001 - Chapter ONE: Early Birds

Rosethea stared at the screen in front of her dumbly; her plump red lips parted slightly and her eyes were blank as if she had stopped thinking from shock. The black screen with gold letters in front of her popped out so suddenly that she blinked a few times until she was sure that the screen was not a figment of her imagination.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest. As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Rosethea closed her gaping mouth, looking at the screen in front of her carefully, afraid if it would detonate all of a sudden. She stared intently at the words 'fourteen people', 'Dead Terra', 'top classes', and 'ahead of time'. Her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out what was going to happen while sipping her drink from Cincau Station.

Soon, maybe a few days or months, people would get that screen, giving them choices and power and most people here could be described as power-hungry and loved to seek glory or, in her words, attention-hungry. The world would soon be thrown into chaos. She could believe it because she was very much sure that she was still sane and her perception had not been skewed. She was a religious child and believed of power that mortals could not begin to imagine. Moreover, if by accepting it, that person could control the people who accepted, then why not given the whole world the choice? Humans, after all, often fell for their own greed.

Not wanting to take the risk, Rosethea smiled as she answered 'no'. The screen blinked and the words danced across the screen as it changed. It was beautiful and she praised the person or people who made and distributed the screen, thinking that she truly was a frog at the bottom of a tiny well.

[The other eleven accepted but you and two others are the only one cautious enough to reject.

For your intelligent and cautious mind, you are rewarded with the top tier class choices.

You may choose one.]

Again, Rosethea rejected, her cautiousness heightening.

[The other thirteen accepted and you are the only one cautious enough to reject.

For your intelligent and cautious mind, you are rewarded with the top tier class choices.

For having a strong mind to reject temptations, you are rewarded.

You may choose two.]

Again, she rejected the offer.

[The other thirteen accepted and you are the only one cautious enough to reject.

For your intelligent and cautious mind, you are rewarded with the top tier class choices.

For having a strong mind to reject temptations, you are rewarded.

You may choose three.]

Of course, seeing how persistent the screen was, causing her caution to grow, she rejected again. The same screen popped out and gave the same offer which she rejected again for half a day.

[For rejecting many times, you are rewarded.]

'Wait. The person or people who created this….could they have masochistic tendencies?!' she thought for a reason why the screen seemed to be very pleased to be rejected by her.

[The system has scanned you.

The system rewarded you with three classes that suit you the most.

You are now Dark Lord, Nature's Beloved, and Life Grandmaster.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

Rosethea spat out some colorful languages inside her mind, and then directed her thoughts at how to survive in this game that the system and the person or people behind it dragged her in. What worried her most was the fact that she did not know the objective behind the invitation.

The only option that was safe was going with the flow, being the top in whatever thing the screen was preparing for and obtain some answers was the choice she chose.

"Rose, are you ready for the going on a trip outside today?" a warm voice snapped Rosethea from her thoughts as her eyes met with kind green eyes. A smile adorned her lips as she answered with a pure and cheerful voice, "Yes!"

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

On the highest floor of a building, a girl was twirling her golden locks while her blue eyes stared at the two young men who were both lost in their thoughts.

Sitting in front of her were two teenage boys, one wearing a scowl while the other was smiling softly, exuding a calming aura. Lei Zhang was the heir to the Zhang Enterprise, with his typical warm brown hair that ran in his family and the beautiful forest green eyes that he inherited from his mother added with his bad-boy aura, he was highly sought out by the female population, though the girl was unfazed by it, preferring to judge someone through their personality and compatibility, which she had trouble with him. She had not run away from the pesky boy was because of his natural talent in fighting skills, a nice ally to have.

On her other side was Lionel Cavaraz, the sole heir to an infamous mafia familia. Though with silky white-blond hair and baby blue eyes and calm yet sharp demeanor, no one would suspect who he truly was. In the campus, he was dubbed as the 'prince', a far cry from the identity he held. The girl herself found him annoying, comforting, and helpful all at the same time. She swore he could have as much mood swings as a girl on her period, but his cunning mind and lack of naïveté made him a person she liked to befriend.

Most of the time, when Lei and Lionel met, it was like fire and ice, one cannot exist when the other was still there, like how oil and water cannot become into one. They fought over the simplest things and argued over the slightest bit different in opinion, and usually, Lei started it while Lionel just fanned the boy's anger, seeing Lei was a hot-headed person around his family and close ones, especially around Lionel. Lionel may not have noticed it, but he became more competitive and emotional around Lei, which was different from his aloof and cold personality. It was because of that reason, the girl thought it was okay to let them interact more instead of separating them.

More like, she had benefited when they both compete with each other and she was the one who set the challenge. Having handsome friends who worked for her, even for a while, was nice, more so when big cash flowed in her bank account. It was definitely easier than fighting, and she only needed to put up with their argument. It was a good deal.

"So you both also got the screen, whatever it is?" she asked them, an eyebrow rose.

"I did," Lei nodded with a grin. "I got a good offer, besides, many other people are going to get it too. Why not start early and gain an upper hand? Not to mention others who got the invitation may use it to threaten my family. What about you, Elizabeth?"

"I got it too," Lionel said calmly, though his anxious eyes told otherwise. Lei scowled when he heard it and the girl, Elizabeth, gave him a questioning look through her eyes. "At first I wanted to refuse, but then for some reason, my thoughts went to take a strange turn and I accepted in the end."

"Compulsion?" Elizabeth asked.

"Looks like it," Lionel nodded.

"Compulsion?" Lei echoed. "Then why ask when the offers are going to be accepted anyway?"

"To play with us? It may also to look for people who can refuse the offer and maybe reject the compulsion too," Elizabeth said, a frown on her face as she felt more and more threatened by this system.

