Chapter 25. Hidden Potential Bursting Out (2) (1/2)

On the morning of the 30th day.

As planned, Cinzia made the announcement of the deadline being extended by another two months. She sounded like she was being generous towards everyone, and that led many of the survivors to breathe out a sigh of relief. After all, most of them had failed to gather 1000 points until now.

Of course, not everyone displayed the same reaction.

“What is it, Hao Win?”

Cinzia knew that Hao Win was staring at her for a long time, but she decided to reply only now and shifted her own gaze towards the man in the black suit.

Hao Win's eyebrows rose up ever so slightly.

“It's nothing, really. Just that….”

“Just that?”

“It's different from what I've heard.”

‘Wasn't it originally three months to begin with?’ Hao Win seemed to have found a way to imply those words without saying them out aloud. Of course, he had no real reason to reveal the truth and get on Cinzia's bad side.

“Is that so? What a shame. I don't know which moron told you those things, but you must have not heard that I'm the general manager this time around.”

“If you say something like that, then I guess there's nothing more to say.”

Hao Win shrugged his shoulders and turned around, breaking eye contact. Cinzia then casually swept her gaze across the rest of the survivors.

“So, how was the first month of your stay in the Neutral Zone?”

Her question was met with nothing but silence.

The reality of the survivors' situation was that no matter how many of them gathered to form a team, none could crack a single 'Normal' difficulty mission.

“Unless you're a complete moron, I'm pretty sure you began to realize the harsh truth by now. 'Ah, I’m really worthless. If I leave this place now, I will die right away'. You must have thought about such things, no? Don’t you think so, burrito?”

The burly Mexican man who complained about not being let into Paradise avoided meeting her gaze in embarrassment.

“Looks like you've all woken up by now.”

Cinzia seemed to be satisfied by their reactions as the tone of her voice softened just a tad.

“Now that you've become aware of your own reality, surely you're more willing to listen now than ever before. Most of you probably have amassed at least some Survival Points by now, correct?”

That was indeed the case. Pretty much everyone did nothing but complete missions like madmen. Even those who entered the Zone with 0 points had amassed a few hundred points at this point.

“Well, I've prepared a gift for all of you.”

At the mere mention of a 'gift', the eyes of the survivors opened up wide in anticipation.

“For tomorrow only, the Chamber of Awakening will open up for you. And inside this Chamber of Awakening, you will get to meet the seven gods that rule this world. Not only that, you will receive 'classes' that best suit your situation as well as your disposition. Simply put, you will be able to use mana from that moment on.”

Whisper, whisper

The once-quiet theatre grew noisy in an instant.

“Once you receive your class, it should become easier for you to figure out what kind of missions you should take on or what kind of roles you should play during cooperative missions. Also….”

Cinzia's eyes arched up.

“…The Survival Points you've earned so far will become even more valuable.”

Several questions came flying at her from the audience seats. Unlike the first day, Cinzia patiently answered every single one of them.

Meanwhile, Agnes was sighing softly in the sidelines. She could already tell what would happen in the Neutral Zone after the Awakening.

Just as Cinzia suggested, the moment one's class was assigned, one would be able to use mana. Naturally, that meant one would have to learn how to utilize it and receive specialized training tailored to their new class. This matter could be resolved easily through SP.

One just had to purchase 'Ability' and 'Mana Application' from the stores.

But that was the core of the issue – the survivors would become stronger too easily. But they would hit the limit to their growth just as quickly. It'd be more correct to say that one would forever be stuck at a certain level and never improve by relying on this method.

The gap between relying only on what's shown on the Status Windows and perceiving the 'truth' on your own was absolutely huge. And that gap would only grow wider and wider as one's levels increased.

Perhaps, Cinzia was aiming for this – to turn those who spend SP as soon as the Awakening was completed into a useable combat force as soon as possible. In other words, those who 'knew what they were doing' would be left alone, while those who had no clue at all would be, well, ushered around like that.

Cinzia's methods of doing things were too ambiguous to truly label it wrong, and likewise, Agnes couldn't definitely pick faults with her decision-making process. After all, it all boiled simply down to matters of differing opinions.

More importantly, since Cinzia was the general manager of the Neutral Zone this time around, it was her prerogative on how she'd 'raise' this flock of young hatchlings.

*

Seol was glad to hear about the extension of the deadline by another two months. Now he'd be able to use up all the Competence he had bought already without feeling the urgency.

He could use any items he bought here in Paradise, but that was outside these safe walls. The Neutral Zone was constructed solely for the purpose of ensuring the survival of newbies and the training of future combatants. There was no better place to use the Competence than here.

