Another timer appeared in the sky, and it was counting down from the 5 minutes the Voice said to us.

Time Limit: 4 Minutes, 58 Seconds

More than half the Players were freaking out and running in fear, some frightened in place, while others panicked to the walls of the space looking for a way out. Amongst the chaos of the crowds, I could see a few thousand who looked unsure about what to do or feel, while even fewer hundreds were unfazed by what just happened. Unsure myself about how to feel, I turned back to the group chat.

The Top 10

Dream- Wtf!

Faust- Shit got crazy!

Da Vinci- ! (O.O) !

Xian- He just keeps on dying in different ways, and then gets revived back to life again.

Casino- Counted 6 times now.

Omega- Deserved.

Essex- Why would you say that?

Lavie- Yeah, no one deserves to be endlessly tortured like that.

Tobias- You saw it too, Omega?

Omega- I did.

Essex- Saw what?

Tobias- A woman was super ecstatic about her high placing in the Rankings, and she started to really brag to everyone in our area about it. Then the tortured man right now confronted her, angry and shouting that he finished before her, and that a woman didn’t deserve to be placed above him.

Dream- Hey I’m a girl and I definitely deserved to be placed above him!

Da Vinci- \_(^o^)_/

Omega- Anyway, they argued for about a minute and then the man just snapped, drawing his sword and slicing the woman’s throat open, and that’s why I said he deserved it.

Essex- That’s horrible!

Xian- What happened to the woman?

Tobias- She bled out really quickly and died, but she was also revived by the same coloured magic. I lost sight of her after that.

Dream- Ummm shouldn’t we still try 2 save that guy or something? I feel kinda bad for the sexist jerk dying up there

Faust- Lol u go ahead I’ll just watch wat happens 2 u

Casino- Bet you’ll get tortured too.

Dream- Ahhhhh nvm then

Lavie- Eyes, you’re here right?

I am, do you need something?

Lavie- Can use your Seer powers to tell me what'll happen if I try to save that man?

“Now they think I’m some sort of fortune teller after I told them that lie earlier, I better tell them a little bit of the truth so that they don’t bother me in the future about it.”

No I can’t, sorry. I can only use my Skill when I’m uninterrupted, and with all these people running around that won’t happen. Plus my Skill has an extremely long cooldown, and I can’t use it anytime soon because I used it earlier.

“That should be good enough of an excuse.”

Lavie- Oh, that’s too bad…

Omega- Don’t bother saving trash like him, Lavie, he’s not worth risking getting the same punishment. And just remember, he would’ve actually killed an innocent woman if it wasn’t for the Voice reviving her, and all just for placing ahead of him in the Rankings.

Lavie- …

“Omega is probably right, but it’s still a horrible sight to see a person being tortured like that.” Seeing the man struggle for air, as he was now drowning to death with a water bubble around his head. “I wonder if I can see his name and use it to find out what place he got, it must have been really low if he got so angry to kill someone over it.” Using my Eyes of a Seer, I looked at the man but was confused on why no name appeared above his head. “Where’s his name? And what’s that weird golden aura around him?” When I walked closer to get a better look at the golden aura, it abruptly disappeared as the man died from drowning. “Why did it go away? Was I just seeing things?” I thought to myself.

Curious, I kept staring at the man’s body as it revived, and then just like before he died, another golden aura emitted around him. “There it is again! What does that mean then?” I thought hard about it for a few seconds, and then it came to me. “It must be the Significance that the Eyes of a Seer grants me, there’s nothing else it could be. But why is it showing around that guy?” And then it hit me like a truck, “Wait, I can’t see that guy’s name! He’s not a Player!” The man died again and the golden aura disappeared once again. “If he’s not a Player, that must mean this is all a fake stunt to trick the other Players, and if Significance is showing around him, there must be something that happens if we save him.” The man revived again, but the timer counting in seconds really stood out to me.

Time Limit: 51 Seconds

“Shit, I wasted so much time not knowing! That must be how long we have to save him, but how do I get high enough to reach him? He’s at least 30ft above the ground.” Then I spotted Lavie walking towards the man, and I had an idea. Quickly opening the Message Menu, I personally sent a message only to Lavie.

Lavie En Rouge

You’re gonna try to save him, right?

Lavie- How did you know that?

I see you, but that doesn’t matter right now, we’re running out of time.

Lavie- You thought so too? How do you plan to reach him?

How high is your Strength Stat?

Lavie- It’s at 100 right now, but if you’re planning for me to throw you that high, I don’t think it’ll work.

We don’t have any other options with the time we have left. We either try and then succeed, or we try and then fail.

Lavie- Sorry, you’re right.

Good, now just stand under the man with your hands cupped together, and be prepared for me to come at you really fast.

Lavie- Okay, I’ll be ready to lift.

Closing the Menu, I grabbed a weapon that I remembered seeing out of Infinity, and then lined myself up with where Lavie was standing.

Time Limit: 22 Seconds

Waiting for the man to die from poison coursing through his body, the moment he died, I began my approach.

Time Limit: 13 Seconds

Activating Sprint, my body moved at a slightly faster speed than before, as I sped my way pass the crowds of people, almost crashing into one, but lucky they fell out of the way seeing me running.

“Hey, watch where yer going!” A man shouted with an accent.

Not looking back, I responded “Sorry!” As I focused on the man who was now dying from a raining pool of acid above him, and the aura from the Significance was already beginning to fade away. All the other Players already backed away from underneath the man, as some of the acid was missing his body and dropping directly below him. Though I could see Lavie waiting for me underneath him, bearing every single droplet that hit her body and melted through her armour, burning her skin. I shouted, “Give it everything you got!” Seeing me, I saw her smirk, and then she readied herself.

Timer Limit: 9 Seconds

Using all of my Stamina, I ran up as fast as I could, and placed my foot right into Lavie’s cupped hands. Screaming out loud in effort, Lavie instantly jumped and brought her hands upwards, lifting and sending me straight into the air.

Time Limit: 7 Seconds

I was completely caught by surprise of the height Lavie was able to throw me to, as it was at least 20ft in the air, and I could feel almost everyone’s attention directed at me. Staying focus, I unfurled the long leather whip I took out earlier, and flicked it upwards at the man’s leg.

Time Limit: 5 Seconds

Somehow the whip actual struck the man’s foot, loosely wrapping around it, but as I fell and dragged the whip with me, it was beginning to unwrap around the foot. “No!” I shouted, thinking “There’s not enough time to try again!”

Time Limit: 3 Seconds

And as I was falling and watching the whip unwrap, Lavie’s voice shouted below me “I got it! Pull!” Purely reacting to her voice, I tightened my right hand’s grip on the handle, grabbed the extended part of the whip with my left hand, and then pulled it back as hard as I could.

Time Limit: 1 Second

Unthinkably the other end of the whip tightened and gripped around the foot again, and with the pull of the whip, the man’s body came out of its floating suspended state, and then strangely came flying straight towards me. At the speed that the body was moving, I expected it to come crashing into me, and then use me as a cushion for the fall, but instead everything just stopped.

Time Limit: 0.02 Second

My body couldn’t move again, the voices of the Players disappeared, and the falling sensation was completely gone. The whole white space I could see was now grey in colour, but my body strangely wasn’t, and the man who should’ve been falling above me was nowhere to be seen. Then the same voice from earlier said, “Fantastic! What a splendid display of teamwork you two showed, and for your efforts, the both of you have discovered the Hidden Tutorial Quest!” As a new Quest appeared in front of me.

Hidden Tutorial Quest

A Major Decision:

Find a way to save the tortured man before the time runs out, and then decide his fate.

Reward: ??? Time Limit: 0.02 Second

“Now let me release you so you can decide.” The falling sensation suddenly returned and I plummeted straight down; but just before I was about to hit the ground, my falling speed slowed, and I was gently placed on the ground. Looking around, I saw that not only the whole space was grey in colour, but also every single one of the rest of the Players were grey in colour. Unmoving, they seemed to have been frozen in time, their expressions of watching Lavie and me save the man the last thing on their faces. And just like me, Lavie was in complete colour, as she was also looking at everything around us. Then a completely white figure of a man appeared in front of us, and it caught the both of us by surprise.

The figure had no face, no ears, no hair, no clothes, and no genitals showing on his exposed body. He only had big red letters taking up the whole of his face, with the letters spelling out Nulla. Even without a mouth, the figure still spoke, and his voice was the same as the one we’ve been hearing all this time. “I apologize for my lack of attire, I couldn’t decide on an outfit yet, but never mind that.” Lavie and I looked at each other in disbelief. “All you must do is decide whether this man should be annihilated, or be saved.” When the figure stopped talking, the tortured man appeared in front of us on his knees. He had an absolutely traumatized expression on his face, and was frozen in time just like the others around us. Then a screen popped up in my face.

Decide the Man’s Fate:

[Annihilation] or [Salvation]

“What the hell is that extreme!? Why would we ever annihilate him?” Lavie exclaimed.

“The man has broken the one rule in the Waiting Hub, and in the process he killed an innocent woman. I would think you wouldn’t allow such a deed to go so easily unpunished, but maybe I just got the wrong impression about you, Lavie En Rouge.” The figure replied.

“You don’t, but isn’t there a lighter punishment you can give like imprisoning him or something?” The figure shook his head no. “Why would you jump straight to annihilating someone, wasn’t that endless torturing already enough?” Lavie questioned again.

“If that is how you feel, then shall I confirm Salvation as your decision?” The figure asked.

Lavie looked to be thinking to herself, and then she said “Seeing this man’s traumatized face, I doubt he’ll ever do anything close to killing another person again, in fear that he might get tortured like that again. I believe you shouldn’t condemn a person for life on a single horrible deed, so if I have to choose between annihilating him or saving him, then I obviously choose saving.” She then looked like she was clicking on something I couldn’t see.

