbed onto him even as the head bobbled around, mouth opening to bite him. NOT LIKE THIS! Alex flailed, striking out blindly and unskillfully with his weapon. Still he had enough thought and control that his dadao slammed between the zombie¡¯s teeth, driving the head back against the ground. What? Worthless blade, why won¡¯t it cut? He looked at his weapon and¡­ He¡¯d hit the thing with the back of the blade. Son of a motherless goat¡­ The zombie scrambled at him with its arms, trying to pull him toward its face, or at least hurt him. Oddly, he saw a red bar appear in the upper right corner of his vision. There are health bars, here? That was¡­ convenient? Concerning? A bit of both, actually. Yet, it was hardly the time to be contemplating that. The little health tracker had ticked down about ten percent already, and there almost seemed to be an odd discoloration growing within it. He frantically pushed back with his left arm while keeping his right firmly pressing down on the hilt of his sword. He managed to overpower the corpse, which¡ªnow that he thought about it¡ªshould have been easier. I am in really awful shape¡­ As he stood back up, he ripped his sword free¡ªeven popping out a few undead teeth¡ªand then struck down with both hands on the hilt and the blade facing the right way. It was just like his imagining then, except the spatter¡­ The splatter that went straight into his mouth. ¡°Gah!¡± He spat repeatedly, trying to banish the horrific taste. It wouldn¡¯t leave. He ignored the System panes that tried to enter his vision. He noticed, but ignored his health bar seemingly beginning to turn a necrotic gray-black even faster than before, the odd coloration he thought that he¡¯d noticed earlier filling in over the previously healthy red. There was a second System notice that was green, which was almost enough to garner his attention, but the taste just wouldn¡¯t go away, and that was surely more important¡­ right? In fact, the taste seemed to be spreading through his mouth and even down his throat. It also felt like his arms and back could taste it too¡­ where the zombie had scratched and damaged him. He groaned, stumbling backward before turning to face the doorway. Then, he collapsed, unable to move, unable to even think. Chapter 5: The Hallway As Alex lay on the ground¡ªnasty taste and probable zombie infection spreading through his whole body and growing stronger¡ªsomething deep within Alex told him to stay down and accept his fate. He could rest and do what he needed to soon enough. Or maybe never. That would be fine, too¡­ right? But that something wasn¡¯t at the core of him. Whatever was at the core had a different message, No. Must¡­ get¡­ to¡­ door¡­ After what felt like hours, he was able to move again. He forced himself to his feet and staggered, his shoulders slamming into the walls as he practically pinballed toward his goal, if much slower than that implied. In fact, he seemed to cover much more distance going from wall to wall than actually toward his destination. But he kept going. It didn¡¯t matter if he was exhausted. He kept going. It didn¡¯t matter if his own hands started to look a bit like tasty snacks. He kept going. He felt like his vision was getting weaker, or the light in the hallway was fading, but he kept going. Finally, he fell forward, his hand catching the handle and unlatching the door to allow him to continue his fall through it. Everything seemed to pause, and he found himself floating in the black void once more. He recognized the System¡¯s suppression returning, and his mind cleared. Oh¡­ Oh, that¡¯s bad. He now had four pop-ups from the system. Kill Notice: Undead Commoner, level 1 Reward: Experience to be granted when in a safe location. Apology Tutorial Addendum: Nicely¡ªif messily¡ªdone. It was a fairly standard kill notification. It was interesting that experience wasn¡¯t granted until a safe location was reached, but that was hardly the most pressing thing. No, the most pressing thing was likely the next message in line. This was the one that had been in a green, rather than a blue notice window. Warning: You have been infected with Plague - Zombification You lack the Fortitude to resist¡ªor any other Attribute to fight it off in a System recognized manner. Undeath will occur in 3 minutes without outside intervention. You have been afflicted with First Infection Paralysis, Duration - 5 min. Apology Tutorial Addendum: We do hope that the end you chose was to your liking. May your preferred afterlife be as real as you believed. Three minutes? The panic was setting in, making it hard to think. Still, he managed to process the rest of the information. Wait¡­ I was stunned for five minutes. The plague should have only taken three¡­ How am I alive? Another system message drew his attention then, already waiting for his perusal. Error Notice: Life energy potent beyond expectation, recalculating time until Undeath. Recalculating¡­ Recalculating¡­ Time determined. Undeath will occur in 12 minutes without outside intervention. Tutorial Addendum: Oh?That was unexpected. Well, when you can move, walk fast. So, somehow he¡¯d been given twelve minutes instead of three. That meant that he¡¯d had seven after that completely-empty-chip-bag paralysis wore off. ¡­What now? Oh, censorship and translation of intent¡­ right. Regardless, seven minutes wasn¡¯t too terrible. He¡¯d been fast¡­ right? Quest [The Hallway]: Complete You have exited the hallway. Reward: Your Race Rank will be determined momentarily and level 1 will be granted. Your starter Skills will be granted momentarily. Hidden Quest [The Hallway]: Complete You have used your initial means of damage as the primary means to pass through the hallway. Reward: To be determined by a Watcher. System Addendum: Error: Skills cannot be granted to a plague-ridden. Error: Zombie is not a valid Race for Apology Tutorial Participants. Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Escalating request. Please hold, and you will be assisted by the next available Watcher. Your inquiry is important to us, and we appreciate your patience. Alex stared at the prompts, feeling ill. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m going to become a zombie¡­ great. Or, I¡¯m already one and only the System¡¯s interference has brought me back to sanity for the moment?¡± He would almost be grateful for all the information he got, except for the small fact that he was effectively undead. As for the information he¡¯d received. There was a lot of it, even to his muddled mind. The zombieism was some sort of magical plague passed from host to victim rather than affecting everyone who died. It was fast acting, too, relatively speaking. It wasn¡¯t ¡®count to ten, undead arisen,¡¯ but it was fast enough that any protracted conflict would be influenced by those turning. Once again, however, it hardly mattered. He sighed. ¡°Well¡­ this was dumb.¡± ¡°I rather agree.¡± Alex jerked, looking up and finding that he was suddenly not alone. Before him stood a woman made entirely of cheesecake. When did he last eat? He was rather hungry¡­ Just one bite? What? He shook his head, and suddenly the woman was de-cheesecake-ified. ¡°Well, you¡¯re rather¡­ on the edge, aren¡¯t you.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Alex just groaned in frustration. ¡°Your physical state is entirely suspended. You cannot turn while we are speaking, and I know you are capable of speech.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Alex managed to force out. ¡°I am a Watcher. Specifically, I¡¯m the Watcher tasked with watching you¡ªbecause of your selections¡ªuntil the Apology Tutorial starts.¡± She smiled. ¡°I thought my job was done when you got yourself so thoroughly infected, but you made it to the door, and that makes things complicated.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You have earned quest rewards that we cannot grant because of your condition.¡± ¡°You could just heal me?¡± ¡°No, we cannot, not directly. That would be considered interference.¡± He sighed. Of course they couldn¡¯t. ¡°This can¡¯t be that uncommon.¡± They must have been doing some System nonsense, because he was feeling quite coherent when he should be panicking. Still, he didn¡¯t like how cheesecake-like the woman was still looking. The woman shook her head and sighed. ¡°It actually is uncommon. In fact, this is the first instance I¡¯ve ever heard of, and we go over error logs rather rigorously. Most who get infected simply fall over and turn. The initial infection paralysis in this variant of the plague is rather brutally effective against the un-leveled. The very few who overcome the paralysis in one manner or other still die well before getting to the door. There are some few who do get to the door, do so quickly enough that a minor reward can correct the issue, but that is different. So, if you had gotten to the door before the plague took all but complete hold¡­¡± She looked at him and seemed to realize something. ¡°Oh! You didn¡¯t see the counter.¡± She waved her hand and a new pane appeared. Plague - Zombification Timer: 0:01 ¡°As you can see, you were essentially out of time. In the System, things don¡¯t wait on the timer, they simply have taken full effect when the timer hits zero. You are, in all but name, an undead.¡± Alex grunted. ¡°I was afraid of that.¡± He sighed. ¡°What about my hidden quest reward? It says that you can choose my reward.¡± ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a thought.¡± She tapped her chin. ¡°As I said, it would be too much to cure you outright¡­ I could change your race, make you a half undead, half human? Then we¡¯d let you switch back and forth?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I feel like that would take more effort than it¡¯s worth for me.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re clearly not defiant enough for that¡­¡± ¡°What about raising my¡­ Fortitude?¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t grant you sufficient Fortitude to resist such a Plague, definitely not after it has this firm of a hold. That would be Tutorial breaking to say the least, even if the System would allow it.¡± ¡°An ¡®Attribute¡¯ then?¡± He thought he remembered that the warning had mentioned that an attribute might be a mitigating factor. ¡°Hmm¡­ Yes, that could work. But you¡¯d have to have the seeds already. Let¡¯s see.¡± She waved her hand again, and something appeared beside him. It was an insane mess of tangled pathways and interconnected loops. It took him much longer than it really should have in order to realize that the thing was him, or really a somehow abstracted map of his body. The woman sighed again. ¡°Every part of you¡ªall but your blood¡ªhas been entirely taken over.¡± Alex frowned, confused. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t my blood be infected first?¡± ¡°Not for a magical plague, at least not undeath ones¡­ at least not this undeath one. Blood is full of life magic. Additionally, it seems like your blood has quite a bit more life magic in it than usual. From what I¡¯m seeing, it is the reason you held out for four times as long as expected.¡± She was nodding. ¡°It is why you are still ¡®you¡¯ at all, in fact.¡± ¡°So, can it be a blood attribute? Is that a thing? I don¡¯t really know¡­ Like¡­ umm¡­¡± ¡°It is ¡®a thing,¡¯ yes.¡± She smiled, humor glinting in her eyes. ¡°Everyone has aspects, but most aren¡¯t magical enough for the System to bother to quantify. You already have two seeds¡ªwhich is rather impressive for an un-leveled¡ªbut only one factors at the moment. Still, this might be the fix we need. Any fix would need to be Life magic based to be useful in this case, regardless¡­ It might be preferable as a skill though.¡± Alex didn¡¯t quite understand the last bit, but he still latched onto what mattered. ¡°So, Life¡­uh¡­ finds a way?¡± ¡°That could work.¡± She nodded. ¡°As your hidden quest reward, I can take the aspect that you already have and bring it to the surface, allowing it to be powerful enough that it will overcome the plague. Since you already have it, it isn¡¯t giving you something too powerful. You¡¯d have unlocked it or augmented it eventually, if you survived. It is actually already how you survived. Like I already said, that¡¯s what gave you four times the usual time before Undeath. Huh. Well, let¡¯s see¡­ There are a few ways that I can manifest the latent aspect that might work. We are all about choices here, after all. One moment¡­ There we go.¡± Hidden Quest Reward Assigned: A Choice Must be Made Blood Attribute - Life Finds a Way (Unique) Details: Immunity to non-magical disease, viruses, poisons, infection, etc. Innate ability to combat magical plagues and necrotic poisons. Skill - Life¡¯s Purging Cycle (Unique) Details: Immunity to non-magical disease, viruses, poisons, infection, etc. Innate ability to combat magical plagues, poisons, parasites, foreign material, etc. Skill - Life¡¯s Dominion (Unique) Details: Innate Ability to contest anything unwanted within your body or attempting to breach your biological defenses. Alex frowned. ¡°Why is the first one the same, but¡­ weaker?¡± ¡°Ahh, attributes are much less common than Skills, and generally more broadly influential. They can impact things like your race and class selection positively, by giving you better options. They are also far more affected by your innate aspects, which is what we are trying to bring forth.¡± She hesitated a moment, before seeming to decide to continue. ¡°These are also just the basic descriptions. Unique ranked skills are more influenced¡ªupon initial receipt¡ªby the individual receiving them than most skills are.¡± Alex didn¡¯t really understand that, except that the details were only the most basic generalization of what the attribute or skill would do. ¡°So¡­ why wouldn¡¯t I just take the first one?