Chapter 2 - Choose Your Class

"… And your total is $5.41," I state monotonously, keeping one eye on the time on my phone screen. 'Just a few more minutes until 7:30, then I can get the hell out.'

The second man in the store was more polite than the white-collared asshole who ordered the burrito, but only because he didn't say a word as he tapped his card over the reader. The payment went through with no issue, and he quickly left with his two energy drinks in tow.

Finally, there were no more customers, so I head to the back of the store, snagging myself an energy drink of my own. Then I trek back towards the counter — my boss will crucify me if I open it before logging it in the system.

"Eh, oh well. My other two jobs should keep me afloat until I can pick up another."

It had already been almost exactly 4 years of me convincing myself and others that I would go to college, and I had yet to go through with it. I was certainly on the up; my savings were in the couple thousands, and my rent was relatively cheap. But that flipped on me when I remembered the price per year for a university, and that I couldn't work like I was now because I would have classes.

It was almost like the more that I gained, the less I actually had.

I crack open the drink, taking a long sip, and let loose a long, satisfied sigh. "That hits the spot," I groan happily. I'm about to reach the counter when suddenly, the ground shakes violently for a few seconds. "Was that an earthquake?!"

I bolt for the doors, which fly open as I slam through them, to see a large blue rift appear in the sky. "What the…"

A scream cuts me off, and I look down to see the first man I had served now was missing a portion of his neck. His burrito rolls free of his grasp as his life left him, now obsolete. A lady in similar clothing dashes in the street, quickly getting hit by the even more hectic drivers.

"Holy shit."

The thing that could only be described as a monster lifts its head from the man's corpse, turning slowly towards me. 'No, no no no.'

It could almost be explained off as a panther, but aside from the fact that I didn't know of any zoos nearby, it definitely wasn't just a black panther. Each leg had an extra joint, and where the knee would usually be was actually closer to its giant paws. Spikes lined the sides of each muscled limb, as well as two curved ones that sprouted from just behind the temples and curved around its skull, the ends pointing out just above its glowing red eyes. "I HAVE to be dreaming this."

With a loud growl that almost feels like an earthquake of its own, it pounces, closing the distance in one single leap.

My life didn't flash before my eyes, but I was frozen. No, my mind just simply went blank, and my body went numb as I tried to dive out of the way, but it was far too slow. The only thing that passed through my head was, 'Man… I don't want to die yet.'

Fwooop!

"… Did I die fast?"

I slowly open my eyes, not realizing I had tightly clenched them shut until now. My sight was met with something I almost couldn't comprehend. Time was frozen, a giant, panther-like thing suspended in air above me, jagged claws reaching for me ominously. And, right in front of my face, was a black and white screen, floating midair.

[ You have been selected by "the Evolving System." ]

[ OK ]

I stare blankly at the message for a moment, trying to wrap my head on what the hell was happening. After a few seconds, I start laughing coldly, which grows more and more unstable until tears are nearly falling from my eyes. Wait, I think I'm just… crying, now.

After another few seconds, I manage to compose myself, straightening up. 'So, what, I got transported into some novel-type shit or something? I'm dead anyway, so might as well see.'

Grimly accepting my fate, I reach up and click "OK." But rather than time restarting, my surroundings blur until I was simply in an endless swirl of a white and black void, and the screen grew to be taller than I was, and just as wide.

[ Please wait. Creating "Profile." ]

"Uh, I don't think I get much of a choice, but…"

I watch curiously as a gridded square forms in front of me, shifting from a blueish gray to orange as it changes shape, forming into… me. Once it's formed, the gridlines pop into a green color, and my face appears, as well as my working uniform that I still had on. And damn, they sure were accurate.