"So what power did you get?" Lei asked, anticipation and curiosity glinting in his eyes, also a strong sense of competitiveness.

"Both of you first," Elizabeth snorted.

"I got Embodiment of Thunder," Lei grinned, satisfied by the class he chose. He glanced at the aloof boy smugly for a second; a dark light passed through his eyes as if imagining the other boy under his feet.

"Supreme Ice Reign," Lionel smiled.

"Both of you know exactly what your powers are, but mine… what do you think Noble Sword class is?" Elizabeth smiled wryly.

"Maybe you are a swordsman that holds up justice," Lei guessed. Elizabeth looked blankly at him, a frown marring her face. Lionel took the initiative to discuss the prediction of what would happen in the future.

"It's just wild guess. We'll come to know our powers better later on. Right now, there are more pressing matters, like how it is troublesome that we can only blindly train until many people are in," Lionel frowned, his eyebrows scrunched up. "Whoever behind this is strong, no doubt, but what is the purpose of this? If it's for amusement, it might not be that severe, but if it's for something else… like grooming us into soldiers…. Or sacrificing us…"

"We might be doomed either way," Elizabeth sighed. "But as of right now, we need to practice…and plan."

"I agree. We are only three out of fourteen, that's eleven more people having the best classes. We can't be sure if they are all acting alone or like us, grouped together. We can only blindly choose the class and there might be a class that can get all your information and whereabouts. Classes related to that are ass pains," Lei clicked his tongue. "Maybe there are special items spread throughout the world and some 'screenless' people might found it already, or the other eleven. We're also not sure if the best class is the pinnacle class, if it's not, then there might be other people to watch out for, maybe they could even hide and track us down."

"What about monsters? This period is a trial and when the screen distribution is completed, we would face those things and the weak would be eliminated. We also don't know whether the other eleven would act with the government or not, or with other underground families. Depending on how strong the people in the military are, the world may be in chaos or with the government controlling it or in between," Lionel added. "Not minding the gangs and people seeking stupid glory. What about food and currency? Whether the governments don't hold the most power in their respective countries or not, there would a high possibility that a council to stabilize the whole world is created. We don't even know whether our enemies gain a threatening trump card or not. We need information and we need to locate the other early birds. We are, to put it simply, journeying through unclear waters."

"….What do you propose we do now?" Lei asked, his eyes sharp and a frown tugged on his lips. "If any of the early birds are people seeking glory, they might reveal it to the world and there will be chaos, especially those scientists who will not believe that they were chosen ahead of time and might kidnap them to be experimented on."

"First and foremost, getting stronger and get a stronger grip on our abilities. I suggest not relying on this power too much, we don't know if the power granted to us is truly ours or just borrowed to us," Elizabeth suggested. "Tracking the others within an unknown set of time is not a good choice. Maybe some of them are normal students who had no massive worry like us. With strength, we can achieve many things if the worst really did happen. If nothing happens, then we can treat it as a joke. But I doubt it would not happen with these powers and all."

"Let's go to one of my familia's safe house. The place is suited for this purpose," Lionel said as the temperature in the room dropped, an unnatural coldness seeped from his hands. He paused and said, "We need to control our abilities." Lei grimaced as he recalled how he got struck by his own lightning crackles randomly.

"Speaking of abilities. I think that since we get a head-start and best classes, we have enormous power from the start, unlike lower classes that might need some leveling up and adjustments to use. We need to control our abilities until we can be sure that our power will not back-fired to us or go haywire in public," Elizabeth added as she mentally noted to give her best effort on controlling.

"Agreed. How about we place some eyes to watch around? It might take some time, but it's better than nothing," Lei spoke up. "We do need to keep a close eye on our foes, just in case they got it too."

"Brilliant idea, we should make them feel…ticklish," Lionel suggested with a bright smile on his face. Elizabeth glanced sideward. She knew that when the prince said 'ticklish', he meant to utterly humiliate and, if possible, destroyed one of the headquarters with a bomb. Lionel did have a sadistic streak and not willing to eat loss personality, the same went for Elizabeth and Lei. It seemed birds of a feather indeed flock together.

"Save up some money and resources," Elizabeth said. "Gather some people with potential, crush some troublesome people, hire the early birds, and control our powers. I think that's the simple summary of our discussion. Now, let's discuss the places we'll mark as our headquarters and safe-houses."

"Let's have at least ten headquarters and fifteen safe-houses in each country," Lionel said, standing up. "I'll go and survey for suitable areas. Let's meet up three days later."

"Alright," Elizabeth stood up. "See you both in three days."

"Don't get killed," Lei grinned at Lionel as a bolt of lightning strayed to the other man's butt only for it to be blocked with a thick layer of ice. A scowl immediately replaced Lei's smile as Lionel shot him a tiny smug smile.

Elizabeth shook her head lightly at their childish antics.

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

"Heh," the low baritone of a young man echoed in the dimly lit room with only a candle as the source of light. "To think that I am not insane and this game-like thing is real. How fun~!" He tossed his phone in the air, the faint light from the screen only illuminated a small part of the room.

The young man grabbed the phone and its brightness revealed the dark brown hair that stopped at the base of his neck. His hair was not long, only the part near the neck was let grown while the rest was cut off in neither neat nor messy way.

"Say, what should I do with this new power of mine?" He hummed to himself. "Dominate the world? Nah, I'm not some stupid delusional kid. Wreck chaos? Maybe. But what's the perfect plan, hmm?" He closed his phone and tapped it against his chin.

"Hey, what do you think?" the young man took the candle with his left hand and shoved it to his side, where the light showed a middle-aged man bound and gagged with blood all over his body who was quivering in fear, with his dripping tears as evidence.

