Welcome, Challengers. Kill the mannequin.

An empty white room.

[ Welcome, Challengers ]

[ Congratulations! Humanity has been selected to be the next race of Challengers! Live long and prosper! ]

Was this some kind of joke? Bunta had been going through a normal day, doing normal things, but now this? Had he been drugged or something?

[ You will be given 5 minutes to look at your stats! ]

Stats?

"Stats." Bunta felt stupid saying it. But, contrary to his expectations, something actually happened.

[ Bunta ]

[ Health: 10/10 | Mana: 10/10 ]

[ Power Rank: 5 ]

[ Class: --- ]

[ Strength: 1 ]

[ Dexterity: 1 ]

[ Constitution: 1 ]

[ Magic: 1 ]

[ Will: 1 ]

[ Skills: --- ]

[ Spells: --- ]

[ Equipment: --- ]

[ Base Damage: 1 ]

[ Base Physical Defence: 0 ]

[ Base Magical Defence: 0 ]

[ Perception: 1 ]

[ Camouflage: 1 ]

[ Stat Points: 0 ]

[ Coins: 0 ]

Bunta gave it a few good looks. It seemed relatively simple, with only five 'attributes' to worry about. He doubted that he could directly increase his supposed coins with stat points. His power rank was low. Only 5. But then again, he only had 1 in each attribute stat. Trying to get a pop-up, he mentally selected power rank.

[ Power Rank: The total of all the Challenger's stats. Only includes derivative stats (Str, dex, con, mag, will, skills, spells and equipment). 1 stat = 1 power rank. ]

That was quite simple, Bunta thought to himself. He already had a good idea of what health and mana were, so he clicked on class.

[ Classes grant various bonuses. ]

Not very simple at all.

[ 5 minutes is up. Please choose a weapon. ]

A long list of weapons flooded his vision. A tri-blade knife maybe? But they're illegal. That's out. He finally decided on a 20cm knife. Not much, but he had no clue on how effective he would be with a giant sword. His strength was 1. Probably not enough efficiency with big swords.

A metal knife appeared in his grasp. He did a couple practice swings before realising that, 1, he had know idea how to use a knife, and 2, why the heck was he given a weapon? How did it even appear?!?! Probably magic. Makes sense to me. He felt for the weight of the knife, like he had seen various anime characters do, as well as the protagonists of books he had read. "Weight is perfectly balanced," Bunta said. He wouldn't know, of course. He used to be a civilian, nothing more, nothing less. And then another screen clogged his view.

[ You have received a Challenge. Kill the mannequin. ]

A mannequin appeared in front of Bunta. He stepped forward, hesitating slightly while brandishing his knife, slashing and stabbing.

The living mannequin's health ticked down slowly. Too slowly. Its dying screams rung out through the empty room, causing Bunta to increase his efforts to kill it quicker.

[ 9/10 ]

[ 8/10 ]

[ 7/10 ]

[ 6/10 ]

[ 5/10 ]

[ 4/10 ]

[ 3/10 ]

[ 2/10 ]

[ 1/10 ]

[ 0/10 ]

[ Congratulations, you have completed the Challenge [ Kill the mannequin. ] You have earned: 1 Stat Point, 1 Coins. ]

[ You have learned the skill: Knives ]