Joe woke up to a dull ache in his head and a sore back. He realized he was lying on the dining room's hardwood floor and wondered what had happened. He'd already traded all the booze left in the house for food and gasoline last year, so a hangover was unlikely despite the feeling. Once he stood up and looked around, it all came crashing back to him. The message the burning letters had told him.

All competitors have been eliminated.

Joe blinked and swallowed back hot tears. His family was dead, and he had no idea what to do now. For over three years, he had been working to survive and make sure his family had their home when they came back, and now they weren't coming back. With no warning, just like before, a smaller blue script appeared in the bottom left corner of his vision.

Hegemon Growth System successfully installed

Think "System" to see your status and receive class calibration instructions

Joe very carefully did not think "System" while he waited for these new messages to fade. The messages had only made his life worse, and he was done with them. Instead, Joe moved to the kitchen and ate the stale bread and mealy apples that he'd managed to buy yesterday. Like most of his meals lately, it was fuel for his body, and that was it. Food tended toward bland at best and spoiled at worst unless you had connections. Joe had kept his head down and worked towards his goal of keeping ownership of his family home. He most definitely didn't have connections.

The apples helped the bread go down a bit. Joe was kicking himself for not saving a little water for breakfast. There was no help for it now, and he finished his meager meal before putting on his well-worn outfit of a t-shirt and jeans. He grabbed the old five-gallon water bottle that he had modified with a semi-secure cover and, more importantly, straps that let him use it as a backpack. It was still uncomfortable, but it was better than holding it in front for the mile hike.

At the end of the street, the people had started bulk hauling and distilling water from the nearby park. Joe would drop off some firewood and food once a week, and it was still better than going the extra mile to the park and then having to boil it off himself. There was no one outside today. That was pretty unusual as lack of central air and summer quickly approaching made people get out a lot more than they used to.

After an easy ten-minute walk, Joe made it to the house, but no one was there. Too many odd things happening made Joe nervous. People who weren't careful could get swept up in the "reeducation work camps" by overzealous recruiters. Joe suddenly wished he'd brought his knife and his walking stick. Feeling the nervous sweat beading on his back, he turned around and double-timed it back home. He got home and quickly shut the door behind him. Joe slowly peered out the front blinds but still saw nothing and no one. Suddenly, his vision pulsed, and the blue text in the corner became very large and red.

Think "System" to see your status and receive class calibration instructions

Those who don't initialize their System are automatically culled.

This is your only warning.

Joe stared at it while it changed to blue and shrank back into the corner of his vision. He legitimately considered ignoring it and just laying down at home. Joe's psyche and sense of self had hinged almost entirely on his family coming home. He felt like a toy with the batteries running out with that gone. Joe looked over at the family portrait that hung in the entryway. He knew they wouldn't want him to quit, and they would want him to live and succeed. Joe took a deep breath and thought, "System." More blue letters flowed up to take up the bulk of his vision.

Joseph Lemuel Wanderun

Level : 0

Class: None

Attributes:

Strength 5

Alacrity 6

Fortitude 5

Vigor 3

Reflex 5

Connection 2

Glamour 2

Skills: 0/5

Quests: Calibrate the System and gain a class

The quest section at the end was blinking slowly, drawing Joe's attention. When he focused on it, it expanded and pushed the rest of the bizarre display off to the side.

Calibrate the System and gain a class

You have one day to enter a marked training rift so that your System may properly calibrate to you and offer appropriate classes. Follow the green pillar of light in the sky.

Joe looked out the front window again but didn't see anything. He tentatively took a step out and walked into the street. He turned a 360, and when he looked back toward town, he saw a faint green pillar in the sky back towards town. It was hard to say precisely how far away it was, but Joe guessed it was only a couple of miles. The words still hung in his vision, blocking everything but his peripherals. On a hope, he thought, "Dismiss," and everything sunk into a tiny blue dot in the bottom of his vision. A timer hung just about it, steadily counting down.