"Tsk, tsk," the young man shook his head. "No, no. You should not look that way. I'm trying to have a civil conversation with you! I mean, it's not every day that I can discuss something with a smart old fox in the government, so let's have a nice chat, kay?" The man could only nod with tears streaming down his face.

"Now, I'm gonna open the gag, then let's have a deep discussion, alright?" the young man smiled brightly which could cause countless females to swoon over it, contrasting to the dark room, but to the bound politician, his smile looked sinister and insane.

After taking off the gag, the young man proceeded to ask, "So what do you think I should aim for? I mean, the possibilities are endless!"

"Fire-!" the politician shouted and in the next second, his head was rolling down his body and fell on the cold marble floor. Blood sprayed from the point where his head was no longer attached to his neck with some droplets falling to the side of the young man's feet.

"Now, that isn't nice. Although I've disabled all your security measures, it is still not nice. We agreed on having a brilliant conversation and what did you do? You took advantage of my kind heart," the young man murmured with a faint smile. "That….is your punishment."

Waving his hand in the air, the young man walked casually out of the bloodied luxurious condo where there were many strings of shadow entwining together and eight balls of light hovering without a destination.

The young man walked to the ground floor and let a yawn escaped his mouth. He rubbed his eyes and stepped out of the building with a bored expression on his face. His dark jacket was clean and his handsome young features attracted the gazes of both the males and females on the floor.

The moment he stepped out of the building, the highest floor was cut into many parts which crashed all over. The young man jumped and revealed a shocked face. He quickly dialed the emergency and left the site after taking some pictures.

'After all, doing something like destroying a building, killing someone, or just causing chaos without any reaction is only possible in animes,' the young man sighed mentally. 'You'll get caught if you dare to do how anime characters do it, no matter how cool it seems.'

'Guess today's another job well done,' the young man smiled to himself.

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

Emily White was just another high school graduate who was struggling through college with the goal of becoming a doctor. Her scores were good, though she was not in the caliber of those geniuses, she was smart enough and hard-working enough to earn a place of scholarship in her university. It truly was not easy to obtain it.

She was struggling with all her might while her friend Natasha von Rodriguez seemed to breeze through college, though they were equally frustrated by math. Though sometimes jealousy would cloud her heart for a brief moment, Emily never let it ruled her. She knew that everyone had their own specialty and hers was on the field, not wasting her time away on the table with books and papers spread chaotically on her desk.

As someone taking a doctoral degree, most people would just assume that she was good with at least some of the subjects that were the requirements of being a legal doctor, but Emily was not. She was the rare case of an art girl going to the path of science. It was not pleasant as she was not very passionate about the path she was taking, but it was what earned the most money in the place she lived at.

Like some people said, 'money makes the world around.' It was similar to her case, money made her take a doctoral degree. Emily needed money and medical abilities, and a doctoral degree provided both.

A sigh came softly from her pale lips as she ran her hand across her hair in frustration.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest.

As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Emily blinked. She rubbed her eyes and blinked again.

"What the-" she murmured with wide eyes glued to the screen in front of her. Her hand unconsciously moved and her fingers touched the word 'yes' floating on the air.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Emily stared with mouth gaping as the screen hovering in front of her displayed another content. This time, it was a list of classes like the ones in the games she played, though they were all oddly named. As she read all of them, a class suddenly disappeared from the list.

'Wait, What did that screen write again? There are thirteen others?' Emily thought and her finger moved fast, landing on a class with the name 'Fire Cleric Archer'. She saw a few other choices also disappeared from the list.

[You have chosen the best class 'Fire Cleric Archer'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

The screen vanished as if it was never there to begin with and Emily would've thought that she was so sleep-deprived that she started hallucinating in broad daylight if it were not for the next moment when she flung her hand in disbelief, a scorching hot arrow made purely from flame materialized on her hand.

'This is really really cool!' Emily thought in wonder. 'I'm definitely screwed.'

Emily jumped in fright when the door to her dormitory was slammed open and the arrow dissipated into nothing. She put her hand on her chest and turned her body, welcoming the sight of her close friend Natasha von Rodriguez slamming the door shut and hurried to her side.

"What happened, Nat?" Emily asked, curious at what could make her friend distressed like this when her eyes caught the sight of a screen hovering near Natasha while she moved.

'Guess I'm not that special, huh,' Emily thought wryly, the feeling of being special and living in a fantasy she always dreamt of was squashed into her stomach. 'Should've known. It's not like I'm the protagonist of a novel.'

Natasha stopped in front of Emily and let out a deep breath. She then pointed to the screen beside her and asked, "Can you see this?"

"Uh…." Emily did not know how to response. On one side, she wanted to keep her getting such an extraordinary power a secret while on the other side, she wanted to tell all about it to Natasha who would be able to relate to her.

'How mundane and selfish,' a voice hissed at the back of her mind.

"I can," Emily answered. "What's that, anyway? Some kind of new high-tech game thingy?"

"...You can see the screen but you don't know what it is," Natasha spoke slowly.

"Uh… Am I supposed to know? More like, where did you get that?" Emily continued her act. "It's so cool!"

Natasha sighed exasperatedly and inhaled deeply to help her regain her composure.

"I don't exactly know what that is," she started. "But a few minutes ago, when I was browsing the internet, this screen popped right in front of me-"

"Wait. What?" Emily responded. 'So far, there's no difference in her case and mine.'

"I know!" Natasha exclaimed. "It was just there! I don't know how or why, but it was!"

"So what does it do?" Emily asked.

"Well, it gave me choices of class, like the ones in games, and I could not help but pick one," Natasha groaned.

"Really? What class did you get?" Emily asked, the nervousness and the little guilt in her was not abating.

"I got Ringer Mage," Natasha sighed. "Though I do not know what that class is. At all."

