“Huff, huff.” I panted as I crashed through the underbrush, a tree branch whipping across my face. My eyes watered from the impact but I continued running haphazardly through the jungle. A low growl came from behind me, causing me to dig deeper. I had frozen before and paid the brutal cost for hesitating. I couldn’t afford to do that again. I pushed past the last bit of foliage, revealing the river in front of me. I could see the small cabin in front of me beside the river bed, a pale blue circle with the words SAFE ZONE floating above it. It was just barely twenty feet in front of me. I kept running but I felt a weight crash down on me, an ear shattering roar originating from my back let me know that I was too late. As I was forced to the ground my back erupted in piercing pain.

You have died.

Respawn commencing in 5 minutes.

I was laying down in my bed, the notification floating above me. I dismissed it with an angry swipe as I sat up. This isn’t working. What the heck am I supposed to do? In my lower right vision was a timer, five hours already on the clock. As I watched, it continued to tick up. The words of that god-forsaken goblin echoed through my head. ‘Now that you’re done choosing your class, it’s time to start the real tutorial. Once you reach the safe zone you’ll get access to your class skills and gear. Help your teammates and finish the tutorial. You’ll have seventy-two hours to finish. If you can’t….. then you’ll never make it to Nanite World.’

I gritted my teeth as I recalled that green-skinned coward. That big blue buffoon as well. Sure that blue giant gave us some information, yeah he told us how the stats worked. The goblin also helped me pick out my class, helpfully discovering my preferred fighting style. Lies, all of it. They hid the truth from us, about the pain. The test that we’d have to face to even live. I’d died over twenty times already. My time was running short. Unless I could pass this tutorial…. Unless I could find a way to pass, GAD wouldn’t bring us to Nanite World. I’d be dead. I let out a shuddering breath as the thought entered my mind before slamming my fist into the wall. The blue screen appeared once again.

Respawn initializing….

The world faded to black as I respawned once again. I was in the hated jungle, a small faint circle of red surrounding me, the only feature in the clearing. A see through blue arrow pointed off in the distance. Darkness surrounded me but four sets of eyes could be seen reflecting light from the edge of the clearing. growls came from their direction. I growled back in hate. I wouldn’t panic like I did the first time.

That first time had been one of my most brutal deaths as the giant leopards had taken their time, toyed with me. The creatures were leopards, but not like any leopard I’d heard about. They were the size of a small car, huge beasts that were lightning quick. I’d found out in the most painful way that in Nanite World, losing a limb doesn’t mean death. You would actually regrow them after a time, even if something ate the one torn off. Over and over again pieces of your body could be consumed in front of you and until your heart or chest was destroyed, you were stuck watching and experiencing everything. It took me a few times to discover the leopards couldn’t enter the red circle I spawned in, a safe zone that they couldn’t violate. I had discovered last time that if you waited long enough, the leopards would leave. Last time I had waited for thirty minutes. A timer in the lower left corner of my vision showed how much time I had left, 23:49:12. Even as I watched, it ticked upwards, slowly reaching that dreaded number 72.

So far, I hadn’t felt tired though I was mentally weary. I wasn’t sure if I would ever feel the need for sleep again but for now it was a blessing. Laying down I rested, ignoring the giant leopards that continued to growl on occasion. Closing my eyes I recalled the path I took last time. I needed to remember every boulder in my way, every tree limb that blocked my path. Unless I could pull every ounce of speed from my body I wouldn’t be able to keep ahead of the leopards.

I glanced down at the timer, twenty-two minutes had passed. Two of the four sets of eyes had disappeared, vanishing somewhere into the forest. Last time it had taken a little over thirty minutes for all the eyes to disappear. My mistake last time was running right after they were gone. I needed to give them time, time for the leopards to find some other animal for the sick creatures to torture.

“Access character status” I whispered out loud, as that accursed goblin had taught me to do in the tutorial. A blue screen appeared in front of me in response.

Character Status locked due to ‘Tutorial’ status.

“Tch.” Of course it was still locked. I had tried the last few times out of boredom but my stats were still unavailable. Glancing around, I studied my surroundings, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. Sunlight streamed down from above, the same as all the other times I had been here. The light blinded me from the dark, making it impossible to spot anything. I could vaguely make out movement as a bird flew out of the trees. Keeping an eye on the timer, I continued to study my surroundings. Finally, the timer said 24:37:00.