18:37

Eighteen hours seemed like a lot of time, but Joe had learned that everything took much longer than you thought without cars or electricity. His decision was made. He would try to survive for his family's memory, if nothing else. He moved steadily through the living room, grabbing his most essential items from their hiding spots. A wall register gave up his hunting knife. Under the couch was his walking stick. It was a two-inch thick, six-foot staff of dried and polished white oak. There was nothing fancy about it, but the people got the hint and left him alone when he'd needed to swing it around. The leather gloves and leather apron he had scrounged out of an abandoned glass artist's studio were in the chair cushion. Finally, the unused life straw water purification device was inside the hollowed-out blu ray player next to a cheap pair of brass knuckles he had found in the back of a burnt-out pawn shop.

Joe had everything he considered valuable except the house and pictures on him. It felt like he was saying goodbye. He swore to return after this bullshit calibration and keep his family home alive. Joe stepped out the door and locked both locks. There was sadness in his eyes and heart, but he stepped out onto the sidewalk and went towards the green light hanging in the sky.

_____________________________________________________________________________

16:13

Man, this gear had more weight than he was used to carrying. The apron seemed to drag at him, and even the comforting weight of his heavy oak walking stick seemed excessive as the heat broke into the mid-'80s. Joe rounded the corner and could see where the light in the sky was leading him. It was the hospital. Well, it used to be the hospital. Now it was a glowing green fire hole in the world surrounded by building rubble.

It was still a mile off, so Joe continued his steady pace and tried to be observant of what was around him. He could see a group of people near the circle. He didn't slow down, but he wanted to do so. Groups of people were usually dangerous lately. It was probably safe today as everything seemed orderly rather than milling around in agitation.

Finally, Joe was close enough to make everything out. Most of the hospital was gone, and a lot of the structural steel seemed to have been slapped into a rough circle around the fire. In theory, it sucked to lose the hospital, but Joe hadn't been able to use it for quite some time. The local Labor Motivation Council had taken it over. Only officials or those who wanted to labor for a couple of years had access to the machines or doctors.

As he got to the back of the line and queued up because human habits died hard, Joe noticed that everyone was sticking to their small family groups as usual. One person at a time would step into the fire circle, and it would flash about five seconds later. Then the next person would enter, and so on. It was moving fast enough that the only reason there was a line was that most of the remaining population on this side of the river seemed to be converging on this point. In the five minutes he'd been in line, he saw a four-person family get in line behind him.

The portal continued to flash away. Rift, Joe mentally corrected himself. He imagined if this was the new normal, the sooner he got the verbiage right, the easier it would be for him. When he was about two-thirds of the way to the front, his vision filled with blue fire letters as a message appeared.

Calibrate the System and gain a class - Update

You are within 50 meters of a training rift.

Enter solo or with a group to calibrate your System and receive your class.

Joe stared at the message until it faded to a dot once again. It had never said he could go in with other people, and he had stopped paying attention once he saw the rift work. He stared again and realized that almost no one was going into it alone. Sweat unrelated to the heat broke out, and he whipped his head around, looking for help. He didn't even ask. He didn't recognize anyone, and every time someone made eye contact with him, they either quickly looked away or stared at him until he did so.

"Shit," Joe muttered to himself. He continued to look around and still didn't recognize anyone. The line only continued to get longer behind him, and he faced a dilemma. He was on a time limit, and there was no information on how long the training rift would take him. The only information he had now was the certainty that he would die if he did not go in there. There was no information to support any theory except for common sense that there was safety in numbers. While he was thinking, the family in front of him stepped through the rift and appeared in what looked like a stone room with ceiling lights. Then the rift flashed, and a blank wall of green light sat before him. He swallowed deeply and stepped into the unknown.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Joe stood in a completely empty grey stone room with pale green skylights set into the ceiling. Apparently, the rift at least started the same for everyone. The rift opening still stood open behind him, but it flashed and was gone at the five-second mark. He only had a second to ponder his environment before the blue fire letters again filled his vision.

Calibrate the System and gain a class - Update

You have entered an appropriate training rift. Follow a path and reach the end before time expires.

Time remaining - 14:42

Joe waited for the words to fade while he checked himself over. He slipped the brass knuckles onto his left hand and kept his knife strapped to his left arm, though he moved it to the outside of his doubled shirts. He held his walking stick in both hands and started slowly down the stone hallway.

