With a fade to pink like some indie movie, a wave of energy changed the atmosphere around Alistair. In one moment, he was lying down on his living room couch next to Alexandra, and in the next, he was standing in some kind of fancy bar.

He looked down and saw he was now wearing a hot pink tuxedo with a bow tie that had a smiley face on it. The vibe of the room he had been teleported to was extremely fancy. Tall, mahogany walls were resplendent with tapestries and Renaissance and Impressionist paintings. In front of him were a marble counter and a line of modernist chairs that appeared barely functional.

A lone bartender cleaned glasses behind the counter, humming as he worked.

“Excuse me, where am I? And what am I wearing?” Alistair asked, gesturing to his ridiculous outfit.

“Welcome, sir! This virtual mental space is part of the Soulnet, a proprietary service courtesy of the Akata Corporation. We strive to connect people, all across the Final Frontier Empire. As for your finery, sir, we’ve taken the liberty of providing proper attire for all of our guests,” the bartender said, continuing to clean glasses.

“Great,” Alistair groaned. He wondered what oddities other people would be wearing. “So how do I get in touch with people?”

“The rooms of this hotel are all connected to one another. Each section corresponds roughly to the geographic regions of this planet. To my left,” he said, pointing to the closed doors of what looked to be a massive ballroom. “Is the central hub. People of all regions can access it. You will find a message board along with other amenities. Take this.”

The bartender produced a golden coin and handed it to Alistair. The moment it touched his palm, it disappeared, and he received a notification.

You have received 1,000 Gold drachma. Current balance: 2,000 Gold drachma.

He didn’t remember gaining any money before, but he supposed it must have come from completing the [True Orc Slayer] Quest. Remembering the golden orc that almost killed him put a sour taste in Alistair's mouth. Alexandra had saved his ass and hauled him home. If it wasn't for her, he would never have survived, and he owed her an immense debt. However, while she could take care of herself, there were others he cared about that couldn't. With a deep breath, he walked over to the ballroom’s ingress and pushed the open doors.

Alistair spotted around twenty people in the spacious ballroom, mostly huddling around and talking in groups of three or four. There were some stragglers here and there, and due to the size of the room, there wasn't much contact between separate parties. There were men and women of all different ethnicities and backgrounds, the only unifying characteristic being the bizarre manner of dress. Like Alistair, the men wore colorful suits and strange bowties, while the women had on dresses that would have fit right in at the Met Gala.

The opening of the doors drew some attention to him, but after a few seconds, the hushed conversations resumed. On the other side of the room was what appeared to be an enormous electronic whiteboard. It levitated in mid-air near the wall, and it was nearly twenty meters long and seven meters tall by Alistair’s reckoning. With his enhanced vision, he could almost make out some writing on it, and he guessed it was the message board that the bartender had mentioned.

Since no one had accosted him right away, Alistair thought he was safe, but after making it halfway to his destination, a man tapped his shoulder from behind.

He whipped around at lightning speed, almost bringing up his fist for a strike before collecting himself. Still, he couldn’t wipe the shock off his face. How had this man stalked him completely undetected?

“Hey, mate, could I have just a moment of your time,” said the man, in an erudite English accent that oozed pretentiousness and class. He looked to be of African descent and was slightly above average height and skinny as a rail.

“I’m sort of busy right now,” Alistair replied. He didn’t want to be rude but wanted to see that message board at any cost. If Evangeline had left any clues, he needed to know.

“100 drachma if you hear me out,” the man responded, not missing a single beat. “The name’s Alfred Wood.”

“I’m all ears.” Money had to be money, even in a post-apocalyptic cultivation world and he could afford to wait a minute or two.

“I think you made a fine choice,” Alfred said, patting Alistair on the shoulder. A notification popped up.

Alfred Wood wishes to transfer 100 Gold drachma to you. Accept (Y/N)?

While he hit yes, he was confused by the flippant way Alfred was treating his drachma. He either was filthy rich or naive about the workings of the world. Even a nice guy like Alistair knew you didn’t pay upfront if you don’t have to. He wondered if he had completed some Quest that gave millions of drachma as a reward.

Since he wasn’t going to scam the poor wealthy Englishman, he prepared himself to reject some idiotic offer.

