“Amanda, we need help,” Zora said into the phone.
“What happened? Where are you?” Amanda asked on the other line.
“We were on our way to you and our car broke down. We are in Denver right now. Took forever to find a landline,” she said, doing her best not to panic. Sometimes she forgot how big the US was. The 4 girls had left early the day before and stopped in Denver for food, but when she tried to start the car again it was dead. They got a hotel, but had been unable to get a new vehicle.
“Initialization is tonight, there’s no way you can make it here,” Amanda said, panicked. “Hold on, I think there is a System Group there. I’ll get their address and call you back.”
“Thanks Amanda,” Zora said with a sigh of relief.
They hadn’t run into too much trouble, but she had been forced to pull out her gun once. Cash was still good, and Tiff had been sure to stock Zora up with the rest of what they had before she left. A hotel room had cost $1,000, but Zora gladly paid for a safe place to stay.
Now that the Initialization was only 16 hours away people had really begun to panic. She regretted leaving the farm now. They had been all excited to go off on their little adventure. Her cousins were too young for Initialization and her other family members had said they would go through the Easy Tutorial if it came down to it. She knew they would be safe. It was only now that Zora was truly nervous. She didn’t want to die before her chance at a System.
The phone rang and Amanda read off the address. In a panic she realized they didn’t have signal. The receptionist at the hotel gave them directions. They were soon walking off to the Denver System Group. The other girls followed without a word. They had been all smiles and giggles before. Singing songs together on their road trip. But after seeing one person get carjacked and another get mugged they didn’t say anything.
It took 2 hours of walking, running, and jogging but they eventually made it to the address. Zora had been ready to shoot anyone that tried anything, but they had hardly been bothered. A few guys yelled at them as they drove past, but none slowed. Each of them had been harassed more at school than they did during the apocalypse.
The address took them to a small diner. Other businesses were abandoned, but the diner was filled with people. The lights on, Zora tried to open it but the door was locked. A few people looked her way but most ignored the door.
She knocked and it wasn’t till an older woman came up that they unlocked it. “Closed for Initialization.”
“Amanda with the Community Guild sent me here,” Zora said quickly.
“But I didn’t get-“ the older woman said, taking out her phone. Zora noticed the dozen missed calls on the screen as the older woman read them. “Shit I’m sorry girls. Come in,” she said. “Damn service has been so spotty.”
She stepped away as she called Amanda back. “Yep sorry. Didn’t have service. She’s here now. You want to talk to her?”
The older woman handed Zora the phone. “Hey you ok?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah we surprisingly got here fine,” she admitted.
“Good. Stay safe. Asher would kill everyone if something happened to you.”
Zora wanted to laugh, but Amanda was probably right. “You stay safe too. I’ll see you in a few months.”
“Thanks,” Zora said, handing the phone back.
“We don’t have much, but I can whip you all up some grub, find a seat,” the older woman said. She headed to the back of the diner. The place was packed with people. Most all wore armor and weapons of some type. No guns, of course, but swords, spears, daggers, and many others Zora didn’t know.
The only seating was at the bar near where the older woman was cooking. She noticed them and talked while she made eggs. “Where are you out of?”
“Came in from Iowa. But our car broke down,” Zora admitted.
“Long way. Think you girls are ready for the Tutorial?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Good answer,” she said, setting a plate in front of Zora. Simple toast, eggs, and bacon. Zora didn’t realize how hungry she was. The whole day had been nerve wracking. “Y’all got weapons?”
“We do. In our bags,” Zora said. She would have been skeptical of the question if a man had asked.
“I'd take ‘em out if I was you,” she said. “Don’t think the System will allow carry ons. Been doing this a long time. Almost 15 years I’ve run this place. Taken in people with Systems. Walked them through how stuff worked. My own son went in a dungeon years ago, but didn’t come out. This fucking System will chew you up, then spit you out. Me, I’d rather have a weapon in my hand when a goblin tries to gut me.”
Zora shared a look with the others. They shrugged and went into their luggage. Even Zora pretended to. The 4 of them set the same type of long dagger on the counter. “System stuff? Good. Don’t let them out of your hands. Even to eat. I know we have…” her eyes zoned out as she read an invisible screen, “9 hours and 32 minutes. But don’t for a second think people won’t get taken early.”
