Richard walked behind Fang as the four class leaders moved into the crowd. The crowd had been talking among themselves, but they quieted when Richard and the other newbies entered the torchlight. In the mess hall, everyone in base two seemed small. Here, out in the open, crowding around the four newcomers, Richard wondered how this group was still alive. Yes, perhaps the system gave way more to their survival, but there were not many people here. Perhaps thirty-five, if that. Some guards were still keeping watch on the wall, as no one dared leave that unwatched, but this group felt small considering the horrors Richard saw in the forest. With the news that they might be the only base camp left, Richard wondered if they’d truly be able to hold back the apocalypse.

  Dmitri stood, smiling at the four of them. “This is our biggest group of newcomers yet.”

  Richard glanced at the other three. This, their biggest group?

  “We welcome you to base camp two. For the next two weeks, you will train, level up, and fill up your first skill tree until you’re ready to choose your class and receive your second and third skill trees. You were chosen from your worlds because you had something you wanted to prove. You may have forgotten what it was, but the fire is still inside you. Order sent you here for another chance, and you are needed.”

  A man in the corner. The too-wide smile. The way he disappeared. That wasn’t Order, yet it seemed like that was the guy who sent him here.

  “Leylah,” Dmitri said.

  “Leylah,” the entire group said.

  Richard glanced over his shoulder. Sure, this was a ceremony, but with everyone repeating her name, this also felt cultish. Leylah glanced around as though she, too, was concerned about why everyone spoke her name.

  Dmitri raised a hand to her. “Come forward and receive the system.”

  The concern on her face melted away, almost as if she’d been waiting for this moment her entire life. She strode forward with a courage Richard wished was contagious. Leylah placed her hand on top of the floating orb, then closed her eyes. Richard didn’t know what to expect. He was glad the community behind him didn’t start holding hands and swaying while chanting something, though. The orb changing from blue to orange was far more manageable.

  Leylah stood before the orb for a solid minute before it blinked back to blue, and she let go. The smile was still on her face.

  “Welcome to base two, Leylah,” Dmitri said. “May Order guide you as you strengthen our community.”

  “Welcome, Leylah,” everyone behind him said. Leylah returned to her spot between Amber and Fang. She looked a bit tired, but Richard sensed Leylah was running on adrenaline now.

  Dmitri opened his arms toward the newbies again. “Amber.”

  “Amber,” everyone said behind them.

  Richard had already decided he didn’t like this, and the second time the group repeated her name, it confirmed it. He was sure it was all for show, but he hated it. Yes, he now believed the system was necessary to beat back whatever was surrounding them on every side, but this felt a little overkill.

  When Amber received the system, Dmitri gave her the same line about Order and strengthening the community before calling up Fang.

  Richard didn’t want to be last. He didn’t know if Dmitri meant to do this, but he hated sitting among his thoughts as Fang received the system. Richard did his best to pretend he wasn’t anxious, but a knowing glance from Amber told him he wasn’t fooling anyone.

  Fang walked back to the other newbies at his regular pace, though it felt like ages. For the final time, Dmitri opened his arms. “Richard.”

  “Richard,” everyone behind him said.

  He swallowed before lifting his leg and taking a step forward. He stared at the blue orb, wondering how drastically his life would change, and whether it would be for the better.

  His hand trembled, wondering what would happen if he turned around and bolted for the gates. They’d probably open them and let him leave. That was how crazy this new hell had become.

  The orb felt cool, then turned orange and grew warm. Richard instinctively closed his eyes.

  Initiating…

  Initiating…

  Initiating…

  Those words were green and glowing behind his closed lids, writing themselves out and blinking, over and over. As a test, he opened his eyes and still saw them written in front of him, traveling around his gaze as if they were stuck there.

  He closed his eyes again so he wouldn’t get distracted. The words were still there, blinking in front of him.

