Blair stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror of an office building. Her round glasses were wiped until there wasn’t a speck of dust on them and her short hair was tied into a perfect ponytail without a single strand sticking out. For the umpteenth time, she checked if there was any stain on her dark green sweater or jeans, only to find none.

“I’m ready for this,” mumbled Blair and lightly slapped her cheeks.

She knew how difficult it was for women in the industry so she had to make an impression. All those useless algorithms were crammed into her head. She could recite them all if push came to shove. The absurdity of making interviewees memorize them was a bad modus operandi but one that had clear-cut requirements —she liked those.

“Miss Corbin, please,” yelled the receptionist, and Blair promptly left the bathroom after wiping her hands with a tissue. She couldn’t be too late but she couldn’t seem desperate. In theory, she knew everything to do to ace an interview but she lacked practice.

The bathroom was in the same hall as the interview room. All of them had bronze-looking labels nailed to the door. The room number was 105 and it was three doors down. She’d memorized it on the way to the toilet.

She tightly twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Confidently, she stepped in, as if she had every business to be there. She did, but acting like she knew it was a necessity. She read it on the internet so it had to be true!

She took her seat behind the desk opposite to the brunet interviewer. He looked more like a people person than a programmer but the last four years of college taught her that looks were deceiving. While she looked like a walking stereotype of a nerd —the tall kind, complete with a lanky physique, wiry limbs, and glasses— there were those that looked like they were athletes.

“So, umm, hi,” said Blair awkwardly and cursed inwardly.

That wasn’t good enough. Not one bit. She messed up the first impression just like that but considering her field, it was expected. She still wasn’t used to socializing with strangers despite the last four years of university.

“Well, hello there. Nice to meet you-” started the interviewer but his voice trailed off. He narrowed his eyes and focused on thin air in front of him. He ran his finger across the air and that made Blair raise an eyebrow.

“Ugh, hello?” she asked.

“Don’t you see this thingy? Floating right there,” said the interviewer and pointed a finger at an imaginary object, “It’s some rectangle with some text on it.”

“Oh, wait, is this part of the interview? Like a joke thing?” asked Blair and let out a chuckle. Men liked it when women laughed at their jokes, even if it didn’t have a shred of humor in it.

That’s when she saw it too.

Before her eyes floated a black rectangle that wasn’t unlike a pop-up on a computer. It was distinctly unique from the major operating systems she knew: the background was black, it was written in light blue text that was dimly glowing. If anything, it was comparable to a pop-up in a video game.

“Is this, like, supposed to be the project I’m working on? That’s awesome. Was, umm, my resume good enough to pass without an interview, or is it just a demo kind of thing?” asked Blair and a grin spread on her face. She threw caution to the wind and tried to get her face closer to the pop-up, only for it to get further. She raised her head and turned to the interviewer who sat there with a confused expression.

“No,” whispered the interviewer, clearly shaken and that was when she focused on the window to actually read its contents.

Welcome to the System, [Earthling]. You will be transported to the Tutorial Stage to better acquaint yourself with the System. [Mandatory Transferral] initiating in 6 seconds…

The second counter was ticking down and understandably, each second decreased the number by one.

“What… is happening?” asked Blair and furrowed her brows.

The moment the counter reached zero, there was a pop and she was somewhere else. Sitting on a chair but the desk was nowhere to be seen. The interviewer was gone and the room was completely different, if it could be called that.

She was in a wide corridor with white walls. There was no ceiling and no sky, only a white void that stretched on forever. It was a whiter shade than the walls and the floor, which seemed to have a hint of gray in them.

Please proceed to the highlighted area.

Blair stared at the window before her skeptically. This couldn’t be a dream. Her dreams were never this realistic, not to mention the short fiasco with the interviewer. Blair wasn’t a lucid dreamer and if she moved in her dreams, she wouldn’t feel everything like this: the ground beneath her feet as she walked and the strain in her muscles as she moved.

Several meters before her, the floor lit up with a circular pattern. The circle glowed a bright red and it rose from the ground into a pillar. It was partially transparent and she could see through it, but the color was undeniable.

Slowly, she walked forward and stepped into the circle.

The pillar of light was intangible and she could walk through it. She didn’t feel anything and her eyes weren’t blinded by the light as she stepped through. The circle either disappeared when she did or the light was invisible from the inside.

Right in front of her, the floor slid open like a trapdoor and a glowing, blank, red card similar to a poker card in size rose from it. Blair stared at it with her glasses on, took them off, and stared at it again. It was indisputably there and her common sense instantly went toward dreams.

It had to be a dream.

Hold the [Red Card] for your Starter Skill.

“Fuck it,” said Blair and gave up trying to understand it. No matter how perfect a simulation was, this was nothing short of magic. If this was technology, she was willing to accept that she didn’t know the first thing about it and that Clarke’s Third Law was right. She scratched her head and messed up her hair in the process, but she didn’t care about her appearance now —the interview was canceled. Underneath her breath, she mumbled, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, huh?”

Blair extended her left hand and picked it up.

Congratulations! You’ve used a [Red Card]. Choose one of the following Starter Skills that have been provided to you for free.

