"Hey," the hyper little redhead at her side asked, "did you already hear about Jake?"

"Art Jake or sports major Jake?"

"The sport one!" Ava answered.

"He dumped his girlfriend?" Alice guessed. It wouldn't be something new. She waited for a response that didn't come. "His girlfriend dumped him? He cheated? He was cheated ON?" Still no reaction. "Come out with it. I don't care enough 'bout the guy to continue."

"He proposed. And it got accepted!"

"Seriously? Who's the poor girl?" she looked up from her smartphone for a moment.

"Nathan."

"Physics Nathan or Cardigan?"

"Cardigan."

"Hmm..." Alice looked back at her phone.

Wait... something is wrong. Alice thought.

She looked at her friend, who had a wild grin on her face, not that that was something unusual. One by one, she went through the conversation again, and her eyes went wide.

"Wait, what?! THAT Jake. PROPOSED!? To gay Nathan?"

"Yesssss!"

"You are fucking with me!"

"Yessssssss!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yesssssssssss!!!"

"Oi, stop making this confusing."

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

"Okay, seriously now. Jake, womanizer extraordinaire, is getting married to a guy?"

"Absolutely." Her friend answered with a rarely seen seriousness.

"Okay, you got me. Tell me more!"

The two girls continued talking as they walked over the campus, only separating at the last possible moment when Ava had to go to her art classes while Alice herself went to the IT building.

She let out a sigh of frustration as she thought about the day ahead. Alice still didn't know what the hell she had thought when she decided on studying IT. Sure, she had been good at math in high school, and programming had been fun to play around with. But that was at a small scale in her free time.

It was when they started to learn networking that she realized that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life doing that. Sadly, at that point, it was already too late, and her family situation wasn't good enough that she could just change her major at the drop of a hat.

As she entered the lecture hall, Alice was tempted to just turn right and take a comfortable seat somewhere in the back. She resisted the temptation, perfectly aware that it would result in her falling asleep before half an hour had passed. As much as she wanted to sleep her problems away, she knew that was not something she could afford. Not anymore.

Resigned to her fate, Alice went and found herself a seat in the fourth row from the front. It was front-row-enough that her mind was in I-don't-want-to-embarrass-myself-mode, but not so far in the front that she would get neck pain from looking up at the podium and the PowerPoint projected behind it.

She had no idea which idiot designed it that way, but the first row of seats was almost two meters below the podium.

Sadly, everyone else thought the same way. Meaning, despite her being pretty early, the fourth row was already packed, only leaving the outermost three or four seats open.

She took out her laptop from her backpack and settled down in the outermost seat, happy that she would get out quicker at the end of the lecture.

It was still another ten minutes before the lecture was scheduled to begin, and knowing the teacher, he might come anywhere from five minutes early to half an hour late while still demanding that they were earlier than him. No one liked him because of that, and there had been several complaints from the student body. Alas, here they were.

Idly, Alice checked her emails, or at least she tried and instead got annoyed at the slow internet connection of their university. Instead, she started up minesweeper and continued where she had left off, swearing silently when she had to instantly start a new game because she slipped and clicked on a bomb.

The teacher finally came almost twenty minutes later, demanding their full attention instantly as if it was the student's fault that they were starting late and not his own. It was extra annoying because she was only two bombs away from winning her game.

"Very well, where did we stop last time? Right..."

Instantly, Alice realized her mistake. She was sitting right next to the speaker, and the guy was talking at a volume as if he didn't have a microphone.

But it was too late. This particular teacher was the kind who took it as a personal affront if someone stood up during his lectures, even if they just wanted to go to the toilet.

There was that one infamous story where he went on a ten-minute tirade about showing respect while simultaneously cussing out the girl. She had vomited in the middle of his lecture, and it later came out that she was pregnant. It also turned out that the asshole didn't utter even a single word of apology.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

In the case of an apocalypse where powerful monsters killed 99,9% of the human population, what Class-primary would you choose?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Alice looked at the strange text in front of her. It was the only thing she could see. Everything else was dark. No, that wasn't right. There simply wasn't anything else. Nothing to hear, feel, taste, or smell. Not even her own body.

Have I fallen asleep in the end? Even with the loudspeaker right next to me?

She thought back on the last thing she could remember. Right, Alice had zoned out when the teacher went on a tangent and started complaining about ancient greek phylosophers. She really couldn't understand how the guy still had his job.

Anyway, is this some kind of lucid dream?

It felt strange. Not like a dream at all. Usually, if she had a lucid dream, she would be aware enough that she could just open her eyes and be awake, albeit tired. But try as she might, this time, it didn't work. Thus, she waited.

Bored, she took a look at the strange message. Then the one beneath it. Or was it behind it? After it? She wasn't quite sure.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Class/ Affinity:

Priest 51%

Kangaroo Ranger 51,2%

Garfield Rider 52,3%

...