He didn't have to walk long until he spotted an opening ahead of him. As the space opened up and Joe stopped short. A short grey-green humanoid with a filthy loincloth and long dirty claws shuffled through the room. Its head was too broad with big reddish eyes and short greasy-looking hair. Its mouth stretched its whole face, making it look like a terrifying Pacman. There were three doors with symbols Joe couldn't make out over the doorframes on the far wall.

Joe was pretty sure that the shuffling little horror in front of him wouldn't just let him pass on by. He quickly concluded that combat was part of the trial, and goblins were now a thing. That's all it could be. If it currently existed, it was a fair chance that a lot more of humanities boogeymen were also available. Joe's mouth felt dry, but he didn't have any water. There was nothing else to do, so he steeled himself and waited for the goblin to face away from him.

As soon as it turned, Joe ran into the room as quietly as he could. It wasn't silent enough as the goblin turned and hissed through jagged needle teeth when Joe was only halfway there. Joe only needed one more step to be in range. Once he was, he choked up on the end of the staff and gave his best baseball swing. The goblin was faster than he would have thought, and Joe only managed to hit its left shoulder as it jumped backward. There was the sound of bones cracking, and the arm went limp.

Joe expected it to scramble back or run away, the way most humans would given a similar injury. So, the ear-shattering screech that accompanied its snarling charge caught him flat-footed. The goblin's eyes started to glow red as it lept towards his chest, its arm already swinging. Joe frantically stumbled backward and awkwardly got the staff in between them. He still fell back when 50 pounds of rage, teeth, and claws impacted his chest. His breath left him in a whoosh as claws raked down his chest.

Fortunately, the leather apron did its job and stopped the strike. It stopped the second as well, but then the goblin bit down on the staff and Joe's hand that was holding it. The leather gloves probably helped, but some needle teeth still made it through and left lines of searing pain steaking through him as it worried at it like a dog. Joe flailed frantically and somehow managed a blow with the brass knuckles on his left hand.

The goblin stumbled off him and shook its head groggily. Joe fought the urge to whimper and curl up around his bleeding hand and instead pushed to his feet. The stab of pain when he tightened the injured limb left him almost nauseous, but he pushed through.

He saw the goblin's eyes clearing, and it started to turn towards him once again. The beast was too late as Joe dropped the staff in an ax chop at its ugly face. Its head split like a melon, and Joe fought the urge to gag at the smell of blood, brains, and BO filling the space. Entirely unbidden, he thought that they had smelled bad on the outside. Slightly hysterical giggles and a few tears leaked out of Joe as he stood and looked at the remains in front of him.

Joe's luck finally turned around as red fire consumed the monster before him in a flash. He shook his eyes to clear them, having been staring right at it when the flames happened. Nothing was left but the lingering smell and two objects sitting on the ground when he looked back. He moved over and picked them up. One was a single copper coin the size of an old silver dollar with a small hole through the middle. The other item was clearly one of the beast's three-inch claws. Joe debated leaving it there but decided that it might have some use or value if it was purposefully left.

Calibrate the System and gain a class - Update

Initial Combat Calibration - completed

Choose a door and continue forward

Joe looked up and eyed the doors. The three were identical, with only the marking over the tops being different. One was clearly a sword, one looked like a staff, and the final one looked like a hammer. He guessed knew he didn't want the sword, but he could only guess at the other two.

Frustrated at the lack of information, he sat down to think. He took off his glove and was relieved to see that the teeth were more of deep, ragged scratches that complete punctures. The leather gloves had possibly saved his hand. He ripped part of the sleeve off one of his shirts and wrapped it before putting the glove back on.

"System."

Joseph Lemuel Wanderun

Level : 0

Class: None

Attributes:

Strength 5

Alacrity 6

Fortitude 5

Vigor 3

Reflex 5

Connection 2

Glamour 2

Skills: 0/5

Quests: Calibrate the System and gain a class

Joe focused on the quest, and once again, it filled his vision. Nothing new was there, and in frustration, he shouted, "Would it kill you to give me some damn help?"

Help menu activated

System help

Calibration help

There were only two options, but Joe's mouth still hung open in complete shock. The timer continued to tick down, but he still had over fourteen hours to go. There was enough time to figure some of this out and not go in completely blind.