The last pair of eyes had disappeared five minutes ago, plenty enough time for the giant cats to get into trouble. With one last worried glance around the clearing, I began running in the direction of the blue arrow. Ducking below a tree branch that had hit me last time, I followed the vivid memories in my mind. Jumping over a fallen tree, sidestepping a large rock outcropping, and hopping over a small stream. It was barely even a mile to the safe zone, yet it was that mile that was the most harrowing experience of my life.

I flinched as birds exploded from a nearby bush as I passed it by. A small fox scurried across my path and the loud roar of one of the leopards echoed out across the forest floor. Dappled light splashed across my vision as tiny specks of sunlight made it through the dense coverage of leaves overhead. It was beautiful in the forest, a rare sight to see considering the large supercities that I had lived in.

I shook my head to clear it of such idle thoughts. I needed to focus. I saw the foliage thinning out and I could hear the babbling of the river in front of me. Just a little further, just a little bit further. That last twenty feet was so close yet it seemed so far at the same time. Twenty, fifteen, ten. It was right in front of me. Then, it happened. That dreaded yet familiar weight once again crashed onto my body. Rage filled me as I knew I would be denied safety once again. With a last desperate move I threw myself forward, rolling with the weight on my back.

I heard a loud ZAP and a yowling sound. The smell of burnt flesh wafted into my consciousness as I struggled to lift myself up again. A red healthbar flashed in my upper right vision, a large zero showing in the middle of it. Yet all I could see was the words SAFE ZONE floating above me, my body inside the pale blue circle. I made it.

The pained yowling continued, drawing my attention to the giant leopard. Smoke curled from one of its paws as it yowled in pain, hobbling pack towards the forest. It suddenly stopped and stared at me, as if sensing me. It hissed before licking its paw. The smoke stopped as it licked its paw, the leopard's eyes continually on me. After a few moments the leopard hobbled into the forest, disappearing as its coat blended in with the dappled sunlit foliage.

Getting up from the ground I limped towards the cabin, lancing pain shooting up my leg. The pain was diminishing even as I leaned against the cabin. Letting out a sigh of contentment, I slumped to the ground in exhaustion. After resting for a little bit, I opened the cabin door and walked in. It was a small wooden room, more akin to a garage than a true cabin, a simple bed and a chair was the only furnishings. A screen appeared in front of me, causing a groan to come unbidden from my lips. I sat down in the chair before reading the message.

Congratulations! You have passed the initial testing phase.

Rewards: Unlock class skills, character sheet, inventory, and starting gear.

Well, at least it was good news. Blinking at the screen to make it disappear, a new one appeared instead.

Seek out your other comrades and finish the tutorial!

A new blue arrow appeared, pointing across the river. Another person was here? Another person in this hellish nightmare? Trapped just like I was, hunted down relentlessly by monsters in an endless cycle. I gritted my teeth, frustration filling me. I wanted to help everyone else out but, how could I help? All I could do was run away from my monsters, I couldn’t fight at all. The best I could do would be to run around and get killed.

Even as I was starting to despair, I recalled the previous screen. It said I unlocked my inventory and character sheet. Maybe I could do something with that? Recalling what the goblin had told me before I raised my voice, calling out “access inventory.” When I did, a screen filled with boxes in a twenty by twenty layout appeared in front of me. All of the boxes except the four in the top left were empty. A bolt action rifle, a pistol, a camouflage outfit, and some weird looking swimming goggles.

I could feel my face twisting into a grin as I tapped the gun icon. It took form in my hands, gray dust coming from seemingly nowhere collected into the gun. Pulling the bolt back, I set a round in the chamber and cocked the hammer backwards, priming the gun to fire. Luckily that blasted goblin had at least let me practice with some weapons and explained the basics before letting me wander off into this brutal world. I already knew that in the tutorial, ammunition was unlimited. I wasn’t sure how it would work in the actual world instead of the virtual, but that was a problem I’d have to face then. For now, it was time to get ready.