There was… myself, perfectly replicated. Just a few centimeters short of an even 6', with the skinny build to match. My dark hair, desperately in need of at LEAST a trimming, instead cheaply being pulled back into a messy bun behind my head, though doing so reveals the slightly faded blond highlights I put in years ago. My face is as incredibly plain as ever, the only thing of note being the freckles racing down my temples to my cheekbones, then across the bridge of my nose. Not even my almost-black dark brown eyes or deeply tanned skin garner much attention.

'Not sure I needed a reminder of all of this,' I think to myself with a tiny sigh.

[ Profile Complete. Generating Stats. ]

"Huh?"

Without warning, the large message box zips to the side of me — well, the fake me — and several letters and numbers spring up.

[ Name: Kieran Bright ]

[ Grade: E Race: Human Lv: 1 Class: None ]

[ HP: 120/120 MP: 185/185 FS: 100/100 SP: 190/190 ]

[ Skills: None ]

[ Strength(STR): 23 (E) Vitality(VIT): 12 (E-) Endurance(END): 10 (F+) Speed(SPE): 33 (E+) Intelligence(INT): 48 (D-) Charisma(CHA): 26(E) Luck(LCK): 21 (E) ]

[ Click on a Stat to learn more. ]

[ OK ]

"E Grade... That's decent, at least?"

I turn my attention away from the overall grade, instead looking down at the Stats. "Well, some of these are pretty self-explanatory, as long as you have knowledge of video games," I say, mostly to myself. "Hell, most are self-explanatory anyway, like all of them except…" I click on Vitality. 'Why is there Endurance AND Vitality?'

[ Vitality: A measurement of one's spirit and fortitude. Directly affects Health Points(HP) and Fighting Spirit(FS). ]

"Huh. So it's like defense and health level and… What is FS?"

Fwooop!

[ Fighting Spirit: A measurement of one's aura within the body. Used with non-Mana related Skills. ]

Slightly creeped that the system had seemed to respond without me selecting anything, I click on all the Stats just to be sure, and was relieved that they were just as obvious as they seemed.

"So, Strength is how strong I am, Speed is how fast I am, my Intelligence is… well, how intelligent I am, as well as how well I can use Mana — yay, magic… Charisma is how well I can deal with people, and Luck increases my chances for things? HP is my health, and the other two are used for Skills, while SP is my stamina, and grows with my Endurance. Okay."

Once more, I click "OK," preparing myself to return to reality.

Instead, a small box appears above my head, counting up rapidly until it hits 10:00. Another message opens directly in front of me.

[ Generating "Classes." ]

Then, it disappears, and a whole list shows itself before me. As soon as it does, the numbers above start ticking down. 9:59, 9:58…

'A timer,' I wonder as I turn to the other screen. Pushing down the growing panic in my chest, I look at the first option, which has a star on it, and above says [ Recommended ]. I click on it, and the small box expands, showing me more detail.

[ Shadow Assassin Base Grade: E+ ]

[ Shadow Assassins are skilled, quick attackers who specialize in Stats Speed, Intelligence, and Extra Stat Stealth. Shadow Assassins use quick attacks and Dark Magic to stealthily deal damage and support allies. ]

[ Class Stat Bonuses/Minuses: +4 SPE, +4 INT, +8 Stealth(STL), -4 STR, -4 VIT ]

[ Shadow Assassin Skill List ]

"Eeeh," I squeeze out as I ponder the option. While the Speed might be helpful, I couldn't see a way I'd be able to use this well enough to survive the encounter with the panther thing, especially with the minus to Strength AND Vitality. I back out, scrolling down through similar options. There was a plain Assassin, Thief, Rogue. All classic "I can't take a hit" Classes. Then there were Classes I knew I couldn't pull off, like Paladin, or ones that definitely would cause me to die, like General Mage. In frustration, partially because the timer was already down to 7:55, I swipe my finger up as hard as I could, scrolling through countless options in a flash.

And then, with a quiet beep, it stops.

I was expecting the bottom options to be the worst ones, things that you wouldn't really want unless you were crazy, or crazy enough to make it good.

