The Tutorial Begins

Upon arriving in his room, Nehar closed the door shut, not wanting to deal with any other distractions for the remaining period.

 He still had to do a large number of works.

 Soon, he started unpacking his bags and stored almost everything inside them on the floor of his room.

 In the last seven hours, he had to make several tours of different shops and regions in the city.

 Starting from slums to medicine stores to market to window shopping, he had done everything.

 ---

 Nehar first started categorizing all the herbs he bought from different herbal stores and markets.

 If anyone saw him doing this kind of work, he would surely call him crazy.

 After all, in today's era of modern medicine, the usage of herbs is very low.

 And he wasted several hours just to choose and buy different kinds of herbs in bulk.

 Only he knew the importance of these herbs in the upcoming battles.

 And he was not worried about storing them, after all, Inventory Space will be given to everyone.

 Storing those herbs there temporarily would not reduce their medicinal efficacies.

 After spending over twenty minutes, Nehar separated and categorized all the herbs in his possession.

 After finishing with the herbs, he started with the medicines.

 He bought those medicines in very small numbers.

 Some painkillers, some sleeping pills, and some hallucinogenic pills.

 He didn't buy anything else, as those medicines would not work later anymore.

 Their last use will be in some Tutorial battles at most; still, he wasn't sure that his guess was right or wrong.

 Sorting those medicines didn't take much of his time.

 Soon, he started to choose his weapons properly.

 At the start of the Tutorial Phase, everyone will be given some pieces of equipment and some weapons to protect themselves as well as to advance in the Tutorial.

 But the quality of those weapons and equipment would not be great.

 Over time, their durability will decrease sharply.

 Then the participants would be forced to buy weapons and necessary equipment from the Tutorial shops or lackeys of the Administrators using their precious Tutorial Points.

 Many would find themselves in severe disadvantages as they had to fight with beasts with their bare hands.

 Many would try to steal or kill their fellow members to obtain weapons, equipment, and necessary rations.

 The System would encourage them to fight among themselves to produce the fittest one for survival.

 Naturally, Nehar didn't have time for those shitshows.

 He had many other things to take care of, so participation in a child's battle was not for him.

 ---

 He bought many weapons from the slums and black markets.

 And unsurprisingly, all of them were cold weapons.

 Nehar didn't even bother to acquire a small pistol.

 After tonight, all those hot weapons will become pieces of metal scraps and the legend of the magic weapons will begin.

 Pistols, rifles, machine guns, and every piece of advanced weaponry will become obsolete.

 When he was buying different knives and swords, the black market handlers were looking at him with shocked expressions.

 After all, no one generally buys such a large number of cold weapons in this era. Not even the gang members.

 Nehar only smirked at their shocked expressions and didn't bother to explain anything at all.

 After tonight, those people would be again in great shock.

 But from his perspective, those people will become his first sworn enemies.

 They were black market handlers, gang leaders, thugs, and scums of the society.

 And after tonight, they would gain a chance to become powerful and truly rule over all.

 A clash with them would be inevitable.

 While thinking about all of these, he had already sorted out the necessary weapons and gears for himself.

 He had also bought another two sets of gears and cold weapons for his sister Amelia and Aunt Grace.

 As for his uncle, he didn't bother to buy anything at all.

 In his past timeline, every member of this family died in the Tutorial Phase, leaving him alone.

 He felt quite a bit of remorse because of that.

 But after returning, he was sure that he would not save them in this lifetime too.

 Still, he ended up buying gears and weapons for them, as their relationships changed slightly.

 Nehar had some plans in his mind for both of them if they ultimately survived the Tutorial Phase.

 If not, he would walk alone.

 After sorting out the weapons, Nehar looked over his left hand. The Soul-Binding Ring was not present there.

 It had faded from existence after he returned.

 He could only hope that the ring did its job properly. If not, he would have to face a multitude of problems in the future.

 Nehar stopped thinking.

 There was no point in thinking about what would happen in the future. It's better to worry about the present.

---

 Finally, Nehar stood up and destroyed his mobile phone by thrashing it on the floor, again and again.

 Then he put the sim card and the rest of his mobile in the fire.

 One by one, he destroyed every other electronic gadget he used before.

 Although it was not completely necessary, he didn't want to leave something important to him behind.

 After finishing everything, he looked over the watch.

 10:45 pm.

 After seeing the time, he thought of taking a shower.

 Soon, he left his room and went for the bathroom, to take his last bath before the civilization collapsed.

 ---

 While Nehar was taking a bath after the whole day's work, his aunt and sister were having a private discussion between themselves.

 Both of them were quite taken aback by Nehar's changed and aggressive behavior, and currently, they were discussing what to do with him in Amelia's bedroom.

 "I noticed it in the morning. He behaved in a completely different way than usual."

 "Did something happen before he came home? What do you think?" Amelia's voice could be heard.

 Grace nodded her head in resignation, "I don't know. The changes in his behavior and attitude are too sudden. He didn't go for the interview, so nothing happened there. He just came home and pressured me to give him all the savings. Then he left without speaking a word."

