Meritocracy

Jack nodded quietly, scared and mesmerized at the same time by the scale of the destruction and its beauty.

"And so to make sure an event like that doesn't happen again, a new rule was made. Or, rather, a new game. Game masters would choose a certain planet they find fit and cultivate the people of the planet into warriors. And then whenever two game masters have a conflict, their planets will be forced to fight in different games or even wars directly, whatever is decided by the game master. Except for providing resources, which is also very restricted, the game master can never interfere directly with the world or the people, and to make sure they do not, the system was created. And so what you are facing right now is a trial made by your game master to eliminate those who won't be useful to him. Leaving behind only the strong who have cleared the tutorial. Everyone who clears the tutorial gains ownership of a certain part of the planet. As for you, yours will be the forest of the giants."

"Wait, wait, you mean I'm on earth right now?" Jack asked in a more worried tone. This hell hole was fucking earth?

"Precisely well, for the most part, new earth. After all of you passed out, the game master changed a few things and added some new creatures to the system. But yeah, it's the same planet. Except that the creatures you will face from here on out are divided into tiers, inferior are the weakest, as you know. Ah, about merits; they are the currency you can use in the shop or in the post-tutorial world. As to why they are called merits, they basically decide how much value the game master puts in you as a player. If you collect enough, you may even end up with an influential rank for the game master. The more valuable you are, the more stuff you get. It's a meritocracy."

Jack just listened quietly at this point. It was too much information to process at a time, but he was trying his best to keep calm. "So we are the pawns in a very big chess game among gods who can change entire planets as to how they wish just to make us better or train us."

"Indeed, if those are the words that help you understand your situation better." The old man said this before waving his hand as a screen appeared in front of Jack.

[+300 merits received]

"Wait, what?" Jack was left bamboozled by the sudden notification. Even clearing the trial gave him only 100, let alone killing so much stuff. How did he just receive $300 without doing anything?

"As you already know, you finished the test 3 days before you were meant to, so extra points. You lose physical rewards for rushing it, but since you won, who cares about your methods? You get extra rewards." 

"Ah," he said, sighing as he looked down and thought about it all for a bit. This was a messed-up situation, no matter how he looked at it. He was going to either be dead or a pawn under a god who couldn't care less about his life. Either way, his life from here on out would be more hellish. What the fuck kind of fate was that? Either become a puppet or die for fucks sake. As Jack tightened his fists, thinking about it all, the old hologram sighed. This was not the first time he had seen someone angry about their fate. Jack was no different.

"Listen, kid, it may seem bad right now, but it is not slavery. You still have your own will, and being chosen is generally considered a great honor. You're not a slave; you're a champion, the chosen one meant to represent a god. A champion of gods thinks about it."

Suddenly, a sword passed through the head of the hologram, clearly thrown by Jack. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he yelled in a pretty mad tone before stepping towards the man. "I am not a fucking kid to not realize what's going on or to be swayed by your sweet talk. I don't care about you or your god, so shove this talk about being a champion up your god's ass because I don't fucking care." 

The man sighed and spoke "well, I tried. It's your choice, kid; you either accept or die. Take your time; there's no need to rush it. Such decisions aren't made in a day. Let's talk about something else. The more important reason as to why I am here." The old hologram's face changed into a weird smile as it finally spoke in an enthusiastic tone, "It's time to get your skill"