Taking out the rest of my equipment, I got ready as fast as possible. I wanted to cause some pain to those giant leopards and hopefully help out some other people along the way. As much as I wanted to immediately rush to the rescue, I also knew that I had to be prepared as possible. If I made a mistake and died, I wasn't sure if I would respawn here or back at my original starting zone. If I did spawn in my original spot, then that would mean that I would have to waste another forty minutes to reach here again. Not only that, but I wasn’t even sure that I would keep my starting equipment with me when I died. It was best to take it cautiously for now.

Putting on the swimming goggles, I realized what they were. Three buttons on the side of the goggles revealed that they were actually reconnaissance goggles with different vision types set in. The default setting was on thermal but with some experimentation I found I could also have night vision or my regular vision. For now, I left thermal vision on. The heat from the foliage around me obscured my vision somewhat, but I could clearly see the outline of a giant leopard sitting in a tree. It was like a pillar of fire in a sea of dull oranges and reds.

For now though, I had other things to explore. “Class skills,” I said out loud. Another blue screen appeared in front of me, three branches with boxes in them leading off into the distance. Most of the boxes were a dark grey, with only the three at the very beginning of the branches having any text on it. The first branch was labeled Combat Skills. The next one was labeled Reconnaissance Skills and the last one was Survival Skills. Tapping on the first bubble it expanded into a familiar blue screen.

Reticle

Reticle is a passive ability that shows where your bullets will land. The reticle will increase critical damage and the size of the reticle depends on your accuracy stat. Using a scope increases the accuracy of the reticle.

That seemed very useful indeed. Going back to the skill tree as I called it, I explored the other two options I had.

Camouflage

Camouflage is a passive ability that allows you to blend in with your surroundings. At low levels this skill lets your clothes blend in with your surroundings. At higher levels it allows you to turn completely invisible while masking your presence from thermal vision and radar.

Tracking

Tracking is a passive ability that helps you determine traces that have been left behind by others.

Tracking didn’t feel like it would be useful, especially since I already had the goggles. Regardless, I had to keep the survival path in mind. Who knew what other skills I might unlock in the future, like trapping or skinning. They might not seem important right now considering I was about to go into a forest with giant leopards but it could be very useful later on. The camouflage was also very encouraging because of the invisibility but that was only at high levels. It was probably best that I not mess with that for now. I'd definitely have to pick it up but I needed more relevant abilities. Double tapping the reticle ability, the screen asked if I wanted to use my only skill point to buy the skill. Confirming it, the boxes all closed.

I picked up my hunting rifle, noting that when my finger rested on the trigger a red reticle appeared in front of me. It seemed pretty big though, a lot bigger than it should be. Opening the door to the cabin, sighted at a tree at the edge of the forest. The reticle appeared showing a large area I could hit. Even worse, the reticle swayed and pulsed at seemingly random intervals. There was no way I could hit anything like this.

Recalling that scopes improved the accuracy, I used the scope to sight the tree. There wasn’t a reticle inside the scope, but my reticle appeared on the tree. The reticle was clearly smaller, from covering the entire tree trunk to just over half, and the swaying was less obvious. The pulsing was still there but I had figured out what it was, my heartbeat pulsing with the reticle. Even the smallest thing could affect my accuracy it seemed. I had gone over my skills and my equipment. It was time for the last thing, my character sheet. “Access character status,” my grin spreading as the screen appeared before me.

Tony Delgado, Scout

Level 1

Integrity Levels: 50

Energy Levels: 50

Power: 5

Power Regeneration: 6

Health: 5

Strength: 5

Accuracy: 6

Speed: 6

Free Status Points: 2

Skills: Reticle

Just as I expected, my scout class was already coming into effect. As a scout, I received an extra point in accuracy, power regeneration, and speed. My role was to be quick and silent, using my abilities to sneak into places while using my accuracy to support my group with long-range fire. It was an essential role that provided information to other members of a group. At the same time, it was probably the best class to survive in a post-apocalyptic gameland that Nanite World had been made out to be. The survival skill tree was definitely proof to me that I had chosen the right class, survival was in the name after all! Double tapping the status window, I increased my speed and accuracy, the table updating to show my new status.

Tony Delgado, Scout

Level 1

Integrity Levels: 50

Energy Levels: 50

Power: 5

Power Regeneration: 6

Health: 5

Strength: 5

Accuracy: 7

Speed: 7

Free Status Points: 0

Skills: Reticle

I didn’t have any abilities that used energy so increasing my power at this point didn’t make sense. Using the same logic, increasing strength wouldn’t do anything because I definitely didn't want to be up close and personal with any animal. Increasing my health when I was getting one shotted by leopards might mean I survive a hit but it didn’t guarantee that I would and I didn’t want to waste my status points.

