1962
"Congratulations! You and six others of your world have been chosen to pioneer the Trial System. Do you want unmatched power? Unending wealth? Eternal life? All can be obtained by completing the Trials."
Silence.
"I can tell this is a lot to take in, but have no fear. There is only as much risk as you are willing to take on. Everyone gets one free life, and as a Destined, you will have privileges that few others will get."
The young figure looked up at the entity that promised everything for nothing. It smiled while wearing traditional clothes from the young woman's homeland.
"Before you say anything else, why don't you take an example of the power you might obtain?"
Three spheres of glittering gold appeared between them. The iridescent orbs mesmerized her and demanded to be touched. She reached out.
The [Mage] was up against a tide of shadowy monsters, allies at her side. A surge of static poured into her veins as
She should have been afraid, yet she wasn't. She knew what she needed to do.
"[Fireball]"
The Manager smiled.
It was never really a choice, was it?
-Earth 2025
"GET DOWN!"
Ryan shouted as he dove to push the orc to safety. There hadn't been a need for it at all. The ex-eighth realm adventurer had already moved out of the way as Ryan took his place, the bullets piercing his chest.
And his body hit the floor.
Ryan spasmed out of the chair he'd found himself in. He clutched desperately at his chest, phantom pain rippling out as he went into a fetal position.
"My, that hasn't happened in a while are you alright?"
He was still grabbing at his chest, trying to cover the wound and put pressure on it. It took a little too long to realize that his Manaburger uniform wasn't wet from blood, it just had two holes in it. His hands were clean too. Then, he finally registered the words and looked around.
A room of pure inky black surrounded him. The only things in here were a table and two chairs. A single person sat from across him. From his perspective, he could only see the legs of the speaker. It was all he needed. The material of the suit pants looked as if it were made out of galaxies, they slowly swirled in motion with countless stars twinkling throughout.
Somehow, his heart started beating even faster. Ryan knew who this was, he knew what this meant.
"This is real, isn't it?"
"Of course, Ryan Robinson. Congratulations on being chosen as a Destined."
A Destined, something that was only picked for a hundred twenty people a year. It was better than winning any lottery. He'd take this over ten million dollars, no, even a hundred million dollars couldn't compare to this. Ryan dusted himself off with the widest grin on his face. The shooting didn't matter, his life before now didn't matter.
He was going to become an adventurer.
Taking a seat on the chair that had magically righted itself, he sat across the entity that managed both the Trial System and The Realm. An entity that called itself the Manager and would imitate the species and gender you were most comfortable with.
Ryan guessed that even the most powerful of beings had to have a hobby. The Manager smiled back.
"Welcome to the Trial System. As you know, everything can be found here. Riches, power and immortality, all of it and more can be obtained by completing the Trial System. The entrances to these Trials will be located in The Realm. As a Destined, you also have privileges the others do not. You will be able to enter and exit The Realm without the use of System portals, further, unlike those that become Trialists in the regular way, you will not be stripped of your powers should you lose your safety life and choose to stay on Earth. Do you have any questions?"
"No, that was perfect, thank you."
He knew all of that, but this was tradition, and he'd be damned if he was going to skip his own induction.
"Very well, now, shall we move onto your class selection?"
The Manager spread its arms as three glittering spheres materialized over the table. Three combat classes. It really did show that the Trial System favored violence over anything else.
[Warrior], [Rogue] and [Mage].
Ryan almost went to touch the [Warrior] orb, then hesitated. He had responsibilities and knew where he was on the talent scale. He sighed and pointed at the [Rogue] orb.
"I'll choose the [Rogue]."
The Manager shifted slightly. "You do not wish to experience the power of a fourth realm in that class?"
He shook his head. "I don't want to cloud my judgment, thanks."
"Very well."
The Manager sounded annoyed as the [Rogue] orb floated to him. It might have been a bad move to disrespect the Manager like that, but he didn't want to be tempted by experiencing the class orbs. Even now, with all the information they had, plenty of people still changed their minds at the last minute.
You could be the most rational person in the world. It still wouldn't matter when you experienced being a superhuman then have it brutally stripped away.
It was better to stay lucid.
The orb melted in his hand as it made contact. The golden sphere vibrated as he held it tight. Thick golden sludge wrapped around his hand and started to seep into his veins. It traveled throughout his body as the first System message hit him.
Welcome Destined, to the Trial System.
Warning! Your body on Earth is in critical condition.
The newly minted [Rogue] stared in confusion at his screen—for apparently a second too long.
WARNING:
Your Earth body is now dead. As a Destined, you may still use [Return to Earth] and keep all your enhancements. The process for a new body will activate now and will cost you a safety life.
Warning! You have one life left! No matter if you die on Earth or in The Realm that will be the end of your Trials.
What? Ryan blinked for a few more seconds trying to make sense of his screens. 'end of your Trials' meant he would die. The Manager tilted its head in confusion, as if reading his screens for himself.
"Ah, my apologies. It seems that you have lost your safety."