"No kidding," Emily said. "What are you supposed to do? Cast a spell through a phone? Or a bell? Or is it an otherworldly pun? Oh, that would suck if it is an otherworldly pun. You won't know the meaning until you travel or encounter people from other worlds if we're not in a dream right now."

"A dream?" Natasha repeated. "A lucid dream, you mean? Ah…that…..that is possible."

"Just wait until tomorrow," Emily suggested. "If things are not changing by tomorrow or by next week, then this is probably our reality and not any kind of lucid dream."

"Yeah…..yeah, you're right," Natasha rubbed her temple.

"So can you do any cool magic?" Emily questioned. "What can you do?"

"I don't know," Natasha groaned. "That's the thing. More like, aren't you too accepting of this?"

"Eh? Me? Accepting?" Emily was honestly a bit nervous at the question asked. It struck too close to the bulls-eye and the fact that she was also another person who was offered the class. "I saw the screen and if you're not pulling my leg here, then it's probably real."

"I guess," Natasha murmured and let it go, accepting her answer.

"So what are we going to do now?"

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

In a town near the forest in China, a young teenage boy was dragging two buckets filled with fishes on each of his hand. His skin was tan and his hair was black, as were many Asians, but from his features, one could tell that this teenage boy was not a pure-blood Chinese as he possessed high cheek-bone, the sturdy jaw of the western people, and a pair of green eyes framed with thick lashes.

The name of this youth was Chen Tianlong, the sole child of a woman who came to the village and seek refuge many years ago after the people of her traveling group, along with her husband, were killed by criminals who occupied the land they were passing through and witnessed the smuggling conducted by the criminals.

Growing up without a father and despising criminals, Chen Tianlong became a boy who stood up for justice and would do his best to face every injustice he encountered. Added with his ripening handsome features, he was loved by the villagers who watched him grow up from just a baby to the teenager he was now.

'I wonder what kind of fish Mum would make for tonight,' he thought to himself. 'Although Aunt Yi's cooking is high-class, Mum's cooking is the best!' His mouth started to water as he recalled the various dishes cooked by his mother, Chen Li, before.

"Brother Long!" a sweet voice of a girl snapped him out of his daze and when he turned his head, he saw a young girl wearing a cute pink dress with yellow ribbon tied around her waist, her dark hair was pulled into two ponytails and her dark eyes shone at the sight of him. The girl's face was adorned with pink dusts on her cheeks and she waved at him in a shy manner, eyes flickering between the ground and his face.

"Ah, Su Li," Chen Tianlong greeted with a smile. "What are you doing here? I thought you are at Kang's place!"

At the sight of his normal expression, disappointment flashed through Su Li's face before replacing it with a smile.

"I'm just checking if Brother Kang is okay from his injuries," Su Li explained. "I only see him as a brother figure! Really!" Su Li emphasized the latter part of her explanation.

"Alright, alright. There is nothing between you two," Chen Tianlong teased. "Except that Kang likes you."

"But I don't like him!" Su Li exclaimed, feeling upset.

"You're so picky, ah!" Chen Tianglong clicked his tongue in a playful manner. "If you reject every single one of your suitors, then who will marry you? Won't you be an old lonely granny?"

"I don't!" Su Li quickly defended. "At least all but one…"

Hearing this, Chen Tianlong's ears perked and wiggled his eyebrow playfully toward Su Li.

"You're bullying me!" Su Li pouted pitifully. Her pair of eyes moistened with tears and her face was like a beauty being bullied. Sadly, this moving expression had no effect whatsoever toward its intended target, Chen Tianlong. He was like a mirror who bounced off all sorts of pink atmosphere.

"Long, Su Li!" a deeper voice of a girl called from a nearby distance.

The two of them turned their heads once they heard the voice they had known well since little kids. By the side of the road, a girl with black hair and blue eyes with a full voluptuous figure. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail and the shorts she wore showed off her legs.

"Hey, Qiqi! What are you doing here?" Chen Tianlong greeted in a friendly tone. "Scaring off boys again?"

Pink dusts decorated both of Jiang Qiqi's cheeks as she walked over and punched Chen Tianlong's arm.

"Hey! Watch the fishes!" Chen Tianlong exclaimed as he raised the bucket so none of the fishes he caught fell on the ground. "Geez! This is why none of the boys in our village or in the nearby ones dare to court you!"

Following his words, a punch descended on his back, causing all the fishes he caught in both buckets to fell over.

"Hey!" Chen Tianlong complained. "Those fishes are for eating, you know!"

"Sorry!" Jiang Qiqi exclaimed and knelt down to help Chen Tianlong gather his scattered fishes.

"You should not bully Brother Long like that, Sis Qiqi," Su Li said as she squatted down to help Chen Tianlong gather his fishes. "If the fishes are dirty, then Aunt Chen will have a harder time cooking, especially when she's sick like right now." At this, Jiang Qiqi glared at Su Li.

"You two, please don't fight again," groaned Chen Tianlong. These two beautiful girls were famous for their rivalry. They even involved people from other villages into their competition sometimes. Almost at every one of their competition, Chen Tianlong was asked to be the judge, though he found it troublesome. Not that he would say it aloud. He still cherished his life.

"Sorry, Tianlong," Jiang Qiqi mumbled.

"It's fine," Chen Tianlong sighed while holding back a headache. 'Why do these two ancestors like to involve me in their troubles?'

"Let me help you, Brother Long," Su Li knelt down very near to Chen Tianlong and started gathering the fallen fishes. Her fair neck was exposed and looked alluring, it was a shame that the view attracted no stunned gaze, only a heated glare from Jiang Qiqi and indifference from Chen Tianlong.

"Alright, that's all the fishes," Chen Tianlong said after they finished gathering the now dirty fishes. He continued to lift the two buckets with ease and started to walk away.