¡± She gave a half smile. ¡°Like you said, when it comes to basic capacity and initial functionality, it would be weaker than a Skill of the same rarity. It would also function rather differently. They would all have added effects were you to choose them, but I cannot forewarn you of those. The skills will be more powerful as a rule, however.¡± Alex almost simply took Life¡¯s Purging Cycle with that information, but something held him back. ¡°Can I ever lose skills?¡± ¡°Absolutely. If you choose incompatible classes or under certain other conditions.¡± ¡°Can I lose an attribute?¡± ¡°Lose? No, not while you live, not how I believe you mean the question. They can grow and expand, just like a skill¡ªif with more difficult conditions¡ªand so you could ¡®lose¡¯ it in that sense.¡± That made it easy. Alex would take something that he couldn¡¯t lose over something that could be taken away, and he¡¯d make that choice every time. ¡°I choose the Attribute.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Blood Attribute - Life Finds a Way (Unique) Details: Immunity to non-magical disease, viruses, poisons, infection, etc. Innate ability to combat magical plagues and necrotic poisons. Description: Your blood is so rich in Life Magic that it can even overcome undead flesh in order to heal. The regeneration rate granted by your blood is one hundred times human standard, while still being based upon your Physical Fortitude. This alone cannot raise the dead nor kill the undead. Regeneration requires blood within the damaged area to have effect. If you have blood, you have life. Apology Tutorial Addendum: Specifically your blood. You¡¯re not a vampire. ¡°There.¡± Cheesecake lady said. ¡°I¡¯m going to let time move forward for you now. It wouldn¡¯t do to have you infect one of the others before you were cured, not after they¡¯ve survived their own tests. The System would get¡­ unhappy with that outcome.¡± ¡°Wh¡ª¡± He was cut off by a green prompt. Plague - Zombification Timer: 0:00 System Addendum: Error. Physical form not completely subverted. Recalculating¡­ Alex screamed as it felt like his very blood was on fire, burning away his body. That was likely a fairly accurate description, if he¡¯d had the mental space to consider it. The Watcher, whoever she had been, was gone as quickly as she had arrived. His ¡®health bar¡¯¡ªor whatever it was¡ªhad been all but entirely gray-black, but now, a vibrant, verdant green seemed to be bursting through that undead color. At the same time, the little bit of the bar that had been knocked away entirely was rapidly refilling. His voice went hoarse from the scream, but a moment later, a warmth filled his throat, and he knew that his voice had been repaired. What felt like an eternity¡ªbut was probably in the range of thirty seconds¡ªpassed before the pain had fully abated. A blue prompt appeared even as the pain faded. Notice: You have cured Plague - Zombification, level ?? x [79.996/80] You have done so using your innate Attributes alone. Reward increased due to the affected individual¡¯s state of infection upon the start of the curing process. State of infection before curing began: 99.99% Reward reduced due to this plague¡¯s inability to combat magical resistance. Reward: Due to Blood Attribute - Life Finds a Way (Unique) Reborn from Blood Race Reforged Apology Tutorial Addendum: Nicely done. You chose wisely. Well, that was interesting on so, so many levels that he couldn¡¯t consider at the moment. Therefore, he refocused on the more esoteric things that he¡¯d learned through this experience. The Watcher had mentioned ¡®others¡¯ just ahead. So he would, in theory, not be alone much longer. There were hidden quests as well as rewards for surviving diseases. He glanced down at himself and saw that he looked emaciated. He almost laughed at his own silliness. He looked exactly like he would expect someone who was just ravaged by a plague to look. He was practically skeletal¡ªhis clothing hanging off of him like never before¡ªbut he seemed to have good coloration. He wasn¡¯t sick anymore. Worst weight loss process ever¡­ He hesitated, thinking on rewards for beating diseases. ¡°Huh. I suppose that we had rewards for disease survival pre-System, too. Isn¡¯t that what immunity was?¡± He shrugged. There was a lot that needed his attention before he went down that rabbit trail. But maybe¡­? Before he could consider further, another notice flashed into existence. Finally. Chapter 6: Error, Stats, and Leveling Alex was still hanging in the black void when another prompt interrupted his contemplations. Error Resolved: Skills cannot be granted to a plague-ridden. Reward Recipient Alex Johnson no longer plague-ridden. Error Resolved: Zombie is not a valid Race for Tutorial Participants. Reward Recipient Alex Johnson no longer undergoing Race Evolution to become a Zombie. Quest [The Hallway]: Complete You have exited the hallway. Reward: Your Race Rank will be determined momentarily and level 1 will be granted. Your starter Skills will be granted momentarily. Starter Skills: Great-Blades Basics - Dadao, Common You wield the machete-like great-blade of yore. While it lacks the reach of many other great-blades, it makes up for that in versatility and close-range utility. You have an instinctive understanding of how to hold this weapon and use it in basic combat. Physical Power and Agility have a minor boost when wielding a dadao. Stamina usage is marginally lower when wielding a dadao. Advanced Kinesthetics, Common Your body is your own, and it moves at your will. Weapons are great, and armor is useful, but being where you need to be, and moving how you need to move is more important than any mere weapon or armor. You have some instinctive understanding about how you should stand and move, as well as a better sense as to when things are right or not. Physical Agility and Power have marginally greater effect when you are acting to reposition yourself or move as you desire. Apology Tutorial Addendum: You got your starter skills! Nicely done. Alex sucked in a gasping breath. He felt a bit off, and shifted how he was hanging there in the black nothingness, allowing his body to settle into a better, more pleasing posture. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s better.¡± Aches that he¡¯d had for years felt like they were beginning to melt away with even just that minor alteration. His grip tightened on the hilt of his dadao, and he realized that he was holding it wrong. With a minor shifting of his hand, the cord-wrapped wood finally felt proper in his grip, and he was satisfied. His mind felt like it was filled with thememories of hours of practice, and he knew that his body had gained quite a bit of muscle memory for use of the weapon. He wasn¡¯t a master by any means, but it was now as if a master had drilled the basics into him for years. He knew the basic strikes and blocks, and felt confident that he¡ªat the very least¡ªwouldn¡¯t hit an enemy with the back of the blade again¡­ at least not on accident. I might just be able to work with this. Alex only had a moment of confidence before another System window popped into view. Safe location detected: Calculating and granting experience¡­ Level 1 enemy defeated by level 0 Initiation Experience Calculation not intended for Level 0 individuals. System Addendum: Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Escalating request. Please hold, and you will be assisted by the next available Watcher. Your inquiry is important to us, and we appreciate your patience. Cheesecake lady was back. ¡°Alex¡­ This is becoming a habit. What has it been¡­ a minute?¡± He frowned. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°You were supposed to be in temporal stasis as you were made level 1. Then, you¡¯d have been given experience for killing the zombie.¡± ¡°But I wasn¡¯t level 1 when I killed it.¡± She waved her hand. ¡°Hardly important. Experience is calculated and given based upon your state in a safe area.¡± ¡°So¡­ If I were to kill something massively powerful, then somehow remove most of my levels?¡± ¡°You¡¯d get a massive amount of experience, but not enough to recover the levels you gave up. It is a relatively solid System¡­ assuming a Watcher doesn¡¯t make a mistake.¡± She sighed. Alex cleared his throat. ¡°I apologize for causing this situation. What can I do to fix it?¡± She eyed him. ¡°You didn¡¯t do this.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve found it¡¯s better to assume I¡¯m the problem, because then, I can be the solution.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Fair.¡± Then, she sighed. ¡°In this case, however, experience is supposed to be calculated as a formula, with your level as one of the factors within the denominator. My mistake, by letting time pass here¡ªwithout altering other parameters¡ªmeans that your level is ¡®0¡¯ for the calculation.¡± ¡°So, in solving the zombie - plague issue, we created another?¡± She smiled again, clearly noticing his use of ¡®we.¡¯ ¡°Something like that, yeah.¡± ¡°Could you just set my level to¡­ ¡®0.1¡¯ or something?¡± She tilted her head to the side. ¡°That could work¡­¡± then her eyes narrowed, ¡°but then you¡¯d get ten times the experience of anyone else who managed to kill their zombie.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m open to doing anything I can to assist.¡± She groused slightly. ¡°I can just grant you experience once you level¡­¡± She groaned. ¡°Then it will be Watcher-granted experience, rather than earned xp.¡± ¡°Does the distinction matter?¡± ¡°Yes, but not in ways you should know about at the moment.¡± She sighed. ¡°Could you just set my level to ¡®1¡¯ for the calculation?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be fine. Your level only displays whole numbers, so you won¡¯t ever see the ¡®0.1¡¯ amended there.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s the best solution?¡± ¡°I think so. It will be blown away as soon as you level, regardless.¡± ¡°You could set it to ¡®0.9¡¯ if you wish. Would that keep things with a better balance?¡± She chuckled at that. ¡°That would cause other issues. Regardless, I¡¯ve already taken too much time here.¡± She was about to gesture, but Alex quickly asked, ¡°Can I know your name?¡± She hesitated. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just been calling you ¡®cheesecake lady¡¯ in my head, and that hardly seems appropriate.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She laughed at that. ¡°Let¡¯s go with Seclair, then.¡± ¡°Thank you for your assistance, Seclair.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been interesting, Alex. Try not to die? Integrations are sad enough¡ªApology Tutorials in particular¡ªwithout someone I¡¯m watching dying horribly¡­ well, without too many of those I¡¯m watching dying horribly at least.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± And she was gone. Error resolved: Calculating and granting experience¡­ Level 1 enemy defeated by level 0 Apology Tutorial Addendum: The enemy defeated was two or more times the level of the victor. The enemy defeated was five or more times the level of the victor. The enemy defeated was ten or more times the level of the victor. Experience earned multiplied accordingly. System Addendum: No full level detected, experience held until first level is acquired. Huh. That was interesting. There were specific multipliers for defeated enemies many times his own level above him. That was good to know. Initiation: You have chosen your apocalypse for the Apology Tutorial environment. You have confirmed your choice through combat. Congratulations! Your existence will now be raised. Please say, ¡°Accept Racial Elevation¡± to begin. ¡°Umm¡­ Accept Racial Elevation?¡± Note: Your Race Rank is being determined. Unique Attribute Detected Magical Aspects Detected Racial Rebirth Detected Racial Reforging Detected Alex Johnson Human (Common), F, Level 0 ¡ú Life-Aspected Human (Rare), F, Level 0 Class: NA HP: 80 ¡ú 160 SP: 45 ¡ú 130 Physical Stats: Power: 5 Agility: 5 Fortitude: 8 (due to Latent Life-Aspected Energy) Mental Stats: Power: 6 Agility: 7 Fortitude: 5 Unused Points: 0 ¡ú 24 Magical Stats: NA - Mana not Unlocked Alex stared at what was obviously his character sheet, or whatever the System called it. Alex especially focused on the changing numbers. He didn¡¯t really feel any different, but he supposed that that was because he¡¯d actually experienced the changes a few moments ago. The System was just updating its records now. He was curious about his original stats in particular. Physically, he¡¯d been pretty balanced, with just a bit more fortitude. That made sense. Now that he considered it, he hadn¡¯t been sick¡­ basically ever. He¡¯d never been particularly careful, and always thought that many people were being somewhat big babies with regard to their fear of getting sick. As it turned out, he¡¯d just been an exception. He scratched the back of his head and grimaced. Now, he felt like quite the jerk. Sure, he had considered that some others were immunocompromised and such, and he¡¯d never thought badly of them, but he¡¯d definitely thought less of colleagues for some of the extreme precautions they¡¯d taken every flu season and at other times like that. I suppose there¡¯s a lesson here. I shouldn¡¯t assume people are being foolish just because I don¡¯t need what they are insisting on. Yeah¡­ that should have been obvious before¡­ He sighed and moved on. There was nothing that he could do about it now. His mental stats were naturally a bit above his own average, which made him smile. He¡¯d known he was a bit smarter, and a bit cleverer, than most people, and this bore that up. Assuming my average is anywhere close to most people¡¯s average¡­ Still, his whole job had been centered around quick thinking, understanding varying perspectives, and de-escalating tensions in order to help people communicate. Well, it all made sense if his understanding of the traits was correct. He wasn¡¯t any saner or more resilient to mental effects than normal, at least that¡¯s how he interpreted mental fortitude as. He also had been given a huge number of unused stat points. Doing quick math, he determined that they were exactly enough to raise every trait to 10, but he didn¡¯t really know what that meant. ¡°What does this race even mean? Life-Aspected Human? What¡¯s the F?