“I’m extending an invitation for you to work with my family. You’ve probably seen my brother on the leaderboard. He’s ranked number 13.” There was some pride in his voice as he spoke of his brother’s accomplishment.

“In what?” Alistair asked. He tried summoning the System Store and to his surprise, it worked, even in the interstitial space of the Soulnet. To his astonishment, it looked almost like a typical online shopping site, like Amazon or eBay. The top of the screen had a menu with choices for “pills”, “potions”, “weapons”, “armor”, “crafting”, and more. In the top right corner was a little box displaying his name and current wallet of 2,100 Gold drachma, and underneath it was what Alistair assumed was the leaderboard.

The person who made it must have had a childish sense of humor, as to the left of each name was a little chibi animated to have some repetitive set of small movements. Each person’s cute avatar was different. The number one ranked person, by name of Long Junkai, had some kind of black lizardman, while the number two, Sofia Romero, had the cutest baby witch with a purple shawl. Alfred’s brother, a man named Bartholomew Wood was ranked thirteen and had a soldier in camo gear as his avatar. Alistair found he could interact with it like a touchscreen, and he scrolled to the very bottom of the rankings, at #100. In his briefest overview, he saw neither his nor his sister’s name, though he would have to do a more thorough investigation later.

“We’re one of the wealthiest families to have survived the harrowing events of the past day, making us an invaluable ally. Oh, you weren’t aware?” Alfred asked, seeing Alistair’s quizzical look. “You can transfer all types of currency into drachma, dollars, euros, even Bitcoin. The exchange rate is absolutely horrendous, as far as we can tell, but it's an enormous advantage. Do you think a pampered prep school guy like me was out there in the streets? I reached level 15 with help of a medicine cabinet’s worth of leveling pills.”

Alistair couldn’t help but be annoyed upon learning that wealth was transferred over from the old world, but he wasn’t too nonplussed. It sort of made sense to him, since things like your baseline intelligence and strength and agility were converted into better starting figures, why not wealth as well? Every person had their own innate advantages and disadvantages that they had to overcome. It wasn’t fair in the slightest that rich people could just splurge drachma, but the Final Frontier Empire clearly wasn’t in the business of fairness and equity.

“And how exactly do you propose we work together? I’m not going to do your dirty work.” Alistair was firm in his conviction. Plus, if he did anything too bad, he would get some harsh unknown penalties from the Arbiter of Justice Subclass.

“That’s just the question I wanted to hear. So far no one has met the requirements needed to purchase a Spatial Gate, so we’re all just milling about for now. The real conflict won’t start for a while, so it’s just networking and verbal agreements before we can actually meet in person. The Wood family never abandons our friends and never forgets our enemies. If you work with us, we’ll do everything in our power to help you gain strength.”

Alistair tacked on checking out Spatial Gates to his constantly growing to-do list. From Alfred’s comment, it sounded like they could be used to transport people large distances, like some type of teleportation device. But at the moment he was more curious about his other remark.

“Real conflict? What do you mean?”

“You haven’t realized it yet? The Quests are going to be challenging, no doubt, but it's obvious the real battle is going to be between people. There’s only so much you can glean from having us dismember smelly green monsters. You give millions of people superpowers and a complete breakdown of society, there’s going to be conflict for supremacy. I’ve heard reports of governments trying to reassert control. Not sure how that’s going to go over. All I know, Alistair Tan, is that you want to pick the right side. Good luck.” He tossed Alistair a stack of drachma, and he saw his balance go up 5,100 drachma. With his ominous last words, Alfred was off, walking around carefree like he hadn’t just told Alistair that there was going to be a war between humans, and not just monsters.

While he didn’t want to admit it, Alistair had to admit what Alfred said was correct. Humans went to war with each other over everything, and that was with governments and rule of law. The existence of the leaderboard and rich factions like the Wood family only confirmed the necessity of Alistair’s desire to level up and become stronger, and he hurried over to the message board.

It was a complete mess of words and drawings, all put together in boxes and threads, like on a social media platform. There were hundreds of them plastered on the floating projection, leaving Alistair unsure where to start looking. That was until he spotted a drawing near the top right corner.