"Wait, wait, hold on, how did that happen? I've never heard of someone dying in your abode before."
"Ah, a mistake I thought I'd stopped making a long time ago. Apologies."
"What?!" He shouted, completely forgetting about the Manager's status. "A mistake? Aren't you supposed to be omniscient?"
This wasn't supposed to be part of the script. The Manager? Making a mistake? Impossible.
The Manager almost looked embarrassed, also something he'd never heard of happening before. It cleared its throat. "A misconception, I'm afraid. It is a tedious process to truly utilize my, for lack of a better word—omniscience. It, well, only works if I take the time to check out your circumstances before you arrived."
He just blinked at the Manager, it no longer even looked a little embarrassed, just apologetic.
"I'll tell you what, if you pass your first Trial and become a real 'adventurer' I will assign you a quest. That should help you with your next realm achievement."
He heard the quotations on the adventurer bit. Ryan narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if he was getting screwed over on purpose. Maybe he shouldn't have broken tradition and skipped out on experiencing those orbs. It couldn't be, there were plenty of people that did it and the Manager wasn't an asshole. He tried to process his situation logically.
A quest from the Manager, that was something others would literally kill for. Not that he wanted anything to do with them, not with only one life. His career as an adventurer had ended before it began. The plan was always to climb the realms until you lost your safety. Then you'd make a nice living off killing monsters in the lower sectors.
He sat back in his chair, his blood-stained shirt a stark reminder of his mortality.
His laugh was hollow.
"Is it possible to talk to your bosses?"
The Manager just laughed at the joke. "I'm afraid they've been unreachable for eons. Now, you know what comes next."
Four orbs rose in front of him. All reflecting different species that had been assimilated in The Realm. Elf, orc, dwarf and drake. Ryan just deflated, answering with only logical choice.
"I'll choose to stay human."
If he had another life he might have considered becoming an elf. They had good [Rogue] upgrades and you got to customize a lot of your physical features. It pretty much meant that more than half the adventurers were incredibly beautiful elves. Unfortunately, elves were also quite a bit more fragile than humans.
Orcs might have been stronger and tougher but their [Rogue] upgrades weren't quite sane. Drakes were a new species and their class upgrades hadn't been mapped out, and dwarves? Yeah, no. Dwarves might be tough but they were the weakest starting species for obvious reasons.
In the end, any species took time to get adjusted to. The statistics said it all. If you were worried about dying in the lower Trials, you stuck with the body you were used to.
You have chosen to remain human.
No appearance selection will be given.
The Manager clapped its hands quickly, sweeping all the unpleasantness about its mistakes under the rug.
"Well, I guess we are done here."
The entity quickly stood up and walked around the table towards him. It reached its hand out while gesturing with its other hand for him to get up. He gave the entity a firm handshake as he stood up.
Ryan decided not to dwell on it. Losing a safety sucked but his life was still going to be infinitely better than before. Hell, if the Manager's quest was something location based, he could sell the information for millions. That made him perk up, now that was almost worth it.
Besides, even if it was looked down upon, there were plenty of ways to cheese the lower Trials. He could bring an assault rifle and shoot everything until the fourth trial. Then he could bring a bazooka for the fifth. He might get stuck at realm five but new Trial solutions and unrestricted artifacts were being created all the time. At realm five he'd be able to live as long as an elf and could still grind the lower sectors to get rich.
Milock was going to be so jealous.
A firm hand gripped his shoulder as he was half-led and half-pushed around the table and facing the wall. The Manager clearly wanting to kick him out of its room. A creaky wooden door appeared in the inky black wall as the Manager opened it.
A perfectly white room lay ahead, a stark contrast to the inky black of the Manager's Abode.
The Manager looked expectantly at him. Clearly wanting to get him out of its room but still trying to be polite. There was a slight push that he had to fight against. Ryan paused.
There was one last question that everyone needed to ask. The Manager would answer this question no matter what. It was almost like it didn't want him to ask it.
"Is there anything else you can tell me?"
The Manager tilted its head a little. It seemed reluctant to tell him anything. Its face twitching in resistance.
"Oh fine. Since you didn't choose to change your race, you might want to hold off on using the [Return to Earth] skill." The Trial Manager paused to let its words sink in. "Due to your death here, your soul is no longer properly tethered to your original body. The higher your control over a primary form of energy, the greater the chance of your survival should you use [Return to Earth]. I don't recommend using a portal."
"What?"
The words made no sense to him. His situation was completely unheard of.
The Manager coughed and spoke a little slower, like his words were supposed to make sense.
"Your body is still alive and will pull on your soul upon your re-entry to Earth. In cases where your body is determined dead, the [Return to Earth] skill will try to create a new body for you. In rare cases where there are two bodies competing for your soul, a greater control of energy will give you a higher chance of survival."
Ryan took a moment, then he finally snapped.
"You could have fuc-"
The hand on his shoulder shoved him forward, making him go face first into the floor of the white room.
And that was how he started his journey as an adventurer.