¡± That, of course, caused a System pop-up. Life-Aspected Human (Rare), F This human is infused and deeply tied to the energy of Life itself. This restricts the person from following certain paths, while opening others before him. This is a Rare Race within the System and has proportionally higher stat gains per level. This is a Rare Race within the System and has proportionally slower level gain. Life-Aspected Races calculate Health Points(HP) as Physical Fortitude x20 instead of the standard 10x Life-Aspected Races calculate Stamina Points (SP) as 10x Physical Fortitude + Mental Fortitude instead of the standard 5x Stat Gains per Level Physical Stats: Power: +4 Agility: +4 Fortitude: +4 Mental Stats: Power:+4 Agility: +4 Fortitude: +4 Unused Points: +4 Magical Stats: NA - Mana not unlocked He was immediately very pleased with the stat gains per level, even if he didn¡¯t know what it would have been. He¡¯d also have twice the health and stamina for a given stat level. So, that was something Then he really read what the prompt had said. ¡°Wait¡­ slower level gain?¡± Apology Tutorial Notice: Race Level Gain: Uncommon Races gain levels at 1/3rd the rate of Common Races. Rare Races gain levels at 1/3rd the rate of Uncommon Races. Thus, Rare Races gain levels at 1/9th the rate of Common Races. Ranked F Common races generally accrue +1 in each stat per level with one bonus stat point to assign as you see fit. Well¡­ that¡¯s a bit trashy¡­ He wasn¡¯t actually sure what he¡¯d been trying to think with ¡®trashy¡¯ before the system had translated it, but trashy covered it well enough. One ninth the leveling speed but only four times the stats? What madness was the System trying to do with such a broken ratio? Then, he considered for a long moment. At first, that would be a huge disadvantage, but if the experience earned was partially dependent on the level number¡ªas his conversation with the Watcher had implied¡ªthen having a lower level would actually net him more experience overall. He didn¡¯t know any of the math, but in theory, he thought this could work out in his favor rather quickly. Not that it mattered. It was done, and he didn¡¯t have any choice but to continue. Apology Tutorial Notice: Level 1 is yet to be granted. Please say, ¡°Accept Level up.¡± to begin. He sighed. Might as well reap the easiest level he¡¯d ever earn. ¡°Umm¡­ Accept Level up?¡± Alex Johnson Life-Aspected Human (Rare), F, Level 0 ¡ú Level 1 Class: NA HP: 160 ¡ú 240 SP: 130 ¡ú 210 Physical Stats: Power: 5 ¡ú 9 Agility: 5 ¡ú 9 Fortitude: 8 ¡ú 12 Mental Stats: Power: 6 ¡ú 10 Agility: 7 ¡ú 11 Fortitude: 5 ¡ú 9 Unused Points: 24 ¡ú 28 Magical Stats: NA - Mana Currently Locked How would you like to spend your stat points? Before he had time to consider any options, another panel popped up in front of him. Level Up: You are in a safe location Because of the massively multiplied experience, you have the requisite experience to level up. Please say, ¡°Accept Level up.¡± to begin. Alex¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh¡­ oh, my.¡± The multipliers must have been sufficient to let him level already? Common F-ranked Races must level the first time after only one or two enemies, then. ¡°Accept Level up.¡± Alex Johnson Life-Aspected Human (Rare), F, Level 1 ¡ú Level 2 Class: NA Stats increased Unused Points: 28 ¡ú 32 How would you like to spend your stat points? He gasped, falling to his knees in the void. His mind spun, parsing through all that happened over the last little bit. His two levels had been far more valuable than what he should have gotten, but they would likely be the last levels he¡¯d get for quite a while. Or, well, he was in a tutorial, there was going to be a lot of fighting. So, the next levels would be further away than they would be for others at the very least. Back to his unused points. A part of him wanted to spread out all his points, starting by placing five in each stat, but that seemed¡­ unwise. Partially, that was because he apparently had Magical Stats that would unlock later. He would likely want some points to put into those stats¡­ if he got them any time soon. He was a physical fighter for the moment. His physical fortitude was already his highest stat. So the real question was, did he want to be a quick fighter, or a strong one? He laughed. That was an easy choice. He earmarked seven points for Physical Agility. He¡­ had no idea what that would actually mean, improvement wise. Would he be thirty-five percent quicker now? More nimble? It was a bit irritating, honestly. ¡°What do the stats mean?¡± He was more pleased than surprised when the System responded. Physical Stat Descriptions: Power: The strength your body can bring to bear in standard movements. Agility: How quickly your body can act or react and how fine a control you have over those movements. Fortitude: How much physical damage it takes to render your body non-functional and how hard it is to cause your body damage. Mental Stat Descriptions: Power: The mental focus and processing power you can bring to bear on any thought process. Agility: How quickly you can switch between lines of thought, and how quickly/easily you can notice things, either connections between bits of information or things in the world around you. Fortitude: How much stress can your mind endure before it is rendered non-functional. How much and how clearly you can recall things that you have seen or experienced. Apology Tutorial Addendum: 5 was considered human average for any given trait on pre-System Earth. 10-12 would be roughly equivalent to the best in that area on pre-System Earth. The ¡®Power¡¯ traits can be improved to a limited extent through resistance training. The ¡®Agility¡¯ traits can be improved to a limited extent through reaction training. The ¡®Fortitude¡¯ traits can be improved to a limited extent through endurance training. ¡°Thank you. That is incredibly helpful.¡± It also gave him a lot to consider. Chapter 7: Meetings and the Meeting Room Alex was looking over his character sheet, trying to decide what he should do with his unused stat points. First of all, though, he added sufficient stats to lift everything to at least 15. So, that left him with¡­ a lot more points, assuming he kept his current allocation. Then, he realized something. He was in an apocalypse situation. He added two more points to mental fortitude. He would not allow himself to go crazy under the stress of his world ending around him. Then, he considered. Mental Agility stood out to him. From the System''s description it seemed like mental agility included perception and noticing things of importance around himself in addition to seemingly being heavily involved in quick reactions. With high physical agility, he could move quickly along pre-decided patterns, but it was mental agility that would allow him to react more quickly in the moment. That made the choice easy. He raised both agilities up to 25, and that left him with three points to allocate. With this spread¡ªif he understood correctly¡ªhe now had a better foundation in every area than any person back on earth had ever had as a maximum. That was wonderful, but with this much power available, he had to believe that the enemies would ramp up in difficulty rather quickly as well. He split his remaining points into Physical Power, and Physical Fortitude, giving two points to the first and one to the second. With the bump to his mental fortitude, that stat would match his physical fortitude, which seemed like a wise thing to do. ¡°No sense in being alive if I go insane,¡± he reiterated. He confirmed his choice. Level Up: Alex Johnson Life-Aspected Human (Rare), F, Level 2 Class: NA HP: 320 ¡ú 340 SP: 290 ¡ú 340 Physical Stats: Power: 13 ¡ú 17 Agility: 13 ¡ú 25 Fortitude: 16 ¡ú17 Mental Stats: Power: 14 ¡ú 15 Agility: 15 ¡ú 25 Fortitude: 13 ¡ú 17 Magical Stats: NA - Mana Currently Locked Unused Points: 32 ¡ú 0 Apology Tutorial Addendum: Brace for alteration. ¡°Wait¡­ Brace for Alteration?¡± Then, the pain smacked him upside the head¡­ from the inside. Alex thought that he screamed at the pain, but he definitely curled into a ball as his body and mind shifted and changed. Still, it only seemed to take about a minute for all the stat changes to be enacted upon him. Notice: Trauma Is Training, Right? Stats Trained: Physical Stats: Fortitude: 17 ¡ú 18 Your Physical Fortitude has been trained. You cannot increase this trait through training again, until after you have fully recovered. Mental Stats: Fortitude: 17 ¡ú 18 Your Mental Fortitude has been trained. You cannot increase this trait through training again, until after you have fully recovered. Apology Tutorial Addendum: It is generally considered unwise to increase any trait by more than 10%¡ªor 5 points, whichever is greater¡ªat a given time. Stat increases can be spread out over multiple sessions as desired. Alex groaned, grousing a bit at that, but hey, free stat points. That was good¡­ right? Still, he only had a moment¡¯s peace before another popup filled his vision. Hidden Quest [Stat Training]: Complete You have trained your first stat! You¡¯re learning more about the System every day. Reward: Experience doubled for training two stats simultaneously to complete this quest. Safe area detected. Experience granted. He braced for a moment, almost expecting another level up, but that would be silly. There was no way they¡¯d ever come this easily again. He had a long road to walk, yet. He looked down at himself, and he noticed that he definitely looked a bit more filled out. He still had some signs of the starved, gaunt look of having recovered from a ravaging disease, but with his new lean strength, he more resembled an athlete trying to look their best rather than the survivor of a famine. His clothes didn¡¯t fit at all, and he was starving. He¡¯d had a bit of a dad-bod beginning to form in the real world, and he hadn¡¯t even had kids, but that was gone now. It made him wonder how much of this change would have happened without him being plague-ridden first. He was about to ask, ¡®What next?¡¯ but then a door opened before him. It hadn¡¯t been there a moment previously, and it looked exactly like the door at the end of the hallway with the zombie in it. Beyond the open door was a large meeting room, in which time was obviously stopped¡­ though, he couldn¡¯t have pointed out exactly what made him believe that. The observation was his mental agility at work, he supposed. ¡°Is that where I was intended to go right after the hallway?¡± That made sense, as he¡¯d only been drawn back into the void because he¡¯d been about to zombify. He regarded the room for a long moment before nodding, feeling resolved. He had picked zombies because he wanted to help people, and now, after his levelups, he would be much better able to do just that. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s where I¡¯ll meet the ¡®others.¡¯¡± He quickly checked, and his dadao was still in his hand. A quiet self-inspection revealed a sheath on his back. When did that get there? Regardless, he took off the sheath, and reslung it so that it would hold his weapon with the handle pointing down for easy gripping and drawing of the weapon. The clasp on the sheath would prevent the sword from falling free when he didn¡¯t want it to. He twisted and stretched briefly¡ªfollowing the new, instinctive knowledge granted by his skill¡ªfeeling a bit of irritation with some of his lack of flexibility, but otherwise, he was good to go. He would fix his stiffness as soon as he had the time. As he drew closer, he saw there were quite a few other doors into the room, all open, all seemingly letting into dead end hallways that all looked to be empty. Without hesitating further, he strode through the door. The Watcher sighed as a Superior entered her command and control room. She had many names, and she had completely forgotten the false one that she¡¯d given Alex as soon as she¡¯d said it. She also found his calling her ¡®cheesecake lady¡¯ entertaining¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t understand it¡ªbut all of that was beside the point. ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± The Watcher shrugged. ¡°Overseeing a section of the Apology Tutorial.¡± ¡°I was pinged that you have a Rare race under your view. Earth didn¡¯t have anyone with a Rare race.¡± ¡°That is correct. It was the result of a Watcher-granted reward which awakened a semi-dormant aspect.¡± The Superior grumbled a bit at that, but while it was unusual, it was still within the Watcher¡¯s authority to grant such. ¡°Fine. I also got a notification of someone reaching level 2 due to their Hallway trial. Don¡¯t tell me that was another Watcher-granted reward?¡± ¡°No, that was the same person. It actually was a result of the situation the Watcher granted reward was meant to mitigate.¡± The Superior¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°What did you do?¡± The Watcher explained what had happened first in brief, then in detail at the Superior¡¯s insistence. Per policy, the specifics of Alex¡¯s character sheet were confidential. Even the Watcher only knew the highlights, and the System bound her to secrecy in that regard. Even without those details, the Superior clearly got less and less enthused as the situation was fully laid out. Finally, the Superior sighed and cut the Watcher off in her third detailed recounting. ¡°Fine, fine. You did nothing wrong.¡± The Superior growled, and the Watcher waited patiently. ¡°Just increase the difficulty of his Apology Tutorial as high as the System will allow in order to compensate for this¡­ unfortunate happening.¡± ¡°That will increase the rewards, and thus the costs if he succeeds.