When Alistair was a kid, his parents were forced to work backbreaking hours just to keep the lights on and a roof over their heads, so Evangeline, who was six years older than him, practically raised him. Despite being an excellent student and getting the praise of all his teachers and peers, he always felt like he was in the shadow of his sister, who was an off-the-charts genius. If his starting Intelligence was 10, hers was probably a 13.

Despite him being a brat at times, she refused to be harsh or mean and never brought up his insecurity. One of his fondest childhood memories was doing oil paintings with his sister, which was just one skill in Evangeline’s panoply. The piece that stood out from the works they made together was the Four Auspicious Beasts of Chinese mythology, the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Xuanwu, the serpent-tortoise.

Right on the message board was a drawing exactly like the one he remembered, complete with a smiley face in the center. That was Alistair’s touch to the work. Some would have said it ruined it, but his sister just said that it made it even better. A tear trickled down Alistair’s face. Confirmation that his sister was alive sent a wave of relief that nearly buckled his feet from under him. His hope wasn’t in vain.

Realizing he had spent more time in the Soulnet than he originally planned, he hastily interfaced with the message board, which created a keyboard for him to type on, and left a message for his sister.

“Hey sis, I’m glad to see your alive. And of course, you made it here before me. How are mom and dad? I’m also leaving a message for Tommy, Nathan, and Katelyn. Maybe you’ll remember the painting that looks just like this drawing that’s in my room back at the house. If you guys are out there, let’s all meet up tomorrow at 10 PM EST.”

If he had just skirted under the first 10,000 to level 15 mark, it was unlikely that any of his friends or girlfriend would make it, but it was worth the effort. With a decent amount of luck, he could reunite with his sister tomorrow. Now, it was time to deal with the things he had put off after hearing about the Soulnet.

His consciousness returned from the Soulnet, and Alistair opened numerous pages of his status screen concomitantly.

Badges:

“Premium Initiate” (Untiered Mythical Badge): The Final Frontier Empire welcomes your planet at the highest level of hospitality. All Stats +10%.

“Good Samaritan” (Tier 2 Uncommon Badge): Put your life on the line for a complete stranger against all odds. All Stats +7. Upgradeable (5/15).

“Slayer of General Krazz” (Untiered Common Badge): Defeat the General of the Blood Orcs. All Stats +4.

“Deliverance of Justice” (Tier 1 Mythical Badge): The most important aspect of justice is the saving of innocent lives. Each life you personally save grants +1 free Attribute point, capped at 2 per level. (Upgradeable 0/50).

“Mythical Cultivator” (Tier 1 Mythical Badge): Earn a Mythical Badge in your own right before level 50. All Stats +12%. (Upgradeable 0/50).

Increase Badge Slots (0/100)

Skills:

[Eyes of Truth] (Tier 1 Skill): Karmic vision sees truth over lies. Upgradeable (0/25). (Mutation — Active: Use 1 point of Karma to discern falsehoods and see deeper into the web of Mana and Fate.

[Mana Strike] (Tier 1 Skill): Envelop a body part in condensed Mana and strike your enemies. Mana Cost: 10. Upgradeable (0/25).

[Dash] (Tier 1 Skill): Run across long distances in a single step through enhancing your body with Mana. Mana Cost: 10. Upgradeable (0/20).

[Fighter’s Instinct] (Tier 1 Passive Skill): Become preternaturally aware of bodily threats. Scales with Agility. Upgradeable (0/25).

Talents:

Body Cultivation Tree

Heart Branch, Skin Branch, Bone Branch,...

Mind Cultivation Tree

Memory Branch, Insight Branch, Willpower Branch,...

Soul Cultivation Tree

Struggle Branch, Reincarnation Branch, Soulburn Branch,...

…

Elemental Fighter Tree

Pugilism (Shared), Elemental Control, Communion of Spirit

Monk of Order Tree

Pugilism (Shared), Order’s Strength, Ponderous Meditation

Chaos Assassin Tree

Pugilism (Shared), Chaos Rising, Void Watching

Lawful Magistrate Tree

Justice Quest (Shared), Enforcement, Divine Law

Merciful Abbot Tree

Justice Quest (Shared), Eye of Mercy, Invincible Heart

Courtwalker Wanderer Tree

Justice Quest (Shared), Wandering Itinerant, Contempt of Court

System Tree

Achievements:

Discovery (I) —

Discovery Regional Map, a Foundation-grade item.