Zora gulped. She hadn’t really thought of that. As they finished their food the girls sat in silence. Stuck in her own head it was hard to focus on one thought. They went from Asher, to her parents, to friends back home, and back to Tiff. It wasn’t till she looked over and saw Galina was suddenly gone that she was brought out of it.
“Galina?” She said aloud. Looking in the diner. Her voice appeared to wake people up. Others noticed more people missing. Names were called. Zora walked over to Galina’s spot. Her dagger was on the table and the suitcase was by where her stool was.
Panicked, she looked to the other 2 friends as her dagger was willed back into her necklace. Then everything went white.
—-
“Did you fuck him already?” Daphne asked as she walked up to Anita. She was sitting at one of the wooden old timey tables in the cafeteria. Nursing a cup of coffee her old friend gave her a sly smile.
“No,” Anita admitted eventually. “What about the boy toy I saw you with?”
“Fine piece of ass like that, you gotta butter them up before you rock their world,” Daphne admitted. She had flirted with Arnold for a while the day before, but eventually had to check on her dad. Before she knew it the lights were dimmed and she went off to bed.
“What about Asher?” Anita asked.
Daphne cringed. “Ria told you about that?” Anita nodded. “Look I like a good time and all, but I’m not used to getting my world rocked. Kid would barely touch me and I’d turn into a sputtering mess. I like being the one with experience. Not to feel like some teen who can’t keep up. And that girlfriend of his. Shit I thought I knew what I was doing.”
Anita blushed. They had their own fun when they were younger, but it had been years of vanilla stuff for both of them. “No, give me a young stallion that’s up for once or thrice a night and worships me for what I can show him over that any night of the week. What about you? Surprised you never hit it, thought he worked at your shop.”
“Well he was my friend’s son,” Anita admitted.
“I swear I didn’t know,” Daphne complained.
“But, if I knew he was gonna be king of the freaking world someday I might have lowered my standards a little,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah yeah, tell me the deets on your new husband,” Daphne said. Anita blushed again. Despite all they had been through Anita was still the young blonde from Utah in Daphne’s eyes.
“We talked,” she said with a barely hidden smile. “All night.”
“All night? We have a big day today,” she said.
“You get much sleep?” Anita asked. Daphne shook her head. There was too much going on for her to relax and sleep. She may have gotten 2 full hours. And when she awoke it was from a nightmare that she was the last person on Earth and everyone else had disappeared. She didn’t get any shuteye after that. “Yeah we just talked. He told me about his life, and I talked about mine.”
“What about…you know.”
“Like an open book,” she said. “Kind of flowed out of me. He was very sweet about it. Then we talked about our own experiences with failed marriages. I admitted that my last one failed because I couldn’t get pregnant. He talked about his daughter and ex-wife. Then we wrapped up the night with our hopes and dreams. It was perfect,” she said with a smile.
“Well shit. Your night was better than mine,” Daphne admitted. Maybe she should have tried harder with Arnold. One last fling before the world ended. “Where is he now? Figured you’d be clung to him still.”
“He’s checking on something in their Training Hall. Did you check it out back there? They have an arsenal stored for once this thing blows over. At one point he made me try different weapons. Ended up liking a staff more, so he put that in my ring.”
“You know, past me would have taken that as a sexual innuendo,” Daphne said with a smile. Anita blushed again. She was too easy to tease.
“How’s it going ladies?” Amanda asked, sitting down. She had some coffee too.
“Where is the coffee?” Daphne asked. Her head throbbed and mouth watered for it.
“Over there,” the girls pointed to the corner.
By the time Daphne got back with her own cup Anita was gone. “Where did she go?” She asked Amanda.
“Wayne called her over,” Amanda said. “Ran off after him.”
“That horny bitch,” Anita whined. The room was filling up quickly as they idly chatted.
Eventually the elephant in the room was addressed between the 2 of them. “How long have you known Asher?” Amanda asked.
“Few months,” she admitted. “I’ve known his mother for years, and knew she had a son, but didn’t know what he looked like. Day I met him, I popped his cherry,” she admitted unashamedly. He’s easily the most famous person she’d banged. It was a badge of honor.
“That was you?” Amanda asked with a laugh. “He told me he lost it during a porn shoot.”
“He told you?” Daphne said, amazed. So she began telling the story of getting mildly blackmailed, banging some kid on his first day, then running into him at an old friend's house.
Amanda laughed giddily during the story. Midway through she got a call about one of her friends in Denver, but was soon back to the story.