"Brother Long is very strong," Su Li shyly commented.

"You call this strong?" Jiang Qiqi snorted. "Well, I guess he is kinda strong for his age, but he's not that good!"

"I think he's really strong though," Su Li defended.

"Stop faking your amazement!"

'And there goes again. They can't stop bickering whenever they are together in the same vicinity,' Chen Tianlong had a strong urge to sigh and rub the bridge of his nose. 'One loves to over-flatter me and the other likes to bring me down to the underground. Why, oh why, do these two ancestors like to bicker around me?'

"Long!"

"Brother Long!"

The two voices of the girls calling him made Chen Tianlong reluctantly turn his head toward them.

"So who do you think is right?" they both asked in unison.

'I don't even pay attention to what they are saying,' Chen Tianlong thought, but his mouth spoke, "Let's hurry to the village, okay? I am hungry and these fishes need another bath in the sink."

"As expected from you, you really need to change that I-don't-care attitude!"

"Brother Long is fine the way he is!"

'And there goes another one,' Chen Tianlong ignored the two girls and fasten his pace to return to the small town. He was busy thinking about how to beg his mother to make his favorite dish when the pungent smell of fire mixed with ash and blood made its way to his sensitive nose.

The two buckets filled with fishes were dumped to the ground and Chen Tianlong ran as fast as he could to the end of the forest, where he could clearly see the sight of the town he grew up in.

Gone was the tall and unruly buildings, the paved road of the town, the inns and unique commodities that were usually hung on the streets. In place of them was ruined buildings that wafted smoke into the sky, the road was crushed and dug out, debris was everywhere and the road and inns were tainted by fresh blood mixed with dust and ashes.

What made Chen Tianlong's heart stopped was the mangled bodies of the people who watched him grew up from a small baby, people who were kind to him, supported him, taught him things, and the constant figures in his life. Their eyes that were filled with life just this morning was no longer shining, losing its luster and became as dull as the rocks.

A scream tore out from his mouth and his legs ran to the building he was familiar in and out, the building he and his mother had occupied for years, sharing precious memories and sentiments.

"Mom! Mom! Answer me! It's Tianlong! Mom! Where are you?!" his shouts filled the whole ruined building and he barged into every room in his home. He finally stopped in his track when he kicked open his bedroom and found the figure of a beautiful middle-aged woman slumped on the corner of the room, her chest was a spot of crimson where a dagger pierced through her body at the spot her heart was and impaled her to the wall.

Chen Tianlong's beautiful green eyes constricted and he stopped breathing. He felt his whole body going numb and with shaky steps, he approached the body of his mother, a tear made its way down from his eyes.

When he was in front of the corpse of his mother, Chen Tianlong collapsed and he willed his trembling hand to touch the neck of Chen Li, his mother, and found no signs of a pulse. His other hand then hovered over the cold dagger nesting in Chen Li's chest and, with one quick pull, took it out of her.

Blood splattered on his face and, as if he was in a dream before, Chen Tianlong grabbed his mother's body and frantically searched for any indication that she was still alive.

"No, no, no, nonono! This can't be happening!" He choked through his sobs. "Mom! Wake up! You promised me that you will cook delicious food for me! You promised me that you will accompany me until I have children of my own! You promised me! You still have many promises, mom!"

For hours, Chen Tianlong stayed like that; screaming and crying his heart out while clutching the unmoving body of his mother. He ignored the terrified, and sorrowful shouts of his two childhood friends somewhere else in the small destroyed town. Questions and anger slowly consumed him and he swore to search for the culprit of his mother's death.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest.

As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Unconsciously, his finger pressed 'Yes'.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Chen Tianlong could see the list of classes that one would see in a game and some of them started disappearing.

[You have chosen the best class 'Maze Weapon Master'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

On that day, with the no more roof to shield him from the harsh heat of the sun and with drying tears smearing his face, Chen Tianlong became a player.

On his birthday, his mother was no more and he was thrust into the harsh cruel world of immortals.

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

Fu Mingxi yawned as his teary eyes took in the scenery of the night club he was in. It was cold - as he was only wearing thin clothes in the middle of winter - and dark with flashing lights that he was bored of. The songs played were not to his taste and the people there had no real personality that he would like.

To sum it up, it was another boring day with tasteless people.

The only thing going on for him was the brutal and bloody fight for the position of heir with his younger half-brother, Fu Ensu. The son borne from the current wife who was also the second wife, Xia Yuqing.

Fu Ensu himself was not much of a problem, he was only slightly above average and compared to Fu Mingxi, he was still miles away. Though he was not much of a challenge, Xia Yuqing was another matter altogether.

As the illegitimate child of a business genius and the woman he loved, Xia Yuqing, who was taken in the family at the age five to live with her biological father and his legal wife, had experienced many schemes growing up. Not only was she resilient as a bug, but she also was not stupid at all, something she inherited from her father.

This mother and son pair was the exact opposite of his. Although Fu Mingxi was smart, his mother, unfortunately, was too spoiled by his maternal grandparents and grew up looking at the world through rose-colored lenses. Moreover, his mother grew up as the only lady of a rich family so she was a bit arrogant and won't be the first to apologize.

Simply put, his step-mother made his mother commit suicide and used her acting skills to deceive his father and obtain total control of his heart. In his father's eyes, Xia Yuqing was the perfect gentle and intelligent woman he had always dreamed of. Although his father was not stupid, Xia Yuqing was already a master at emotions and social control. She could beat the current best actress if she wanted to. That was how good she was.

If Xia Yuqing were not making light of him because of her impression of his biological mother, he would've been fooled too. But she did underestimate him so they were undergoing a silent war at the moment. A war to decide who lives and to whom the company would belong to.