Dueling (I) —

Defeat General Krazz in combat, level 17 Evolved Blood Orc.

Besides the “Slayer of General Krazz Badge”, he had also gained “Deliverance of Justice” and “Mythical Cultivator”. Both looked to be great Badges, and with his stats continuously growing, percentage-based bonuses looked better and better. “Deliverance of Justice” was certainly not a Badge for the faint of heart, Alistair noted. He had just learned there was a way other than killing monsters or humans to gain levels, the only problem was that if he started pill-popping, he would miss out on the extra stat gains. It was fine, he thought. He was already planning on bloodying his hands, and this just offered a greater incentive.

Now, he finally understood the way he could increase his Badge slots. He had 15 Upgrade Points combined from Magical Pugilist and Arbiter of Justice, and he wasn’t sure what to use them on.

His Skill section added [Dash] and [Fighter’s Instinct], as well as upgrading his [Mana Punch] into [Mana Strike], which allowed him to use his feet or elbows or any body part he wanted for the attack. All of his Skills had the Upgradeable tag on them, yet he was hesitant to put his Upgrade Points into Skills or Badges for that matter, for the simple reason that there was already another method to improve them. He had already leveled up his [Inspect] and [Good Samaritan]. It would be a waste of his points to use them on things that could be upgraded in other ways. His pool of Upgrade Points was currently limited to just 15 per level, and any potential extra points from Quests.

Alistair peered at the imposing Talents page. It was by far the most complicated and largest section of his status screen, and he wasn’t sure what to do with it. As he focused on the Body, Mind, and Soul Cultivation sections, he found dozens of options. They were each comprised of multiple branches, like the Heart Branch of the Body Cultivation Tree. Inside the Heart Branch were options to increase the stamina of his legs, make his heart resistant to damage, increase his blood flow to absurd levels, and many more. Each beginning option only required 1 Upgrade Point and between each branch of the three cultivation trees, there were hundreds of choices.

That wasn’t even mentioning the six Class Talent Trees he had opened. He was lucky there were only three branches for each tree and five or so options for each branch. Ninety possible selections were much better than the thousands for the cultivation trees, yet still daunting.

Before making a choice he would regret, he looked at the final Talent Tree, the System Tree. There weren’t any branches on it, and instead, he saw solid, reasonable things he could improve.

Unveil hidden statistical variables (0/10)

Obtain missive on individual stat (0/5)

Obtain missive on Pathfinder capabilities (0/20)

…

The list went on for some time, but Alistair was most interested in the first two options. He had been roughly tracking his Health and Mana regeneration for the past few days, though it would be good to have exact numbers, and he was also very curious as to what Charisma actually did. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, he put all of his Upgrade Points into the “Unveil hidden statistical variables” and “Obtain missive on Charisma”.

A wave of energy rushed over Alistair. He excitedly opened up his status screen to see the changes.

Name Alistair Tan Species Superhuman I (Partially Evolved) Class Magical Pugilist Subclass (HIDDEN) Arbiter of Justice (Legendary) Level 16 Health 201/201 (.300 per min) Mana 134/134 (.266 per min) Stamina 123/123 (0.495 per min) Karma (Unlocked) +3 (0.004 per min) Strength 39 Agility 61 Constitution 37 Endurance 33 Intelligence 49 Wisdom 26 Charisma 56 Badges "Premium Initiate", "Good Samaritan", "Slayer of General Krazz", "Deliverance of Justice", "Mythical Cultivator"

Talents System Tree - Two leaves Skills [Mana Strike], [Inspect], [Dash], [Fighter's Instinct] Quests [King Orc Hunt] Achievements Discovery (I), Dueling (I)

His admiration at the beauty of his status screen was interrupted by an unhappy voice.

“Are you done yet? As I was saying, we have a decision to make.”

“Huh?” Alistair asked, slightly dazed. He was just about to look at the message on Charisma he had received.

“You must have still been in the Soulnet. Pretty cool, right? I didn’t see a message from any of my friends though.” For a split second, Alexandra made the smallest grimace. “While you were asleep, some people came by, saying that all survivors should meet up at the campus. What are we thinking?”