As if opening the door of reality, a being resembling a futuristic robot gracefully entered the white void, but the mechanical body looked as if it was fluid, being partially transparent. Its size was adjusted to the size of each human, and in place of the face instead of real eyes, nose, and mouth there was something that looked like a projection. The displayed facial expression showed a gentle smile.
Even though the people were levitating in the void, the being walked towards them as if the lack of ground or gravity did not affect it. Despite the friendly smile, every person instinctively knew that the approaching entity was something beyond them. It gave off an atmosphere that suggested a personified force of nature was looking down on you.
Each instance of the being stopped a few meters in front of the human and then spoke.
“Greetings. At this time, the life of this world is in the systemic zone of pre-tutorial installation. For the tutorial, an instance will be established, encompassing an environment tailored to the individual’s educational needs, which will provide the knowledge necessary for interacting with the system and the appropriate skills. The conditions for completion will be revealed within it.”
After a moment of silence, the being moved a few steps to the side, making room for the screen that was forming behind it. A visualization of seven differently looking people appeared on the screen, with different icons underneath them. Each person was separated from the next by a vertical line suggesting that all the icons were related only to the person above them, while the last, seventh position had no additional icons, and the person had no distinguishing features. Below all the options, there was also a separate section with icons: one depicting a currently greyed-out letter ‘A’, and the other with a question mark.
This was the sight that the vast majority of people saw at the moment, but depending on the circumstances of each life, the process could be facilitated or omitted. The youngest children, who weren’t put to sleep at that moment, saw a simplified screen and other choices, and the being explaining the situation informed them their main task now, which was, in short, not to disturb the adults and to learn how to interact with the system. There were also animals in the white void. Depending on their ability to understand, they either had their current situation injected into their minds or simply held for a while, calming them down and putting them in an optimal state.
Returning to the situation most universal to humans, after glancing at the panel that appeared, the entity continued with the introduction.
”The individual’s preferred lifestyle should be selected. The choice is not permanently binding, however it constitutes a major factor in selecting the preparatory tutorial scenario. Therefore, deliberation is advised. There is also a possibility to request an automatic selection, which will be adjusted based on experiences and personality. Selecting multiple positions will result in an intermediate scenario. To obtain further details, focusing on the given section is required.”
As the entity mentioned, when focusing on a specific item, the rest of the hologram became partially transparent and blurred, and the selected part looked as if it was getting closer to the sight, while expanding and providing more information. There were also options to mark a choice, exit detailed information, and go to the previous and next item. People who wanted to read them easily absorbed the text, regardless of whether they read fluently in their external life or had difficulty with this activity, and even those who preferred to hear something, instead of reading, in response to the desire, actually heard the content in their heads.
The selection was divided into seven sections, where the first six were generally grouped lifestyles, and the last was an undefined variant for those who do not have, or do not want, a specific style, or no other option suited them.
The defined lifestyles to choose from were: Manufacturing, Managerial, Exploratory, Supportive, Cultural, and Combative. After reviewing them, the previously grayed out ‘A’ icon lit up, suggesting the possibility of automatic selection.
Those who like boring details may have read that these styles included:
- Manufacturing: crafts, mining, construction, blacksmithing, alchemy, animal breeding, agriculture, cooking, crafting and repairing objects or artifacts.
- Managerial: administration, trade, diplomacy, management, planning, strategy, problem-solving, law and order.
- Exploratory: exploration, research, theory, librarianship, cartography, or studying the unknown,
- Supportive : medicine, healing the wounded, priesthood, logistics, scouting, supplying resources, magical support, transportation. This also included activities such as teaching or caring.
- Cultural: arts and crafts, philosophy, entertainment, spirituality, history and chronicling, fashion and aesthetics, as well as propaganda and influence on society.
- Combative: hand-to-hand combat, ranged combat, combat magic, irregular combat, hunting, or law enforcement. This option was one of the more extensive, containing various styles of direct offensive or defensive interactions, or even taming beasts that need to fight in order to progress.
By focusing on the question mark on the screen with all the options, you could get additional clarification, such as saying that people could choose between crafting and combat as their preferred lifestyle, which could result in a tutorial scenario that required, for example, crafting an item and then practically using it in combat.
At this point, people’s approach was very different. Some refused to choose, grumbling internally or forcibly denying the reality of the circumstances, others grimly submitted to their fate and chose, or panicked, not knowing what choice to make. There was also no shortage of people who approached the matter with enthusiasm and impatience, unable to wait for what would come next, especially noticing the mentions of magic or beasts.
Those refusing to choose sat there, looking at the screen, the being, or the void. Nothing changed, no matter how long they waited and complained. At some point, everyone made a choice. After the final confirmation, the being accompanying the people spoke again.