I was as prepared as I was going to be. Bringing my rifle up to ready position, I made sure I had a round chambered. Turning on the thermal-vision of my goggles, I headed out into the woods. There was some people that needed saving.

** Nikito **

“ROOOOAAAARRRRR”! Flinching, Nikito ducked under the swing of the grizzly bear, his axe striking out as he did so, cutting into the grizzly’s side. A red mark glowed on its skin as a red 9 floated out from the hit. Roaring again, the grizzly lashed with a backwards swipe of its paw. Though Nikito ducked, he wasn’t able to get out of the way in time, the paw catching a glancing blow on his shoulder. His health in the lower right side flashed red as it went critically low, dropping from a solid seventy to twenty-five with one hit.

The pain was bad, but he was used to it. You didn’t join the Russian military without experiencing pain after all. Using the momentum from the blow he rolled to his feet, the axe extended in front of him. The glowing blue arrow pointed towards the beast, another of his comrades in that direction. Who knew what they had been through so far, what horrors they faced. Nikito gritted his teeth as he charged towards the bear even as it charged at him. Rolling beneath its paws his axe lashed out, gouging out a solid red line down its belly.

A 22 floated outwards, the health bar of the bear dropping considerably. It wasn’t going to be enough though. As a melee specialist, his starting equipment was an axe, shield, and pistol. Not exactly what one wanted to use against giant grizzly bears. The bear turned around, Nikito drew his pistol from the holster around his waist with practiced ease. Firing as fast he could pull the trigger he aimed for the bear.

As impossible as it seemed with such a huge animal, a large number of the shots went astray. The recoil of the gun was also immense but with his strength he was able to keep it mainly focused on the target as it closed in. Nikito backpedaled as the grizzly got closer, having been able to deal close to thirty damage to the bear with the pistol. His last shot caught the grizzly in the eye, prompting it to roar as it reared back in pain.

Holding the axe in his left hand Nikito knew he needed to take advantage of this moment and holstered the pistol. Switching to a two handed grip, Nikito closed the gap with the grizzly even as it slammed down to the ground. “CHARGE” Nikito yelled out, a burst of force from his legs propelling him forward with superhuman speed. The grizzly caught sight of Nikito charging at it right before the axe slammed into its face from his enhanced swing, a bright red 40 flaring up in front of him. This time, the axe didn’t just leave a red mark and penetrated into the bear's head. It froze as the axe cut through its forehead, instantly killing it. As Nikito stood there panting, hands still on the axe, he watched as the bear dissolved into grey dust. A glowing blue sphere floated above where the bear had died.

Touching it, he opened his inventory and saw two pieces of bear meat and four bear furs. It was sitting alongside six leopard furs, his very first challenge in this new world. They’d been tough but once he got his gear the leopards had died quickly. Equipping his shield and axe, Nikito advanced on towards the blue arrow.

Though he heard some rustling, Nikito didn’t have any other creatures try to attack him during the next few minutes. The timer in his bottom right corner showed 22:40:33. Not nearly fast enough in his opinion but regardless he was making progress. Nikito finally came across a clearing, the sound of human sobbing echoing out from the clearing.

“Hello? Comrades, is that you in there?” He called out cautiously. He’d met everyone at the tutorial lobby except for the last person unfortunately. He should at the very least have left a good impression on everyone else. The sobbing intensified, to his confusion.Advancing cautiously, Nikito saw a young girl with brown hair sobbing on the ground.”Hello?” He asked again.

The girl flinched and wildly looked around before spotting him. Her eyes grew big and she threw herself at him, wrapping him up in a hug. She continued sobbing uncontrollably. Awkwardly Nikito patted her back. “There there, it’ll be alright” he said soothingly. Oddly, the words seemed to make her more on edge.

Backing off, she started doing some sort of sign language. ‘Who are you, do you know what we are supposed to do?’

Nikito stared in shock as the words appeared in front of him, a very obvious translation of her sign language.

He shook his head and looked up at the sky. “Dear mother Russia, what am I supposed to do??!!”