Cole was confused. He should have been dead and granted a peaceful rest.

He looked at his healed body. He had suffered injuries during his fight against Casey, so it was weird to see himself in healthy condition. Not only he wasn’t dead, he was healthy as well.

In the end, Cole assumed this place was the afterlife. In many legends, afterlife existed. If this place was an afterlife, then the matter about his healed body suddenly made sense.

After realizing he was in the afterlife, he sighed and lamented in his mind. Living was troublesome, he thought. What was the purpose of coming back alive if he had reached his purpose? He had served his purpose by achieving his ideal way of death.

If this place wasn't the afterlife and in fact another world, Cole would find himself in a difficult position. Cole knew nothing aside from fighting and killing. Just in case he was in another world, he calmly thought of what to do in his new life. After thinking of many things, he couldn’t find an answer. In the end, he wanted someone to give him a perfect rest again. As he thought of that, another screen popped out in front of him, catching his attention.

Do you want to see the function of the system? You can say yes or no. Or, you can click this button y/n.

Cole was surprised to see it. To give him this TV-like feature, he found this afterlife dimension amusing. “This system thing is like the TV we had in the canteen. Come to think of it. I rarely watched TV. For now, I will click yes.”

Race: Human

Rank: Bronze

Description:

The most common intelligent race throughout the multiverse. They have the lowest aptitude to become stronger, but they breed easily.

Gains +2 strength, +2 vitality, +2 agility, +2 intelligent, +2 wisdom, and +1 free point for each unit’s level.

…….

Class: -

Level: -

Step: -

Description:

Locked. You can unlock a class after acquiring matching skills, blessings, or/and items.

…….

Unit’s Level: 1

Description: You gain an open skill slot at levels 1, 3, 6, and then every 6 levels.

…….

Active Skills: 0

Description: The user can activate active skills by consuming mana.

List: -

……

Passive Skills: 1

Description: Passive skills’ effects are permanent, but the user can’t activate them.

List: [Injury Transmutation]

…….

Blessing: 1

Description: Blessing is similar to skills. You can have one blessing for every 50 levels.

List: [Dedication for Passivity]

……

Debuff: 1

Description: negative passive effects that are attached to you.

List: [Passive Risker]

…….

Plenty of screens popped out at the sides of the main screen, giving all information. Cole took his time to understand them. He realized the system would give him information if he pointed his finger at the screen. For example, he was checking the skill list feature out of curiosity.

……

Skill: [Injury Transmutation]

Effect: Increases strength, vitality, agility, and HP recovery the more the user gets injured.

……

Cole liked this skill. He had got injured many times in battles, but it only made him weaker. This skill was very convenient for his fighting style.

Cole remembered he had got a blessing and debuff, too. He clicked the ‘Blessing’ and ‘Debuff’ texts, and two screens appeared in the air.

……

Blessing: [Dedication for Passivity]

Effect: Increases the effectiveness of passive abilities by 100%. Increases the chance to get rare passive skills by 100%. The user gains a permanent debuff, [Passive Risker].

……

Debuff: [Passive Risker]

Duration: Permanent

Effect: The user can’t use active skills.

…….

Cole didn’t know what active skills were, so he was fine with everything he had got. However, he didn’t understand. Why would he get these magical abilities if he was dead? He had a bad feeling about this.

The surroundings people stood, and Cole did the same thing. Those people suddenly performed their own skills. A man was conjuring flame in his hand, another man was turning their skin into steel, and another person was running around with incredible speed.

Cole suddenly understood how cool active skills were. He felt jealous because he couldn’t use active skills, but his feeling disappeared in the blink of eyes. His situation was something out of his control, so it would be better if he sought the joy in his aversion.

Cole kept watching other people and noticed something. Everyone seemed to have different abilities from each other. Maybe there was someone in a worse situation than him. Thinking of that, he felt grateful for what he had.

Everyone stopped their activities when a giant light orb appeared in the air. After a while, the orb faded and turned into a man figure. This man had a similar feature to normal humans, except there was a pair of wings on his back.

The man looked down at them with his cold gaze, and he introduced himself. “My name is Zoroel, the emissary of the Immortals. This situation may confuse you, and I will explain.”