  Initiating…

  Initiating…

  Initiating…

  Richard kept his eyes closed, a cold sweat appearing on his hot forehead, feeling like something had gone wrong. He wasn’t being hyper-observant. The whispers from the crowd in the back told him as much. This was taking longer than the others.

  The words disappeared, and Richard cracked one eye open to search for Dmitri. He may not have been sure what would happen if he ran to the gate before, but he was pretty sure if he let go of the orb and ran now, he wouldn’t make it to the gate with all these higher-level individuals chasing after him, demanding answers. Maybe they wouldn’t do that, but it didn’t help that they all sounded so cult-like before.

  An unexpected error occurred…

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  One moment, please…

  A pressure touched Richard’s brain. He stifled a gasp. There was already too much attention on him to begin with. The murmurs got louder, but he forced himself to focus on one thing only. The pressure on his forehead turned into pain. He was wondering how to hide this, because he had already taken too long at the orb, and he didn’t know if he had a valid excuse.

  Problem detected…

  Last name known…

  Please wait as adjustments are made…

  Richard’s chest tightened, and he scrambled to remember his last name just in case this system was forcing him to forget it. His eyes flew open, and he kept his panic from showing too much. Could this system erase his memories? Was that even possible? Something had erased his memories of his past life, and if the system did that, he wanted no part of—

  Welcome to the System, RichardWalker

  Richard did nothing but stare at the name.

  Initiating complete

  Basic stats computed

  Survivor tree skill is being created

  Something strange happened. He couldn’t quite explain it, simply that he felt himself getting stronger. Every muscle, his very organs, they changed. He wasn’t even sure what it was until he saw the words again.

  Body prepared for survival

  If Richard hadn’t seen the guards jump from twenty feet, he would have wondered what that meant. He still wasn’t about to jump from the wall, but he finally understood what Dmitri meant. He wouldn’t survive two minutes in the forest without this system. In a way, he hadn’t survived in the forest long at all.

  First skill tree complete

  Congratulations, RichardWalker

  You have entered the system

  He couldn’t quite place why, but that last sentence filled him with dread more than it comforted him.

  Richard let go of the orb, and it went back to its soft blue color. He turned toward Dmitri, who stared at him as though he were a puzzle he was mentally putting together without lifting a finger.

  Richard didn’t smile. Instead, he turned around and took his spot between Amber and Fang. It wasn’t until he was back that Dmitri seemed to remember there was more to the welcoming ritual.

  “Welcome to base two, Richard,” Dmitri said.

  A few people muttered their welcome, but many kept silent. Richard glanced at Dmitri, who stared right back with a controlled blank look.

  “Alright, everyone! Get back to work! We have a lot to do to survive the apocalypse.”

  Richard didn’t want to meet anyone’s gaze, but he also knew what that would look like. Lylah, Amber, and Fang gave him strange looks, as if they didn’t know why everyone else was treating him weird. Some people found other things to study besides him.

  Except Elias. That lone figure stood there with his hands folded, staring right at Richard. Elias looked bored with the entire thing. Richard was almost happy that someone stared him in the eye. Until Elias’ bored expression turned into a glare. The loner turned around and walked away.

  Dmitri approached them with a smile.

  “You’re still quite new to the system. Just be grateful you have base camp to get used to this, because it’s a beast to familiarize yourself with it for the first few days. You can mentally call up the skill tree to study it if you’d like. The class leaders will help you out with tomorrow’s plans, but for now, you are all no doubt getting tired. Your brain needs a day or two to adjust to this new outlook in life. For reaching level one in the system, you have been given a skill point, and you will gain a point for each level you reach. This is to unlock new abilities, or to artificially inflate an ability you desperately need. My advice is to unlock as many abilities as possible, because the more you use them, the more they upgrade on their own. Let’s get you to your rooms for the night so you can sleep.”

  It wasn’t until Dmitri offered rest that Richard felt it. His muscles were heavy, like he were gifted with incredible strength, yet his mind still remembered what it was like to have a weaker body. It struggled with the dichotomy, and he was left lifting one leg in front of the other, his eyelids heavy and begging to be closed. Follow Dmitri. That was the only thing he told his body to do. Dmitri stopped at the nearest quarters for members.

