The 1st Class Trial Dungeon is the number one objective for NPCs looking to expand their horizons. Once upon a time, unspecialized Heroes came here to test their skills and select their first [Job Class]. These fledgeling adventurers were called [Drifters], and they arrived in our universe already bearing the title.

We NPC's aren't so lucky.

Excluding those playing the parts of experts, vendors, trainers and such, none of us have any [Class] at all. A successful Hero would emerge from the 1st Class Trial Dungeon as some kind of fighter, healer, or summoner. Successful NPCs come out [Drifters]... if we don't explode into a billion polygons and end up respawning in the failures' corner instead.

Phew... finally here.

Two guards, identical to the guys who'd let me in, await at the end of the hall. Between them stands another smiling clerk. She wears the same skirt and blouse as the receptionist, though the soft pink hair tumbling down her shoulders certainly sets them apart.

Well, that and the holographic exclamation mark bouncing above her.

"Welcome!" She quirks a pretty smile. "You must be NPC-RND-4394."

I cringe at the clumsiness of my system ID. Even her bell-like voice can't improve its sound.

"Technically, yes, but..." I rub my nape. "Please, call me Quinn."

"As you like it, Mr. Quinn! Is this your first time challenging the 1st Class Trial Dungeon?"

I nod, and the clerk smiles wider.

"Then of course you want to play through the tutorial."

"We have one of those?" I thought they'd throw us in blind. I blink in surprise, the clerk leaning so far forward that I have to step back. "I-I don't know... those other newbies are still waiting outside. Do we have time for that?"

"Yes, we do!"

Without a nanosecond's pause, the clerk grabs my hands. She murmurs something inaudible and a [Warp Portal] glows to life beneath us.

Startled, I stumble backward. Very few NPCs know [Spatial Magic]. What's someone with her talents still doing here, showing greenhorns like me around? An NPC of her calibre could've moved on ages ago.

"No-one's played the tutorial in days," she says, grin turning foxlike. "You won't regret it, Mr. Quinn. I've added all sorts of fun things to the mix."

"I-is that right?" Why does that sound more dangerous than comforting!?

Cold air blasts from the net of flashing sigils underfoot, ruffling my mantle and the clerk's layered skirts. I catch a glimpse of her stocking-clad thighs before squeezing my eyes shut--you know, like a gentleman should.

"Teleportation commencing." The wind spiraling around us almost drowns out her voice. "Activation in four... three... two..."

I brace myself for the nausea that always accompanies warping. I've only warped twice to date, and both times I swore I'd never warp again.

"One!"

The clerk cheers, I yelp, and a pillar of crackling white light consumes us.