“Sounds like him. But I gotta tell you how I met him,” Amanda said. Then went into the prostitution sting she was doing for a stint. The day she had met Asher she chased him down but was then stopped by Batman.
“Is that guy the real Batman?” Daphne couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh no. He just has the Batman System.”
“How do you get something like that?” Daphne asked, not expecting an answer.
“For him, he went to a movie with his parents. Some psycho killed a bunch of people in the theater, including his parents.”
“No,” Daphne said. “That’s sick.”
“Yeah, that’s something about the System. It can be a dick or a godsend. Me? I got mine the day I graduated from the Police Academy. It’s random.”
“Amanda, there you are,” another woman said walking up to them. She was average height with blonde hair. No real curves to her, she wore a gray business suit.
“Anna, you were supposed to be here a week ago,” Amanda said standing up. They hugged. “Where were you?”
“Stuck at work,” she said. “Consider my surprise when I see my daughter boarding a spaceship.”
“Tiff called you like 20 times,” Amanda quietly whispered.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m here now. Where’s that ex-husband of mine?” She asked. Amanda pointed to the gray haired man laughing with the buxom blonde.
Amanda sat back down. “What a bitch,” she whispered. “That’s Tiffany’s mom if you didn’t catch that.”
“Ugh. I did not. Slept with that pink and blue haired girl with Asher one night. Always awkward meeting parents,” she said. She noticed the blush across Amanda’s face. “You did too?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Amanda said. She appeared very shy about it. “They’re engaged,” she admitted.
“Oh yeah? Where’s that leave you?” Daphne asked.
“In the middle somewhere,” she said. They sat in silence for a time. “What about you? Going the hard route through the Tutorial?”
“I think I am,” Daphne admitted. “I wasn’t going to at first, but honestly I’m ready for whatever you all have going on here.”
“Good,” Amanda said. “Here’s hoping I see you on the other side,” and she disappeared.
One second Amanda was sitting right in front of her. Then she was gone. In shock Daphne stood up slowly. People started yelling for others that had disappeared. Her heart pounded as she ran to her dad. Pushing through people another person disappeared in front of her. She was only a few steps away from her dad when everything went white.
—-
“It’s going to be ok,” Doug said more to himself.
“Would you stop with that shit?” Helen said across from him at the table.
“Have to agree with you there,” his mother said from the side.
Doug rolled his eyes. Since he had come out to them as a System User the 2 women in his life had gotten closer, much to his annoyance.
Doug’s life had been great for the last 2 years. New stats had made his physique immaculate. New confidence allowed him to talk to the girl of his dreams. And his job had let him save enough money to close on a house.
He’d been too busy to keep in touch with Asher. Now he regretted it. His once best friend was now the topic all over the TV. Soon after the news conference with the elf, newscasters were knocking on Doug’s door.
Outside had swarmed with reporters until the Whitmore family had left the planet. His mom had given a few interviews and when she admitted Doug was his best friend growing up they had hounded him day and night. They had offered him everything under the sun. Millions of dollars for an interview. But Doug couldn’t tell them one word. He had made his old friend sign a contract that they couldn’t disclose the others' secrets. Without the contract Doug wasn’t so sure he could have stayed silent. Now he was happy he had.
The only thing he regretted was not staying in touch. Doug had tried his phone, but it was disconnected. He had tried the old System group at the church but they had moved at some point. Now Doug had nothing. None of those cool storage rings, no weapons besides a kitchen knife. Nothing to help keep these women or himself safe.
“I love you,” he said to an empty room. The girls were gone. Only he was left. He sat there in silence waiting until everything was white.
| WELCOME TO YOUR PLANET'S TUTORIAL |
| Your Tutorial ID is 24342 |
| Congratulations you are the Instructor for ID 24342 |
| Current Initiates: 1,035/1,035 |
| Congratulations! Current Quest: |
| Help 1,035 Initiates survive |
| 92:12:05:54 |
| Accept |
| Y/N |
Doug was tempted to click N. He had asked his mom and girlfriend to pick the Easy mode, but he wasn’t confident Helen would listen.
Also a big part of him wanted a new System. He was level 12 now, and Asher had said on the news that they get to keep levels. While he contemplated pushing N, the Initiate count dropped from 1,035 to 1,034.