¡± The Watcher wanted to be sure her objection was noted, just in case. She had carefully crafted the scenario that Alex and the others were about to enter, and it was going to be thrown to the wind with these forced changes. The Superior waved off her concern. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re increasing the difficulty. He shouldn¡¯t succeed.¡± The Watcher sighed. ¡°What of those who choose to team up with him, if any do?¡± ¡°That¡¯s on them.¡± ¡°And the others who are to enter the same Constructed World?¡± ¡°Overall survival of each initiation¡¯s Apology Tutorial is generally less than ten percent. The System won¡¯t care if a single one of the sub-batches dies off in its entirety.¡± ¡°Are we still aiming for fifty percent survival for each tier of the Tutorial?¡± That was the standard. Four tiered stages, each with an aimed-for fifty percent survival rate; though it never hit the mark perfectly. ¡°We were, but lowering that will only bring down costs. I want his scenario-unit to fail, but the System won¡¯t allow it to be an impossible task¡­ He chose zombies?¡± ¡°He did.¡± ¡°Give the undead horde leaders and Plague variants. That should sort things out.¡± ¡°Once again, that will increase the chance for quicker gains and higher rewards.¡± The Supervisor gave her a long look then nodded. ¡°Understood. Get it done.¡± ¡°As you command.¡± The Watcher turned back to her controls and sighed. Sorry, Alex. I hope that you find a way to survive despite this change. As Alex passed through the doorway into the large meeting room, there were suddenly people coming out of almost every other door. They seemed to be a mix of ethnicities, ages, heights, and¡ªif their attire was any indication¡ªbackgrounds. Though, they all seemed to be at least in their late teens ranging up to middle aged, so that was good. No need to worry about kids, then. There was a young man with haunted, slightly twitchy eyes coming into the room through the door directly across from Alex. He had racially ambiguous features, seeming to have the most classically appealing aspects from many different parts of humanity, and his hair looked to have been carefully styled at one point. Though, it was now a bit of a mess, likely from his own scuffle in his own hallway with his own zombie. The young man¡¯s eyes widened with obvious fear as he seemed to catch the motion from all those suddenly around him, and his hand blurred. Alex had enough mental agility to know that a knife had been thrown at him with purely human strength. He reacted before he truly realized what was happening, shifting to the side and catching the knife from the air with his off-hand. Huh, so that¡¯s the benefit of 25 in both Mental and Physical Agility. There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone turned to orient on the two of them. In that momentary pause, a System pane popped up. Notice: You have caught a weapon thrown at you with lethal intent. Reward: You get to live! Apology Tutorial Addendum: Apology Tutorial, Skill Acquisition detected Reward: Skill Acquired: Intercept Projectiles (Common) Apology Tutorial Note: Apology Tutorial Skill Acquisition has reduced the requirements for acquiring this skill. Intercept Projectiles (Common) Throwing things to hurt your opponent is among the oldest tactics known in myriad universes. Trying to catch them is an only slightly more recent development. Not everyone is successful, but you will be¡­ more often than most. Physical and Mental Agility have a marginally greater effect when you are attempting to catch an incoming physical projectile. Physical Fortitude has a marginally greater effect in resisting damage to the catching hand. ¡°Stop!¡± An older looking woman across the room shouted, raising her hands. ¡°We have no need to fight.¡± She struck Alex as looking Russian, but that might have been because of the slight Russian accent. Regardless, her words caused him to look around and see all the eyes on him. It was only then that Alex realized that he¡¯d loosened his dadao, his right hand clasped on the hilt. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t drawn it, not yet. The young man paled, stammering. ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± He swallowed. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I didn¡¯t see anyone there, then you all appeared, and after that zombie¡­ I panicked.¡± He looked down, clearly expressing shame and remorse. Alex smiled, then turned to look toward the older woman. ¡°I agree, we don¡¯t need to fight.¡± He re-tightened his scabbard on the dadao. That done, he began absentmindedly tossing the throwing knife up and catching it as he considered. Then, he realized how sharp the knife he was tossing actually was. What am I doing? As if in sequence with his thoughts, he caught the blade instead of the handle, cutting himself quite badly. Alex grimaced, seeing his health bar tick down. He grimaced further when he got the System message. Apology Tutorial Notice: You have cured Plague - Zombification, level ?? x [0/180] You have done so using your innate Attributes alone. Reward not applicable as the plague had not infected anything before it was cured. Apology Tutorial Addendum: At least you know not to touch that again¡­ Right? The cuts on his hand sealed up over the next seconds, Alex¡¯s health ticking up as he took the two steps to reach the table in the center of the room. ¡°Do you have the means to clean that blade?¡± The boy swallowed and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then do so.¡± Alex looked down at the weapon and saw his own blood on it, along with necrotic, congealed blood from what was likely the boy¡¯s zombie. Oh... that''s gross¡­ He sighed and leaned across the table, holding out the handle toward the boy. The young man quickly came forward and took the proffered weapon. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Alex met the boy¡¯s gaze firmly and without reproach, ¡°What¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Alex.¡± ¡°James.¡± ¡°Good to meet you, James.¡± Suddenly, everyone else¡¯s eyes unfocused, each seeming to see what he could not. What¡­? OH! Initiation. This is the first moment they¡¯ve had that¡¯s safe. They¡¯d likely been allocated the level up earlier, and only now that they were safe, they would receive their experience¡ªfor those who killed their zombie¡ªand they could allocate their stat points by accepting the level up. ¡°Wait!¡± He held up his hands. Everyone paused, several people already had their mouths open to say ¡®Accept.¡¯ They turned to look at him, eyes focusing on his face. He knew he only had a moment or two. ¡°You¡¯re about to initialize. You¡¯ll get some stat points to allocate. I have some information about that that I¡¯m willing to share once you get to that point.¡± A man with a pinched face grimaced. ¡°Why should we listen to you?¡± Alex shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t have to. I just wanted to let you know. That way if you want the info, you can get it from me before you make your choices.¡± That seemed to satisfy most of them, and there was a chorus of ¡®Accept¡¯s. A moment later, fifteen sets of eyes were focused back on him once more. Fifteen people¡­ There were twenty doors. Had five died already? Yeah, that seems very possible. He sighed. It was hardly the time to focus on that, though. He quickly summarized how to ask the System for a description of the stats. That, alone, built a lot of credibility with the others. Then, he explained about the recommendation for slowly increasing stats, but he didn¡¯t say that he¡¯d had enough free-point to go beyond that. None of them likely would. He also explained that stats could be trained, and the first time that they did so, they¡¯d get experience. That experience would be increased if they managed to train more than one stat at a time. There were thoughtful gazes from around the table, but everyone seemed grateful for the information. Eventually, everyone was finished leveling up and allocating their stat points. Once that was done, everyone looked¡­ about the same. A few were a bit leaner, some seemed to have bulked up just a bit with muscle, but it was a lot less pronounced than Alex might have expected. Muscles are probably more efficient than they were before. He was about to open his mouth to say something¡ªabout to fall back into his role as a facilitator¡ªwhen a System message appeared, seemingly in front of each of them. Relief washed over Alex. Oh thank you, System. Chapter 8: Group Choice Welcome to the true start of the Choose Your Apocalypse Apology Tutorial: You have all selected the ¡®Initial Tutorial Opponents¡¯ of slow, shambling zombies. As such, your first scenario will be the survival of a zombie apocalypse outbreak upon a planet that is not your own. The citizens of the planet will be System created and cease to exist at the end of the scenario, regardless of what you do for the duration. That said, rewards can be affected, both positively and negatively, by the state of those citizens, depending on the quests you receive. Alex groaned. He had specifically wanted to go into a place where zombies were already established. There were some similar sounds from others but not from everyone. A few people chuckled at the prompt¡ªor the unified sounds¡ªand some even made noises of relief. He sighed. Great¡­ As soon as everyone seemed to have read through the information, more was provided. Choice: A choice lies before you. Each of you can either opt to work together or alone. Quest Choice: Quest [Prepare]: Stand with other Initiates or act alone. Reward: Should you choose to stand alone, your rewards for the main quests will be given at a factor of 1.5. If you choose to stand with others, each surviving Initiate will receive rewards for the main quests to the factor of 0.5x the number of Initiates surviving in your group. System Addendum: Killing other Initiates gains nothing within the Apology Tutorial. Purposely sabotaging other Initiates will be grounds for extreme penalties. No matter what you choose, there will be other Initiates within your scenario, outside your initial group. Alex let out a little laugh. ¡°Well, that makes the decision incredibly easy, right?¡± He looked around excitedly but only found a few who obviously agreed with him. He sighed again. Then, without much thought, he simply stepped into the standard role within meetings that he had filled for his job, ¡°If we can¡¯t attack or sabotage each other, we have nothing to fear from each other. If we all choose to work together, that is a reward factor of 7.5. That is five times better than working alone, plus, you know, we won¡¯t be alone for whatever challenges there will be.¡± A few people frowned, leaning back, shaking their heads. One older man scoffed outright. ¡°Why would I add my reward to yours?¡± Alex shook his head in turn. He knew this type of character. He was being contrary to try to gain concessions. ¡°Because if even three people agree with me, our reward will be better than yours, even without you.¡± ¡°Ahh, but that is the main quests. Anyone who has played games knows that the side quests are where most of the good rewards are found. In fact, if you play it correctly, by the time the main quest comes around, the side quests have rendered you so powerful that the main story is essentially meaningless.¡± That¡­ was a good point. Alex frowned. Would working together somehow dilute the available rewards from secondary quests? Did he care? Alex found that he didn¡¯t. If it lowered his rewards by a bit, he¡¯d still prefer to be in a position to help others. He finally shook his head. ¡°No. I don¡¯t believe that is the case, but I could be wrong. What do you think? And I didn¡¯t catch your name.¡± He pointed to the older woman who had spoken before. She wasn¡¯t old by any means, just early forties, so five to ten years older than Alex himself. She responded with surprise. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He smiled. ¡°What was your name?¡± ¡°Natasha.¡± ¡°Good to meet you, Natasha. What do you think about all this?¡± She shrugged, her accent barely noticeable as she spoke, ¡°I picked zombies in this crazy selection because at least normal people can fight those in the stories. Having people to fight beside me would be¡­ ideal. I¡¯d rather not be here at all.¡± That got some nervous chuckles of agreement. ¡°But I am here, so I¡¯ll work with others.¡± Alex nodded, still smiling. ¡°Thank you, Natasha. I appreciate your perspective.¡± The older man rolled his eyes and sighed, ¡°You can make your own choice, Alex. I¡¯ll make mine.¡± That irritated Alex, and he was about to open his mouth again, but as he looked around, he noticed something that he¡¯d seen dozens of times in meetings in the past. Many of those present already agreed with him, and they hadn¡¯t been swayed by the other man¡¯s words. Even so, if he began to argue, he would make his own position seem less certain and end up driving people away. He sighed, again. He hated politics. Some things never change. Still, he put on a convivial smile and shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re right. For me this is my choice.