Fire Mover 64,9%

Paladin 65,7%

Temple User 65,9%

Demonologist 66,6%

Necromancer 67,9%

...

Onion Knight 87,5%

Bökh Master 89,3%

Dingo Bard 90,1%

Enchanter 91%

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The list was quite extensive, with over thirty different classes. Some of them sounded like propper RPG classes, like the Priest, Paladin, Necromancer, or Enchanter. Most of the rest were weird, or hilarious, or both. Mostly both.

She almost chose the Garfield Rider, just for the heck of it. But then she thought about it again. The question the first message asked was actually interesting to think about.

Thinking about it, it was pretty clear that it implied that she would have to survive some kind of monster invasion using whatever class she chose. However, having to fight monsters wouldn't be the end of it. Securing food and shelter would also be a problem, and who knew how the weather might change.

She mentally sorted through the list, throwing out all the unpredictable ones. Then, she also threw out the ones that weren't versatile enough. This included the Bökh one, which she incidentally knew to be traditional Mongolian wrestling. Their traditional combat clothes also happened to be not geared towards women. At all.

At that point, she was left with only very few.

Of the ones she was left with, the Priest was the first one to go. If it was the typical fantasy priest with its healing and blessings, it might be powerful in a zombie apocalypse. But if there was anything but the undead, she wouldn't be able to protect herself and would have to rely on others. Something she generally didn't mind, except when her survival depended on it.

The next one to go was the Demonologist. Depending on the kind of demons she would be dealing with, she really didn't want to mess with that kind of stuff.

Then, sadly, the Enchanter went as well. Being able to make magical items would be cool, but resources would be hard to come by in an apocalypse. And for all its potential versatility, it would probably kill her early on when she hadn't yet made her weapons and tools. It even overruled the high affinity she apparently had for the Class. Whatever that meant.

What she was left with were the Paladin and Necromancer, two ironically very contradictory Classes.

The first one promised high physical capabilities, which would give her a lot of versatility already, but most importantly, the ability to heal herself and others, an ability that would be indispensable.

The Necromancer, on the other hand, would give her all advantages of being in a group of people, with none of the disadvantages. Including the ability to stay protected in the back and lazing around while making other people do everything for her. Of course, puppeteering dead bodies was morally questionable but probably forgivable given the situation. Not only that, but with only one out of a thousand people surviving and plenty of monsters around to kill, corpses wouldn't be in short supply.

In the end, it was the fact that she could be protected even when she was alone and asleep was the tiebreaker. No matter how good she could heal herself, if something bit off her head in her sleep, she wouldn't survive.

So Necromancer it was.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Class-primary: Necromancer

Please choose a Class-secondary:

Class/ Affinity:

Mage 67,5%

Warrior 78,2%

Ranger 79,8%

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Right, I could have predicted this... It did say primary.

The second list was a lot shorter, only having three different options. Of course, Alice's first instinct was to choose the mage. But the low affinity made her hesitate. Well, it was almost the same affinity as she had for Necromancer, but when compared to the other two Classes, it was a lot lower.

And not just that. She came to the realization that the classic Necromancer had one glaring weakness: the Necromancer himself. If the Necromancer, Alice herself, died, it would be over. Sure, in a game, there was no question about combining Necromancer and Mage, maximizing the potential of both by min-maxing her magical and physical capabilities. But if she thought about a realistic scenario, that was stupid. She only had one life after all.

What she would need wasn't maximized firepower but survivability. In which case, the optimal choice was patching up the biggest weakness of a Necromancer.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Class-primary: Necromancer

Class-secondary: Warrior

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Muscle-density: +5

Stamina: +5

Mana: +15

Magic power: +15

Unlocked secondary-stat: Soul energy +10

Unlocked Skill: Soul collection

Unlocked Skill: Soul sense

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Alice woke up. Or rather, became aware of her surroundings once again. However, things were a little weird.

For one, there was the general confusion of every single student and even the teacher. Almost as if they had just woken up from a dream. Just without being tired.

Then, there was something that might or might not have been unique to Alice. Looking at the people to her right, she could see a strange, colorful glow surrounding them, filling them. That on its own might not even have been as strange.

The problem was, she could even see the glow of those behind her. And it wasn't that she could see the reflection. No. She could see behind herself. Within ten meters, she could see, or rather, feel the many-colored glow of the people around her.

She took a closer look at the information that was floating around in the back of her mind like some kind of earworm, making its presence known in a rather annoying way.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Name: Alice Liddell

Level: 0

Class-primary: Necromancer 67,9%

Class-secondary: Warrior 78,2%

Resources:

Stamina: 15/15

Mana: 15/15

Soul energy: 0/10

Primary Stats:

Muscle-density: 15

Stamina: 15

Mana: 15

Magic power: 15

Secondary Stats:

Soul energy: 10

Skills:

Soul collection Lv 1

Soul sense Lv 1

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

With a bad feeling, Alice focused on the very last line.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Soul sense Lv 1

Sense souls within a 10m radius.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Alice could see only two possibilities. Either she was on the maybe not worst, but definitely, weirdest acid-trip of all times, or a very large amount of shit was about to hit a very large fan very soon.