Did someone die already? He thought. Then with a gulp pushed Y.
| New Skill Acquired |
| By being selected for Initialization, your System has been upgraded with the following skills. |
| New Skill: |
| System Store (LVL 1) |
| Group Formation (LVL 1) |
| Identification (LVL 1) |
The screens disappeared and he awoke somewhere in the woods. Doug pulled up his screen.
| Name: | Doug Triant | Skills: | ||
| Alias: | N/A | Sex System Notification | LVL 10 | |
| System: | PIMP | System Talk | LVL 9 | |
| Level: | 12 | System Contract | LVL 6 | |
| Experience | 2,555/15,000 | Lie Detection | LVL 7 | |
| Title: | N/A | Money Transfer | LVL 8 | |
| Guild: | N/A | Eloquent Speech | LVL 4 | |
| Syscos: | 625 | Pimp Slap | LVL 2 | |
| System Store | LVL 1 | |||
| HP: | 54 | /54 | Group Formation | LVL 1 |
| MP: | 48 | /48 | Identification | LVL 1 |
| Stats: | 0 | |||
| Strength: | 20 | |||
| Dexterity: | 16 | |||
| Endurance: | 17 | |||
| Agility: | 16 | |||
| Wisdom: | 16 | |||
| Intelligence: | 16 | |||
| Luck: | 16 | |||
| Charm: | 16 | |||
| Custom Stats: | ||||
| N/A | N/A | |||
Using the System Store he bought water until it leveled up to allow weapons. Using his Syscos for the first time he bought a sword as he heard a scream. New sword in hand Doug rushed through the normal looking forest. Trees looked like pine trees, there was grass, the only odd thing about the place was that the sky and soil were green.
The screams grew louder. Doug pushed through brush until he saw the 2 people. It was an older man and woman trying to kick at a goblin. The goblin nicked the man in the leg with a swing. Doug used Group Formation and mentally invited both of them. Kicking off the ground he didn’t wait for the group to form. Running straight at the goblins' side he thrust the tip of the blade into its green skin.
The small monster let out a gurgle as it was pinned to the ground. Green blood poured out of it as the group formed. “I’m your Instructor,” Doug said. “Let’s bandage that up and look for more people.” There was a counter in the top right of his field of vision. It read 1,031/1,035. He gulped. He had been running from responsibility the entire time he had a System. Now he needed to man up and help some people.
“Amanda, we need help,” Zora said into the phone.
“What happened? Where are you?” Amanda asked on the other line.
“We were on our way to you and our car broke down. We are in Denver right now. Took forever to find a landline,” she said, doing her best not to panic. Sometimes she forgot how big the US was. The 4 girls had left early the day before and stopped in Denver for food, but when she tried to start the car again it was dead. They got a hotel, but had been unable to get a new vehicle.
“Initialization is tonight, there’s no way you can make it here,” Amanda said, panicked. “Hold on, I think there is a System Group there. I’ll get their address and call you back.”
“Thanks Amanda,” Zora said with a sigh of relief.
They hadn’t run into too much trouble, but she had been forced to pull out her gun once. Cash was still good, and Tiff had been sure to stock Zora up with the rest of what they had before she left. A hotel room had cost $1,000, but Zora gladly paid for a safe place to stay.
Now that the Initialization was only 16 hours away people had really begun to panic. She regretted leaving the farm now. They had been all excited to go off on their little adventure. Her cousins were too young for Initialization and her other family members had said they would go through the Easy Tutorial if it came down to it. She knew they would be safe. It was only now that Zora was truly nervous. She didn’t want to die before her chance at a System.
The phone rang and Amanda read off the address. In a panic she realized they didn’t have signal. The receptionist at the hotel gave them directions. They were soon walking off to the Denver System Group. The other girls followed without a word. They had been all smiles and giggles before. Singing songs together on their road trip. But after seeing one person get carjacked and another get mugged they didn’t say anything.
It took 2 hours of walking, running, and jogging but they eventually made it to the address. Zora had been ready to shoot anyone that tried anything, but they had hardly been bothered. A few guys yelled at them as they drove past, but none slowed. Each of them had been harassed more at school than they did during the apocalypse.
The address took them to a small diner. Other businesses were abandoned, but the diner was filled with people. The lights on, Zora tried to open it but the door was locked. A few people looked her way but most ignored the door.
She knocked and it wasn’t till an older woman came up that they unlocked it. “Closed for Initialization.”
“Amanda with the Community Guild sent me here,” Zora said quickly.
“But I didn’t get-“ the older woman said, taking out her phone. Zora noticed the dozen missed calls on the screen as the older woman read them. “Shit I’m sorry girls. Come in,” she said. “Damn service has been so spotty.”
She stepped away as she called Amanda back. “Yep sorry. Didn’t have service. She’s here now. You want to talk to her?”
The older woman handed Zora the phone. “Hey you ok?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah we surprisingly got here fine,” she admitted.
“Good. Stay safe. Asher would kill everyone if something happened to you.”
Zora wanted to laugh, but Amanda was probably right. “You stay safe too. I’ll see you in a few months.”
“Thanks,” Zora said, handing the phone back.
“We don’t have much, but I can whip you all up some grub, find a seat,” the older woman said. She headed to the back of the diner. The place was packed with people. Most all wore armor and weapons of some type. No guns, of course, but swords, spears, daggers, and many others Zora didn’t know.
The only seating was at the bar near where the older woman was cooking. She noticed them and talked while she made eggs. “Where are you out of?”
“Came in from Iowa. But our car broke down,” Zora admitted.
“Long way. Think you girls are ready for the Tutorial?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Good answer,” she said, setting a plate in front of Zora. Simple toast, eggs, and bacon. Zora didn’t realize how hungry she was. The whole day had been nerve wracking. “Y’all got weapons?”
“We do. In our bags,” Zora said. She would have been skeptical of the question if a man had asked.
“I'd take ‘em out if I was you,” she said. “Don’t think the System will allow carry ons. Been doing this a long time. Almost 15 years I’ve run this place. Taken in people with Systems. Walked them through how stuff worked. My own son went in a dungeon years ago, but didn’t come out. This fucking System will chew you up, then spit you out. Me, I’d rather have a weapon in my hand when a goblin tries to gut me.”
Zora shared a look with the others. They shrugged and went into their luggage. Even Zora pretended to. The 4 of them set the same type of long dagger on the counter. “System stuff? Good. Don’t let them out of your hands. Even to eat. I know we have…” her eyes zoned out as she read an invisible screen, “9 hours and 32 minutes. But don’t for a second think people won’t get taken early.”
Zora gulped. She hadn’t really thought of that. As they finished their food the girls sat in silence. Stuck in her own head it was hard to focus on one thought. They went from Asher, to her parents, to friends back home, and back to Tiff. It wasn’t till she looked over and saw Galina was suddenly gone that she was brought out of it.
“Galina?” She said aloud. Looking in the diner. Her voice appeared to wake people up. Others noticed more people missing. Names were called. Zora walked over to Galina’s spot. Her dagger was on the table and the suitcase was by where her stool was.
Panicked, she looked to the other 2 friends as her dagger was willed back into her necklace. Then everything went white.
—-
“Did you fuck him already?” Daphne asked as she walked up to Anita. She was sitting at one of the wooden old timey tables in the cafeteria. Nursing a cup of coffee her old friend gave her a sly smile.
“No,” Anita admitted eventually. “What about the boy toy I saw you with?”
“Fine piece of ass like that, you gotta butter them up before you rock their world,” Daphne admitted. She had flirted with Arnold for a while the day before, but eventually had to check on her dad. Before she knew it the lights were dimmed and she went off to bed.
“What about Asher?” Anita asked.
Daphne cringed. “Ria told you about that?” Anita nodded. “Look I like a good time and all, but I’m not used to getting my world rocked. Kid would barely touch me and I’d turn into a sputtering mess. I like being the one with experience. Not to feel like some teen who can’t keep up. And that girlfriend of his. Shit I thought I knew what I was doing.”
Anita blushed. They had their own fun when they were younger, but it had been years of vanilla stuff for both of them. “No, give me a young stallion that’s up for once or thrice a night and worships me for what I can show him over that any night of the week. What about you? Surprised you never hit it, thought he worked at your shop.”
“Well he was my friend’s son,” Anita admitted.
“I swear I didn’t know,” Daphne complained.
“But, if I knew he was gonna be king of the freaking world someday I might have lowered my standards a little,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah yeah, tell me the deets on your new husband,” Daphne said. Anita blushed again. Despite all they had been through Anita was still the young blonde from Utah in Daphne’s eyes.
“We talked,” she said with a barely hidden smile. “All night.”
“All night? We have a big day today,” she said.