  “As Timick says, you are about to get the best sleep you’ll ever have,” Dmitri said. Richard did little more than nod as Fang yawned. It sounded a bit like a dog’s, but Richard might have imagined things. Amber looked almost asleep, and if Leylah was taller, Amber might have rested her head on Leylah’s shoulder and gone to sleep right there.

  “I will strongly encourage you to pick a skill tonight, as you’ll get annoying notifications tomorrow morning that will no doubt wake you up. Believe me, I know. It doesn’t matter what skill you choose, because you will eventually get all of them. These first few levels go so quickly, you’ll have all three base skills within the week, I can guarantee it. Start with unlocking the basic skills before you move on to the advanced ones, as that is what Order has decreed.” Dmitri pointed at two doors across the way from each other. “Fang? Go ahead in that one. Ladies, you take the other side. Richard? There’s something else I forgot to mention to you on your tour. It will only take a moment.”

  Richard was so exhausted that he wanted to argue. Certainly, Dmitri could wait until tomorrow morning to show him whatever he had forgotten on the tour.

  Fang, Amber, and Leylah had all entered their rooms without another word. Richard opened his mouth to object, but Dmitri’s face turned serious.

  “We need to talk.”

  Dmitri’s tone shook something inside him. Richard had been so tired he hadn’t even considered that Dmitri had lied about their conversation in front of the others.

  “About what?”

  Dmitri raised an eyebrow. “About what? You mean why the system took so long to help you. What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” Richard said.

  “There are many people out there who saw what happened. If I’m going to help you integrate into this way of life, I’ll need to know what the system did. I need to think of a story to squash the rumors that will come from this.”

  Sleep was too tempting, and he couldn’t think of a lie. Luckily, most of the truth was still safe to tell Dmitri. “The system had a hard time because I knew my last name.”

  Dmitri opened his mouth to say something else, but paused. He then went back to studying him. “Seriously?”

  “I am… way too exhausted to lie.”

  Dmitri took this in, and Richard could only hope that his face looked as dead tired as he felt. Dmitri let out a sigh.

  “And you still don’t know how you learned your last name?” Dmitri asked.

  Richard shrugged. “It just came to me. I’m sorry it’s not a cooler story.” That clearly was a lie about both things. Perhaps traveling back in time made for a cool story, but Richard also felt confused and threatened by it. He wanted to wait before he dared paint a target on his back.

  Dmitri nodded. “Alright. Well, good night, Richard. Don’t forget to choose a skill.”

  Richard didn’t need to be told twice. He opened the door and slipped into the room, already hearing Fang snoring softly in his bed. Richard’s bed was calling to him, but he needed to choose a skill. He realized Dmitri had never told him how to do that, only that it was mental.

  He considered the different ways he would try to choose a skill when it popped into his vision.

  It was a very ordered tree, something he should expect from a woman who was the personification of pure order. He focused on the three basic skills, with the others grayed out. He could read what they did, but he would study that more tomorrow when he was in a better state of mind. As his eyes grew heavy, he skimmed over them.

  Basic

  Health (passive) (basic)

  Reduce hunger by 10%

  Physical (passive) (basic)

  Increase strength by 10%

  Mental (passive) (basic)

  Increase likelihood of finding the best escape by 10%

  They seemed good, except the percentages. If Dmitri was right, he would just have to unlock them and they’d start upgrading with use. The word basic in parentheses next to them gave him the impression that he could upgrade them, but he planned on doing what Dmitri suggested. Just pick one and go to bed.

  Too tired to think of it anymore, Richard mentally chose Basic Health, since perhaps he wouldn’t wake up hungry. He was going to sleep soundly for as long as his body would allow. Richard wandered in the dark, finding an empty bed. He didn’t even remember falling forward into it as he let himself sleep.