Lost in his thoughts and memories of that woman, Fu Mingxi did not notice a beautiful girl walking toward him in decisive strides. There was a mysterious and mature vibe that surrounded this woman dressed in a red dress that perfectly showed off her figure and similarly red hair that swung with every step she took.

When she was right beside him, her body odor made its way to his nose and he tilted his head upward to see the woman standing right beside his seat. A curious light flashed through his amber eyes.

"Mister Fu Mingxi?" the woman asked with a sure tone.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" He answered in a drawl.

"I am Tayunia Tami," the woman said confidently. Fu Mingxi's brow raised slightly at the way she introduced herself. Then again, if her confidence was not soaring, she would not even dare to look at his way. Though….

"Correct me if I'm wrong." Fu Mingxi spoke in a commanding tone. "You are the legal daughter of the Tami family, though the second child of Anau Tami, the current head of the Tami family. Your father squeezed your mother's family and raised the Tami family to a greater height and recently, your mother passed away and Anau Tami is going to marry his most favorite mistress and the mother of the first child of Anau's. You are here to propose something to me in hopes that we will become mutual allies so your older sister, Taunia Tami, who exhibit talent far better than yours, will not be able to inherit the Tami family. Am I right?" Fu Mingxi raised his eyes to meet Tayunia's.

A glint of surprise flashed through Tayunia's eyes and she smiled, "It is as you've said. I am impressed."

"Well, you certainly don't impress me," Fu Mingxi replied nonchalantly. Anger surged within Tayunia, but she calmed herself down.

'Relax, relax. This Fu Mingxi is known to be cold and ruthless. This is his normal response,' Tayunia coaxed her angry heart.

"Is that so? Perhaps it's because you don't know me well, Mister Fu." Tayunia let out a seductive and confident smile. Fu Mingxi swept a glance at her and averted his gaze to the glass on the table.

"Are you enjoying the party, Mister Fu?" Tayunia sat down on the chair across him.

"No."

"What wine did you order, Mister Fu? If I'm correct, that should be a rare wine, right?"

"Yes."

"As you may have heard, Mister Fu, my grandfather has quite the wine collection. Are you interested in visiting? Rest assured, there are fine wines there and you can even take some home."

"Oh."

"Mister Fu, I have some information that you will get interested in. Why don't you consider working together with me?" Tayunia asked while heart heart was screaming, 'This d*mn conversation killer!!!'

"Perhaps it's because you got nothing worth knowing. No figure, no brain, no sense of fashion, and certainly no appeal." Fu Mingxi sighed. "And apparently, your face is so thick that even though I've displayed my displeasure so obviously, you're still here."

Something snapped in Tayunia's mind and she grabbed the glass filled with wine on the table in front of her and splashed the content to Fu Mingxi's face.

"Being so rude with that personality, no wonder you're cuckolded!" Tayunia yelled and ran away through the exit.

"...That girl…." Fu Mingxi muttered in an angry yet controlled voice. "Daring to-"

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest.

As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Stunned, Fu Mingxi could only gape at the floating screen facing his face. Unconsciously, he pressed 'yes'.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Seeing the list of classes which was disappearing quickly, Fu Mingxi immediately pressed a class that he knew about roughly.

[You have chosen the best class 'Life Alchemist'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

Cursing in his mind, Fu Mingxi rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought, 'For now, let's see whether the words of that crazy girl are true or not. If it's true….then she might be useful.'

Fu Mingxi beckoned his trusted and capable underling and commanded, "Check if my fiancee, Song Mani, betray me or not."

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

Amane Akihito was born in Osaka and spent his childhood there. He was a child of the ocean and he always wanted to be as close as he could with the ocean. He even told his parents and relatives that if he could choose the place he died, he wanted it to be the ocean.

His butt suffered from the wrath of his parents for, he quoted, "saying such morbid nonsense".

Well, he couldn't really blame them. If his five-year-old son says such things, he would be pretty freaked out too.

His dream may be living on the beach forever, but Akihito was a smart child and with effort squeezed out from the desire of not getting beaten by his old man - his parents always knew whether he put his full effort on studying or not - Akihito got full scholarship in Tokyo University and from his parents' pressure, he had no choice but to attend.

He was the pride of his family and the whole block. It was no easy feat for the child of a fisherman and bread seller to get full scholarship in Japan's most prestigious university. It made him happy that his whole family was happy because of him, but it also gave him pressure the size of a mountain.

Now, after three months into his first semester, Akihito could clearly say that he hated immature rich brats and those self-centered city kids. As someone who grew up in a friendly environment, Akihito learned the unsightly side of humans when he attended college. It made him want to just leave everything and go back to sweet Osaka, his home.

But once he thought of the crestfallen expression on his parents' faces, Akihito could not bear to do it and just told his parents that everything was fine here in Tokyo and that he had lots of friends and lots of homework. He said it was fun even though Akihito wanted to scream at the sky that he felt out of the place and the people there were mean and that he was absolutely not enjoying college away from home with cocky, bratty, gossipy roommates.

They were picking each other's faults every day!!! How could they had the energy to do that!? Oh wait, because their major was not as heavy as his.

Sometimes, Akihito made dolls from straws and pasted his three roommates' faces on it and stabbed each one of them until the doll fell apart. Only then could he had the energy to be calm and not make little problems big.

And that was not the worst of it.

The day he snapped was the day he finished class earlier and found his two roommates naked and wrestling with each other on his table. His table!!! And they did not even realize that he's in the room and snapped photos of them for evidence later on.

"What…are you doing on MY table?!?!" Akihito shouted at them. His two now proven gay roommates, Nakane Atsui and Abe Ayoi, were startled, but when they turned to look and found out it was him, they just shrugged and continue doing with Akihito glaring at them.

