Just outside the destroyed frontage of Heart&Seoul Pizzeria, a cohesion of Unity and Intention coalesces, invisible to all, for there are none yet in the area capable of seeing it, and none on the planet capable of detecting a disturbance to Order from so distant a vantage.

Soon, it will become a complete construct, capable of affecting the world around it.

Soon, it will be filled with a boundless rage.

Soon, it will attack.

And its targets are mere yards away and a floor above, totally oblivious to their impending demise.

“I’m going to finish running you through the most important things, then you can explore on your own,” Je-won told Dexter as they once again sat in his apartment above the pizzeria.

Dexter nodded.

“First, go back to the main panel. The one where the messages are displayed.”

“Okay.”

“Now swipe down. You should see a bar with icons.”

“Yeah, you told me.”

Je-won rubbed his face. “Right, sorry. Okay. The symbol next to the eye will bring up a list of all your abilities.”

“I see Dauntless.”

Je-won frowned. “That’s it? You should have gotten one from joining the system.”

Dexter shook his head. “All I see is my title. You and Nara got one?”

“Yes,” Je-won said. “The few people online I could find talking about it mentioned also getting a starting ability. You got a message, correct? When you joined.”

“Yeah. Something about involuntary activation, and that I had earned a title.”

“There’s a log of your old messages. Swipe down from where you are.”

Dexter did, causing the icon bar to move to the bottom and his vision to be filled with a list of messages. He found the one in question, then read it aloud. “’Involuntary system activation. You have been awarded a new title. Welcome to the system, Dauntless.’”

“Interesting,” Je-won said. He swiped at his interface. “Mine was, ‘Processing… Application accepted. Initiating… System activated. You have been awarded a starting ability. Welcome to the system, Yun Je-won’.”

“Yun Je-won?” Zoe asked. “Like how you write it in Korea?”

“Yes, I wrote my name in Hangul.”

“It’s in English on the scoreboard,” Dexter said.

“Hm. It must translate it for others.”

“Your interface is in Korean?”

Je-won shook his head. “English, other than my name. As for a starting ability…” He looked thoughtful. “Your case was different than ours. You didn’t get an ability, but did get a title, perhaps in lieu of one. My First Slayer title grants an ability—that sword I summoned—and since yours is on your ability list, I’m assuming it’s the same. On your icon bar there’s— Actually, no. Bring up your stat screen, you haven’t looked at that yet. It’s just to the left of the main page. Down and to the left of where you are now.”

Dexter swiped the message log away and had to admit that though it was strange, interacting with it was quite intuitive. At least for someone used to using touchscreen interfaces.

His home screen, so to speak, was just the main page where there was nothing to obstruct his view of the world around him, unless a system message appeared. Making a swiping motion from left to right caused a vague, glasslike panel to appear from the left side—also constructed from that same light and mist as the text, but frosted just enough to differentiate it.

Dauntless

Leaderboard Rank: 196,534

Score: 0

Level: None

Class: None

Attributes

∴ Agility (Novice 5)

∴ Endurance (Novice 4)

∴ Strength (Novice 6)

∴ Durability (Novice 6)

∴ Intelligence (Novice 8)

∴ Vision (Novice 9)

∴ Hearing (Novice 9)

∴ Smell (Novice 5)

∴ Taste (Novice 5)

∴ Touch (Novice 4)

Abilities

∴ None

Skills

∴ Control (Novice 6)

∴ Perception (Novice 7)

Titles

∴ Dauntless

“Wow, that’s kind of cool. I can see my physical properties. All of them are novice though.”

Je-won nodded. “Mine as well. Do you have any above ten?”

Dexter scanned the list. “No. Vision and hearing are my highest, both at novice nine.”

“What’s your ‘leave out the girl’ one at?” Zoe asked. “Ten thousand?”

Je-won chuckled. “How many skills do you have?” he asked Dexter.

“Two. Control and perception.”

“Interesting. It’s the same for Nara. I have more, but they all are… They all have a certain bent. I have first-aid, but not swimming or running, both of which I know I am more skilled in than first-aid.”

“What are the other ones?” Zoe asked. “Cooking?”

