That phrase sent chills down my spine. My mind instantly went to all the times I've been in a principal’s office or an interrogation room. Usually whenever someone said that to me, something bad was going to happen. I reluctantly pulled the other seat out and sat down, all without taking my eyes of the hovering, swirling cloud before me.

"You going to tell me what this thing is?" I extended one finger and broke through the cloudy surface. A tingling sensation shot through my hand, the kind you feel when you run hot water over your frozen fingers.

"It's the Oracle. All seeing object. You'll see its use in due time. But for now, we really need to get you set up with the basics." Nuru flipped through a few pages and brought some notes to her face. "I see, I see." She jotted a few more things before tilting her head past the Oracle thing and looked at me right in my eyes. "Are you ready Conrad?"

I shrugged again. "Not like I've got anything better to do right now."

"Excellent. Go ahead and put the entirety of your hand into the Oracle. That way we can get a baseline figured out."

I did as I was told. Stuck my hand straight through the cloud and fought the urge to bring my hand back once the peculiar tingling sensation shot through my entire body. "How long do I have to keep my hand there?" I said with a heavy breath.

"Just a bit longer." Nuru took her eyes off her paper and stared straight into the Oracle. I did the same, squinting once I saw the clouds start to merge and form a shape within the floating sphere.

"Is that supposed to be happening?" I asked with a trembling hand. All the clouds concentrated towards the center and started to take the shape of a human.

"You can remove your hand now, Conrad. The Oracle has gotten enough data from you.”

I was more than willing to take my hand out. I leaned forward in my chair and stared at the image floating in the middle of the table. "That's... that's me..." I stammered. Couldn't have been anyone else. Had the same stubble and the unruly black hair that reached down to the neck. But I wasn't wearing the clothing Nuru gave me. Had on some kind of leather tunic with a hood over my head. Long boots that reached up to knees and a pair white pants with a belt keeping them up.

"Bandit," Nuru said. "That's what I would have guessed."

"Bandit? You're calling me a thief?"

"Yes!" Nuru took her eyes off the cloud to look at me with a big grin.

"I haven't even been here for an hour!" I protested. "I know I don't have the best history, but you really think I’ve stolen something already?"

"No, no, no. I'm not accusing you of being a bandit. That's the class the Oracle has recommended for you."

"Class?" I said, unable to hide my disgust. "I dropped out of school, died, only to be revived and have to go through lesson plans and homework all over again?"

"Not that kind of class." The lady shook her head. "Think more like… specialty." She kept her head down as she scribbled something on a piece of paper with fervor. "Don't worry, this sheet will give you more of an idea of what I'm talking about."

She slid the paper across the table. I promptly picked it up and gave it a look for myself.

Name	Conrad Cooper
Class	Bandit
Level	1
Stamina (HP)	9
Defense	3
Strength	8
Agility	9
Dexterity	8
Intelligence	5
Luck	3
Spellcasting	3

 

"Oh! Is it like a video game or something?" I scratched my head as I pieced together what each of those skills did in my mind.

"Yes, that's the most common analogy I use whenever I recruit someone. That class has optimized stats for someone with your history and your brand of talent."

I nodded and stroked my chin. If those skills meant what I thought they did, I liked those numbers. A lot of them made a whole lot of sense, too. Especially Intelligence and Luck.

“Most of those are straight forward, I think. What about you? Are you familiar with these terms?”

I glanced over the list again. “Uh… how about Dexterity and Spellcasting? Never quite understood what that did in games. And there’s no magic on Earth, so an explanation of Spellcasting would be nice.

Nuru nodded. “I’ll just give you a rundown of each one.” She slid me another piece of paper that showed each stat and described them in detail.

“Stamina equals health.”

“Figures,” I said.

“Strength, defense, agility and intelligence you understand, correct?”

I nodded. “Pretty straightforward.”

“Dexterity determines how well you handle a physical weapon. It works in conjunction with Strength. Higher Strength means higher maximum damage. Higher Dexterity means dealing higher numbers more consistently.”

“Oh… I get it now.”

“Spellcasting is a bit of the same way. But your class is a bit light on spells, so I wouldn’t worry about that at the moment.”

“That just leaves us with Luck. You didn’t mention it with the other ones.”

“That’s because it’s mostly just used for item drops and a few other specific things. You’ll find out more once you get into the tutorial. But you’re a clever person. Are you willing to let Finley and Brandon go more in-depth with some hands-on experience?”

"Okay. That's something I can work with." I put the page back down on the table and crossed my arms.

"Of course, you can change your Class if you'd like. But the Oracle chose those stats for a reason. It's not like it was by a random roll of the device."

I looked up at the Oracle. I twirled my finger and the image of me spun around in time with my movement, allowing me to see the long cape attached to my back. "I get it now. As you probably know, I wasn't that good with math. So if this Oracle thing says that this is what's best for me, I'll listen."

"Are you sure?" Nuru raised an eyebrow. "People usually want to take the time to sort through the other options. But if you'd rather stick with what you were assigned that works too."

"You said we were running low on time. I'm fine with this." Not often do people ask me to do what I’m best at.

"You can't change in the future. This is a permanent decision."

"You should know by now that I'm not good at making decisions."

"Fair point." Nuru leaned back in her seat and sorted her papers so they were tidy on her clipboard. "If you really are happy with this, all I need you to do is put your hand back into the Oracle to finalize your decision."