The winged man suddenly saw a woman raising her hand to ask something. He snapped his fingers, and a magic circle appeared before the woman’s mouth, preventing her from speaking. “No one is permitted to ask anything. This is a warning or you die. First, let me show you what has happened to your world.”

Zoroel snapped his fingers again, and a screen appeared in front of everyone. It was playing a video about what had happened to their world, Earth.

The earth was floating in its orbit like usual. Then, a planet-sized beam came from nowhere and destroyed the planet. After that, the screen turned black again.

“That’s it. Immortals destroyed your world. Oh, I will shut up everyone who wants to speak. If not, they will force me to kill you. The immortals did that to save you from the true threat.”

The screen suddenly played another video. It showed an enormous blob of tentacles and dragon heads that was floating in the void. It was swinging its tentacles to destroy tiny galaxies in the vicinity.

“This is live footage of the Primordial Idiot destroying galaxies. It is currently on the way here and will arrive in… Ah, this is a secret.”

Some people couldn’t help to mutter with each other. As for Cole, he kept his composure. He had no fear for this unknown Doomsday. If he died, he rested. Life was simple as that for him.

Zoroel clapped his hands and magic circles appeared in front of everyone’s mouth, preventing them from speaking. He continued his speech.

“This is not the afterlife. This is a new dimension in the brand new universe. Immortals have chosen qualified people and sent them to this new universe. What are qualified people? They are intelligent creatures that have absorbed experience cards and gained levels in their previous world. What is an experience card? Well, it is easier for me to give you a consumable card about the system in these dimensions.”

Zoroel clapped his hands, and a glowing card appeared in front of everyone. It entered Cole’s body, and streams of information flowed into his head. He suddenly understood the system.

“Now that you have gained information about the system, I want to inform you about your mission. There is only one. Get stronger so you can survive Doomsday. Immortals created these dimensions to help you reach your goal. There are two taboo things here. First, you can’t commit suicide.”

Zoroel snapped his finger, and the screen in front of Cole played another video. The flame was burning everything in this place from hills, ground, forest, and even people. The burning people were screaming in agony as they ran around restlessly.

“If you commit suicide, they will sentence you to live in the purgatory for one thousand years. Every time you die, the immortals will revive you again, so you can suffer repeatedly. After your sentence is done, they will turn you into data so you can reincarnate in the new world after Doomsday. Well, this is better than the second taboo.

“The second taboo is you can’t die in the hand of void creatures. If you die in their hands, they will erase you from existence. Not even the immortals can save you. That is eternal death.”

“Oh, if you die of natural cause or someone kills you, they will reincarnate you as a soldier that will fight void creatures on the Doomsday. This is such an honor for you, qualified people,” Zoroel said with sincerity.

The winged man really believed that was an honor. However, Cole didn’t want to fight under someone anymore. Among those choices, he chose to be strong enough to survive Doomsday. He sighed because the situation forced him to live again.

Zoroel cleared his throat. “Well, I said that is such an honor for you, but that’s what they told me to say. If you want my honest opinion, becoming soldiers to fight void creatures is an awful choice too. Don’t forget void creatures can erase you from existence. That’s why you all should pursue strength. Finally, I want to give you a parting gift.”

He clapped his hands, and glowing cards appeared in front of everyone. “Those cards will give you the most suitable equipment for you when you touch it. That’s all I have to inform you. Best luck to you.” After giving information to them, Zoroel’s body became transparent and disappeared.

Cole touched the card in front of him, and it changed shape into the form of a greatsword. The handle was as long as his forearm, and the blade was two of third of his height. He smiled and swung it around easily. This weapon was really suitable for him. At least, his favorite weapon accompanied him in this world.

Cole noticed a screen floating about the sword, and he read it.

……

Name: Greatsword

Type: Equipment Card

Rank: Bronze

Effect: Increase the user’s strength by 15%.

……

Cole closed the information box and comprehended the new memory that had entered his mind. Those cards were called Immortal Cards, and they were essential in this world. There were ten types of cards, and Cole had to gather matching skill cards to awaken his class.

That was the information he had got, but of course, there were many unknown ways to gain classes. In this world, if one wanted to reach the pinnacle of strength, one needed to gain a class first.