¡± Alex reached out to the system window and indicated that he wanted to work in a group. As soon as he hit the button, he was highlighted in a beautiful, dark green. The other man frowned, becoming orange. Alex tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Choice: A choice lies before you. Five other Initiates have indicated their desire to work with you; will you work with these others? He looked around immediately noticing the five other initiates who had lit up green, including Natasha and the young man who had thrown a knife at him. James. Alex smiled at James, and James smiled back. He then exchanged nods of acknowledgement with the others who now bore his color, accepting each in turn. Well, he really hoped that it wasn¡¯t actually his color. He didn¡¯t particularly want to lead. He just wanted to make sure that what the leader chose to do actually got done¡­ and that the leader chose to do things that were reasonable¡­ He contained a groan as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. ¡­he was going to end up leading, wasn¡¯t he¡­ I can probably pawn it off on someone, right? When he opened his eyes, Alex did not smile at the older man. Alex already knew the play the man had been going for. He¡¯d wanted Alex to ¡®convince¡¯ him to work with others, then he¡¯d have used that to try to finagle concessions somehow. People are strange, and sometimes a person reluctantly converted to an idea was seen as wiser and of better judgment than the person who had held the accepted view the whole time. It was a silly tactic, but it might have worked. In fact, Alex had seen it work more times than not. It had backfired on that other man this time. I so hate corporate culture¡­ He felt himself smile at that. It seemed there were some things that he was quite glad to see the last of¡­ though some vestiges remained. As the rest of the Initiates made choices, no one else lit up orange or green. There were three other colors, one with four people. In the end, Alex was in a group of six, there was the group of four, one group of three, one girl who opted to be alone, and the older man also by himself. Choice: A choice lies before you. Do you wish to change your selection at this time? No one changed color after that. The older man was visibly irritated, but his color still didn¡¯t change. Instead, he seemed to have changed his selection to go it alone. Alex was actually glad that he¡¯d been given the option to change, otherwise he might have been stuck with a piddly reward and no help. Choices Made: Your choice has been made. Pray you made the right one. Decision Rating: Well Reasoned with the information at hand. Without further warning, the world disappeared around Alex, and he found himself sitting at a desk in an office cubicle. Oh, no. No. NO! I will not be in a death trap like this when¡ª A series of System windows interrupted his internal, panicked tirade. Group Quest [Prepare]: You have chosen to stand with others. You have less than twenty-four hours to prepare for the coming outbreak. Find a base of operations from which you can survive the end of the world. Reward: Determined based upon results and surviving Initiates after the quest timer ends. Prepayment: You have been granted false memories of this world so that you may navigate it as you prepare. You have been granted Temporary Skills: Inventory, Temp with which you can acquire supplies more efficiently Team Sense, Temp to save time on coordination Apology Tutorial Addendum: Quest alteration due to unforeseen factors. This is your warning that the time to the outbreak is less than six hours. Don¡¯t dawdle. Individual Quest [Prepare]: Get at least one ¡®friend¡¯ from your false memories to join you in your base of operations. Reward: Determined based upon results and surviving ¡®friends¡¯ when the group quest timer ends. Apology Tutorial Addendum: Real friends are forever. Fake friends depend on you. Inventory, Temp Carrying things is annoying for everyone. Now, you can carry things without having to actually carry them. Aren¡¯t you special? You have been given access to a 10ft cube of extra-dimensional storage on a temporary basis. You instinctively know how to place things within this space, how to draw them out, and what is inside. Anything beyond that is up to you. Any items still within the space when you lose this skill will be destroyed and then the remnants will be forcefully ejected into your dimension from within your heart. Apology Tutorial Addendum: Empty your beloved and useful storage before the time runs out. Team Sense, Temp Teammates are wonderful, so long as they are where they should be. Now you¡¯ll know if they aren¡¯t! Sense the vague location and status of anyone considered on your team for this section of the Apology Tutorial. Apology Tutorial Addendum: This Skill will expire after the first Group Quest is complete. Plan accordingly. Alex suppressed a groan as a splitting headache rolled through him for a moment, leaving memories of this new world that felt similar to those of a cherished movie or book. He could easily tell what was real and what wasn¡¯t, but he very clearly also had a lot of information. Beyond that, he had a vague sense of the other Initiates who¡¯d opted to group up with him. He stood and the motion felt incredibly awkward, even with the new clothes that the System had seen fit to change him into. But he was getting distracted. As he¡¯d stood, he had moved as he always used to move, and it felt¡­ wrong. He hadn¡¯t felt the oddity in the meeting room with the other initiates, but that was likely because he¡¯d still been in the mindset of the System - of combat. He¡¯d been balancing on his toes, ready for a fight. But here? In the modern labyrinth? He had deeply ingrained patterns of movement, and they were wrong. He changed his posture and stance just slightly, following the intuitive sense from Advanced Kinesthetics. He couldn¡¯t get it perfect¡ªsomething told him that he didn¡¯t have a high enough mastery to achieve perfect form even just standing in place¡ªbut he did make it better. That fixed, he was about to leave his cubicle, when he remembered his new ¡®Inventory.¡¯ Interestingly, his dadao was already in his inventory, likely so he wouldn¡¯t have to try to hide it in the city before the apocalypse. He instinctively knew how it worked, and he swept his hand across everything he could within the small space, each item vanishing as if it had never been. Thankfully, the set of drawers came as a unit. In the end, he had a sense of what was in his Inventory. Nothing stood out as amazing, but he might find uses for some of it down the line. I need to understand the foundation I¡¯m starting from. In that vein, he pulled up his Character Sheet. Character Sheet: Alex Johnson Life-Aspected Human (Rare), F, Level 2 Class: NA HP: 360 SP: 360 Physical Stats: Power: 17 Agility: 25 Fortitude: 18 Mental Stats: Power: 15 Agility: 25 Fortitude: 18 Magical Stats: NA - Mana not unlocked Unused Points: 0 Attributes: Blood: Life Finds a Way (Unique) Temporary: Apology Tutorial Skill Acquisition - Acquire Skills organically with vastly reduced requirements until a Class is Selected Skills: Great-Blades Basics - Dadao (Common) Advanced Kinesthetics (Common) Intercept Projectiles (Common) Inventory, Temp Team Sense, Temp It looked pretty good to his rather ignorant inspection. Regardless, he felt like he had a good foundation to build upon. He wasn¡¯t sure how stats scaled, but even so, he had higher stats than any non-System human across the board. Alright. I can work with this. That done, he walked down the aisle between the cubicles, coming to the massive glass wall looking out on the street below and the buildings across from them. It looked like a modern American city¡­ which now that he thought about it wasn¡¯t actually that standard of a motif. Every city he¡¯d seen had a bit of a personality, a difference in the surroundings. This was much the same. There were rolling hills, causing even the few buildings he could see to start at somewhat different heights. He couldn¡¯t see far enough to see much else, but he had memories of this city being on a peninsula, a bit like New York, if the movies were any indication. He¡¯d never been. And now I never will¡­ No. Now was not the time for that. He had to focus. I have a moment to think. Then I can actually consider the end of the world. Back to the matter at hand, he and all his fellow Initiates seemed to be on the same floor of this building, and they also seemed to be moving in his direction, thankfully. They would need to plan¡­ fast. Even so, he found himself staring out at the mass of humanity below and around him as he considered. We¡¯re on the eighteenth floor of an office building¡­ He pulled from his ¡®memories.¡¯ This building has seventy stories total. We¡¯re in the middle of a major city¡­ We are in so much trouble¡­ Chapter 9: What Is to Come Natasha would have said that this would never have happened in Russia, but it quite literally had happened to her while she was in Russia. And only two rooms away from my family. She hoped that they would be alright and that she could get back to them soon. Then they could face this crazy new reality together. She¡¯d gotten a good feeling about this Alex person even though he was clearly American. He wanted to be in charge and make things go his way, but he still seemed willing to solicit feedback. She could work with that. After all, she doubted she could survive on her own. The cubicles looked like they¡¯d been lifted straight out of a movie or tv show, and it made everything seem a bit too unreal for her liking. She needed to focus, to think, to survive. Alex reviewed his quests as he looked out at the future zombies flowing by, awaiting the other Initiates. Group Quest [Prepare]: Create a base of operations from which you can survive the end of the world. Outbreak will begin within: 05 hrs 56 min Individual Quest [Prepare]: Get at least one ¡®friend¡¯ from your false memories to join you in your base of operations. In this other world, it was just after the lunch hour, and office workers were returning to their desks from the food offered by the breakroom. It was apparently a cultural holiday of some kind, if not a business one. His memories said it was celebrating some sort of groundpig seeing its shadow. Don¡¯t we have something like that? Isn¡¯t that what Groundhog day is? Either way, no one closed up shop. Everyone went to work, but it was still a time of greater laxness and the enjoyment of company. And Holiday or not, before dinner, tonight, all of this would be transformed into an undead wasteland. He had so, so little time. There had been mention of the time to prepare being shortened, which seemed¡­ odd. He hadn¡¯t really processed it at the time given the massive influx of other information, but couldn¡¯t a System capable of all of this have updated the quest without letting them know? Of course it could have. That meant that it was purposely letting them know. He wished that he could figure out why. That was another thing to think on later. In the moment, he took a minute or so to try to remember some things from his fake life in this fake world. First, how did he buy things? Oh, I apparently bought coffee this morning with¡­ a credit card like thing. Okay. I have bank cards too, and I have memories of how much savings I have through those. The System was thorough to say the least, even having him get a vanilla latte here, as he had when he rarely went to a coffee shop before¡­ Well, if they can put stuff into my head, I guess they can take stuff out? That was a bit¡­ No. He didn¡¯t have time to think about it. Still, that gave him an idea, and he began fiddling, setting up a few things with his fake world phone, thanking the System that it worked as he expected. He continued his recollections even as he worked. So, where did he live? Oh, he could walk there in about fifteen minutes. Did they include where he¡¯d learned how to use a dadao? Nice! His martial arts studio was actually between his ¡®work¡¯ and his ¡®home,¡¯ oriented in a bit of an equilateral triangle between the two, though he obviously couldn¡¯t take a straight path there. Following streets, it would probably be fifteen minutes of walking to the studio and fifteen minutes from there to his ¡®home¡¯ even so. A plan began to form in his head as he continued to try to ¡®remember¡¯ various things. Less than ten minutes after the scenario had started, he and the five others were gathered together. Alex had led them into a conference room and closed the door, which caused a few of the other people around the office to give them odd looks. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t seem like it would be an actual problem. ¡°Alright, I know we all have false memories of each other, even if just vaguely. But I think we should still go around and give names and means of combat. I¡¯m Alex, I use a dadao, which is basically a two handed machete.¡± ¡°Kaylee, crossbow.¡± She sounded like she might be Canadian, but he wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°James, I use throwing knives.¡± Now that Alex heard more from him, Alex thought James sounded vaguely british? Not like he was actually from England, but maybe a former colony? It probably didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Yes, knives.¡± Alex gave him a half-smile, causing the young man to grin back, sheepishly. ¡°Grant, war-hammer.¡± Grant sounded like a midwesterner, like those who Alex had lived among for the last decade or so. ¡°Lenka, traps.¡± Hers was an eastern european accent, somehow decidedly not Russian, even though Alex would have sworn that he¡¯d not have been able to tell the difference yesterday. The System telling me what language it¡¯s translating from? That might be it, but it hardly mattered enough to take their time for now. ¡°Natasha, spear.¡± The older Russian lady gave a tight-lipped smile, her eyes filled with resolve. Alex smiled at each of them. So, what¡¯s the next item on the agenda? Grant kept getting distracted by everything. He¡¯d rarely been to a city this big, even if he hadn¡¯t grown up in the sticks, so the view outside was mesmerizing. Additionally, he felt like he was the only one considering that they were in another world!! He took a deep breath to calm down, introducing himself when it was his turn. The older guy didn¡¯t look the best. Maybe he¡¯d been homeless before all this went down, because his clothes had not seemed to fit well in the conference room, though that seemed to have been fixed by the System in this scenario. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Grant, himself, was wearing a button-up shirt and slacks. Oh, if the guys could see him now¡­ Beyond the otherworldly nature of their situation¡ªand the frankly insane fact that he was going to fight wa- zombies¡ªhis eyes kept drifting toward the lovely woman who¡¯d introduced herself as Kaylee. If it had been the day before, he¡¯d have asked to buy her a beer¡­ or a coffee, depending on where they¡¯d met. She looked like she could easily put him in his place and kick him out if he acted improper, and that was just fine with him. He¡¯d just be on his best behavior. But¡­ zombies. Yeah, Grant. Focus up, man. No one dates a dead man. Besides, maybe she hates books or something. Yeah. She might be a book hater. No amount of pretty makes up for the trouble brought on by stupid. He really hoped she wasn¡¯t stupid. Kaylee was freaking out but on the inside. She¡¯d been¡­ a little drunk when this whole thing started. She vaguely remembered choosing zombies and a crossbow because of the book she¡¯d been failing to read at the bar. The book that she¡¯d left to hold her spot when she¡¯d gone to the washroom. The washroom that she¡¯d been ABDUCTED FROM¡ª Calm down, Kaylee. Breathe slowly. This is just like when the guys on a jobsite got funny ideas. While this was not, in fact, like that at all, the sentiment still helped. The older guy had taken a bit of the lead, and that made her feel bad. She probably should have stepped up. Still she knew his type, he wouldn¡¯t let things fall to the wayside. Even so, there was an interesting reticence that seemed to linger behind his eyes. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was her increased stats, or if this guy was really easy to read, but he seemingly hated leading. If she had to guess, she¡¯d say that he hated the spot-light. She loved the spotlight, which is why she always strove to seize the reins where appropriate¡­ and when she wasn¡¯t freaking out. Focus on something else, Kaylee. There was a fine looking man who kept glancing her way, even before she kept her cool long enough to introduce herself. He had the look of a guy who was working up the courage to ask her for a drink. If it had been the day before, she¡¯d probably even have said yes. But¡­ zombies. Besides he¡¯s probably just a brainless tv junkie¡­ a muscular tv junkie¡­ WHO refuses to read the instructions or ask for directions. Yeah. That¡¯s probably it. She¡¯d have to make sure he wasn¡¯t a hot idiot before she accepted his invitation for a drink. Wait¡­ what? No. Zombie apocalypse. Focus, Kaylee. Alex could tell that the group was on the edge of coming unhinged. They were in a strange place, and the System suppression seemed to be utterly gone. If someone didn¡¯t do something, there would be a riot. If someone didn¡¯t. Right. He nodded once before speaking up again, ¡°Alright. So, we have to set up a base and prepare for an apocalypse that¡ªI would bet¡ªis already starting at least somewhere within the city.¡± That caused some eyes to widen, but Natasha simply nodded. ¡°That is what I thought. If we will be rewarded for surviving to the six hour mark, then we need to have hurdles to overcome before then. The easiest thing to do would be flee the city in some manner, but I would bet that we¡¯ll be blocked from doing that in one way or another.¡± Alex nodded and smiled, ¡°So, any ideas from your fake memories on where we could hole up?¡± Kaylee spoke softly but with some confidence, ¡°We could take over the top of one of these buildings. Then, once the disaster strikes, we just have to clear our way down, instead of fighting things coming from all directions.¡± ¡°That could work.¡± Alex nodded encouragingly. ¡°Other thoughts? The floor''s open.¡± Grant shook his head slowly. ¡°I¡¯d like to be elsewhere. These buildings would be death traps in the event of a fire, without first responders and an operational grid to power the fire suppression systems.¡± When that got him odd looks, he shrugged. ¡°I worked demolition for a small-time contractor, and I always found fire fascinating.¡± Kaylee deflated a little. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that.¡± Grant smiled encouragingly. ¡°It was a fine idea, miss, I just think that we can do better.¡± James cleared his throat. ¡°I apparently went to a school just about a mile and a half from here¡± Alex frowned. ¡°Which direction?¡± James told him. ¡°Huh. My apartment is that way. Go on.¡± ¡°Well, the gymnasium was recently closed up. All entrances locked tight save one for ongoing maintenance until it can be torn down.¡± ¡°Is it safe?¡± That was Lenka. Alex felt his tension ease a bit as more of the group began speaking up. ¡°My memories say so. It was only going to be replaced to be bigger and better, not because it was falling apart or anything.¡± Alex nodded slowly. ¡°Aside from the single entrance, are there other features?¡± ¡°Bathroom¡¯s are on a high point in the city waste system. There are massive water tanks on the roof to give pressure to the school. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to find the maintenance access to turn off the mains before they leave the building. I recall that there are several choke points inside the building when entering through the one working entrance.¡± ¡°It sounds ideal, like the System set it up for us.¡± Grant grunted. ¡°Could be. There¡¯s likely no better option.¡± He looked at James. ¡°You seem to know a lot about water systems.¡± James shrugged in reply. ¡°I was studying to be a civil engineer in college. I interned with my city''s municipal services for several summers too.¡± That seemed to satisfy Grant. They talked through another couple of options which seemed reasonable. In fact, it seemed that each of them had memory of some place that could work well. Even so, none were quite as appealing as the old gym. ¡°Alright, then. We¡¯ll go with the gym unless there are objections.¡± Alex said, receiving a round of nodding heads and no hesitation. ¡°Now, I have a side quest to save some of my ¡®friends¡¯ from this world, and my fake martial arts studio is between here and the school, my apartment is too.¡± The others frowned, before eyes widened all around. Apparently, everyone¡¯s places of residence were between where they were and the school. The school was toward the center of the city, but it was still awfully convenient. Lenka cleared her throat. ¡°There¡¯s a hardware store on the way, and my side quest is to get supplies from there.¡± They quickly talked through tasks, including other side-quests, and it didn¡¯t take long for them to break into groups. They also decided to stop talking about this world as if it were fake. They would simply treat the fake memories as real for the time being. Natasha was going to go with Alex, Grant with Lenka, and Kaylee with James. James and Kaylee were going to get to the gym and get inside as quickly as possible. They would establish that there was, indeed, only one way in. They were also going to try to get some supplies from the shop classrooms on campus if they could without causing a ruckus, but that was a far lower priority. Lenka and Grant were going to go get anything and everything they could from the hardware store and get to the school as soon afterward as possible to start finalizing the security of the gym. Alex and Natasha were going to his martial arts studio, and the grocery stores along the way to get supplies and maybe some other people to help them. As they were about to go their separate ways, Alex had a realization and stopped them to say two last things, ¡°I don¡¯t have time to explain, but I am immune to this particular zombie plague. If one of you gets bit, let me know immediately, and my blood might be able to be used to cure you.¡± He¡¯d been considering that, and he figured it was about a fifty-fifty shot of working. He¡¯d rather they have hope and tell him than try to hide it and get them all killed in classic apocalypse movie fashion. Everyone obviously had a ton of questions, but they seemed to accept the need to ask them later. Because of that, Alex was able to move straight to his second item, ¡°The gym and so many of our destinations lining up like this does seem a bit too planned out. We haven¡¯t been messed over by the System yet, but this seems like too much of a gimme. Watch out for the hook in this bait. It¡¯s possible that there are already infected near some of our homes, or in the gym , or something like that. Be watchful, be wary.¡± Grant and Kaylee paled, but everyone nodded nonetheless. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They all had phones for this world, and they made sure to have each other¡¯s contact info. As they left the meeting, they created a group text, and immediately shared locations with one another through the mapping apps. Thankfully, this world didn¡¯t seem to have competing platforms that rendered such things needlessly complicated¡­ or they all just had the same platform, but regardless, it went incredibly smoothly. Alex hesitated mentally, even as he kept moving. He was in this situation because he had wanted to save people. Even the System seemed to acknowledge that with his private quest. He pushed his hesitation aside and opened his work email, composing a message to everyone he had the contact info for within the building. It should have been simple, and it ended up being short, but he still included more details than he¡¯d initially planned: ¡®Something crazy is happening in the city. From my sources, it¡¯s an honest to goodness zombie apocalypse, sweeping through our city today. Laugh right now if you want, but please remember this warning when things start going sideways. If you want safety, come to¡­¡¯ He supplied the address to the gym, along with directions to the door that they knew to still be functional. He scheduled the email to be sent in five minutes, when he¡¯d hopefully be off this main floor. Toward the same end, his group departed without saying anything to any of their coworkers directly. They didn¡¯t want to get mired in awkward social situations with these folks. As a last minute thought, he copied the information¡ªexcluding the info about the gym¡ªand sent it, immediately, to a few contact emails at local news stations. They¡¯d probably never see it, but maybe it would save a few people. Chapter 10: Coffee and Martial Arts Alex and his group all took separate paths through the floor, each scooping up everything they could lay a hand on, including cubicle walls and stuff from the break room. There were some questioning noises, but for the most part, their coworkers weren¡¯t back and settled in quite yet. Instead, they were in various meeting rooms eating and chatting. It was helpful that their work had provided lunch that day, and there were most of the remains of a twenty foot sandwich and bags of various kinds of chips and other foods to add to Alex¡¯s inventory. He seemed to have an easier time adding stuff to his inventory than the others, which he attributed to his higher mental stats, even if he didn¡¯t say so. That would be insensitive and insulting. It seemed like most of the others had put more into physical traits. Though Lenka had spent some stat points on mental attributes, too, and she was the quickest at storing items after him, thus supporting his unspoken assumption. As they all ran down the stairs in their designated pairs, there were already lots of confused noises coming from their erstwhile coworkers. I hope that some of you survive. And he found that he actually did hope that and not just for his side quest. If they managed to survive elsewhere, that was fine by him. Thanks to the system, he now had memories with many of these people, but he couldn¡¯t let that cloud what he had to do. Still, the fact left him uncomfortable. He wanted to save them, but he wouldn¡¯t even save himself if he got mired down here. As they went down floor after floor, Alex started drawing his dadao out of his inventory and putting it back in. The first few times, it came out with the sheath, which made him incredibly concerned, but he bent his mind to the task, even as he mindlessly took the stairs two at a time in a quick scramble to descend the seventeen floors worth of stairs. As they descended and he played with his Inventory, he decided to get some basic info from Natasha. ¡°You¡¯re speaking Russian?¡± ¡°Yes, English?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°American?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Figures.¡± Alex could hear the smile in her voice. ¡°Glad to have you, but I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t have a gun. Isn¡¯t that thing an asian weapon?¡± She glanced back and saw the weapon appear in his hand for a moment before he put it back into his inventory. ¡°The dadao? Yes. I didn¡¯t want to have to worry about ammo.¡± He could hear the mirth at the confirmed stereotype in her voice even as she spoke again, ¡°Ahh, so you would have taken one if you could have justified it?¡± He laughed. ¡°I almost did even without justification. Can you imagine mowing down zombies with a minigun?¡± ¡°Like Terminator 2?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was thinking, yeah¡­ but actually killing what I¡¯m shooting at.¡± She chuckled at that. ¡°Right, right. Then, I agree. That would be useful¡­ for about two minutes.¡± ¡°Ahh, but what a glorious two minutes it would be.¡± Alex did not consider the possible innuendos. She hesitated, glancing back once more. ¡°That¡¯s not an attitude that tends toward survival.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Exactly why I didn¡¯t choose it.¡± She huffed a laugh before turning her face back to their mad scramble. ¡°True enough.