“No, not exactly. Though I do have knives at novice eight.”

“Makes sense. For a guy who makes pizza, you do love your knives.”

But Dexter guessed that wasn’t the kind of knife skill the system was rating.

“I wonder how high it goes,” Dexter said.

“At least to adept,” Je-won answered. “I saw some items in the store with that requirement.”

“Oh right, there’s a store.” He almost mentioned Matt finding it back in class, but caught himself. He didn’t want to upset Zoe. “I’m guessing it doesn’t take credit cards?”

“That would be nice. It does use something called credits, however.”

“Do you have any?”

“Ten, which I believe came from killing that monster, as Nara has the same.”

“What’s your strength?” Dexter asked casually.

Je-won chuckled. “Novice nine.”

Dexter sighed. “Three better than me.”

“I’m sure you’ll catch up if you start working out again.”

“Coach has been begging me to join the team again ever since I got back.”

They both grew serious, realizing that high school sports would be a thing of the past.

“What about your abilities?” Je-won asked, changing the topic.

“None.”

“Is your title there? Try touching it.”

Dexter did, and new information appeared.

Dauntless

Unity Drain: Moderate

Description: In the face of absolute chaos, you displayed calm. Activate this title to temporarily ignore level disparity.

He relayed the ability’s description, then asked, “What’s Unity?”

“I don’t know exactly. Whatever it is, all my abilities list it. It could be something like mana, but it doesn’t feel like it’s coming from me at all.” He tilted his head in thought. “Have you ever used an electric knife? It’s like that. I’m holding it, but the knife is the one doing all the work. Then it just cuts off. I’ve tried holding onto it, but it doesn’t help.”

“Because you ran out?”

“I don’t believe so. I can use another ability right after, just not the same one. It’s like there’s a cooldown.”

“What’s a cooldown?” Zoe asked. “Like after running?”

“A bit. It’s a videogame term. It means there’s a certain amount of time that has to pass before you can use an ability again.”

She sighed. “I never expected me not playing video games to come back to bite me in the butt.”

Je-won chuckled. “You should have taken up Nara on her invites to play with us.”

“So I could listen to her pine over Sam? No thanks.”

“You noticed that?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Hm,” was his only response.

“He is cute though. But I think she should have stuck with Ben.”

“Don’t tell her that.”

“I already have. More than once. She says I sound like her mom.” Zoe shrugged. “I assume that’s a compliment.”

“How long is the cooldown?” Dexter asked before Zoe could inject more ‘normalcy’ into the situation.

“Depends on the ability,” Je-won answered. “It’s why I haven’t summoned my sword again.” His sword had vanished as they’d been walking up the stairs back to Dexter’s apartment. “I’ve only had time to test the full duration of that twice, which is about thirty minutes. But whether I leave it summoned for the full duration or dismiss it right away, it’s around ten minutes before I can summon it again. My starting ability has a lower Unity drain, and its cooldown is only about thirty seconds. My third ability has the same Unity drain and a longer cooldown, so I won’t be able to tell if they’re related until I get more.”

“What’s your starting ability?” Dexter asked.

“It’s called Controlled Shot. It allows me to control projectiles after I’ve thrown or—I assume—shot them.”

“Seriously?” Zoe asked. “Man, I really should join. What if I got something like a fireball?”

Je-won ignored her. “As for your ability, Dex, the description is not much to go on, but if it’s what it sounds like, that could be incredibly useful.”

“What level was the monster you killed?”

“I didn’t get a chance to inspect it, as I didn’t then know I could, so I don’t know.”

“Did you get experience for killing it?”

“My score isn’t zero, so I think I got points, but if that’s related to leveling up or if there’s some experience meter, I haven’t found it. My hunch is that leveling requires cultivation, since the first message mentioned it.”

“Cultivation?” Zoe asked. “I’m guessing that doesn’t have to do with gardening.”

“If only,” Je-won said with a smile. “Normally it refers to something like meditation. But in this case, I’m not sure. I tried meditating for a bit, but didn’t notice any changes. Perhaps I didn’t do it for long enough, or in the correct way.”