“Selection registered. The time preceding scenario generation will be devoted to answering appearing questions.”
This was said quite literally, since people were still unable to make any sounds. However, it turned out that this was not necessary. The moment a question in thought and the desire to ask was formulated, the being began to respond. Some questions were omitted, because even in this situation people were either trying to scheme, wondering if they could gain some additional benefit from the being, or were just plain weird. Example? In a sadly large number of cases, people were asking about the possibility of seeing the being’s feet up close.
People often asked about their loved ones, the reason why this entire situation was happening, or whether returning was possible; all of which were answered with patience, however without specific information about other people. Eventually, when it was deemed that the time for questions had passed, the being declared.
“The tutorial scenario will now be generated. Further instructions will be shown in the target environment. Good luck.”
After saying these words, the white void began to disappear, revealing a new environment. The sight that greeted people was different, not only depending on the chosen style. There were also other things involved that were hidden from the participants’ knowledge at this point. One of the hidden things was the measurement of potential and the selection of the scenario’s difficulty.
***
For a long time, Anna felt as if something had changed in her. She no longer enjoyed conversation as much as before, and her extroverted lifestyle radically changed. At the moment of entering the white void, she was convinced that she had simply fallen asleep, but that thought quickly faded, as if the reality of the situation had somehow been forced into her head. Being in that place, however, she felt as if her mind had become lighter, leaving her with the feeling as if an old version of herself had been restored.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It took her quite a while to choose a style, luckily the being guiding the process stood patiently, making only subtle, natural movements. Not being pushed helped to calm her nerves and make a choice, but she still wasn’t confident doing it.
Although she studied psychology, her job had little to do with that field. When she started her studies, she imagined herself running a clinic where she would talk to people and help them get back on track. However, in order to earn money, she started working as an Office Manager, where she took care of the smooth functioning of the office and organization. However, she liked her job and her coworkers. Although she was required to show up for meetings every two weeks, she was in the office much more often. Planning to simply finish her studies so as not to disappoint anyone, she intended to continue working in her current job.
Anna chose three styles in total: Managerial, Supportive and Cultural. She was mainly interested in Management, as it had a lot in common with her previous work. Supportive matched her field of study and Cultural... had the mentioned fashion in it.
A new sight appeared before her eyes. She was in a pedestrian area of ??a city that looked much more ordinary than she had expected to see. Seeing the being moving through the void, she thought the scenarios that were being discussed would look more futuristic or magical. The place had a mix of modern buildings, but there were also fascinating historical buildings that reminded her of Madrid, which she had visited as a child. Looking around, however, there were a few elements that did not fit the previous feeling.
The moment she got here, she had seen a few other people, but after a while, something that looked like clothing store mannequins began to appear. The comparison was made more realistic by the fact that each mannequin was wearing clothes, but what made them different from the ones she was used to, was that they moved as if they were normal, living people. They were walking, sitting on benches, or going about their daily lives.
When Anna came back to her senses, a message appeared before her eyes.
[Welcome to the tutorial.],
[A scenario has been generated. You are in a new world with a group of people you don’t know. This City is not adapted to operate on mana and is therefore not fully functional.]
[Quest #1 – Interact with the system by customizing the visual personal interface. The task will be considered completed once the settings are confirmed.]
When she finished reading the first quest, she noticed a small icon in the upper right corner blinking. But before she could think about it, the next task appeared.
[Quest #2 – Work with other people and provided automatons to diagnose problems and optimize city management. By helping to improve the situation, you will gain experience, allowing you to unlock skills.
To complete the quest, acquire [1] skill.]
Anna, reading the quests, paled slightly. She felt as if the matter had overwhelmed her, and the increasingly loud discussions among the people present caused growing tension. She was supposed to help improve the situation, but to tell the truth, she did not know her situation at all. It did not help that over time people began to shout over each other. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind. She was supposed to diagnose the problem, having one in front of her eyes.
Since her friend from the office was gone, she had become more withdrawn. She had never had a problem expressing herself on the forum, but now she felt something was holding her back. However, she knew what to do and approached the angry people.
“Excuse me?” she said, too quietly at first. Seeing the lack of reaction, she pulled herself together and, raising her voice, shouted. “Hey!”
Slightly flushed, for not using a better word to draw attention, she continued.
“Before this escalates, please take one deep breath. We are all human here, and the situation is stressful for all of us, but we do have control over how we deal with it. Each of us has our own reasons and things that matter to us, so let’s try to hear each other one by one and work out something that will slowly help us deal with the situation. We’re supposed to cooperate, right?
While her impromptu speech did little to quell the anger building in the arguing crowd, at least she was heard. The man, who looked like he was barely containing himself, opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by someone else.
