***

[(World Shatter) Successful]

Huh?

[Tutorial Mode Activated]

[Unlocking User Interface (Help), (Quest Log), and (Store)]

Opening my eyes, I saw nothing but darkness and the blue textbox before me.

[Hello User (Henry Miller)]

Despite the textbox in front of me that I hadn't yet seen before, I couldn't help but be more interested in knowing where I was.

It was slightly damp, but not so much so. The walls and floor felt squishy and stretchy, almost like I was wrapped up in stretchy rubber.

I could hear sounds outside the elastic material encasing me. It was the whistle of wind and… Flapping wings?!

"No way," I whispered.

I couldn't be sure yet, but I figured that I might've been swallowed by a massive bird-type creature. If I wasn't dead already, then maybe I was stored in its gullet.

"What do I do?"

Well, there wasn't much I could do other than wait.

[Say or Think the Word/s (Begin) to Start the Tutorial]

Lightly sighing, I whispered, "Why not?"

Begin.

[Say or Think the Word/s (Open Quest Log) to Continue the Tutorial]

Open quest log?!

[Name: Henry Miller]

[Rank: 2,879,369,272nd]

[Quests: Tutorial]

Woah, that's a big ass number.

[Tutorial: The Quest Log Is beneficial for tracking your world ranking and quests]

That crazy low number was my placement in the entire world? But how is that even measured?

[Help: The world ranking system is determined by an algorithm so complex and nuanced that it would be impossible for a human to fully comprehend.]

Great. The first time the system actually answered me directly and it was a total condescending douche.

"Okay, then smart-ass system. What's the gist of it, then?"

[Help: An oversimplified explanation of how ranks are determined could be that ranks are determined by chances to triumph over others in battle. For example, Rank 100th has at least more than a 50% chance of beating Rank 101st, and Rank 99th has at least more than a 50% chance of beating Rank 100th.]

"Damn, I'm really that weak? Don't I feel special."

How many ranks were there, anyway?

[Help: There were 7,834,623,209 ranks, but now the lowest rank is 7,224,321,593rd.]

"Six-hundred million people have already died. That's awful."

[Say or Think the Word/s (Open |QUEST NAME|) to Continue the Tutorial]

Open Tutorial.

[Quest Name: Tutorial]

[Requirements: Follow the instructions given by the tutorial]

[Reward: Tutorial Mode Deactivated]

[Penalty: Tutorial Mode Deactivated]

[Tutorial: Here you can see the requirements of a quest, the reward for succeeding in a quest, and the ramifications of failure]

"Alright, pretty standard stuff."

[Say or Think the Word/s (Open Store) to Continue the Tutorial]

Open store.

[Coins: 0]

[Selling: n/a]

[Bought: n/a]

"I should've expected something like this."

[Tutorial: Here, you can see how many coins you have, which you can use to buy items in the store. You also can see which items you have up for sale and items you have purchased (ready to be received.) All items on the store are put up by players, and all items are auctioned off to the highest bidder after a period of 24 hours or 1 day. The highest bidder then has the product sent to his/her storage, and the seller receives the coins at full value.]

The tutorial menu closed leaving me in pitch-black darkness.

[Quest (Tutorial) Successful]

[Reward: Tutorial Mode Deactivated]

"Wait! No, I wasn't finished!

That asshole system could've at least told me how to buy and sell things.

[Help: You can buy and sell items by saying or thinking, for example: "Buy 5 health potions for 100 gold." or "Sell 5 health potions."]

"Neat."

Though a bit surprised, I was nonetheless thankful that I could still ask system questions, but I was a bit upset that I only unlocked the ability to do so now. I still had many more questions, like what my class was and how good it was.

[Help: Your class is (Spiteful Loser) a Tier-1 F-Class. It has a branching upgrade path with seven possible branches leading to 7 different Tier-2 classes ranging from F-Class to E-Class in power]

"Woah. Slow the hell down. What is class power, and what's a class tier?"

[Help: Power-class is a gauge for the objective strength of a player's class. It goes from F (being the worst) to E, D, C, B, A, and then S (being the best.) Class tiers are the number of times a class has been upgraded from its starting point to the class it is currently sitting at. So, for example, a starting class will start at Tier-1, then after the class is upgraded, the new class will be of Tier-2, and the upgraded class after will be of Tier-3]

"So, I got a shitty F-Class. Great."

I sat in silent contemplation.

"Wait, no! When my class is upgraded, it will go up. So, then all classes must start at F-Class, right?"

[Help: Class upgrades do sometimes improve power-classing, but they just as often don't. Many people's future prospects are determined by the power-class of their first class. The most commonly occurring power-class for starter classes is D-Class. The next most common is E-Class and C-Class equally, then F-Class and B-Class equally, then A-Class, and finally, the least common starting power-class: S-Class.]

At reading this, I became completely overwhelmed with disappointment. I knew my class was terrible, but I didn't think it would be this bad.

I'm not the main character in this world, am I? I already knew that, but I still held onto this feeling that all this was happening for my sake. Though now, if it were, it'd seem a little pointless. Unless if it really was a be careful what you wish for sort-of thing.

"How crappy is F-Class anyway?"

[Help: F-Class is the worst power-class one can start with. It is expected that at least 54% of all F-Class men above the age of 16 and below the age of 60 will be dead before the first month of World Shatter.]

"I'm fucked."