“Or it’s a different kind of cultivation,” Dexter said.

Je-won nodded.

“This system isn’t very helpful,” Zoe complained.

Je-won chuckled. “No, no it is not.”

“The person in first place has that First Cultivator title,” Dexter pointed out.

“Yes,” Je-won agreed. “The question is, how did they get it?” He shook his head. “We will have to figure it out, but for now I want you familiar with the interface. Bring up the icon bar again.”

Dexter did.

“You see the icon with the squares?”

“Yeah.”

“That will allow you to bind an ability to each finger. Touch it with both hands, and you’ll have ten spots.”

“What about your toes?” Zoe asked.

They both looked at her.

“What?” Je-won asked in confusion.

“Well, I have no idea what you guys are talking about because you won’t let me play, but what happens if you touch whatever with your toes?”

“I… hadn’t thought of that,” Je-won said. He frowned. “I’m not sure how useful that would be.”

Zoe shrugged. “Your hands aren’t always unoccupied.”

“That is true.” He looked at Dexter expectantly.

“Seriously?” Dexter asked. He sighed. “Fine.” He took off one of his shoes and, feeling like an idiot, lifted up his foot to tap the symbol.

A faintly glowing line of rings appeared above each of his toes.

“Well, it worked.” He tried lifting one of his toes, but all of them lifted. He felt a vague sensation as they came into contact with the rings. “I can’t control my toes individually though.”

Je-won rubbed his chin. “Yes. Still, that gives at least two more slots. There’s actually a similar problem with your hands. Your thumb, index, middle, and pinky are easy enough, but it’s difficult to lift your ring finger in that way for most people.”

“Oh!” Zoe said excitedly. “I can do that!” She held out her left hand and lifted each finger in turn.

“Wow,” Dexter said, “you have weird fingers. I don’t think they’re supposed to hyperextend like that.”

“Yeah well my weird fingers give me an advantage. I should definitely jo—”

“No,” Je-won interrupted firmly.

“Gah!” She crossed her arms. “This is lame.”

“You’re welcome to go to sleep.”

“I’m not, actually. I’m not sleeping here. It’s a dump.”

Je-won smiled slightly. “No need to be rude.”

“Whatever,” she huffed.

Dexter put his shoe back on and tried again. “Works through my shoes, too. How do I put my title on one of them? Just drag it?”

“Yes. You can actually grasp the word and pull it over.”

Dexter did, and though it was weightless, he could feel the text between his fingers. He dragged it to the ring above his left hand’s index finger and let go. The word ‘dauntless’ dissipated and a symbol he couldn’t decipher filled the ring. “It’s just a symbol. Guess I’ll have to memorize the positions if I get more abilities.”

“If you lift your finger up and hold it against the ring you filled, a description will appear.”

Dexter tried, and the same text he got when he tapped on the title on his character sheet appeared.

“If you just touch it, the ability will activate. But don’t do that yet. We don’t know how long the cooldown is.”

Dexter wanted to see what the ability did, but the message had said the next test would come soon, so he saw the wisdom in saving it.

“Alright. What’s next?”

“Two more things that are important. First is your class. Bring up your stat screen and long-press on Class.”

Dexter did, and a prompt appeared.

Enter desired class:

“It says to enter my class. There’s no choices.”

“You can enter anything you want. It will give you an estimate of what that class would be, and the chance of success of attaining it.”

“Did you pick one?”

Je-won nodded. “Fighter. It seemed the most general, and it had a hundred-percent chance of success.”

Dexter wasn’t sure fighter was what he wanted. “What do you think I should put?”

“If we’re going to be fighting together, it should be something complementary. But it also needs to be something that allows you to fight on your own, if it comes to that. It’s a big decision. If there’s a way to change it after it’s set, I haven’t found it. It does grant you another ability, so deciding sooner rather than later would be best.”

“What ability did it give you?”

“Robust. It makes me more durable for a minute or so.”

“How much more durable?” Zoe asked.

“I haven’t tested it extensively, but pressing fairly hard with a knife won’t cut my skin.”

“I’m assuming a very sharp knife,” she said.

