Chapter 3 - Targeted (Patreon)

Nova opened his mouth to answer her, but someone rudely interrupted him.

"Of course, he will go for swordsman! I mean Melee!" Sabrina was mimicking swordsmen swinging their swords. 'I want Nova to have bulging muscles like Tom, so he needs to pick that Classification!' She smiled to herself.

Nova sighed and shook his head. It seemed like that disease was only getting worse, but Sabrina was too occupied with her act to notice Nova's expression.

"The first two don't seem bad." Nina said sarcastically. 'I don't believe that someone as smart as Nova would pick those. Your delusional dreams will definitely end in this place.'

"Of course, babe! I will be your knight in shining armour!" Tom proudly beat his chest. 'Don't worry about that worm. I'm much better in every aspect than she is!'

"Gosh, I feel so honoured," Nina said with even more sarcasm in her voice, but Tom was too occupied with his growing long nose to notice that. 'I can't believe that such a simpleton was not found out by the teachers...' She smelled some kind of conspiracy.

(AN: There is a saying that those who have high pride have long noses)

"So much so that I would rather go out with a homeless guy." Nina added, stunning Tom. 'Anyone would be better than your filthy personality!'

"Huh?" Tom frowned and wanted to say anything, but Nina didn't let him.

"Anyway, if you are in trouble, you can visit me and my group. You are always welcome to take refuge." Nina gently patted Nova. 'Please come to us if you need it, don't hold it in. I know that you won't trust anyone, especially after not having your memories, but we will be here for you until you get back on your feet.' She kept smiling gently before she left.

Nova analysed this whole situation, including the heartbeat and everything else. He found nothing wrong with Nina so far and she was quite gentle with him. 'It's so confusing. Why is she so gentle with me...?' He still could not understand it. 'That's where missing memories cause trouble...' He sighed.

It was hard to understand why she acted like that, but Nova could find out later!

"With the demonstration out of the way. I will give you more time to think over this decision." The 'Angel' smiled. "Keep in mind that once you choose it, you won't be able to change it until the day you die!" She smiled with glee. 'Even if you die, there is nothing else for you to do as you won't exist any more!' Her sadistic nature was leaking through.

Nova believed that he caught a loophole, but he would probably never make use of it...

There were too many things that were still not explained, but those would be answered with time... at least he hoped.

...

The time was spent in 'silence' with murmurs all around.

Nova didn't need to think about it all that much, since he had already done his 'research'.

He would definitely go for the last Classification, whatever that was named. It was the most beneficial and closest to jack of all trades.

That last part was important since he would not be joining with others, so he had to cover all the Classifications by himself.

Melee would be done with that strange Energy, Ranged too, there was also magic, so he could cover the whole baseline.

"Please come forward as your wrist glows." The 'Angel' suddenly said. 'It's time to give them one last push, so that they don't choose the last Classification.' She narrowed her eyes.

It was obvious that she wanted to be done with this, so she cut the thinking time short. Of course, most were not against it and those who were, were tied by strange energy and could not move a muscle.

The 'Angel' kept staring at Nova, which unnerved him.

Nova's wrist shined first.

'I'm being targeted.' Nova narrowed his eyes again. It seemed that he would become a scapegoat at this rate, but he couldn't really hide here.

He calmly walked towards the 'Angel'. There was nothing around her, but that changed in a moment. She was now on a podium with 3 pedestals around her.

"What will you choose?" The 'Angel' asked with narrowed eyes.

'You already know.' Nova snorted. He was probably targeted since he was too engrossed in the last Classification.

He touched the pedestal with the 3rd Classification.

[You have chosen [MAQauinraa]!]

[Adjusting your system to the new Classification.]

[Class: [Lost Soul Lv.1]]

 |

 V

[Class: [Commoner Lv.1], [Mortal Lv.1], [Trainee Lv.1]]

[Stats:

 Unknown: Please choose a suitable starting Class]

 |

 V

[Stats:

 Vitality: 100 -> 2/2 (Years of abuse and poor food lowered your Vitality. It might recover once you eat and live properly.)

 Mana: 0|0 (You do not have any Mana.)

 Qi: 0|0 (You do not have any Qi.)

 Aura: 0|0 (You do not have any Cultivated Aura.)

 Mind: 5 -> 1/10 (Your brain is fragile and can't perform basic functions properly unless you want to boil your brain alive.)

 Insight: 5 -> 15 (You are quite knowledgeable.)

 Willpower: 5 -> 1/10 (The Will to live was too weak when you came, but it should recover over time.)]

[More Stats might unlock over time as you progress on your journey.]

Nova blinked a few times. He wished to review his new stats, but that would naturally not pass with that shitty 'Angel'.

"Congratulations, you have chosen your Classification." The 'Angel' said sarcastically. She was speechless that he chose the most troublesome Classification. 'But this is also a good thing. This will prove to be a good demonstration, so that most would ignore the last Classification.' She smiled.

"Um, he picked the incorrect one." Sabrina raised her hand. 'Why did he pick that useless Classification?! I'm not going to protect you, you bastard!' She showed a concerned expression outwardly.

"He was supposed to pick the-" As she was about to say that he was supposed to pick the Melee Classification, her body froze over.

Sabrina was suddenly tied up by that strange energy and she collapsed on the ground, trying to scream for help, but she was unable to make a sound. She was completely terrified.