“You get much sleep?” Anita asked. Daphne shook her head. There was too much going on for her to relax and sleep. She may have gotten 2 full hours. And when she awoke it was from a nightmare that she was the last person on Earth and everyone else had disappeared. She didn’t get any shuteye after that. “Yeah we just talked. He told me about his life, and I talked about mine.”
“What about…you know.”
“Like an open book,” she said. “Kind of flowed out of me. He was very sweet about it. Then we talked about our own experiences with failed marriages. I admitted that my last one failed because I couldn’t get pregnant. He talked about his daughter and ex-wife. Then we wrapped up the night with our hopes and dreams. It was perfect,” she said with a smile.
“Well shit. Your night was better than mine,” Daphne admitted. Maybe she should have tried harder with Arnold. One last fling before the world ended. “Where is he now? Figured you’d be clung to him still.”
“He’s checking on something in their Training Hall. Did you check it out back there? They have an arsenal stored for once this thing blows over. At one point he made me try different weapons. Ended up liking a staff more, so he put that in my ring.”
“You know, past me would have taken that as a sexual innuendo,” Daphne said with a smile. Anita blushed again. She was too easy to tease.
“How’s it going ladies?” Amanda asked, sitting down. She had some coffee too.
“Where is the coffee?” Daphne asked. Her head throbbed and mouth watered for it.
“Over there,” the girls pointed to the corner.
By the time Daphne got back with her own cup Anita was gone. “Where did she go?” She asked Amanda.
“Wayne called her over,” Amanda said. “Ran off after him.”
“That horny bitch,” Anita whined. The room was filling up quickly as they idly chatted.
Eventually the elephant in the room was addressed between the 2 of them. “How long have you known Asher?” Amanda asked.
“Few months,” she admitted. “I’ve known his mother for years, and knew she had a son, but didn’t know what he looked like. Day I met him, I popped his cherry,” she admitted unashamedly. He’s easily the most famous person she’d banged. It was a badge of honor.
“That was you?” Amanda asked with a laugh. “He told me he lost it during a porn shoot.”
“He told you?” Daphne said, amazed. So she began telling the story of getting mildly blackmailed, banging some kid on his first day, then running into him at an old friend's house.
Amanda laughed giddily during the story. Midway through she got a call about one of her friends in Denver, but was soon back to the story.
“Sounds like him. But I gotta tell you how I met him,” Amanda said. Then went into the prostitution sting she was doing for a stint. The day she had met Asher she chased him down but was then stopped by Batman.
“Is that guy the real Batman?” Daphne couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh no. He just has the Batman System.”
“How do you get something like that?” Daphne asked, not expecting an answer.
“For him, he went to a movie with his parents. Some psycho killed a bunch of people in the theater, including his parents.”
“No,” Daphne said. “That’s sick.”
“Yeah, that’s something about the System. It can be a dick or a godsend. Me? I got mine the day I graduated from the Police Academy. It’s random.”
“Amanda, there you are,” another woman said walking up to them. She was average height with blonde hair. No real curves to her, she wore a gray business suit.
“Anna, you were supposed to be here a week ago,” Amanda said standing up. They hugged. “Where were you?”
“Stuck at work,” she said. “Consider my surprise when I see my daughter boarding a spaceship.”
“Tiff called you like 20 times,” Amanda quietly whispered.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m here now. Where’s that ex-husband of mine?” She asked. Amanda pointed to the gray haired man laughing with the buxom blonde.
Amanda sat back down. “What a bitch,” she whispered. “That’s Tiffany’s mom if you didn’t catch that.”
“Ugh. I did not. Slept with that pink and blue haired girl with Asher one night. Always awkward meeting parents,” she said. She noticed the blush across Amanda’s face. “You did too?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Amanda said. She appeared very shy about it. “They’re engaged,” she admitted.
“Oh yeah? Where’s that leave you?” Daphne asked.
“In the middle somewhere,” she said. They sat in silence for a time. “What about you? Going the hard route through the Tutorial?”
“I think I am,” Daphne admitted. “I wasn’t going to at first, but honestly I’m ready for whatever you all have going on here.”
“Good,” Amanda said. “Here’s hoping I see you on the other side,” and she disappeared.
One second Amanda was sitting right in front of her. Then she was gone. In shock Daphne stood up slowly. People started yelling for others that had disappeared. Her heart pounded as she ran to her dad. Pushing through people another person disappeared in front of her. She was only a few steps away from her dad when everything went white.
—-
“It’s going to be ok,” Doug said more to himself.