 "How come you handed over all your savings without a confrontation with him? Or did he use violence on you too?" Amelia asked.

 After all, she was slapped twice when she was trying to interfere before.

 But Grace still looked unharmed.

 What happened with her stepmother, she didn't know. Although she was angry, she was still trying to inquire what happened in the morning.

 "No, he didn't beat me…" Grace shook her head nervously.

 "Then?"

 "He just…", before Grace could continue, heavy sounds came from the living room.

 Both of them were quite spooked, so they hurriedly left to watch what was happening again.

 ---

 Nehar patiently waited for them in the living room.

 He was ready for what's coming next.

 Currently, he was wearing a very smooth dress inside, above which he wore a loose black market version of the Territorial Army's tactical vest which covered his upper body entirely, and a combat jacket over it, which acted as the overcoat, to carry some weapons inside it.

 He already retrofitted the vest pouches to carry different cold weapons, medicine bottles, and other equipment, many of which he still didn't have.

 Once the Tutorial started, he would gather them one by one.

 He had no use for many pouches in the vest which were used to carry or hold flashlights, magazines, or communicators.

 Thus, he retrofitted them to use them properly.

 As the adjustable belt in his vest, he also retrofitted with another large belt which had a total of four sword and dagger sheaths on both sides. Currently, they were carrying two blades and two daggers.

He was also wearing black combat pants, combat boots equipped with boot knives and sturdy combat gloves.

 On his back, two short swords were sheathed inside their respective back scabbards.

 Like his vest, he also retrofitted his combat jacket to hold weapons in the proper places, both inside and outside.

 He was also carrying a medium-sized backpack, which contained dry foods, water bottles, medicines, and most importantly, herbs, separated and contained in different small glass bottles.

 Although it was not the ideal way to carry or preserve any herbs, he was out of options at that moment.

 He also wore a small black cap, which was insignificant.

 Nehar looked over his watch.

 11:20 pm.

 While he was waiting, both his aunt and sister made their way to the living room.

 After arriving, when they saw him, dressed in combat gear, they were speechless.

 They didn't know what to say.

 Nehar looked at them, and spoke, "Those two bags are for you. Go and prepare yourself fast. We don't have much time. If you two don't get ready to face what's coming next, you are surely going to die."

 Amelia scowled and screamed at him, "What the hell do you think you are doing? Are you going to some war? Why are you sitting there dressed like this at this time? Don't you have anything better to do?"

 Nehar shook his head in resignation.

 "I told you to go and prepare yourselves if you want to live. After 12, you would not get another shot at living. Whether you want to believe me or not, I will leave that to you. In the next forty minutes, you will understand that clearly."

 Amelia wanted to bark in protest, but when Grace from her side saw the cold, murderous glint in his eyes, she subconsciously stepped back while pulling Amelia's hand.

 Amelia also noticed his cold gaze.

 She didn't want to get slapped again for this.

 They looked at each other for a second, then came forward, lifted the bags, and left.

 "Thirty minutes. Meet me back here within that time."

 ---

 Thirty minutes later.

 Three of them were standing in the living room.

 Grace and Amelia were now dressed in the same combat gear that Nehar was wearing.

 Although they were carrying far fewer weapons than him, they still felt it was too much.

 Amelia even asked why there were no guns if they were going to play some war, but Nehar didn't answer her.

 Simply put, he didn't have the time to raise a child from scratches.

 Grace asked him, "You still didn't tell us what is going to happen? Or why we are dressed like this?"

 Nehar looked at her and then spoke, "Something is going to happen very soon. Just keep your calm and steady your mind to face whatever is going to happen." 

Grace stopped talking. She knew he was not going to answer anymore.

 And she was right.

 Nehar also knew that if he wanted these two people to live through the Tutorial Phase, he had to explain many things to them.

 Still, he chose not to explain anything at all.

 It would be the job of the Administrators and their lackeys, not his.

 He would only guide them if they proved their worth and loyalty to him.

 Otherwise, he would move alone, without getting teamed up with anyone.

 Amelia asked, "What about father? You didn't buy anything for him? Is he not required in your little war, brother?"

 Amelia was still thinking that they were part of some cosplay show.

 "He will be pulled together with us. The System will recognize all those people who are living, sitting, or standing in a proximity of 50 meters as a single group. So, don't worry about him, he will join us whether he wants it or not. And as for whether he will live or not, it will depend on his survival instinct.

 If you want, you can provide him with your gear sister, and then the first one to die wouldn't be him, it will be you."

 Nehar smiled lightly after speaking.

 Amelia looked at his devil-like smile and shuddered.

 Nehar looked at his watch again, 11:59 pm.

 Within a minute, everyone present in the living room, as well as his uncle, all the people in the neighborhood, and also all the people all over the world heard a World-Wide System Announcement in a mechanical voice.

 [Initiation of the 117th World confirmed. Introduction and Tutorial Sequences are commencing.]

 Nehar chuckled lightly after hearing the same bland mechanical tone as before.

 "Finally, it's getting started."