Tutorial

Kaiser tilted his head, black feathers rustling in the wind as he examined the floating translucent panel before him. His beady eagle eyes scanned each glowing line with an intensity that would make a scholar feel underqualified.

{Evolution Options}

Haast Eagle King (Uncommon)

Magical Haast Eagle (Uncommon+)

Windstorm Eagle (Uncommon - Rare-)

Griffin (Uncommon - Rare+)

He ruffled his wings thoughtfully.

Option one? Too basic. A direct upgrade, sure, but so... plain. Like ordering plain toast when there's a buffet of enchanted pastries. The Black Caiman King and the Anaconda King had already gone that route. Too mainstream. 

Option two? Spicy. Magical Haast Eagle? That had flair, maybe even a wand. But something about it whispered, "You will still be a bird." Tempting, but no potential. This option might have unlocked due to his daily mana training?.

Option three had more potential. Windstorm Eagle. It sounded cool. Literally. Affinities? Maybe wind magic? That could come in handy during dramatic cinematic flybys. He would have picked this, for it represented a dual affinity of lightning and wind. Both very destructive elements, but there was one more option, which had more potential.

And finally, option four. Griffin. Half lion, half eagle, all majestic chaos. Sure, he'd have to get used to walking with paws and talons. But wasn't life all about growth? The potential was undeniable. Also, roaring sounded fun.

There were many questions? but no answers. He wondered how many times he could evolve? infinite, that would be OP. But realistically he would one day hit the limit where Bioenergy needed would be sky high.

Thus he felt he needed to cherish each evolution opportunity and use it only when reaching his peak. So he felt picking the the one with most potential optimal.

After an hour of deep contemplation (and a short internal monologue involving imaginary lion-eagle fashion), Kaiser did what any sensible beast would do.

He pecked the screen.

The world around him went black. Or maybe it was just his vision. Either way, he faceplanted into unconsciousness with all the grace of a pigeon hitting a skyscraper.

***

Somewhere, beyond perception, a voice that wasn't a voice echoed.

[Analyzing... New life planet found. Recording initiated.]

[Evolution conditions met...]

[Expanding world and mana reserves...]

A wave pulsed through existence. An unseen hand rewrote the rules. Trees shimmered, mountains cracked open to reveal glowing veins of unknown minerals, and the wind itself started whispering secrets like a nosy aunt with a crystal ball.

Every sentient creature received a personalized pop-up. Beasts? Easy. Lights out. Instant evolution update. System rebooted them offering them the best evolution pathways suitable to them according to their potential. But humans?

Oh no. Humans got options.

[WELCOME TO THE AKASHIC RECORD]

[CHOOSE DIFFICULTY LEVEL:]

EASY

NORMAL

HARD

NIGHTMARE

0:59... 0:58... 0:57...

Confusion reigned supreme.

Some screamed. Some prayed. Others, like Daniel Park, just blinked.

Daniel, who had consumed enough alcohol to kill a lesser man, burped and stared at the screen floating in front of him.

"The hell... Am I tripping again?"

He rubbed his eyes. Still there.

"Well," he slurred, "no way I'm lettin' some cosmic UI pick for me."

He hovered his hand over NORMAL.

0:03... 0:02... 0:01—

[CONGRATULATIONS. THE SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY PICKED NIGHTMARE FOR YOU.]

[YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO THE TUTORIAL IN 3 SECONDS.]

Daniel's mouth dropped open.

"...WHAT KIND OF BULLSH*T IS THIS?! I WAS JUST TRYING TO BE MODERATE!"

Three. Two. One.

Daniel vanished.

***

Dr. Dimitri Volkov, the human embodiment of an anxiety spiral, stared at the floating message before him, before it was too late.

[CONGRATULATIONS. THE SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY PICKED NORMAL FOR YOU.]

"I...what?" he murmured. His glasses fogged from sheer existential dread.

A few meters away, Dr. Selena blinked at her own screen.

"Hard," she said aloud, smirking. The scientist in her itched to study the consequences.

Some other soldiers who survived the operation sky guardian, were having a party.

They all looked at each other, and picked Hard.

"If you'r are a coward better not pick it" they started taunting each other.

They all thought it was a hallucination. 

Corporal Martin, survivor of the Anaconda King attack and part-time MMORPG addict, flexed his gauntlet-wrapped fingers. He'd fused with a crystal last week. Still hadn't processed that.

"It seems using my superpower, induces hallucination"

But he was a hard-core gamer, thus it would be a blow to his pride to pick anything other than the hardest difficulty.

It was just a game after all right?

"Nightmare," he said, like a man ordering the spiciest dish at a demon-run buffet.

Everyone else? Still processing the first ten seconds of WTF.

And then...

They vanished.

Not in a flash of light or a thunderclap.

Just... gone.

Like unplugging a fridge. Silent, eerie, sudden.

The research facility responded by coming alive in the worst way possible. Walls rippled. Consoles turned into floating runes. Coffee mugs levitated and then exploded in pixelated confusion.

The floor opened like it had somewhere better to be.

Reality stretched, groaned, and reshaped itself.

The jungle outside expanded. Trees grew thirty meters taller. Rivers flowed upward. Skies pulsed more clouds, the skies becoming more vaster and stretching on.

Forests became labyrinths. Mountains whispered names of ancient gods in languages not spoken for millennia. The very air began to sing in tones only the mad could understand.

Continents grew in size, many more new continents forming, as islands expanded.

The Rivers also expanded more as they flew upward.

The Very planet itself evolved. The mana becoming plentiful, Some Trees growing kilometers in sky.

And then silence fell again.

One by one, every human blinked into white nothingness.

***

Daniel Park landed face-first on what felt like white marble floor.

His alcohol washed out of his system, as he entered the Tutorial.

He groaned. "This better not be a hangover dream. If this is Hell, I'm suing someone."

The space was endless. Pure white. No shadows. No corners. Just... IKEA if it were a concept.

Suddenly, text appeared in the air in front of him.

[NIGHTMARE MODE SELECTED. WELCOME TO THE TUTORAIL]

[THIS IS RESTING ROOM FOR THE FIRST FLOOR]

[YOUR TUTORIAL WILL BEGIN SHORTLY. MAY LUCK BE WITH YOU FOR YOU MAY DIE SOON.]

"Oh great," Daniel muttered. "It's got sass."

All other humans were dropped off onto their own Tutorial rooms all of them had the same white marble floor.

This was just getting started.