“Interesting, Lavie must’ve also had the screen up, but I couldn’t see it. That must mean other Player’s Menus are invisible to each other.” I noted to myself.

“Very good, and your choice Eyes Thalion?” The figure asked me.

I contemplated to myself, “The way Lavie was talking, she must still think this man is an actual person, but in reality he’s not, just something created to make this Tutorial Quest happen, almost like an Npc. This Nulla guy didn’t even call the man a Player once, like 13 was referring to me as. If this was an actual person, the moral choice would probably be a lot harder for me to make, but since it isn’t…” I clicked on Annihilation.

The red letters then moved on his face and then morphed into a big red line smile, and he said “Both of your choices have been confirmed.” As he gestured a hand towards the both of us, and the Quest completed.

Hidden Tutorial Quest Completed A Major Decision has been completed. Reward: The Earring Of Annihilation

“The Earring Of Annihilation? That sounds hella cool.” I thought, as a sudden sharp sting pierced my left earlobe, and a screen popped open right after.

The Earring Of Annihilation

Common

A seemingly ordinary earring, it symbolizes your decision of Annihilation.

Requirement: Eyes Thalion

“Wait, what? The name made it sound super cool, but this doesn’t say it does anything at all.” I thought to myself.

I was about to question the Reward, but the figure’s voice overpowered mine “With that finally done, it is time to introduce myself to the Players.” Raising his right index finger upwards, a pinkish purple ball of magic shot up from it and hovered in the sky. Then at the same time, countless beams of pinkish purple light shot from every angle of the ball, and the lights were hitting every single Player in the head, but none of the lights were hitting either of us. “Oh by the way, can you help me choose which colour looks better.” Lavie and I looked at each other in confusion, as two tailcoat jackets hovered in front of us; one a solid royal blue colour, and the other a solid crimson red colour. Unsure what was happening, we both chose the crimson red colour, and the figure said “I thought so, thank you.” Then in the blink of an eye, he disappeared, the man returned floating in the sky with a tortured body, the whole space returned to its white colour, and the Players were back in colour and moving with their thousands of voices drowning my ears in sound again.

Time Limit: 0 Seconds

The timer hit zero and another loud bell echoed in the space silencing everyone. “I’m sorry for the delay, Players. Everything is now ready. But first, let me free you of your punishment.” As one last time the tortured man was healed back to full, and then was slowly floated to the ground beside Lavie and me. “Now that that’s done, allow me to introduce myself.” Appearing floating in the sky, the figure we were talking to was now wearing the long completely unbuttoned crimson red tailcoat Lavie and I chose, not even wearing pants or a shirt, and just exposing his body. “I am the Administrator, but you may call me the Admin, or even Nulla if you prefer.”

I looked around, and at least half of the Players were still unsettled by the torture from earlier, but Nulla continued. “I would like to welcome all 10,000 Players once again, and to congratulate all of you on completing the Tutorial. And for your efforts, you will all be given 10 Gold in your Inventory to help the start of your journey in the world of Novus.”

You have been Awarded 10 Gold.

“Additional Awards will also be given to those who have placed in the Top 5000, the Top 2500, the Top 1000, and the Top 100 in the Tutorial Rankings.

You have been Awarded 10 Gold. You have been Awarded 30 Gold. You have been Awarded 10 Extra Inventory Slots. You have been Awarded the Title: [The 1%]

Some of the Players cheered upon gaining the extra Awards, while the others near them looked jealous. “Before I send you on your way to Novus, I should inform you that you will all die if you take too much damage and your Health reaches 0, and will not respawn like in the Combat Tutorial.” Hearing that fact, the Players became quiet again. “However!” Nulla added, “There are ways to revive yourself and each other, though they can be difficult to come across alone.” The Players started to whisper to each other.

Gesturing a hand across the crowd, Nulla said “I know there are very few Players happy and excited about this whole situation, and I appreciate your happiness and excitement over it right now. I just hope you can enjoy your new world to the fullest and discover the things you couldn't imagine doing in your last, though your feelings right now could also change in the future.” The whispering voices only increased. “On the other hand, there are also more than a few Players who are angry and feeling vengeful right now. In the case of those Players, I encourage you to become strong, extremely strong, then discover a way to find and kill us without mercy. Then who knows, you may even find the power to return to the world you long so deeply for right now, or maybe by then your feelings will also change about this new world.” The whispering stopped, and hundreds of conversations could be heard at the same time. “But there are also those who are unsure about how to feel, and for you I suggest finding something you enjoy and then doing it, knowing how you feel will naturally come after.” Nulla then clapped his hands together above his head.

The sound echoed throughout the space, and a giant blue multipart magic circle appeared floating above the entirety of the area. “You Players are allowed to feel however you feel, Novus is yours to experience, and we can’t wait to watch what you do, so please entertain us well." Making a motion with his hands, the different parts of the magic circle began to turn and move, becoming brighter and brighter. "Until we meet again!” Then a sound of a large boom occurred and a huge flash of blue light blinded me.