“Dear lady?” Anna heard the words spoken behind her. She turned around, trying to locate the speaker, who, seeing this, waved at her. “I must apologize, as I inadvertently overheard, although I would like to express my doubts about the statement that everyone here is human,” said a mannequin in a stylish flat cap.
***
The people doing their tutorials found themselves surrounded by a wide variety of landscapes. Some appeared in what looked like gyms, surrounded by human and mannequin children, while others ended up in what were considered laboratories, libraries, or forges. Others were transported to facilities resembling hospitals or offices filled with papers. Some people, however, appeared in places where there were no buildings nearby, and instead were surrounded by wild nature.
The tutorials had up to three hundred participants per instance. In some situations, people would spawn in groups, while in others, they’d have to walk for hours to meet another individual of the same species.
Instances were generated based on the choice made, the assigned difficulty level and the specific scenario according to the need for specific styles. However, since the total number of participants was huge, there was no situation where the generated instance contained fewer than a few dozen people, which in some cases led to constant conflicts.
***
The water pouring into his lungs brought with it the promise of long-awaited peace. At some point, however, he felt as if he was sinking in the bottom of the lake. He was sliding below the level of the mud, deeper and deeper. His current state meant that he was unable to process this properly. Busy with dying, he also failed to notice two strange messages.
[Essence Isolated],
[Connection lost].
At one point, he felt his back hit something sharp. He still felt like he was deep underwater, but at the same time his body became dry. The dissonance between these sensations made Orion slowly open his eyes.
At this moment, he didn’t even notice that something was wrong. Involuntarily, he opened his eyes, which he should have been missing for some time now. He had lost his right eye a long time ago, but his left one had been gouged out a few days before the end of his ordeal, as they wanted him to still be able to see what they were doing to him. Now, however, he could see with both of his eyes, but his sight was very blurry.
Orion lay there for a moment, unable to process the situation. He was still in death-waiting mode. His mind, instead of forming thoughts, was filled with incomprehensible shapes, swaying like tentacles towards him, as if they were trying to swallow him up, and he wanted to let them. But he couldn’t ignore the fact that he felt like he was lying on sharpened stones, and he also felt like a warm breeze was caressing his skin. He even felt like he could feel the wind and the ground with his hands and feet.
He slowly began to distinguish that the strange tentacles that surrounded him were in his mind, and the second, blurry scene was something he was seeing in reality. As if subconsciously telling the tentacles to wait a moment, he began to ignore them and tried to squint and strain his eyes, which seemed to slowly improve his vision. The blurry scene he saw was slowly coming into focus, and the smudges were taking on clearer shapes. When, after a while, he regained the ability to recognize what he was looking at, he was greeted by the sight of strange, twisted rocks.
His mind was slowly clearing, and the tentacles were fading. Instead of waiting for death, he slowly began to enjoy his situation. The stones digging into his back were now a pleasant massage, and the occasional breeze reminded him of a vacation. He remembered the time he had fallen asleep on the beach. He had woken up to the merciless dousing of cold water and the sound of his brother laughing and running away. Even though he had been lying in the sun for far too long, he had chased after Robert, muttering something about the nasty little brat. The memory, however, quickly faded away.
He spent a stupid amount of time just looking up, not thinking about anything. As long as he had the strength in his mind, he was always analyzing everything he saw and heard. He was thinking about the likely reactions to what he would say, and what might come of them, and how to possibly cope with it. At that moment, his mind was quiet.
When he finally thought about it, he actually started hearing. Something he shouldn’t be able to do, either. It was a faint sound, somewhere far in the background, but it was continuous. It was like a humming sound, but he couldn’t connect the sound to anything he had heard before. He also had to focus on his hearing to make the sound clearer, although it ultimately seemed to remain muffled. After a few minutes, he was able to recognize the sounds of gusts of wind, but he still couldn’t place the hum. When he started thinking about it, he could have sworn he heard more unidentifiable sounds. One sounded like someone had recorded the squeak of a worn-out swing and set it onto a vinyl record, extended it, and paused it mid-play, causing the record to drop off. Another sound was a distant clatter and scraping.
Oho, someone’s nuts here, he thought, smiling.
After a while, deciding to finally end this moment of relaxation, he decided to focus on his position. He tried to lift his head to see more of the surrounding landscape, which he immediately ignored when he saw his body.
Ignoring for now the fact that he was dressed in some kind of bag, he could see something that looked like arms and legs. They currently looked bent and blurred, as if they would dissolve if he wasn’t careful. He decided to try moving them, tensing and relaxing the muscles, and bending the fingers. It took a long time, but he could see that they were slowly taking shape. Without stopping, he decided to check something else. After testing for a moment, he realized that he could feel it. He had it again!
If anyone else were here, they would see Orion lying smugly on his back, making strange faces and running his tongue over his teeth while waving his arms and legs and giggling.