'WTFFF??!?!' Akihito screamed in his mind.

At this moment, the remaining roommate of his, Ensui Arata, who was a second-generation rich kid, came in and blinked at the entangled pair in surprise and then put his things on his table and acted as if nothing weird happened.

"Hey, Ensui," Akihito called him by his surname, seeing that they were not familiar with each other. "Are you not disturbed by them?"

"Isn't it just s*x? There's nothing abnormal about it," Arata shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Besides, who has not f*ck with the same sex before?"

'I certainly never!!' Akihito yelled in his mind, but all he could do was point his finger at Arata… and accidentally pressed the 'yes' button of some sort of levitating video game screen which he had not yet read.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Akihito was shocked and entertain the thought that this was all a dream. In the end, he chose a class.

[You have chosen the best class 'Elemental King'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

Seeing that screen again, Akihito let out a dumb laugh and decided to sleep it off.

'Finding out that my two roommates are gay lovers and the remaining roommate is bisexual, then seeing a weird screen that levitates? I must have gone bonkers because of the stress,' Akihito thought as he stiffly climbed to his bed and let the darkness of dreams carry him away.

His last thought was, 'I really hope that I am not the only straight man in this dorm room of mine.'

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

Mizutani Ryuu was a cool-headed person. He was the most responsible person in his peers and the smartest if he was allowed to brag. He never slipped, he never fails, and most importantly, very little things in this world could sway him. Not that it was hard, really.

His childhood memories were filled with fawning girl and being bullied by the other boys because of his beautiful and foreign face, also the constant fighting between his parents which then changed to an empty home.

It all started when his legal father could not keep it in his pants and broke his biological mother's heart. With a heart filled with sadness, his biological mother confided to her friend who drugged his mother and sent her to a stranger's bed. It was then revealed that it was that friend who was the mistress.

Because his mother had a child with another man, his legal father thought it was fine for him to sleep around. As a result, after his mother gave birth to him, she went insane and drowned herself in the sea.

Maybe it was guilt or maybe his legal father really loved his mother, but although his legal father was single and had many mistresses and children, his legal father only acknowledged him and left everything he owned to Ryuu. In Ryuu's opinion, it was just two crazy people tormenting each other. His biological mother could not stand even the slightest imperfect and his legal father could not keep his pants in even though he was crazily obsessed with his biological mother.

His legal father was Mizutani Kita, the CEO of the Mizutani Group. His biological mother was Amber Woods, the daughter of a rich businessman coming from America. His biological father was also a foreigner, apparently.

No matter looks, background, talents, achievements, and temperament, he was of the first class. He was level-headed and logical…. that was why out of the fourteen people chosen as 'early birds', he had the hardest time accepting what was going to happen because of how much those events defied the beloved science that he knew.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest.

As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Mizutani Ryuu stared at the screen in front of him as he did a few little experiments. The results were not something that he could accept; this floating screen defied the scientific laws he knew like the back of his hand.

Pursing his lips as his eyes darken with solemnity, Ryuu pressed the 'yes' button.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Seeing the disappearing rows of classes, Mizutani Ryuu, for the first time in his life, randomly choose something.

[You have chosen the best class 'Void Slayer'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

The screen then disappeared before Ryuu could test some things on it and Ryuu cursed. That screen was seriously dealing a huge blow to a science maniac like him.

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

Yoo Jun was a popular man in his university. He was someone who got a full scholarship with living expense in Korea's number one university and also a handsome, friendly person. He seemed perfect if it weren't for the fact that he's poor and an orphan.

The Yoo Jun everyone knew was someone amiable and smart, charismatic and level-headed. He was, in short, a good person who people could put their trust to. He was an idol in his own region.

Except no one knew that that Yoo Jun was a fake illusion he created to fool others.

The real Yoo Jun was a hatred filled vengeful person. He made revenge his life mission and to get his revenge, attending this university with smart rich kids was a must. He was someone who was not afraid of dirtying his hands. To get what he wanted, he was willing to do anything.

Even if it meant involving and using innocent people.

Yoo Jun's moral values and principles may be twisted, but they were relatively simple. If you're good to me, I'll also be good to you, unless you're my enemy. If you're my enemy, then I will do everything I can to destroy you.

Though if Yoo Jun possessed a fatal flaw, then it would be that he was a battle-maniac. Someone who liked to rush, sometimes recklessly, into the battlefield. It was how he became an assassin. It was how he became an international boxer. And it was how he became a moderately famous mercenary.

Also, it was how he got himself in a pinch at the moment.

"Split into two teams! We must catch that motherf*cker today!" the furious voice of a man reached his ears, followed by a chorus of firm 'yes'.

Clutching his bleeding side, Yoo Jun cursed in his mind for his carelessness in this mission. Considering that he was on a private island with maximum security and his rival being hired as the bodyguard, Yoo Jun felt that the percentage in which he could smoothly complete this mission was abysmal.

Just as he was debating whether or not he should give up on this mission with generous reward, a screen appeared in front of him.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest.

As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Blinking his eyes, Yoo Jun thought that he inhaled some hallucinogenic substances. In a moment of fleeting mischief, Yoo Jun put his finger on the 'yes' button.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Once the content of the screen changed, Yoo Jun was immediately interested in a class called 'Extremist King'. He liked doing extreme sports and activities and the title of a king did not sound bad. So he pressed that option.

[You have chosen the best class 'Extremist King'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

When the screen disappeared without a trace, Yoo Jun felt that he had really made contact with substances that could induce hallucination without him realizing it. Weird thing was, his usually sensitive body did not react to indicate that he had such substance inside him. Normally, he could detect even the slightest amount of anything that got inside his body. It was also how he could survive when he was just a newbie with no guardian.

