Chapter 1: Beginning
It was just another morning where everyone was doing their thing. They each had different expressions, due to stress, work or both. As it was an early hour, kids not being yet awake, most of them did not look happy, while some looked neutral.
Some of them where thinking what could they do to change something in their lives for the better, while the luckier ones were wondering just what restaurant to pick tonight.
A certain someone, though, stood out.
Everyone who saw him, from the individuals that were so close to committing suicide to the high-end ones, felt... jealous.
Was it because of how good he looked?
Was it because of what he wore?
No.
It was not.
While undoubtedly, he was looking good, and the clothes he was wearing were premium, it was not because of that.
It was because of how peaceful he looked.
As if, he had nothing to worry about.
As if, he had everything he wanted.
As if... no hardships were thrown his way.
Jealousy quickly turned into rage, all reaching the same question.
Why?
Just... why?
When everyone suffered a lot, in one way or another... why did he not?
He looked young.
He was young!
Who gave him the privilege to not be worried?!
They began to curse.
Him.
Their luck.
Their friends.
Their mothers.
The gods... amusing, since some were atheists.
They cursed everyone and everything... but themselves.
No admiration. No determination. Just pure hatred.
It was unbelievable, really.
If they were with him from the moment he was born, will their reaction change? I doubt.
If they were to follow him from this moment onwards, will their reaction change? I wonder.
Their hatred stopped when peculiar things began to happen.
Like... people disappearing?
It happened fast, instantaneous, making them wonder if they began hallucinating.
Nothing happened for a little while, some of them laughing at their stupidity.
People disappearing out of nowhere? With so many people watching? Really? Please.
But then it happened again.
The laughter stopped.
And again...
It's simply amazing how many emotions someone can feel in such a short amount of time. Jealousy, hatred, confusion and ultimately... fear.
And again...
The guy that was the center of attention until now disappeared too.
He couldn't say he was expecting anything like that, but he also couldn't help but be a little bit excited. At the moment, he couldn't change anything, so might as well accept it.
.....
It was bright. Very bright. He could see stars, black holes, habitable planets, galaxies, universes that the scientists could not even hope to discover.
It was... weird.
He reached a place where many others were thrown.
"Where am I?"
"What happened?"
"Hey! Take me out!"
He could see that nobody understood why they were placed here.
The male looked around, seeing that they were in an enormous place, way too big for how many they were.
'Were we supposed to be more?' he questioned.
There were thousands of people, but even then the building looked almost empty.
"Grettings, Players."
A voice suddenly could be heard.
They all looked up to see a gorgeous woman. She had waist-length red hair, she looked quite short, with her hand in front of her generous bust, as if praying. She had red eyes, devoid of any emotions, matching her tone.
"You have all been chosen as the heroes of your planet. If you give your all, you can prevent the destruction of your planet."
The crowd was even more confused and scared than before, but before they could ask anything, she continued.
"Outside are different kinds of monsters, and once this facility gets destroyed, you all have the responsibility to defend yourselves. This place has provided you all types of weapons. Please choose whatever suits your capabilities. By shouting 'system', you will be able to see your stats."
"I wish you best of luck, Players."
And with that, she was gone, leaving them with even more questions.
'Lazy bitch... A hologram, really?'
The male chuckled, accessing his system.
[Name: Kl!eis?s Er!te?x
Class: T?! !ir!?
Lv - 1
STR - ?!!?
DEX - ?!!?
END - ?!!?
INT - ?!!?
MP - ?!!?
CHR - ?!!?
LCK - ?!!?
E?RR?OR - Se!?NDIN!G INFOR?!MATI!ON]
.
.
.
'Well, isn't that informative?'
As he looked around, seeing everyone quickly taking their weapons, the panel once again appeared.
[Apologies.]
[Name: Kleiss Ertex
Class - The First (Error)
Searching for abilities...
Eyes o?!!? (S)
Can ?#!???##
Upgrade pending-------
Upgrade done:
EoE - Eyes of Everything (EX+)
You are able to see everything.
Adaptability (Error)
Facing someone stronger? It was never the case.
Copy (Error)
You are able to copy everything.
Mastery (EX+)
You are able to master everything instantly.