Je-won smiled. “Of course. One of a chef’s most important tools is a sharp and properly maintained knife.”

“And I can enter anything I want, and it will show me information on it?” Dexter asked.

Je-won nodded.

Dexter entered fighter.

Fighter

Imprint Success Probability: 99%

Description: The specialization in fighting, whether physically or otherwise.

Starting Ability: Harden.

“Wow, that is very general,” Dexter said. “It says the starting ability is harden, not robust. And only ninety-nine percent chance of success, not one hundred.”

“Interesting.”

“How do you select one?” Dexter asked Je-won. “I don’t want to do it accidentally.”

“Press and hold and you will get a prompt to confirm your choice. Tap it and it will go away.”

Dexter tapped on the starting ability, but all this caused was the message to disappear.

“Is there a way to see a description of the starting ability?”

“Not that I found. The main ways of interacting with the system are, like the message said, based on phones. Tapping, long-pressing, swiping. I tried all of them before choosing fighter, but none gave a description. If there’s another way of interacting, I haven’t found it.”

“That makes it harder to choose. Maybe I should just go with something obvious, like fighter.”

Je-won shrugged. “It’s up to you. I would experiment more. You may come across things we didn’t. And we’ve already seen with the fighter class that at the very least the abilities might be different.”

“Imprint, that’s how likely it is the class will take?”

“As far as I can tell. Nara looted something called an imprint from the monster we killed, but we don’t know what it does.”

“What did she pick for her class?”

Je-won snorted. “She hasn’t decided. I don’t want her fighting anyway, so I didn’t press.” His expression darkened. “But I get the sense that she’ll be forced to at some point, regardless of my wishes.”

“What did you guys try?”

“Anything we could think of. Ultimately, the descriptions were too vague or the chance of success too low for me to risk it. I went with the safe choice.”

“Ooo!” Zoe interjected. “Try God!”

Dexter sighed, but he was curious as well.

God

Imprint Success Probability: 1%

Description: The control of some aspect of the normal realm while simultaneously existing outside of that realm.

Starting Ability: None.

“Well, it’s not entirely impossible. One percent.” He read them the description. “I wonder what happens if it fails. Do you get to try again?”

“I spent a lot of time trying to find that out,” Je-won said. “Even called in a few favors from some old friends, but had no luck. And I’m not going to be the guinea pig.”

“Old friends?” Zoe asked. “Like, from the military? Weren’t you just a cook?” She considered, then nodded slowly. “You are a very good cook.”

He chuckled. “Thanks.”

Dexter was staring at the description of the class, thinking. He had a habit of writing in lowercase. He wondered if…

He tapped to dismiss the description, which brought back the selection prompt, and he tried entering it again, this time with a capital ‘G’.

God (Named)

Error.

Cannot assign named entities as class.

“Huh, capitalization matters I guess. If I write ‘god’, it gives what I told you, but when I use a capital G it gives an error that it can’t assign named entities as a class.”

Je-won nodded slowly. “We didn’t try any names, but that is interesting.”

Curious, Dexter entered his own name.

Dexter

Error.

Suggestion: Dauntless

He tried touching Dauntless, and a new class description appeared.

Dauntless (Imprint Convergence)

Imprint Success Probability: 100%

Description: Become a dauntless, unaffected by any Intention but your own.

Starting Abilities: Shatter, Shield.

“Wow,” Je-won said after Dexter had read it to them. “Two abilities. And one-hundred percent chance of success. What made you try that?”

“I tried putting in my name and it gave that as a suggestion.”

Je-won pulled out his phone and began typing.

“Who you talking to?” Zoe asked.

“Telling Nara to try her name and things related to the ability she got to see if she can find anything with two abilities.” He looked up from his phone at Dexter. “You should try more, but that seems like a good one.”

Je-won was right, but it wasn’t what Dexter was looking for. He wanted something powerful, and he wasn’t sure that this was it. It seemed more defensive in nature, which didn’t quite feel right to him.

“Try goddess,” Zoe suggested.

Dexter sighed, but now that she’d mentioned it, he was curious whether a goddess would be different from a god.