¡± They had briefly considered taking the elevator, but no one liked the idea of putting themselves in that situation. It was just too easy for something to go wrong, and they were on a tight timeline. It would have been just perfect for the elevator to break and steal their entire window to work in. By the time they reached the ground floor, Alex knew a bit more about Natasha¡ªshe had a husband and a son, neither of which seemed to have made it into the ¡®Apology Tutorial¡¯, for one¡ªand he could call out his dadao without its sheath, but he was still having trouble putting it back into the sheath within the inventory. That was irritating. It was a bit silly, because the dadao was obviously safe in his inventory and didn¡¯t need to be in a sheath, but it was the principle of the thing that bothered him. Still, he didn¡¯t want to have a sword appearing and vanishing from his hand in public. So he simply devoted a part of his mind to trying to move the sword around within his inventory, aiming to get it into its sheath. And then he started doing the practice with a pen and its cap. Another part of him took a moment to marvel that he was able to split his concentration so thoroughly, but it made sense. His Mental Agility was undeniably superhuman¡­ at least non-System human. The three groups briefly waved as they came out of differing stairwells before they exited the front of the building, Lenka and Grant crossing the street to get to the hardware store more quickly. James and Kaylee gave them an odd look but didn¡¯t slow as Alex pulled Natasha into the coffee shop. Natasha gave him an odd look too, ¡°What are we¡ª¡± Alex held up a finger. ¡°One moment.¡± He walked up to the pick-up counter. ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m here for a to-go order for Alex Johnson?¡± The barista smiled. ¡°Oh! You have great timing, Mister Johnson, I¡¯ll have it right to you.¡± Alex grinned, glancing toward Natasha. She did not look pleased. Her arms were crossed and she was tapping one foot. ¡°Did you really take the time to get a coffee right before an¡ª¡± She cut herself off, glancing around. ¡°Right now? At a time like this?¡± Natasha might have made an error in judgment. This ridiculous American was wasting their time, getting a latte or some such nonsense. It made no sense. He was like her husband in so many ways, and like her son in others. Across the board, he was a contradiction. By his speech and stance¡ªnot to mention how often he seemed to sigh at the antics of others¡ªhe didn¡¯t like talking in front of people, but he seemed to do it with little hesitation. She would have bet that he had a good head on his shoulders, but then he did things like run down the stairs with a sword in his hands for a good portion of the descent. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. And now? Now he was buying a coffee. What, did he need a pick-me-up before the apocalypse? Alex cleared his throat before answering her. ¡°No.¡± He smiled as the barista began placing large, gallon-sized totes of coffee on the counter along with bags of bagels and other food. ¡°I took this time to get all the coffee.¡± Natasha blinked a few times. Oh¡­ well, that was actually rather clever. Alex grinned at his new partner in the apocalypse even as Natasha¡¯s attitude changed instantly at the realization. It took both of them to carry everything out the coffee shop, and they were struggling because of the awkward load. Even so, as they stepped out, they both put all the items into their inventories, taking off at a brisk walk. Alex had also managed to snag a couple of city maps from the tourist kiosk beside the door. So much of this world was like earth, it was eerie. They had their phones, but a paper map wouldn¡¯t run out of batteries and wasn¡¯t dependent on any network, so it was preferable in this type of situation. Lenka and Grant were still in the hardware store across the street, according to his Team Sense. That was good. The only reason they¡¯d be done already was if something was very wrong. The other two seemed to have gotten out of easy range for the skill. While he didn¡¯t know what that range was, exactly, it had to mean that they were moving at least somewhat quickly, which he appreciated. Once Alex and Natasha were moving again, he grinned toward her once more, and she gave a small smile back before conceding, ¡°Very well. That was likely worth it, assuming that we have to endure past this initial quest.¡± ¡°Undoubtedly.¡± He nodded. ¡°I think we will get the best results if we pretend that all of this is real.¡± She only hesitated a bare moment before she nodded as well. ¡°I concur.¡± As they quickly walked, Alex continued to try to get his weapon into its sheath within his inventory. It felt like trying to thread a needle while wearing oven mittens¡­ in the dark while watching his actions on an infrared monitor with a randomly changing delay and angle of perspective. That might seem impossible, but Alex was nothing if not stubborn, and it wasn¡¯t like quick-walking actually took any of his now greatly increased mental focus. Alex almost cheered when he finally succeeded, but before he could celebrate Natasha caught his attention. ¡°This is my building.¡± He moved to his pen practice, drawing it out into his hand and trying to put it back into its cap within the Inventory. He found it now worked with almost contemptible ease. Huh, so once I accomplish something, the skill or System helps facilitate it going forward? That was incredibly good to know. He had these thoughts even as they jogged inside and then sprinted up the stairs once they were out of the public eye. They only passed a few startled people on the way up. There was an elevator, but they avoided it for the same reason they had before. Thankfully, Natasha¡¯s apartment was only on the second floor. She opened the door, and they immediately went about grabbing what they could. Alex focused on the kitchen while Natasha swept the rest of the place. ¡°Grab your mattress if you can!¡± Alex called out. ¡°Already done. We sleep in Russia too.¡± ¡°What? I heard that in Russia, you gave up sleep for more time to make and drink vodka.¡± It was then that he opened the liquor cabinet. ¡°Mother Toledo. The System seems to agree with me.¡± Natasha didn¡¯t respond, but he could hear her laughing as he grabbed the truly insane amount of high-proof alcohol. If nothing else, it might be useful for burning zombies. Grant said he likes fire. Maybe he can make use of this? They couldn¡¯t grab everything; their inventories simply weren¡¯t big enough, and they still had Alex''s apartment as well. Partially because of that, Alex was incredibly meticulous as he added things, ensuring that the cans of food he grabbed went into the drawers in his filing cabinet, and things like that. All told, they only took about ten minutes from when they entered Natasha¡¯s building to when they came out. Thankfully, nothing seemed to really have changed in the city. Though they thought they could hear some distant sirens, and more people were heading in the direction of the bridges out of the city than in the other directions. Though, that could have just been a fluke of the streets they happened to be near. Even the sirens weren¡¯t that unusual in a big city. Alex checked the quest timer. Group Quest [Prepare]: Create a base of operations from which you can survive the end of the world. Outbreak will begin within: 05 hrs 14 mins All things considered, they had made incredible time so far. Alex and Natasha wove through side streets and even one alley. Though they did so with extreme attentiveness to their surroundings. It would be ridiculous to be jumped in an alley by normal people or undead. The next place they were heading for was the Martial Arts studio. The two of them talked as they moved quickly. Alex wasn¡¯t winded in the slightest, and Natasha seemed to be weathering the exercise quite well. He couldn¡¯t tell if that was due to her being in good shape before the Tutorial or if she¡¯d put one or more stats toward¡­ Physical Fortitude? Was that the stat that would make talking and jogging easier? He wasn¡¯t sure but probably. That did make sense after all. Of course, the first thing Natasha asked was a reciprocal question. ¡°Do you have any family, Alex?¡± ¡°Not immediate family. My folks are still around, but we didn¡¯t live near each other. I get along with some cousins well enough when we¡¯re in the same area, but that doesn¡¯t happen too often.¡± ¡°Not married? No kids?¡± ¡°Not anymore.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m so sorry.¡± She patted his shoulder as they continued on. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Died.¡± He sped up then, doing his best to project just how much he did not want to have this conversation. At the same time, his thumb played over his wedding ring, still firmly on his left ring finger. Natasha picked up on the sentiment, and they finished this leg of their trek in silence. When they arrived at the studio, the advanced martial arts class was in session, just as expected. Alex took a feel of his memories and sighed. He had come into the studio as a black belt from another discipline, but he was still a white belt in this art. He was liked well-enough, but he wasn¡¯t an authority here. Overall, it was a pretty vanilla experience for him, no outright negatives or positives. The instructor came over as they entered, ¡°Mister Johnson, good to see you.¡± He noticed Natasha and held out his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Matt, but my students call me Master Adams.¡± Natasha took his hand. ¡°Natasha.¡± ¡°Good to meet you.¡± He then turned back to Alex. ¡°What can I do for you, Mister Johnson?¡± Alex sighed, steeling himself for what he had to say. ¡°This is going to sound crazy, but some of my sources have told me that there is an honest to goodness zombie apocalypse starting in this city. I expect it to reach this area within hours.¡± Matt didn¡¯t laugh. Instead, his face became a mask of concern, his voice hushed, ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Deadly, yes.¡± The martial arts instructor grimaced slightly. ¡°You hear about all the crazy magical experiments the adventurers are doing in their college, but I never believed any would go so far or escape into the city proper.¡± Alex blinked, and after a moment''s internal searching, he almost smacked himself in the face. This wasn¡¯t earth. This was a world with roughly modern technology and magic, where magic was less common but hardly rare. His proclamation would likely be akin to him telling a friend back on earth that there¡¯d been an ebola outbreak in town. Not remotely expected, but not something to laugh off as impossible. All those thoughts whipped through his head, and he actually closed his eyes in a wave of revelation as one more piece clicked into place. He knew that this was a magical plague. He¡¯d had it, and it hadn¡¯t immediately gone away with his attribute. He¡¯d had to combat it, and he¡¯d gotten experience for doing so. The attribute had made it clear what that meant: ¡®Innate ability to combat magical plagues.¡¯ I¡¯m an idiot. Matt was nodding as he continued to consider. ¡°Do you have a plan, or are you looking for a place to hole up?¡± ¡°We¡¯re turning the old southeast side highschool gym into a safehouse.¡± He looked up in consideration. ¡°That¡¯s as good a place as any. Strong structural magics in the walls.¡± He huffed a laugh. ¡°The only reason it¡¯s still standing is how expensive it¡¯s going to be to get an adventurer to come to decommission it.¡± Alex smiled. ¡°So¡­?¡± ¡°So, I¡¯ll send a message to all my students. I¡¯ll close up the studio and head that way. Unless it¡¯s an extremely unusual outbreak, the studio should be safe so long as there isn¡¯t anyone inside.¡± And Alex knew he was right from his own memories. Another country had had a zombie outbreak a few years earlier. It had depopulated a few cities, and it had taken months, but in the end, it had been contained. There was definite precedence for this. Buildings that hadn¡¯t had anyone inside had been largely ignored. I should have looked deeper into the provided information, the provided memories. The knowledge also implied that zombies in this world could sense people in some manner. Likely magic. ¡°Do you need anything from us?¡± Natasha asked, speaking to the instructor. Matt shook his head. ¡°Thank you for letting me know in person. I probably wouldn¡¯t have seen any message until it was too late.¡± Alex smiled and shook Matt¡¯s hand. ¡°Of course.¡± They left quickly, then, hearing the beginnings of Matt Adams explaining the situation to his students. Things are actually going relatively well. Chapter 11: Magic? Alex and Natasha were practically sprinting down the street after leaving the Martial Arts Studio. Even so, as they rounded a corner, Alex skidded to a stop, his eyes locked onto a small¡ªbut obviously incredibly posh¡ªstore. Alex almost cackled as he snagged Natasha¡¯s arm and pulled her into the Magic Emporium. The Magic Emporium. This world had magic. He had to remember that. ¡°Can you text the others? They¡¯re going to want to make stops if they can.¡± Even with this newest discovery¡ªas they pushed their way through the door to get inside¡ªhe was continuing to devote a part of his enhanced mind toward reorganizing his temporary inventory to the best effect. There was a pleasant jingling through the shop as the door swung closed behind them. It clearly didn¡¯t come from any bell, and there was an¡­ extra quality to the air. Magic? That did make sense. Magic in a magic store. Natasha sucked in a breath as she seemingly made the connection as well. Clearly, she was still coming to grips with this facet of their reality as much as he was. Alex quickly spoke under his breath. ¡°Please keep them up to date with what we learn here. I¡¯d welcome any thoughts or insights as well.