"Got it." I leaned forward in my chair and pushed my hand far enough to grab the image of myself. I clenched my fist and the image disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Once it was gone, the Oracle returned to its original, ominous cloudy state. "What's next, miss?"

"If we head back now, we should still have time to fit in a tutorial session. The Class selection went by a lot faster than I expected, so if you'd like to ask a few more questions, I can give you some answers."

I got up from my seat. "Let's start with the most obvious one. What am I going to be stealing?"

"You're not going to actually be stealing anything. At least not in the traditional sense."

"No quests or nothing?" I scratched my head as I followed Nuru towards the door.

"Not for you, no. You're going to be a Dungeon Runner on one of our Guild's many teams. Your class mostly determines your stats and what skills, weapons and items you'll have access to."

"Oh." I pretended I understood what she was talking about. Her statement only left me more confused.

"You're familiar with sporting events back on Earth, correct?" Nuru held the door open for me but stood in the middle of the entryway.

"Of course. I had to sit through a lot of Junior Varsity games during my limited time in high school."

"Good. Think of this as a sport. You'll be participating in Gauntlets, teamwork-focused games of action and adventure!" She did some jazz hands. Clearly she was excited by the prospect. "Maybe the quest comparison was right. Every Gauntlet is like a miniature quest that can be completed in less than an hour. That is, if your team is coordinated enough."

"That's what counts as entertainment in this world? Watching people... I don't know... walk around slashing monsters and grabbing junk from chests?"

She nodded, all while keeping that same smile. Couldn't help but smile back with how genuine she looked, despite my confusion. "That's exactly right! It's a long story and complicated story, but the short version is that the Higher Deities of this world grew bored. They thought it would be fun to watch lowly mortals fight for their lives in crafted dungeons rather than warring with one another It's why we enjoy a global peace that has lasted millenniums. The deities put more energy into besting each other through their Guilds rather than their armies."

"Wait, wait, wait." I put one hand up and Nuru stopped her thought. "I heard 'mortals fight for their lives' in there."

"You heard correct."

"That seems like an important detail that you just kinda... glossed over."

Nuru shied her eyes away and scratched the back of her neck. "Right. That's the part that's always the hardest to convince people to… overlook." She overcame her embarrassment and met me eye to eye. "But after so many recruits, I've learned to reveal that bit info after they've at least picked a Class. Helps with retainment."

"If I had known there was a good chance of me dying for the pleasure of some all-powerful deity, I wouldn't have agreed to this! Hell, I'm better off taking my chances in this world on my own!" I walked past Nuru, ready to storm off and explore the village for myself. But she grabbed me by the arm. When I looked at her, her eyes were red.

"Don't go! There's still a lot you don't know about!"

"I've lived on the streets most of my life. If I can make it in Cali, I can make it here!" I tried to pull free by Nuru was surprisingly strong. I couldn't just walk away despite her petite size.

"No, it's not that simple! Our Guild Master won't let you exist if you don't stick with us!"

"What?" I stopped in my tracks and turned my entire body around. "What are you talking about?"

"Since you were summoned by the Lurchroot Guild, you are assigned to work with us. Our Guild Master can end your contract if you abandon your assigned post, essentially terminating your existence."

"So I'm a slave then?" I stomped my foot and clenched my fists. "You summoned me here to make money off some cheap thrills?"

"You don't have the full picture." Nuru let go of my arm and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Do you want to know what happens if you die in this world?"

"Tell me."

"What did you believe back on Earth?"

I paused for a moment. Never really gave it much thought. "I... I don't know. I never really believed in anything."

"Let me make it simple for you. Whatever you believed back on Earth is what's going to happen to you if die in Igitah. Think of this as... a spiritual detour. Your soul was on its way to wherever... and now you're here until you pass away. Again."

"Damn." I crossed my arms and sighed. "I never liked thinking about dying back on Earth. Hated wondering what happened afterwards."

"And if you abandon us now, it's a sure way to find out what happens next."

I groaned and tilted my head back. My fingers rubbed against my eyes in a vain attempt to relieve myself of the sudden rush of stress. "All right. I guess you got me as your Guild's slave."

"Don't think of it as slavery," Nuru said softly. "Many Dungeon Runners live more lavishly than princes. Even new recruits are better off than Igitah’s middle class. Think of it as a new opportunity. You will be much happier here than you ever were back on Earth."

Nuru managed to calm me down a bit. As much as I hated the idea of being the plaything for a bunch of self-centered deities, I liked the idea of finally being able to make something of myself even more. "You really don't leave your Dungeon Runners with much of a choice, huh?"

"I'm sorry." Nuru hung her head low and placed her arms behind her back. "This isn't a job I love doing, but it's something that I must do. That's why I try to summon people that would be more open towards putting a lot on the line for a great reward. You seemed like a solid candidate seeing how rough your life back on Earth was."

A tinge of guilt overcame me. She was right. I swallowed my pride and decided to let Nuru have this win. I was a bit pissed off at being summoned without my permission, but after a bit of thinking the premise was right up my alley. With a sigh, I regained my composure and stood to the side so Nuru could lead the way. "The least I could do is give the tutorial a try," I said.

She turned chipper instantly. Nuru bowed and headed towards the table with my soon-to-be teammates. "Thank you, Conrad. I'm sure you'll enjoy what lies ahead."