But, underneath the last option, with a half-a-screen width separating it, were two more options. If you scrolled normally, you likely wouldn't even see them.

[ Choose a Job Instead ]

[ Create-Your-Class! ]

I stare, stunned, for a good couple of seconds, before an agonizing sound hits my ears.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

6:49, 6:48, 6:47…

Shaking off the panic-turned-anger, I click on the top one first.

[ Choose a Job Instead ]

[ Forego selecting a permanent Class, and instead choose a Job that can be changed at any time outside of combat. Jobs will give Job-specific Skills, but do not receive any Stat Bonuses/Minuses. Also, if this option is selected, Classes can only be earned by finding another user with the Priest/Priestess Job. Jobs can still be selected from the Store or Job Office if a Class is chosen instead. ]

[ You may not go back once you select this option. Continue? ]

[ OK/NO ]

That was certainly a roll of the dice. On one hand, you could gain a useful set of "Skills," however those worked, and you could switch it up whenever you wanted. However, on the other hand, you might never get the chance to have a Class, which also provided Stat buffs where Jobs didn't. Plus, there was no way to tell if the Jobs were any good unless you selected it, and then you couldn't go back once you did.

"It's too much risk for no guaranteed reward," I note, clicking out and selecting the final bottom one.

[ Create-Your-Class! ]

[ Build a custom Class from the ground up! Choose your own Skill List, with the option to swap two Skills from another Skill List into it. You will also build your own Stat Bonuses or Bonuses/Minuses, and receive your own choice of Starter Kit! ]

[ You may not go back once you select this option. Continue? ]

[ OK/NO ]

"Now, this is a completely different ballgame," I say, pointedly ignoring the small burst of virtual confetti that blasts from the screen as I selected the option. It was a huge risk to pick this too, but as long as I kept my main goal in mind — to survive the situation back in reality — the reward could be huge. With no more time to waste, I decisively hit "OK."

The screen goes blank, before another list opens. Before I can even see the first option, a message pops in front of it.

[ Congratulations! You are the 4th user to select Create-Your-Class! in your region (4/5). Special Options will be unlocked for you. ]

Suddenly, it disappears, replaced with the List that adds five new options to the top. As opposed to the Class Screen, this one has red letters and borders to the large box each Class took up. The names of each Skill List are in big letters at the top, followed by a List of other, smaller words underneath. Curious, I click on the top, gray one.

[ Dragonscaled Skill List ]

- (1) Basic Draconic Rune

- (5) Roar

- (15) Draconification

- (25) Draconic Breath

[ Error. This Special Option has already been selected. ]

"Huh, so these ones can only be picked once," I murmur, looking past the grayed-out ones. So far, it seemed like the Dragonscaled and another called Kind Illusion had already been selected, leaving the open Special Options of Cannonmeister, Gluttony, and…

"Quick Start, huh? That sounds like the best survivability here." I look at it for a second more, before I reach out to click it.

Beep!

[ Error. This Special Option has already been selected. ]

"Shit!" I cry out, throwing my head into my hands. Now that I thought about it, it had said I was the fourth to select the option. It made sense someone had time to look over the options before I had even got here, but to be stolen half a second before I picked it?

"Fuck!" I yell again, throwing my arms out furiously. I would just have to make do with something else. I check the timer, and a wave of relief washes over me as I realize another five minutes had been added. 'Probably because we're building a Class from scratch, huh?' I think, eyeing the time.

9:22, 9:21, 9:20…

Still, I had a lot of options ahead of me, so I should speed this up.

There was one other Skill List that had caught my eye, but I was wary of it. The other Skill Lists had lines of words and numbers under them, which I assumed was Skills. But this one only had one under its name.

[ Gluttony Skill List ]

- (1) Gluttony's Mark

Tentatively, I reach out to tap it, curious as to what the Skill description would be.

[ You have selected the Gluttony Skill List. ]

"Wait, what?! Where's the confirma—"

[ Gluttony's Mark will now activate. ]