Lv - 1
(0/25 EXP)
Attribute points - 0
STR - 50? - Error
END - 50? - Error
DEX - 50? - Error
INT - ?!!? - Error
MP - ?!!? - Error
CHR - ?!!? - Error
LCK - ?!!? - Error]
That took Ertex a little bit off guard. He always knew he had talent, but even then...
He wasn't sure what the question marks or the 'Error' after them meant, but he had an idea.
'I'm quite strong then, right?'
He was pulled out of his thoughts when cracks began appearing on the walls.
When he was passing by other people, he could see everyone's panel. Some had no class, some no abilities, while some had both. Their ranks or stats, however, were nowhere near his. The best rank he saw was a C+, while the stats averaged at 10 points each, with very few ones having a little bit more than that.
When he reached the corner where the weapons were, he could see another guy there, slowly picking a sword. He had short, silver hair and blue eyes. He was tall, just a little bit shorter than Ertex, wearing a black hoodie with matching pants and a jacket on top.
Overall, he was quite handsome himself. However, he had a different look than anyone else here.
He did not look terrified like everyone else, nor did he look like he had no emotions like that hologram. This guy seemed...
'Depressed?'
From Ertex's point of view, that guy looked like he had lost everything. Not expecting much, he took a peek at his panel.
[Name: Kedan Artrus
Class: Regressor (S+)
Advanced Swordsmanship (A)
The ability to wield a sword skillfully.
Lv - 1
(0/25 EXP)
Attribute points - 0
STR - 23 - SSS+
END - 21 - SSS+
DEX - 25 - SR
INT - 25 - SSS+
MP - 40 - SSR
CHR - 20 - S
LCK - 0? - 999? - (F? - EX?)]
[Kedan Artrus is a player who has regressed. In his previous life, he died while encountering ?##!!#. Otrus, a previous god, feeling that Artrus was wronged, sacrificed his life, regressing him, hoping that this time he'd succeed.]
'Would you look at that?'
It would be a lie to say that Ertex was expecting something like that. Pretty high stats and knowledge about the future? Isn't that something?
'If it was me in his place, would I feel the same?' Ertex questioned.
Deciding that it was not a bad idea to befriend a regressor, he approached Artrus, choosing a sword as well.
"Hello!"
Not expecting nor wanting anyone to talk to him, Artrus was startled.
"Ah... Hi."
Looking at Ertex, Artrus saw that he was a little bit too relaxed. Before they could exchange any other words, the walls collapsed and hordes of monsters began running towards them.
Everyone started screaming, praying they'll just wake up from this nightmare, but to no avail.
Those more courageous started slashing at the monsters, even killing some, alas their chances of surviving were not high.
...
As Artrus began running towards the monsters, Ertex stayed back and watched.
Because of Artrus, Ertex realized he was right about something. The rankings in one's stats are not describing their worth in the present, but their potential. The higher the potential, the higher the ranking.
The 'Error' could only mean that the system was not capable of measuring Ertex's potential. Now for why is that, Ertex thought of two possibilities.
One being that his potential is fixed and simply too much for the system to measure.
The other being that his potential is increasing and will continue to do so.
Ertex inclined towards the second one since he had 'Adaptability' and 'Copy', abilities that the system couldn't rank unlike his other two ones.
Either way, he knew he had nothing to worry about as of right now. He watched Artrus skillfully choping monsters, as if he was the one that was doing the hunting.
Seeing that 4 goblins were running towards him, he did exactly what Artrus did, wanting to test something.
He slashed, decapitating them all in one swift move.
[Acquired: Master Swordsman (S)]
[You have killed a lv - 1 goblin, gaining 10 EXP!] x4
[You have leveled up!]
[You gained 10 attribute points!]
'That's not bad.'
He smiled as he looked at the notifications. Without much time to do anything, he saw other goblins running.
He did the same, with more accuracy than before, cutting them in small pieces.
[You have killed a lv - 1 goblin, gaining 10 EXP!] x4
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You gained 20 attribute points!]
'Hmm?'
He stopped for a second. He leveled up again? From killing the same amount of goblins which were the same level? This couldn't be right.. Right?
[Lv - 4
(5/25 EXP)]
.
.
.
'Is the system bugged?'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone