*Gasp*

Stanis jolted awake, heart pounding like a stampede of animals as he continuously took in deep, rapid breaths, causing his chest to rise and fall many times. Many moments passed as he remained sitting on the floor, trying his best to calm himself down. Several more moments would pass before Stanis arose from the ground, only to find himself unable to move after standing up.

He stared at what was in front of him: nothing, absolutely nothing. In shock he tilted his head up, only to once more see nothing, no sky whatsoever, and then down to only notice that there was nothing below him… So what was he standing on right now?

His heart once again erupted into action, coursing blood filling up his veins as his pale skin began to heat up. He was going to plummet to death: he knew it and feared it. Unable to stand any longer, he fell onto the "floor", and stayed down for a few seconds, before he eventually realised that he wasn't falling.

There was no floor, but there was some kind of invisible force holding him up. This realisation brought back courage to the young man as he struggled back to his feet, sweat rolling down his cheeks giving testament to his fear.

It was then that he finally noticed the warmth surrounding his body, one familiar to him. He looked down to see that he wearing a thick pair of boots, which were snuggly wrapped around his dark, thermal trousers. Over his chest was a large Malitsa coat, one made out of reindeer skins with matching hood and gloves. It was a gift from his mother when he had last seen her: two years ago before she had passed away. Under his quite traditional coat were more modern garments, namely a maroon knitted jumper over a sleeved shirt.

These garments which had once been welcoming warmth were now sweltering heat as he could feel the fur of his hood sticky with sweat. It was as he was about to tear his coat off that words appeared inside of his head.

Welcome to the Tutorial

A message from the host:

"You have no way of going backwards. Staying still means death. You can only survive by moving forward.

Remember this at all times, Humans. Your old lives are finished, they are nothing but dreams now. So do your best to adapt, it's what our species' speciality is."

Think status to bring up your personal status. The first test will begin in 1 minute.

Stanis dropped all his thoughts as he stood in shock at what had just happened. This had to be fake, and yet it had all the aspects of reality. Knowing there was only one way to find out, Stanis immediately thought Status within his mind.

Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Level: 1

Attributes: [Average for your species is currently…]

Strength: Your explosive power and physical prowess

12[10]

Dexterity: Your general athleticism alongside agility and coordination

13[9]

Constitution: Your health, toughness and stamina reserve.

14[9]

Intelligence: Your logical processing power

12[9]

Wisdom: Ability to think outside normalcy and perception.

10[8]

Tenacity: Your ability to go through pain and suffering.

12[11]

All his attributes were well above average, meaning he was well above the average human. This meant he had a much better chance of passing the next test compared to the ordinary person. Knowing that he had a higher chance was the only comfort he found within this absurd situation.

1 minute is up. Prepare for the first test.

In front of him, which had been just empty space, formed an animal. There was a thick pole of metal embedded deep into the ground, to which the animal was chained up. In essence, it looked exactly like a smaller version of a cow, so a calf. But there were a few minor differences, the first being the fact that this animal had large eyes, which heavily increased the effectiveness of its doe-eyed look as it frantically glanced around. The next was how you could see the veins protruding out from the animal on different parts of its body: this didn't take away from how cute the animal was, but it was still a curious feature.

In front of you is a Monster. Kill it within 30 seconds, or be prepared to die yourself. The most effective area to stab will be lit up.

It was then that Stanis noticed that within his tightly gripped fist was now a small, rough knife. The blade was straight and sharp, giving the whole knife a dangerous feel. On the calf, its throat was shining red. It was obvious as to what the entity in his mind wanted him to do…

As if to add to the pressure, he could hear the ticking of time within his mind. The same way the tutorial communicated to him through feelings instead of words, he could feel a 30-second clock ticking down every second he stood there.

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

He continued to stand there. This was just a bad dream, or maybe a test from God to find out his true morality. He would stand here until the time ran out, in order to prove that he was a good man. But it seemed that God didn't want that proof because as the time continued to tick, he came to the 20-second point when an image was sent straight into his mind: within it he could see a person standing still, refusing to kill the calf. And then their body began to get compressed by an invisible force, as if something was crushing them. He could hear the ghastly screams, in fact, that was all that filled his mind as he watched it. A few moments later, the person was a clump of disgusting meat on the ground.

5 ticks had passed in real life, leaving Stanis with 15 seconds remaining.

Then the image repeated in his head, only this time it wasn't a random person. Rather it was him… The figure had his prominent cheekbones that you could see despite the chubby cheeks. His jaw wasn't the strongest and his nose was quite flat and unnoticeable until the end where it lightly budged out. His eyes were folded, giving the look of slanted eyes. He also had a yellowish tan to his whole face, although not one which could block the rosiness of his cheeks blushing to the world. The hair was cut short and dark brown, just the way he liked it. In his mind, he could see himself crying and cursing as his bones began to break under pressure until a few seconds later, he too was alike the first figure in his mind: just a lump of disgusting meat.

5 more ticks had passed.

His conscious mind resisted, but his subconscious could no longer. His body began to move without his orders, sprinting towards the calf which jumped back startled. The calf struggled away from him, although all that did was further grate the chain against its neck. Stanis could see the bright red light coming from its throat, which was where he was supposed to stab. And his body followed with no thought, piercing the knife into calf's neck.

The blade only went halfway through, allowing the calf to scream in pain as it looked at Stanis with frightened, desperate eyes. Stanis could feel his mind breaking down as he once more stabbed the animal, this time into the protruding vein that went across its neck. It gave an agonisingly long shriek before collapsing onto the floor. Blood splattered all over Stanis, staining his lightly-coloured fur-coat crimson red.

Finally taking back control from his fearful subconscious, he felt an even worse fear as the shock finally hit him. He jerked his body away from the fountain of blood, only to find it shooting into his mouth as he moved his body. He could taste the deep, iron taste of the blood; it was the final blow to his mental capacity as he fell to his knees, before heaving out yesterday's dinner.

Well done. You have passed the first test, with 4 seconds to spare.

Here is your status: Changes are shown with arrows. [Average for your species is…].

Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Level 1 (Progress to next level is 50%)

Strength: 12 [10 -> 11]

Dexterity: 13 [9 -> 11]

Constitution: 14[9 -> 11]

Intelligence: 12[9 -> 10]

Wisdom: 10[8]

Tenacity: 12[11 -> 13]

Prepare for the next test which will commence in 1 minute.

Here is a comment from the host: "Pitiful Humans. Clearly we are not cut from the same cloth! You have gone from a population of 7.6 billion to 3.5 billion… Remember that each task you fail is another life gone."