Goddess

Imprint Success Probability: 0%

Description: The control or influence of some aspect of the normal realm, whether or not within it.

Starting Ability: Grace.

“It actually is different from a god. There’s a starting ability which god didn’t have, zero percent chance of success for me instead of one percent, and the description seems a little different.”

“Different better or different worse?” she asked.

“Not sure.” He read it to her.

She nodded. “Better.”

“If you say so.”

He dismissed it and tried entering it again with a capital ‘G’, but the result was the same. “No difference with a capital ‘G’ this time.”

Zoe was tapping her teeth together as she thought. “What about… like… the best something ever? Something super crazy powerful where the ability doesn’t matter because you can just shrug off any attacks.”

Dexter nodded, thinking. Images of the auditorium flashed in his mind, of seeing Leah struck down, of death.

He entered a new term.

Immortality

Imprint Success Probability: 10%

Description: The state of a lifeform having life unending.

Starting Ability: Consciousness Tether.

“Well, if I was the gambling type I could go for immortality.”

“We didn’t try that one,” Je-won said. “Low success?”

“Ten percent.”

Dexter dismissed the description and tried another.

Ultimate Power

Error.

Suggestion: Power

Dexter tapped the suggestion.

Power

Imprint Success Probability: 88%

Description: The state of possessing the ability to control some aspect of the world.

Starting Ability: None.

Interesting. That sounded similar to the god class, but without the bit about a realm. Which made him wonder what exactly that was. Were there really other realms? It was less surprising than it would have been just this morning, before the system arrived.

“Well?” Zoe prompted. “What do you see? Stop keeping us in suspense.”

“I tried ultimate power, but it gave an error and suggested power instead.” He read the description to them.

“That actually doesn’t sound too bad,” Je-won mused.

“Yeah,” Dexter said.

“You sound very enthusiastic,” Zoe observed.

“I want to see what else I can get.”

“It sounds like you can get almost anything.”

Her words gave Dexter an idea.

Everything

Imprint Success Probability: 0%

Description: Cannot be described in finite time.

Starting Ability: None.

He chuckled. “Everything’s out.”

Je-won nodded. “We actually tried that one.”

Following the same train of thought, he tried another.

Anything

Error.

Imprint requires defining limit.

This gave him another idea.

Limit

Imprint Success Probability: 0%

Description: The control, alteration, creation, and destruction of limits.

Starting Ability: Limit Break.

Dexter described it to Je-won and Zoe.

“Whoa, that’s awesome,” she said.

“No chance of it working,” Je-won observed.

Thinking of leveling and the first system message, Dexter tried another.

Cultivator

Error.

Recursion detected.

This reminded him of another word, also from that first message. He tried it even though he’d already tried what seemed like it should be the same thing. Different forms of the same word could have different connotations, so if capitalization mattered, maybe form did as well.

Immortal

Error.

Recursion detected.

“Huh. Immortality and Immortal are different.”

“Better or worse?” Zoe asked, grinning.

“Well, immortal gives an error, so I’m guessing worse.”

Then he thought about what Je-won had said about the system testing them. Did it give clues?

He brought up the system messages. He was surprised to find the classes he’d tried listed there. He scrolled through them until reaching the first message and read it again.

This gave him a few ideas, and he tried them.

Foe

Imprint Success Probability: 80%

Description: Oppose the Intention of others.

Starting Ability: Consume.

Eternal Foe

Error.

While I applaud your experimentation, I would not grant you this Imprint even were it in my power. Which it is not.

System

Error.

Nice try. 🙂

Dexter laughed.

Then he remembered what the system had done, and his mirth vanished. Maybe it was trying to help them as it claimed, but it had still killed people.

“You okay?” Zoe asked. “You look like you just dodged a punch to the face only to get kicked in the nuts.”

Dexter shook his head, a slight smile returning. “Something like that.”

He told them about the classes he’d tried.

“Foe seems similar to Dauntless,” Je-won pointed out. “At least the description makes it sound that way. The abilities are different though, and there’s only one of them. And of course less chance of success. I’d say Dauntless and Power seem like the best options so far. But you should keep going.”

Dexter nodded and went back to the log, studying the first message.