¡± She nodded, returning her attention to her phone. Lenka had always loved setting traps. As a child, they¡¯d been silly things, pranks or jokes played on family and friends. As a teen, it had been as a part of hunting in the few places where that was still allowed. As an adult¡­ she hadn¡¯t enjoyed the traps she¡¯d dealt with nearly as much, but then again, no one liked dealing with landmines. Even then, she¡¯d mainly been training to do the cleanup rather than placing them. Breathe, Lenka. You aren¡¯t going to be hurting people. These will be used against undead abominations. She had carts full of chemicals and other items that were obviously for nefarious purposes, but the cashier didn¡¯t bat an eye as Lenka maxed out her credit-card-like thing with the purchase. Grant had already gotten his building materials, along with some things that Lenka couldn¡¯t have afforded, and he¡¯d even loaded it all into his Inventory already. She¡¯d just paid when her phone buzzed, and from the look of things, Grant¡¯s had too. Grant was faster in pulling his out, and she let him read as she pulled all her purchases into her Inventory. Now, she¡¯d been tempted to just steal some of the materials she wanted and needed, but she just couldn¡¯t bring herself to do it¡­mainly because there seemed to be some sort of security something in effect that prevented anything from being put in their Inventory until they purchased it. She literally couldn''t bring herself to use the skill. That had been saddening to realize, but what could she do? Buy the things she needed and wanted. That¡¯s what she could do. Finished loading up her Inventory, she thanked the clerk and turned to Grant. Grant was furiously typing back a response. Still, he saw her walk up beside him. ¡°We have another stop to make.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Magic shops are a thing.¡± Grant seemed positively giddy with excitement. ¡°Like, we can buy magic, Lenka.¡± He chuckled under his breath. ¡°Magic will be mine.¡± Lenka blinked a few times, implanted memories of seeing magic shops flickering through her recollections. ¡°Huh¡­ so they are.¡± I wonder what sort I can get¡­ An attendant, who was dressed incredibly nicely¡ªif in a slightly different style than they¡¯d seen before¡ªwalked up to them, taking in their attire and clearly assuming they didn¡¯t have much money. Still, he remained professional. ¡°Good afternoon, sir, madam. How can I assist you?¡± Alex smiled, his memory having found how much money he had in this world. ¡°Do you work on commissions?¡± ¡°No, we only sell the items that we have in stock.¡± Alex frowned. What? Then, he understood. ¡°Oh, no, I apologize. I don''t need anything custom. I was trying to ask: Do you earn a commission on sales?¡± The man blinked a few times before hesitantly responding. ¡°I¡­ yes?¡± ¡°Then today is your lucky day. I¡¯ve always wanted to learn magic, and I¡¯ve got funds to burn.¡± A light filled the young man¡¯s eyes, but there was a tempered nature to the light. ¡°We don¡¯t have any initializers to sell. So, if you aren¡¯t already an adventurer¡­¡± Alex almost frowned, but his provided memories filled in the gap. In this world, ¡®adventurer¡¯ was simply anyone with levels at all. Didn¡¯t Master Adams say something about adventurers? It probably didn¡¯t matter. Regardless, an initializer was what was required to take a Level 0 to Level 1. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need for that. I¡¯m already leveled.¡± The light blazed brighter within the salesman¡¯s eyes. ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in a hurry, and I don¡¯t know exactly, but what would you recommend for someone planning on attempting to attend the college as a door-buster?¡± Again, his memories provided the word for adventurers who went into magical places of power that were filled with monsters. He would have called them dungeons, but apparently this world just called them doors, because that¡¯s the form they seemingly took most often, here. ¡°Well, then. Let¡¯s see what we can do. We don¡¯t have any of the standard sets on hand, sadly. We¡¯re a bit too far from the college for that, but I do have some things that should be of interest. If needed, I can order in anything you desire.¡± ¡°How soon could you have it here?¡± Alex asked curiously. With magic, maybe it would be a matter of mere moments? ¡°Tomorrow morning at the latest.¡± Alex nodded, disappointed, but he did his best to not show it. ¡°I will keep that in mind. Thank you.¡± There were, apparently, two ways to learn skills or spells in this world. One was through study. The other was through orb absorption. Books that could be studied to gain skills were by far cheaper than the orb that simply granted the skill. There was the potential of incompatibility with an orb, but it was effectively instant in either success or failure. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With that in mind, Alex dove into the lists provided by the attendant. They were¡­extensive to say the least. After a moment, however, Alex frowned, turning back to the attendant. He glanced to the name tag before asking his question, ¡°Jason, why are there no offensive spells or skills here?¡± The attendant¡ªJason¡ªwidened his eyes. ¡°My apologies, good sir, but it would be illegal to sell such to a non-accredited adventurer. The College will have some upon your acceptance should you go that route, and once you graduate¡ªor at least earn your basic accreditation¡ªwe hope that you remember us and return.¡± Alex grunted. That made just too much sense. The world seemed mostly peaceful. He hadn¡¯t seen anyone openly carrying weapons, outside of the training ones in the Martial Arts Studio. Utility it is, then. The immediate distinction between spells and skills was obvious, at least at the Simple and Common rarities of F-rank. Spells used Magic Points¡ªotherwise known as mana or MP¡ªto accomplish effects. Skills were everything or anything else. But then, he frowned. ¡°Excuse me, why is this listed as a skill, not a spell?¡± Jason took a look and nodded. ¡°Ahh, because it isn¡¯t based upon mana usage. Instead, it is either a constant effect, or in the case of that skill, it is an action that requires a cooldown before you can use it again.¡± The attendant frowned for a moment, then turned around and grabbed a tome from the shelf behind the counter. ¡°You can¡¯t read it here, but I suggest you purchase this along with whatever else we can provide you with.¡± The book was labeled simply ¡®System Basics for the New Adventurer.¡¯ Alex nodded gratefully. ¡°Absolutely. Thank you. I¡¯d love another copy if you have it?¡± Jason smiled, setting a second copy beside the first. ¡°Of course, sir.¡± Alex turned back to the list of skills and spells. Without his magic unlocked, he didn¡¯t actually know how much mana he¡¯d have, so the basic descriptions weren¡¯t as useful as he¡¯d like. A spell that turned mana into healing at a ratio of one mana to one health point might be fantastic if he had a pool of mana larger than his own health, or awful if he only had twenty mana total. Jason had also provided a pencil and paper so that Alex could write down what he wanted. Soon enough, Alex had a list of spells and skills that he was interested in. Basic Mana Manipulation (Common) [Skill] Basic Mana Sense (Common) [Skill] Quick Step (Uncommon) [Skill] Clot Blood (Common) [Spell] Cleanse (Common) [Spell] Purify (Uncommon) [Spell] Create Water (Common) [Spell] Create Rations (Common) [Spell] Analyze (Common) [Skill] Deep Assessment (Uncommon) [Spell] Cure Wounds (Uncommon) [Spell] Minor Heal (Common) [Spell] First Aid (Common) [Spell] Detect Life (Common) [Spell] Detect Unlife (Common) [Spell] Detect Elemental (Common) [Spell] Life Sense (Common) [Skill] Danger Sense (Common) [Skill] Speed Reading (Common) [Skill] And so on. Two in particular stood out to him, and he could almost feel the System working in the background to get him the skills. Blood Replenishment (Uncommon) [Spell] Blood Transfusion (Uncommon) [Spell] He turned the list around to Jason, and the man¡¯s eyes visibly widened at the extensive list. ¡°Well, sir. Let me see what I can do.¡± He went down the list making notations. Finally, he nodded, turning the paper back around. ¡°These are the ones we have on hand and the costs for those as well as how soon we can get any of the remainder that are available and the associated costs.¡± Alex felt his eye twitch at the price of each item. He was also irritated that much of what he wanted was not available. Including both of the spells that he¡¯d thought were System designated for him. He sighed. Ahh, well. That would have been a bit too easy. Even draining his bank account and maxing his credit cards, he couldn¡¯t even get all that he was interested in, even when limited to the more limited list that this store had available. No wonder Jason was so well dressed. If he worked on commission and these were the prices¡­ he wouldn¡¯t be hurting for funds. James held a knife in each hand as he and Kaylee slunk through the darkened gymnasium. They hadn¡¯t found any evidence of other people¡­ or things there, but he didn¡¯t want to get complacent. Kaylee¡­ well, she was texting even as she walked in a crouch. He couldn¡¯t really blame her. Natasha had reached out to them about a Magic shop of some kind, and even James was excitedly telling Kaylee what he was interested in¡ªand listening to the frankly ridiculous restrictions that were in place¡ªas he tried to keep quiet and continue doing their task. The constant whispering back and forth slowed them down quite a bit. Even so, they took the time to verify all the exterior doors, save those in the locker rooms, but since those were between the gym and the school, he figured they would be the ones most often checked by the school staff. He¡¯d investigate those last. It was a creepy experience slinking through the dark with just his phone light shining from over the edge of his pocket to give them illumination. It was deeply relieving when they¡¯d cleared the gym enough that James was comfortable turning on the massive overhead lights in the main space in preparation for their next tasks. He would handle the locker rooms himself while Kaylee took stock of what they had to work with. Alright, just a quick check, and we¡¯re home free. He was striding across the gym with quiet steps when he heard something echoing through the vacant rooms and hallways from back near the entrance that they¡¯d come through. What? Is that¡­ voices? He glanced toward the locker rooms, but sighed, quickly making the knives disappear. He spun on his heels and headed toward one working entrance. I¡¯ll handle this first. Alex felt like he was going to explode with nervous energy, but he kept himself contained as they finished up the transaction. In the end, after communicating with the others through Natasha, they ended up purchasing the following: System Basics, book x2; Basic Mana Manipulation (Uncommon) [Skill], orb x4; Analyze (Common) [Skill], orb x4; Basic Mana Sense (Common) [Skill], orb; Detect Life (Common) [Spell], orb; Detect Unlife (Common) [Spell], book; Speed Reading (Common) [Skill], book; Danger Sense (Common) [Skill], orb; Quick Step (Uncommon) [Skill], orb; Clot Blood (Common) [Spell], orb; Cure Wounds (Uncommon) [Spell], book; Minor Heal (Common) [Spell], book; The rest were unavailable at this location. An added frustration was that Spell books could only be used by one person before they would turn to dust. They were apparently made with magics to function that way, otherwise one person buying the spellbook could remove the shop¡¯s abilities to make money with that knowledge. At least that was what was stated. Alex didn¡¯t buy it, even if he did literally buy the books. Honestly, he would have gotten more, but not only would this purchase mean that he would be tapped out of funds¡ªeven to the point of needing Natasha to chip in to make the purchase¡ªbut the shop simply didn¡¯t stock too many of the most useful ones to him. He did ask after Blood Transfusion and Replenishment, and Jason said that he could order them, and they would arrive by the next morning. Alex pushed a bit, and Jason was willing to look up which other stores in the area might have them in stock, so long as Alex promised to take Jason¡¯s card and credit the sale to him in that other shop. They weren¡¯t at any other shop together, but there was a known copy of each within a few blocks of the school in different directions. Alex pulled out the map and marked the places on it, much to Jason¡¯s amusement. In the end, Natasha shoed Alex away, and took several precious minutes to haggle, not lowering the price, but getting another two System Basics books,one orb of Detect Trove (Common) [Spell], and one orb of Mine-Not-Yours (Common) [Skill]. Both seemed¡­ pretty niche to Alex¡ªand their lower price and Jason¡¯s willingness to include them seemed to back him up in that assessment¡ªbut free was free, and they would undoubtedly find good uses for them. Finally, all of that complete, they finalized their purchase. Natasha had been wrong. Alex was a fool, just like most Americans. He¡¯d actually been going to pay the sticker price for what they wanted! Unbelievable. No wonder so many Americans acted like they were poor. True, in the end she hadn¡¯t been able to lower the price¡ªthis Jason fellow worked on commissions, and he wasn¡¯t willing to let his cut shrink, it seemed¡ªbut she was able to get him to throw in some genuinely choice items. She¡¯d have preferred to include more things, then take them away to lower the cost, but not only did she suspect that wouldn¡¯t have worked on Jason, they¡¯d been forced to discuss how much they could spend in front of the attendant. It was poor planning on their part. Well, what was done was done, and now she was the only person in their group with money. That made things easier. Only the one in charge should have money. All this back and forth is just ridiculous¡­ She couldn¡¯t wait to get back to her husband. He understood how things should be. She felt a small smile tug at her lips. She missed that man, but she knew he would be able to handle himself. Be safe and keep our son safe too, moi voin.