I leaned back in my chair, tapping my pencil against the edge of my desk, wishing the exam would just end already.
Around me, the classroom buzzed with the scratching of pens and occasional coughs, the low hum of stressed-out students battling against impossible questions.
Five minutes left.
Five more minutes of pure boredom before summer started.
I let my gaze wander to the window, where the afternoon sun lit up the leaves outside in a brilliant shimmer of green and gold.
I was about to drift into another daydream when —
The world changed.
Without warning, a voice — vast, booming, ancient — rolled across the room, across my mind, across reality itself.
"I am the System.
In sixty seconds, you will be transported to a new world.
You will be assigned to one of four species. Choose wisely. Your fate — and the fate of all humankind — depends on it."
The voice vanished, leaving a heavy silence behind.
For a second, no one moved.
Then chaos exploded.
Students leapt to their feet, shouting, panicking, looking around for an explanation.
Chairs clattered to the floor. Pencils and papers flew everywhere.
I spun around, heart pounding, and spotted my best friend, Jake, two rows behind me.
His dark hair was tousled, his green eyes wide with shock.
"You heard that too?" I blurted out.
Jake nodded grimly. "Yeah.
And... something like this happened in one of the books I was reading.
A system, a new world... this isn't a prank."
Before I could respond —
The world around us shattered.
Reality itself splintered into shards of light, and the classroom, the school, the Earth we knew — all of it vanished.
I blinked.
I was standing alone in an endless white space, stretching in every direction.
No floor, no sky — just blinding nothingness.
In front of me floated a shimmering screen, letters forming in midair.
Choose Your Class:
Mage
Warrior
Tamer
Healer
Archer
Commander
Berserker
Rogue
Below that, another prompt:
Choose Your Profession:
Leatherworker
Blacksmith
Trapper
City Lord
Cartographer
Alchemist
Builder
Architect
I stared at the choices, my mind racing.
Mage? That sounded powerful — magic, spells, control over the elements.
And Trapper — setting traps, hunting, using strategy and planning?
It made sense.
I wasn’t the strongest fighter, but I could think, and magic gave me options.
I reached out without hesitation and selected:
Class: Mage
Profession: Trapper
The screen rippled, then shifted.
[Confirmation]
Mage + Trapper Combination Detected.
Unique Evolution Available at Level 10: Magic Trapper
Specializes in magical traps, force fields, and territory control.
Bonus Trait:
+5% Magic Affinity
+10% Trap Efficiency
Passive Skill Unlocked: Trap Sense (Lv 1)
You instinctively detect potential threats and opportunities to trap.
Another window popped up:
Species Assignment:
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Human (Default)
Good luck, Hunter.
The screen winked out, and the world dropped out from under me.
I slammed into solid ground with a grunt.
Groaning, I rolled over and sat up.
The sky overhead was a deep violet, shot through with streaks of crimson clouds. Strange stars glittered like silver fireflies.
Towering trees surrounded me — ancient, gnarled things, their bark gleaming faintly.
The air smelled wild — sharp, fresh, tinged with something spicy and metallic.
Off in the distance, a massive mountain range loomed, jagged like broken teeth.
This wasn’t Earth.
Around me, dozens — maybe hundreds — of other people were picking themselves up off the ground, shouting, crying, some already fighting.
The System’s voice echoed again, this time directly in my mind.
Welcome to Veltheria.
Survive. Grow stronger. Build your future.
No instructions.
No objectives.
Just pure survival.
[Status Update: Hunter]
Level 1
Class: Mage
Profession: Trapper
Health: 100/100
Mana: 150/150
Skills:
[Magic Bolt] (Lv 1)
[Basic Trap Crafting] (Lv 1)
[Trap Sense] (Passive)
I barely had time to process it before I heard someone calling my name.
"Hunter! Over here!"
I turned — and saw Jake jogging toward me, grinning.
He looked the same, but there was something sharper about him now, like he fit into this world a little too easily.
"Jake!" I shouted back, relief flooding me.
We met halfway and clapped hands, gripping tight for a moment.
"You good?" he asked.
"Yeah. Mage and Trapper. You?"
Jake chuckled. "Builder and Mage. Figured we’ll need places to live."
Typical Jake — always thinking two steps ahead.
I laughed, a little shakily. "Guess we better get started then."
He nodded seriously, scanning the forest around us. "First step: find shelter. Then food. Then... figure out what the hell is going on."
Above us, strange birds circled.
And somewhere deep in the woods, something huge let out a roar that shook the earth.
Welcome to Veltheria.
The forest was alive.
Every breath I took was thick with the scent of wet earth, sap, and strange flowers.
Every shadow seemed to watch us.
Jake and I moved cautiously through the trees, sticks and dead leaves crunching softly underfoot.
Behind us, groups of people were scattering — some running blindly into the woods, others banding together in nervous huddles.
Not us.
We kept moving, heads on a swivel.
The System hadn't given any instructions — no quests, no goals — but the need to survive was instinctual.
"First priority," Jake muttered, scanning the clearing ahead, "shelter."
"And weapons," I added, glancing at my hands. "I have magic but... I've never exactly fought anything with it."
Jake smirked. "Welcome to the club."
We pushed forward, deeper into the trees.