Mind of Steel (C): Your nerve fibers are noticeably dulled and you will feel less pain than your peers.

Vigor of Ancients (C): Your healing factor is significantly increased and you will heal faster than your peers.

Light Foot of Felines (C): Your bones are connected in a manner resembling felines and you are able to contort your body beyond the limits of your peers.

Faster healing, not feeling pain, and flexibility. All three had concrete benefits and none seemed worse than the others. Knowing her history of injuries, though, Blair’s option was obvious.

She’d cut her fingers plenty when growing up and often, she injured herself during PE class back in school. Her bones were surprisingly fragile and several times, they’d been broken. Not feeling pain would make it difficult to know when her bones broke, but that was under the impression they’d outright steal her sensitivity to pain.

“Vigor of Ancients,” she said, unaware of how to choose one in any other way.

You have gained the Skill: [Vigor of Ancients].

[Red Cards] provide you with Physical Skills, [Blue Cards] provide you with Magical Skills, and [Green Cards] provide you with Psionic Skills. You can find more by killing Monsters and level them up by finding Cards of the same name. Go get them!

“I’m not even surprised anymore,” said Blair and rubbed her eyes through her closed eyelids. She was casually told to go and kill Monsters.

The only fight she’d gotten into in her entire life was against a roommate because she accidentally ate Blair’s cheesecake. There were slaps and there were scratches —not a conventional fight that you fought to win. It was one that you fought to vent your frustrations.

The card in her hand started to glow brighter and after a flash, it was no longer blank. It had a gray border close to the edges and within it, a drop of blood was depicted.

Turn the card around for more information on the Skill.

Blair obliged and turned it around. Much like the front, the back had contents now. There was some text in a language she didn’t recognize but could read. Having never known a language other than English her entire life, being able to read another language was an odd sensation.

There was the name of the Skill at the top and right below it, there was its Level, currently at 1, and in the same line, there was its Rarity, which said “Common”. Slightly below them, there was the description of the Skill.

The cards will be stored in your Skill Deck. You may trade Skills of the same Rarity with other [Earthlings].

That reminded Blair of the trading card games that her classmates used to play. She’d never had time for games, too busy grinding for valedictorian but she knew the definition. They… traded cards, and she could trade these cards.

Had to be similar enough.

The card lit up again and this time, it shattered into a thousand pieces of white light that scattered everywhere. That brought a smile to her face —it looked amazing.

“Skill Deck?” she said slowly, her tone questioning whether it would appear or not.

In her hand materialized a red deck box. It looked similar in size to a box that had a standard 52-card poker deck, comfortable enough to hold. Unlike the paper variants, this one was made of metal. The cold sensation was refreshing. There was a round, black button where the lid connected to the rest of the box.

When she pressed on it, the lid popped open, and out flew the card she held in her hand. It floated a few inches before her, close enough that she could see it clearly but not too close.

“So, umm, close,” Blair said out loud. She was more confident now. Understanding new concepts in a short period of time was a necessity and she’d mastered that. The moment she finished her sentence, both the deck holder and the card shattered into light, eliciting yet another grin from her.

Watching a movie was one thing but seeing it actually happen before your eyes was amazing. This didn’t seem like the pale imitation of holograms that they emulated with curved screens. It was either a true hologram or it could be matter. If it had been a mere hologram, she couldn’t have touched it like before.

That is unless the alien race that abducted her had mastered Hard Light Constructs. It was the most probable explanation as to what was happening to her now if it happened to be reality. Aliens would be the only ones capable of such things.

Please proceed to the highlighted area.

There was another pillar of red light several meters away from her. That was manageable with current technology but the ease with which they were being projected without any lenses or projectors alluded to technological advancements further than what they had, not to mention the card floating up from underneath the floor.

Once again, Blair followed the instructions and stepped into the highlighted circle. This time, she could see that the light was disappearing the moment she entered the perimeters.

The floor opened up and another card floated up. This one was white and had contents from the get-go rather than offering her a choice in the matter. It slowly spun in place, letting her see both sides.

On one side, there was a picture of her that included her shoulders and face that took up the entire page. It resembled the picture on her driver’s license but the only difference was that she was naked on the picture. On the other side, there were several lines of text.

Your [Status Card] is the only valid identification that all System-related machinery recognize. It is invisible to others, not available for trade, and will automatically disperse if it leaves a meter’s radius of you.

She grabbed the card and stared at the text on the side without the picture. They were too small to make out before but now, it was clearly visible.

Name: Blair Corbin

Race: Earthling (Human)

Credits: 0

Strength: 2

Agility: 3

Durability: 2

Perception: 1

Stamina: 8

Mana: 34

Capacity: 35

Her Perception was low, which was understandable. A lifetime of wearing headphones took their toll on her ears, her eyesight was bad enough that she couldn’t see the board without her glasses even if she sat at the front seats of a lecture hall, and she never had a good nose.

She didn’t know the average for humans, and as such, didn’t know if these stats were low or decent, but her common sense teetered to the side of low. That was when another window came to the rescue.

Credits: Shows how much of the System Currency you have at the moment.