“Your class will be determined tomorrow in the Chamber of Awakening.”

Agnes spoke as she cut into a slab of juicy T-bone steak. Seol had agreed to her suggestion and stopped eating junk food spirited away from the convenience store. He now ate proper meals from the restaurant.

Doing that caused him to feel deep regret over two matters. The first regret was all to do with him not coming here sooner.

Not only did the food taste amazing, but they also provided the right amount of necessary nutrients. It didn't simply fill him up; he felt like his body was visibly getting healthier. Of course, the tastier the food, the more expensive it got, but such things didn't matter to Seol at all.

The second was that he should never fool around Agnes when it came to food. There was this one time not too long ago when Seol inadvertently broke the promise of buying her a meal once every day.

She coldly told him, “You had your meal alone, I see. Why don't we get started training right away?”

Then, she proceeded to not talk to him for the next four days. When he thought about how much he had to sweat while trying to appease her cold, simmering fury, well….

“What's on your mind?”

“….Well, uh, the thing is, I've already made up my mind about which class I want.”

Seol quickly came up with an answer. Agnes sighed softly.

“You don't get to choose your class. It's chosen for you.”

“Oh… Is that so?”

“The seven gods that rule over this world debate among themselves before granting survivors a class out of these four beginner ones – Archer, Magician, Priest, and Warrior.”

Hearing this, Seol tilted his head slightly.

“Only four? That's not as many as I expected.”

“That's only in the beginning. Depending on how your level progresses, countless other class paths will become available to you.”

Agnes elegantly chewed on the meat and swallowed it before continuing on.

“For instance, let's say a level 1 Warrior uses a sword as his main weapon. Then, he levels up to 2. His class title will change to 'Swordsman' from then on. If he used an ax, then he will become an 'Axe Warrior' instead. It is the same for the Archer class. If you rely on short swords or daggers as your main attack weapon, then when you reach level 2, your class will become 'Assassin'.”

In other words, only the initial stages would be the same, and the evolution of classes would entirely depend on how one developed themselves. After carefully thinking about a few things, he couldn't help but become curious.

“What would happen when you're chosen as a Magician but you level up using a sword all the time?”

“You'd become a Level 2 Magic Swordsman, but I wouldn't recommend going down that route. It’s very difficult to dig just one well, after all.”

Indeed, raising one's stats accordingly to suit the class bestowed made sense. There was no point in becoming a jack-of-all-trades that wasn’t good at any one thing. Seol nodded his head in agreement, while Agnes continued on with her explanations.

“Also, when you level up to 5, the dividing line separating the lower class and higher class combatants, you will be asked to choose which god you wish to serve. That is the moment when the class path you have chosen becomes critically important. It is the same story when you reach Level 7.”

“I have to choose a god?”“Mm…. Think of it this way. Your class will either evolve or become even more specialized to suit the powers of the gods you choose. For now, this much information should suffice.”

Seol's brows furrowed slightly. He thought this whole 'class' situation would be something a bit simpler, but it turned out to be far more complex than he bargained for.

“As for our future training schedule….”

Seol thought that whatever the case may have been, he'd get to figure it out eventually as he carried on. However, as soon as he heard Agnes, he became quite tense. Whenever Agnes mentioned 'training', his body automatically reacted in this manner.

“You must inform me immediately as soon as your class has been chosen. We will need to tailor your training to match that.”

“Are you talking about the class-specific training as well as mana training?”

“Yes. You know about them already.”

“I heard about them today. If it's only those….”

“I strongly do not recommend buying the Applications from the stores for that purpose.”

Seol was slightly taken back by her sterner-than-usual tone.

“Learning how to use mana and basic skills related to your class – those can be learned via regular training. They aren't difficult at all, so there is no point in wasting your SP on them. Not to mention, you also have the Special Competence so you will definitely learn them all in no time.”

“….”

It felt like there was another reason for her to forbid him from buying the Applications, but Seol decided not to pry. One of the things he learned during the last few weeks under her tutelage was that he’d end up with gold in his pocket if he just listened to her.

“From now on, your fitness training will only take place during the morning. During the afternoon, you will learn how to use mana.”

Seol was about to ask her when he'd get to start doing the missions but stopped.

He already made up his mind that he'd only do so once his lost confidence returned on its own. Although there was a certain sense of anxiety, a sort of urgency, he endured and told himself to wait for a little while longer.

'I won't be able to come back here again, remember that.'

There should be a good reason why Agnes was ordering him like so. Since Seol knew next to nothing about the world outside, it wasn't wise to disregard her recommendations at all.

Seol slowly licked his lips, before lowering his fork.

“I guess we'll only decide after my class is chosen tomorrow.”