After about an hour of cautious exploration, we found a good spot — a shallow cliff wall tucked into a hillside, with a natural overhang that could shield us from rain and wind.
"Not bad," Jake said, rubbing his hands together.
He dropped his bag on the ground — or rather, the tiny leather pouch that had appeared attached to his belt when we arrived.
(Inside: a 'Starter Pack' — a few strips of dried meat, a flask of water, a basic knife, and a flintstone.)
"I'll start building," he said, already pulling up a System menu only he could see. "Early Builder perk lets me speed up basic constructions."
He waved his hand, and a transparent blueprint shimmered into existence — a crude lean-to structure made of sticks and leaves.
I blinked.
"Dude, that's badass."
Jake grinned. "Gotta love magic."
While he worked on the shelter, I crouched nearby, focusing inward.
[Skill: Magic Bolt] (Lv 1)
Mana Cost: 15
Effect: Fires a basic energy projectile.
Simple enough.
I stretched out my hand, picturing the spell forming — a surge of energy flowing from deep inside me, channeled out through my fingertips.
A tiny, flickering spark formed, hovering above my palm.
I grinned.
Then it fizzled out.
"Shit."
Jake laughed from where he was stacking branches. "First time's always rough, bro."
I tried again, more carefully.
This time, the spark grew into a small orb, crackling with blue-white energy.
I aimed at a nearby rock and let it fly.
The Magic Bolt slammed into the stone with a thunk and left a faint scorch mark.
Not powerful — yet.
But it was a start.
Next: my other specialty.
[Skill: Basic Trap Crafting] (Lv 1)
Allows creation of simple physical and magical traps using available materials.
I knelt by the cliff wall, gathering branches, vines, and sharp stones.
System prompts appeared as I worked:
[Trap Construction Initiated]
Select Trap Type:
Pitfall
Snare
Spike Trap
Magic Tripwire
Magic tripwire caught my eye.
I selected it.
A thin thread of energy spun itself between two trees — almost invisible except for a faint shimmer.
I set it waist-high.
Anyone — or anything — that brushed against it would trigger a burst of magical force, knocking them off balance.
Perfect for buying time.
By sunset, Jake finished the shelter — a small, rough structure that would barely fit two people lying side-by-side, but it was shelter.
He wiped sweat from his forehead and surveyed our work proudly.
"Not bad for day one in the apocalypse," he said.
I chuckled, tossing another branch onto the small fire we'd managed to start.
Above us, the sky darkened into deep purple, stars unfamiliar and alien twinkling overhead.
Somewhere far off, a monstrous howl echoed through the trees.
Jake stiffened. "Uh... that doesn't sound friendly."
I rose to my feet, energy crackling around my hands.
"We’ve got traps. We’ve got fire. Let them come."
Jake smirked. "Spoken like a true Mage."
We didn't have to wait long.
Shortly after midnight, I felt it — a tug on the magic tripwire.
Jake jolted awake beside me.
"Something hit the wire," I whispered.
We both grabbed our weapons — Jake clutching his knife, me gathering mana into my hands.
A shadow loomed between the trees.
Level information appeared above its head:
[Lesser Forest Wolf — Level 3]
It was massive — larger than any wolf on Earth — with glowing yellow eyes and fur bristling with barbed quills.
The moment it stepped into the clearing, the magic tripwire snapped.
A blast of force slammed into the wolf, knocking it sideways with a yelp.
I hurled a Magic Bolt before it could recover — the energy slamming into its flank.
Jake rushed forward, stabbing with his knife, and together we brought the beast down in a flurry of blows.
When it collapsed, panting and whimpering, the System chimed:
[You have slain Lesser Forest Wolf.]
EXP Gained: +50
Level Up!
Level 2 → Level 3
A surge of strength flooded me.
Jake whooped. "Hell yeah! We're badass!"
We dragged the wolf's corpse away from the camp and returned to the fire, exhilarated.
The System flashed new messages:
[Achievement Unlocked: First Blood!]
+5 Free Stat Points
+1% Bonus to Physical Defense
[Hunter: Level 3]
Stat Points Available: +10
(5 from level-ups, 5 from achievement)
I opened my Status Screen:
Hunter — Mage/Trapper
Level: 3
Health: 120/120
Mana: 180/180
Strength: 8
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 15
Endurance: 9
Wisdom: 13
Skills:
Magic Bolt (Lv 2)
Basic Trap Crafting (Lv 1)
Trap Sense (Passive)
I quickly dumped my points into Intelligence and Wisdom — more magic power and mana regeneration.
Jake was doing the same beside me, muttering about needing better building speed and endurance.
The fire crackled between us, throwing dancing shadows across the cliff wall.
Despite everything — the danger, the fear — I felt something strange stirring inside me.
Excitement.
This was a new world.
A brutal world.
But also — a world where we could be anything.
Do anything.
Build anything.
I looked at Jake, who was busy sharpening sticks into spears.
"Hey," I said.
He looked up.
"We're not just surviving," I said.
"We're building something."
Jake grinned. "Damn right we are."
We called our little camp: New Dawn.
It was tiny. Crude. Barely more than a lean-to and a fire pit.
But it was ours.
And it was only the beginning.