“Would you stop with that shit?” Helen said across from him at the table.
“Have to agree with you there,” his mother said from the side.
Doug rolled his eyes. Since he had come out to them as a System User the 2 women in his life had gotten closer, much to his annoyance.
Doug’s life had been great for the last 2 years. New stats had made his physique immaculate. New confidence allowed him to talk to the girl of his dreams. And his job had let him save enough money to close on a house.
He’d been too busy to keep in touch with Asher. Now he regretted it. His once best friend was now the topic all over the TV. Soon after the news conference with the elf, newscasters were knocking on Doug’s door.
Outside had swarmed with reporters until the Whitmore family had left the planet. His mom had given a few interviews and when she admitted Doug was his best friend growing up they had hounded him day and night. They had offered him everything under the sun. Millions of dollars for an interview. But Doug couldn’t tell them one word. He had made his old friend sign a contract that they couldn’t disclose the others' secrets. Without the contract Doug wasn’t so sure he could have stayed silent. Now he was happy he had.
The only thing he regretted was not staying in touch. Doug had tried his phone, but it was disconnected. He had tried the old System group at the church but they had moved at some point. Now Doug had nothing. None of those cool storage rings, no weapons besides a kitchen knife. Nothing to help keep these women or himself safe.
“I love you,” he said to an empty room. The girls were gone. Only he was left. He sat there in silence waiting until everything was white.
| WELCOME TO YOUR PLANET'S TUTORIAL |
| Your Tutorial ID is 24342 |
| Congratulations you are the Instructor for ID 24342 |
| Current Initiates: 1,035/1,035 |
| Congratulations! Current Quest: |
| Help 1,035 Initiates survive |
| 92:12:05:54 |
| Accept |
| Y/N |
Doug was tempted to click N. He had asked his mom and girlfriend to pick the Easy mode, but he wasn’t confident Helen would listen.
Also a big part of him wanted a new System. He was level 12 now, and Asher had said on the news that they get to keep levels. While he contemplated pushing N, the Initiate count dropped from 1,035 to 1,034.
Did someone die already? He thought. Then with a gulp pushed Y.
| New Skill Acquired |
| By being selected for Initialization, your System has been upgraded with the following skills. |
| New Skill: |
| System Store (LVL 1) |
| Group Formation (LVL 1) |
| Identification (LVL 1) |
The screens disappeared and he awoke somewhere in the woods. Doug pulled up his screen.
| Name: | Doug Triant | Skills: | ||
| Alias: | N/A | Sex System Notification | LVL 10 | |
| System: | PIMP | System Talk | LVL 9 | |
| Level: | 12 | System Contract | LVL 6 | |
| Experience | 2,555/15,000 | Lie Detection | LVL 7 | |
| Title: | N/A | Money Transfer | LVL 8 | |
| Guild: | N/A | Eloquent Speech | LVL 4 | |
| Syscos: | 625 | Pimp Slap | LVL 2 | |
| System Store | LVL 1 | |||
| HP: | 54 | /54 | Group Formation | LVL 1 |
| MP: | 48 | /48 | Identification | LVL 1 |
| Stats: | 0 | |||
| Strength: | 20 | |||
| Dexterity: | 16 | |||
| Endurance: | 17 | |||
| Agility: | 16 | |||
| Wisdom: | 16 | |||
| Intelligence: | 16 | |||
| Luck: | 16 | |||
| Charm: | 16 | |||
| Custom Stats: | ||||
| N/A | N/A | |||
Using the System Store he bought water until it leveled up to allow weapons. Using his Syscos for the first time he bought a sword as he heard a scream. New sword in hand Doug rushed through the normal looking forest. Trees looked like pine trees, there was grass, the only odd thing about the place was that the sky and soil were green.
The screams grew louder. Doug pushed through brush until he saw the 2 people. It was an older man and woman trying to kick at a goblin. The goblin nicked the man in the leg with a swing. Doug used Group Formation and mentally invited both of them. Kicking off the ground he didn’t wait for the group to form. Running straight at the goblins' side he thrust the tip of the blade into its green skin.
The small monster let out a gurgle as it was pinned to the ground. Green blood poured out of it as the group formed. “I’m your Instructor,” Doug said. “Let’s bandage that up and look for more people.” There was a counter in the top right of his field of vision. It read 1,031/1,035. He gulped. He had been running from responsibility the entire time he had a System. Now he needed to man up and help some people.