Thinking back about his mission, Yoo Jun decided that in his current state, if he wanted to complete his mission, he might as well send his life away. And that was not an option he liked.

'So no choice but to retreat, huh?' Yoo Jun thought to himself after he eliminated the more undesirable choices.

In a swift, silent move, Yoo Jun jumped to the ground, our of his hiding point, and began assassinating the guards searching for him. His movements were fast and he did not hesitate when taking the lives of others. In just thirteen minutes, he annihilated the two squads sent out to catch him.

Yoo Jun swatted his hand across the air and let the thick blood flew to the ground from his hands. With a near maniacal grin, he turned and said to the person waiting for him, "It's you again. I know that I'm cool and the face beneath this mask is handsome, but this kind of mad chase is a bit too much, isn't it?"

The man across Yoo Kun began his sentence with curses and yelled, "You..! You're truly the craziest, most shameless, most narcissistic assassin I've ever met!"

"Thank you!" This was what Yoo Jun usually reply with whenever someone insulted him. His views, like his values and principles, were kind of twisted, so this was quite normal.

The man across could only raise his middle finger to Yoo Jun.

"Listen up, you egoistic, narcissistic, reckless rival warrior of mine!" The man began.

"I'm an assassin," Yoo Jun corrected for the many times in their banters for the past few years.

"You're gravely injured with many bones broken and that poison in your system. Just face it. I may not be able to win you if you're in your peak condition. But now? It's not impossible! Just surrender yourself to me, Narcissus!"

"I'm sorry, I just don't swing that way," Yoo Jun grinned at the puffing man.

Hearing this, there was a fire blazing in the man's eyes. Without any other word, he began his attack on Yoo Jun.

Yoo Jun knew clearly the strength of the man fighting with him. They had been rivals in the mercenary business, the solo section since they never group up with others, and some missions required only a single man to accomplish. For years, they fought and competed using every trick in or out of the book, so they had a clear gauge on each other's strengths and weaknesses. It was because of this that Yoo Jun, although looking calm on the outside, was sure that if there was no lucky accident in his favor, he would surely die by his rival's hand. The injuries he sustained was too grave to be able to push this person back.

Thinking that today was his death day, Yoo Jun felt a burst of power fueled by his desperation and unwillingness to die before fulfilling his revenge.

When the cold glint of the man's blade neared Yoo Jun's neck after the man successfully attacked his injury, a ray of gold disappeared into the man's body and in the next moment, the man was cut into pieces.

Yoo Jun gaped in shock.

'Did I just unleash a supernatural attack and kill this guy?' Yoo Jun was utterly dumbfounded. 'Maybe I need to schedule an appointment with a specialist scientist and a psychologist…..'

'On second thought, screw this. I better get out of here first.' And he left.

BlackGold*BlackGold~BlackGold#BlackGold*BlackGold

Kang Hyunsook, for the latter part of his life, was mostly troubled by his baby face. Aside from his baby face, Kang Hyunsook was also troubled by this society that looked down on otakus and chuunibyous like him.

That's right. Kang Hyunsook, now twenty-eight years old and working in a big company, was a chuunibyou.

He was the type to spend his weekend browsing through spell books and learn them as if they were real. He would also memorize those spells and the ones in the games.

For the record, as a chuunibyou, Kang Hyunsook would call himself Aragin Leon Valanche Ignitos. He would fantasize that he was a lost prince from a faraway magical kingdom whose magic root was stolen from him because it was too powerful and his parents, cornered by the traitorous uncles and aunts, could only flee to the mundane world and left him in the womb of a normal woman so those people chasing after them would think that he and his parents were already dead. Despite that, his unstable power in his bloodline would still reveal its power from time to time such as changing the weather and causing natural disasters. His magical root may be gone but he was still naturally talented in the magical aspect.

Of course, he could only keep this a secret since others knowing would endanger him and them….. in his imagination.

Kang Hyunsook was almost cured of his late-stage chuunibyou-ness from the harsh environment of adults working in a famous company when the screen showed up.

Needless to say, the chuunibyou side of him which was almost cured bounced back with extra vehemence.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are one of fourteen people with the highest aptitude and potential to become Dead Terra's strongest.

As a gift, you are given the choice to choose one of the best classes ahead of time.

Do you accept?]

[Yes / No]

Trembling with excitement and a sense of fulfillment, Kang Hyunsook pressed 'yes'.

[Salutations and congratulation.

You are now a part of the Alpha Generation.

Please choose the class you deem best suited for you.]

Kang Hyunsook wanted to spend his time choosing his class but the rapid way the classes disappeared made him anxious and picked a class he was quite familiar in games.

[You have chosen the best class 'Digital Assassin'.

Further notice and description can be opened after the screen distribution is completed.

May Fate protect thee.]

Kang Hyunsook was moved to tears and he rubbed his eyes so that no one knew he cried a bit.

'Could it be…' Kang Hyunsook started his chuunibyou train of thought. 'Could it be that all these times, those things I imagine was not imagination but some sort of coded memory of mine? Could it be that my real name is Aragin Leon Valanche Ignitos? Since the people in the magic world can live up to hundreds of years, does that mean that they thought the age of twenty-eight is the minimum age in which I can receive my memories as a prince of a magical kingdom? Of course, since twenty-eight is considered a child for them. Were my parents worried that those uncles and aunts of mind would kill me when I was too young and timed that at age twenty-eight I will start unsealing the power in my blood?'

This was the start of the legend of the heavily-plagued-with-eight-grade-syndrome-middle-aged-man Assassin King Kang Hyunsook. Also called as Crazy Kang. He was going to be one of the five people Sortots'ke regretted ever knowing since they cannot seem to speak on the same wavelength.