"Everyone, please keep in mind that only you can select your Classification. Others can't hurt you in this place, so take your time and choose properly." The 'Angel' tried to appeal to the crowd. 'And by that I mean you will select either the Melee or Ranged Classification,' She had a stern expression.

"Now there will be a demonstration about what you are supposed to do." The 'Angel' smirked and Nova knew he was being targeted. 'It's time, you little sheep~!'

The 'Angel' snapped her fingers.

Nova's body vanished from the podium.

"Where did he go?!"

"He disappeared!"

Nina narrowed her eyes. It seemed like she also noticed the abnormality, but she could not do anything. 'I hope he is alright...'

The restraint around Sabrina's body loosened and she was able to move. Tom was the first one to comfort her and lend her his shoulder.

'See? This is what you are supposed to-' Sabrina had her common delusion, but then she suddenly noticed that Nova was nowhere to be seen. 'Where did he go?!' She panicked, but couldn't wiggle out of Tom's embrace. 'Let me go, bastard! You are just a tool to get Nova on my side!'

Unfortunately, she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp, so she tried screaming. "Let me go-"

Suddenly, a projection appeared, and Nova stood somewhere completely foreign. It felt like he was being recorded from somewhere and it was being projected for everyone to see.

-----

Nova found himself in a foreign hallway. It felt more like a dungeon than anything else. The walls were made out of large rocks with some kind of cement between them to fill out the holes. It was quite well-preserved, so it should be habitable.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked around. Behind him was endless darkness that he couldn't see through, while in front of him was an endless hallway littered with torches.

They were either placed in their metal stands, or all around the ground.

Yet all of them were quietly burning, like they would never burn away. It felt like he was in some kind of game...

Nova frowned, since he was not given any equipment; he would not be able to survive this one. The hallway was long and felt dangerous, but he could not go back. The 'Angel' would definitely not allow it.

He could only walk forward, so that's what he did.

The hallway was endless, but over time Nova was able to relax his nerves, since nothing was happening.

Suddenly, a sharp wind blew past him. Mind-numbing pain coursed through his body and he collapsed.

Before Nova could scream, he noticed something shining from the walls. That shiny thing approached him, piercing his body.

[You have died.]

[Reviving in 'Starting Area'.]

-----

The people observed how the young man's leg was blown away by something immensely fast. There was no screaming, since there was no time before spears appeared from the walls, skewering his body.

Everyone gulped in fear. They never expected to see such a gruesome scene. It was not even censored and they could see everything, from blood to his insides...

Soon a light appeared in the 'Starting Area'. Everyone looked towards it as a man screamed his lungs out and kept convulsing.

-----

Nova was in a bright place once again and his body just caught up with the experience. The immense pain coursed through his body.

Nova cursed in his mind as he gritted his teeth. He was able to ignore part of the pain because of his [Broken Brain], but currently, his brain went off like fireworks, warning him about the danger and pain that no longer existed.

It was hard to block everything, but he somehow managed after an unknown amount of time.

He breathed roughly as the 'Angel' spoke.

"As you can see, the 'Tutorial Area' is unforgiving. It's supposed to teach you about survival, traps and basic monsters." The 'Angel' smiled like a Devil as Nova vanished again.

...

Nova appeared in the hallway once again, but this time he didn't waste any time moving and immediately hugged the wall.

There was a strange ticking sound coming from the wall and his mind blanked...

He was once again on the bright floating island. The pain was once again catching up to him.

Nova screamed once again and at this time everyone was sweating buckets.

Nobody was happy any more. They were all terrified about what's to come.

The 'Angel' sent Nova away once again.

The third death was by a trap in the floor.

The fourth death was by a smashing roof.

Rolling Boulder.

Sharp Arrows.

Poisonous Gas.

Saw slicing his body.

Ropes pulling his limbs.

Acid quickly dissolving him.

-----

"As you can see, there are a lot of traps that you need to pass to clear the 'Tutorial Area'." The 'Angel' sighed. "There is a lot more to this 'Tutorial Area', but #### are not suited to be front-liners and die quickly, so I was unable to show you what it's like further in..."

The 'Angel' looked troubled. "Unless any of you want to give it a try and show others how to clear this?" She smiled innocently, but everyone shook from terrible fear. 'That's it, don't choose the troublesome last Classification, but choose anything else!' She smiled discreetly.

All of them were supposed to clear the 'Tutorial Area', but none were willing to go inside. Who would want to go inside?! That person would have to be a complete lunatic!

Nova was pretty much broken from these experiences and his brain did not give him a moment of rest as it kept screaming at him.

The pain was unbearable and he barely felt his limbs. No, it was more like he could not feel them even when he had them.

That was because the trauma was too great and his brain rejected those limbs and parts of his body. The brain was unable to cope with the overload, so it shut down certain nerve lines, causing Nova not to feel most of his body.

The people saw his almost motionless body and shivered. None dared to approach, yet the 'Angel' was still as ruthless as ever.

"It seems like I won't be able to show you the next step, but basically-" The 'Angel' made a smooth motion with her hand and items appeared from nothing. "As you can see, there are items in the 'Starting Area', but those can only be purchased through [Death Coins]."

"You can also purchase a limited amount of Skills. They are pretty basic, but good for survival." The 'Angel' chuckled. "Oh, and if you are too miserable, you can even get a special Class if you die too many times." She laughed happily.

"Now, with those things explained, let's pick everyone's Classification!" She happily clapped her hands as a few wrists shined.

[author]

I'm starting to like this picture version, but it's unfortunately unusable in other editors... x]

[/author]