While people were testing their equipment, a man walked to the only giant doors to the outside. Some people saw him, and they approached the doors too. No one dared to open them yet. They had gained information from the consumable card, so they knew what existed outside of this place. Monsters! In this world, monsters existed, and they could level up by farming experience cards from their corpses.

“We can’t survive alone!” a certain man shouted, and his voice vibrated throughout the place. “We need to stick together.”

“Hah! Why would I take care of all people here? I will take stronger ones with me, though. I will lead you guys,” a skinny young man said. He had a messy brown hair, and there were black bags under his eyes. Even though he looked weak, he carried himself with arrogance.

A bulky man approached him and looked down at the young man. “You talked all high and mighty. What can you do?”

The young man laughed maniacally. “This is a new world where power matters, but physical built isn’t everything.” He extended his staff and shot electricity at the bulky man. “This is everything. Your skills are everything.”

The bulky man dropped to the ground. His body charred, and smoke came out of his mouth.

The skinny young man stomped the bulky man’s corpse while laughing. “Now, death isn’t everything, right? Enjoy your stay as a soldier for those immortal ones.”

People stepped forward and formed lines. Most people had hostile glances at the young man, but the young man still kept his composure. “I won’t take weak people, but people with unique skills can join me. As you can see, I have a powerful skill. Anyone who wants to join me can step forward.”

A handsome man wearing a military uniform stepped out in a friendly manner and said, “You are right. Abilities are everything here, but we still need to form a team to survive. How about adding me as your member?”

The young man grinned. “Finally, someone who has a strong mentality. What is your skill?”

The man conjured a rectangular energy shield in front of him. “I am useful as a defender. How do you think? I am compatible with your long-range attack. You attack, I defend.”

The young man chuckled. “Sounds cool. You pass.”

More people came to the young man and pledged him to accept them on his team. Those people were crazy, but some humans would do anything to survive.

The rest of the people who didn’t want to join the lightning young man’s team did the same thing. They gathered other people and formed their own teams. Soon, they already forgot about the dead man on the floor.

Cole knelt beside the dead man and clasped his hands together in praying. He had no belief in absolute beings. He just did this out of habit. This was a sign of respect for dead people.

The skinny young man approached him and extended his hand at him. “You look strong. Do you want to join our team?”

Cole looked around first. He thought he could find Casey or anyone he knew because they were from the same place. Either they hadn’t been able to get an experience card, or the immortals had sent them to another place. After looking around, he finally looked at the young man.

“Your sword is so big. It looks like a buster sword in a certain manga I read. Are you skilled in swordplay? Can you show your swordplay?”

Cole stood and lifted the sword with a relaxed expression. He swung it repeatedly, and his feet jumped from place to place. His movements were light, even though he was carrying a heavy weapon. Because of his graceful performance, people flocked around him and cheered at him.

The messy-haired young man observed him a bit more before saying, “What is your first skill?”

Cole looked at him in the eyes. This young man valued skills, and he didn’t hesitate to kill, too. This young man probably had no reason to kill him, but it didn’t mean Cole wanted to reveal his skill to his potential enemy, so he decided to tell him a lie.

“My skill is a passive skill that increases my attack by 15%.” His heart felt heavy when he said that. Even though he had murdered many people, Cole rarely spouted a lie, so he felt weird to say that.

“Hm, a pity. I am sorry, but we only accept people with potential. I hope you understand.” The young man turned his back and walked away.

Cole weaved in relief. He had escaped danger, and he felt relieved about it. At the same time, he felt ashamed too. He was a murdered who didn’t fear death. Since when did he fear danger? Did he have an expectation in this world?

While he was pondering, he put on a sad expression. Because of that, people cast pitiful glances at him. Even though some people sympathized with him, no one offered him to come to their team despite how amazing his swordplay performance was. In the end, people judged others by their skills.

Humans’ ability to adapt to their environment amazed Cole. Even though no one desired him, he didn’t care about it either. People had used to look at him in admiration and fear. He might have no purpose aside from going on living, but he didn’t want to see people pitying him. It hurt his warrior pride. If people didn’t want to form a team with him, he just had to assert his dominance alone like what he had used to do. Strive alone.