Strength: Shows your physical strength. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 5. Each point increases effectiveness by 10%.

Agility: Shows your movement speed. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 4. Each point increases effectiveness by 10%.

Durability: Shows your physical durability. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 5. Each point increases effectiveness by 10%.

Perception: Shows your sensory capabilities. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 3. Each point increases effectiveness by 10%.

Stamina: Shows how many Physical Skills you can use. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 10. SE (Stamina Effectiveness) is 30% of the maximum Stamina value. Each SE point increases effectiveness by 10%.

Mana: Shows how many Magical Skills you can use. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 12. ME (Mana Effectiveness) is 30% of the maximum Mana value. Each ME point increases effectiveness by 10%.

Capacity: Shows how many Psionic Skills you can use. The average for an adult [Earthling: Human] is 20. CE (Capacity Effectiveness) is 30% of the maximum Capacity value. Each CE point increases effectiveness by 10%.

“That’s better than expected,” said Blair and nodded her head.

If it was the average of all adults, there was no shame in being below the average at Strength. Men were in the equation as well and adult men were typically stronger than women. Her Agility was surprisingly high. Her Perception made sense, as her senses were far from perfect. She got injured easier than her peers so her low Durability added up as well.

Her Stamina was surprisingly close to the standard. If it operated as a fuel source like Mana and Capacity, which were both high, it was reasonable to assume that despite seeming large, her Stamina wasn’t too good.

The vast majority of humans weren’t athletic, so it was reasonable to assume that being close to the average in that regard wasn’t that great. She hadn’t exerted herself physically since her high-school days when she had mandatory PE, so it would be understandable if her Stamina was low.

“Wait, did… animals also get spirited away? How does that work?” she mumbled after seeing the clarifications on Human after Earthling.

That reminded her of how impractical that would be, and that was when her mind wandered off to the possibility that mythologies could be real.

Please proceed to the highlighted area.

Blair walked to the beacon and like before, a card rose from a hole in the ground that promptly closed after letting it out. It was a black one and had nothing on it, meaning she had to touch it to choose something if her analysis was correct.

When she touched it, a screen appeared before her. There were several options and all of them had large images with their names at the top and bonuses at the bottom.

Congratulations! You’ve used a [Black Card]. Choose one of the following Starter Equipment that have been provided to you for free.

Steel Rapier (C): +1 Strength, +1 Agility

Steel Cutlass (C): +2 Strength

Steel Longsword (C): +2 Strength

Steel Katana (C): +1 Strength, +1 Agility

Steel Hatchet (C): +2 Strength

Steel Dagger (C): +1 Strength, +1 Agility

Steel Mace (C): +2 Strength

Steel Spear (C): +2 Strength

The options were all melee weapons, much to her disappointment. Even more so when there wasn’t an option for a gun. She’d learned the basics and if she was going to fight, it was obvious that she’d choose the one that offered her the best chances.

Blair knew nothing of wielding a sword and if her time surfing various forums taught her anything, it was that spears were easier to wield than swords. Having a hatchet or a dagger seemed far closer to reality than anything else on the list, but a spear was her first choice. That was under the impression she could buy other weapons later.

“Steel Spear,” she said and the card had a simplified image of a spear imprinted on it. It had the same gray border that was on her [Vigor of Ancients] card. The back was empty save for the Name, Rarity, and the stat bonuses. As expected, the Rarity said “Common”.

[Black Cards] provide you with Equipment. You can summon them by saying their name out loud followed by [Appear], and you may place it into your Inventory by saying their name followed by [Store]. You can buy more with Credits through a System Store or Dungeons.

It didn’t require killing but it required Credits, but there was a part of her that knew that earning Credits wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It could be related to killing, even.

“Steel Spear, appear,” she said and light gathered before her. It coalesced into the rough shape of a spear and the light around it scattered, revealing the spear. It was fully made of steel, as its name implied. That meant she could block blows with its body and stab or cut with its blade.

The length of the base was close to her height, thanks to standing at a taller-than-average height of 5’10’’. The blade, on the other hand, was as long as half a head so the spear was only slightly taller than her.

It floated there in suspension, hovering in the air while slowly spinning like the cards. The moment she grabbed it, it stopped floating and she felt its weight. It was twice or thrice as heavy as the mop she used at home, which meant that it would be tiring to sling it around.

That’s when a warm sensation surged across her body and the spear became significantly lighter.

“This is awesome,” she said and tried to lift it, which she did with far more ease than she’d expected. It made sense. The spear gave her a Strength bonus so she was stronger. In fact, she was roughly 20% percent stronger than before. It was technically 21%, but thinking of numbers in intervals of 5 was simpler for her.

She was one of the oddballs that memorized the multiplication table of 5 before 10 for some ridiculous reason.

“Steel Spear, store,” said Blair, and the spear sputtered into a mass of light like the cards and deck holders from before. This time, it was getting older. Her smile wasn’t as wide and she wasn’t as enamored by the spectacle.

Please proceed to the highlighted area at your leisure. You will be transported to the First Level to introduce you to your first combat with the System.

She was supposed to fight?

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mumbled.