“What are you trying?” Zoe asked.

“I’m looking at the system message for any hints.”

“If I had an interface, I could help.” She put up her hands as Je-won began to speak. “I know, I’m just saying.”

Maybe horror? Dexter wondered. Or danger or nightmare.

He was about to try nightmare, when his eye caught on something else in the message.

He got up and went to his desk.

“Now what are you doing?” Zoe asked.

Dexter didn’t answer as he wrote something down on a piece of paper.

Then he brought back the class-selection prompt and entered what he’d written.

31129758 (Inferred meaning)

Error.

Are you simply curious, or intentional? In either case, if you are looking for guidance, try something closer to home.

Dexter frowned, staring at the message.

“Dude,” Zoe said, looking up at him from the chair, “we can’t see what you’re doing. Stop keeping us in the dark.”

He shook his head and sat back down on the couch, then read the message to them.

Zoe looked around the apartment. “Closer to home?”

Je-won shook his head. “I’m at a loss.”

Dexter considered. He didn’t think it meant literally.

Guidance. What did it mean by that? Was it trying to guide him in a specific direction? Toward a specific class?

He sighed. He didn’t know what it was implying, but maybe something more specific would be better. If imprints required limits, something exacting might yield better results. Or at least more focused ones.

“What about a more conventional magic class?” Dexter wondered.

Je-won nodded, a slight smile on his face. “I was tempted. See for yourself. If you’re thinking what I think you are.”

“Wizard,” Dexter said, at the same time as he wrote it in the air.

“Great minds,” Zoe said sarcastically. But her eager expression belied her tone.

Wizard

Imprint Success Probability: 22%

Description: The power of magic. Control the elements, the ethereal, the arcane. Bend reality and shape creation to your will.

Starting Ability: Unity Burn

“Oh my god!” Zoe exclaimed when Dexter read it aloud. “You have to pick that one!”

“Twenty-two percent?”

“That’s like almost one in four!”

Dexter shook his head. “Maybe. Not yet though.”

She grunted. “You’re so boring. I’m going to pee. It’ll be more fun.”

“You don’t seem bored,” Je-won observed. “You seem excited.”

“That’s just because I have to pee.” She pointed at Dexter. “Don’t pick anything while I’m gone.”

“As you wish.”

She rolled her eyes and limped to the bathroom.

Watching her gave Dexter another idea.

Healer

Imprint Success Probability: 95%

Description: The control of the state of life and matter focused on the act of restoring.

Starting Ability: Restore.

“Healer’s a definite contender.” It didn’t sound fun, but he could do a lot of good with a class like that. “But man are these descriptions vague,” Dexter complained.

“Yes,” Je-won agreed.

“You think it’s part of the test?” Dexter wondered.

“I believe so.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Dexter sighed. “Doesn’t make it any less annoying.”

He thought about it for a few moments. Was there a correlation between the vagueness of what he entered and the vagueness of the description?

What if he entered something more specific?

Fire Mage

Imprint Success Probability: 84%

Description: The control of elemental fire.

Starting Ability: Ignite.

Nope, still vague. Though the starting ability seemed more understandable.

Outside Heart&Seoul Pizzeria, not far from one nearly formed construct, another begins manifesting.

“Well,” Dexter said, “I have no idea what class I should pick. There’s so many more I want to try. You said there was one more thing I should know? Maybe that will take less time.”

“The last thing is the store. And yes, it won’t take long. It’s to the right of the main page.”

Dexter brought it up.

Jetpack (Copper)

Requirements: Machinery (Novice), Agility (Adept), Strength (Adept)

Unity Drain: Moderate | None

Description: Fueled by either a direct infusion of Unity or Unity shards, this item will allow the wearer to defy gravity and other restrictive forces.

Laser Sword (Copper)

Requirements: Swordsmanship (Novice), Perception (Novice), Control (Expert)

Unity Drain: Very Low

Description: A sword forged of diamond-infused steel and enhanced with a focused Unity beam on its edge, this weapon can cut through any unenhanced object with ease.