And if Alice knew one thing, if shit hit the fan, she preferred to stay outside of the spray-zone.

As calmly as she could, Alice turned off her laptop and packed it up, at the same time, taking out her books and putting them on the desk in front of her.

If things went as she hoped they wouldn't, then she wouldn't need them anymore. If she just went spontaneously crazy or her mother had slipped some weird drugs into her morning coffee, then she could get them back easily enough. Either way, her shoulders were quite happy to be freed from several kilograms of paper.

As if nothing was wrong, Alice stood up and began walking up the stairs to the entrance. She could almost feel it, from what were apparently the souls of the people around her, that even the smallest trigger could send them immediately into a mass panic.

That trigger could, for example, be if Alice walked too fast.

Calm.

Stay calm.

Don't be the idiot that triggers the mass panic.

It will only serve to clog up the entrance, and I won't get outside as fast.

Already, Alice could hear the room getting louder as the first people began to ask each other questions, most of which had very concerning answers.

It wasn't as if Alice herself wasn't panicking. Rather, she might be one of the worst in the entire room. However, Alice had two abilities that she sometimes called her superpowers. They were acting and adapting. Abilities she had cultivated during her time in high school. Before he died from overwork, there was a period where her family had to move fifteen times between states over a period of three years due to her father's job. And these two abilities were what she developed in order to fit into her new class and school as quickly as possible so she wouldn't become a target of bullying.

It was thanks to those experiences that Alice managed to project an absolute calm despite the panicked thoughts in her head.

Finally, Alice stood in front of the big door double door. It was obviously closed. Pressing down the heavy door handle, a loud clunk echoed through the auditorium.

Instantly, the room turned noticeably quieter. Heads turned in her direction. She opened the door, stepped through, and legged it. She could hear it behind her, the panicked screams of the people behind her that couldn't fit through the doors all at the same time.

And all of that while none of the supposed monsters had even made an appearance yet.

Alice ran, evading confused groups of people standing in the broad corridors. The process significantly less comfortable due to the absence of a sports bra. Normally, her pride in her generous proportions was relatively balanced with the shoulder pain they caused her, but right now, they were definitely more of a detriment.

For the first, but definitely not the last time in the coming days, Alice heard a scream. It came from somewhere in the distance, somewhere outside.

She came to a screeching halt, the soles of her sneakers squeaking on the sticky floor. There was a red metal box with a glass front right in front of her. Alice kicked the glass as hard as she could, shattering it with a satisfying clatter. Leaving the fire-extinguisher alone, she grabbed the small fire-ax instead and began running once again.

By now, she was by far not the only one anymore, several people all around her running in the same direction as her. The entrance.

She almost laughed when she saw one of the girls trying to run in her high heels, a type of shoe she herself only needed to wear if she ever wanted to hit her head on a doorframe. Then she remembered the, potential, seriousness of the situation, and the dangers of a panicked crowd.

When she finally got there, there was already a small crowd at the entrance doors. Still, Alice managed to get out relatively quickly, and luckily without injuring anyone in the crowd with the ax.

Only when she finally got some elbow room again did Alice finally stop and take out her phone. In all of this, there was only one person she trusted more than anyone else.

Before she could find the name in her contacts, her phone rang. She picked up.

"Are you outside?" she asked, skipping the greeting.

"Yes, let's meet up," Ava answered.

"In front of the wire-dragon?" Alice suggested a spot that should be relatively in the middle.

"Sounds good." With a click, the connection went dead.

As quickly as she could, Alice moved to her new destination. It wasn't very far, and not a minute later, she could already see the strange art project of a statue that depicted something that might have either been a dragon, a seahorse, or a very deformed human. No one knew for sure what it was, but being four meters high, it was a very recognizable spot on the campus.

However, that had made it a very obvious choice, not just for her but for many others as well, resulting in a large crowd gathering around it. Quickly, Alice started scanning the crowd for the energetic redhead. However, it was a fruitless endeavor. Being almost one and a half heads smaller than herself, Ava disappeared inside crowds just as much as Alice stood out.

It was then that she noticed something. A red, bubbly soul that felt eerily familiar. And indeed, after forcing her way through the crowd, Alice's hand quickly landed on the shoulder of her best friend.

"Oh! There you are!"

"Yep, here I am," Alice answered as she dragged the other girl out of the crowd.

“I see that you found the kitchen,” Alice commented when she noticed the frankly concerning number of kitchen knives her friend was carrying on her body.

“And you found a fire ax. I should have thought about that.”

"But why so many? Or are you some kind of assassin?"

"Yes, I actually am. It's the only thing that allowed me to get outside so quickly."

"So, what now? You are the professional here since you read stories like this all the time." Alice asked, ready for anything.