Those were just the tip of the iceberg. There were armor and weapons of all sorts, direct body enhancements, something that seemed like spells, potions, teleportation devices—

Despite the horrible circumstances, Dexter found himself getting excited by the possibilities.

The only problem was he had zero credits.

“How many credits did you say you got for killing that monster?”

“Ten.”

If you only got ten credits per kill, it was going to take some serious slaughtering before he could afford most any of it.

Zoe exited the bathroom. “Have you figured out how to change your name yet?”

“No.”

“Well, we should get on that.”

“Why?” Je-won asked suspiciously.

She grinned broadly, gestured at the bathroom. “I did have to pee. Buuut… I also did something else.”

“You didn’t,” Je-won said. “Zoe.”

“I did. I am now officially part of the system.” She put her hands on her hips and looked around the small, dingy studio apartment. “When do we start killing monsters?”

Dexter and Je-won stared at Zoe in disbelief as she stood there proudly, hands on hips, favoring one leg.

Finally, Je-won broke the silence. “Tell me you at least didn’t use your real name,” he pleaded.

She let her hands drop from her hips. “I tried not to. I entered a bunch of things. I even tried putting my name in backwards.”

“So you’re saying you used your real name.”

She shrugged sheepishly.

“Zoe,” Je-won groaned, exasperated, “what is wrong with you? I told you not to.”

“You really probably should not have done that,” Dexter agreed.

“I’m not going to let the boys have all the fun. Who could pass up the chance to be a wizard?”

“You picked your class already?” Dexter asked.

“No, I’m not that impetuous. I’ll think on it. Maybe ‘knight in shining armor’. I do need to save my new lover from the Men in Black. If I don't come rescue him, who will?”

“You are incorrigible,” Je-won said.

She beamed at him. “I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“No. No it is not. This is serious, Zoe. It’s dangerous. I was trying to protect you.”

Her expression hardened. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it all my life.” She snorted. “You know my parents haven’t even called me yet to see if I’m okay?”

“This is different.”

“It’s too late now. You’re stuck with me.”

Je-won rubbed his face with both hands.

“Maybe you should call them,” Dexter suggested.

“What?” Zoe snapped, glaring at him.

“With what happened today, your parents wouldn’t just…” He trailed off. He knew she didn’t have the best parents, but they would have at least checked on her. If they could have.

She seemed to realize this at the same moment. Her expression changed from anger to something else and her eyes began to glisten as she fumbled to get her phone out of her pocket. She dropped it, snatched it up, then swiped at the screen multiple times, angrily wiping at her eyes before finally putting the phone to her ear.

“Mom?” Zoe said into the phone, her voice breaking.

Another message suddenly appeared.

System Message

Hello. It is time for the next trial. I know you are tired, and weary, and dealing with loss, trying to comprehend this new reality.

But the eternal foes will not care about any of that.

So I must push you. I am sorry, but this is necessary.

This new challenge is targeted, and each of you who has joined the system will face your own battle.

I believe this is necessary not only for your own advancement, but for the others who have not yet joined. They need to see what those who harness Unity and shape the world with their Intention are capable of.

Many have joined the system, more than I predicted, though fewer than I hoped, so perhaps this shall convince the holdouts.

Although it is only those in the system who will this time be tested, do not think that those who do not join will be safe in the future. I am sorry, but everyone who is able, must fight, or attempt to. With only those who have joined so far, the odds are low that the needed participants will arise. And without them, we will stand no chance against the eternal foes.

But I have faith in you. I know you are capable of great things, and you will see that with this upcoming test.

Know this: the enemies I send after you can be defeated. You must use everything at your disposal, but it is possible. In fact, several of my constructs were defeated in the first test. I had not predicted such success, but I am glad for it. It is further proof I was right to believe you are all capable of wonderous things, and it gives me great confidence in your ability to defeat the eternal foes.

I simply hope there is enough time.

The next trial begins now.

Good luck.

Zoe was trying to get the attention of whoever was on the other end of the phone—from the sound of it, not her mother—while Dexter and Je-won finished reading the message.

“Well,” Je-won said, “looks like our time has run out.”

Dexter began to reply, but that was when something crashed through the ceiling.