"A hobby?"
Ian was genuinely confused. He hadn't heard whatever the crowd was whispering behind him, and looking at the word 'Gambler' on his screen, he couldn't fathom how she had made such a massive leap.
"Leia, what are you talking about?"
"Just move aside," she cut him off sharply, not giving him a chance to finish.
The faint flicker of pity in her eyes had already been replaced by indifference. She didn't want to hear an explanation.
She gestured toward the long line of survivors. "You're holding up the line. The others need to get assessed before the time runs out."
Ian stared at her for a second. The girl he had just sacrificed his right arm for couldn't even look him in the eye.
Previously, she had been talking about finding a healer for him. But it was clear that she had completely forgotten about it.
He clutched his broken arm tightly against his chest and silently stepped back into the shadows of the crowd.
No one offered him a hand. He was already forgotten.
The awakening ceremony continued at a fast pace.
Over the next twenty minutes, many had managed to successfully awaken. However, only a few of them managed to shock people with their awakening phenomena.
Before long, five more people awakened with an S-Rank class. Their pillars of light shooting into the sky weren't quite as intense as Leia's mythic-grade awakening, but they were still S Grade Awakeners.
The second person after Leia to awaken an S Grade Class was a bulky man who looked like he could easily become a gym trainer or a fighter back on Earth.
He had awakened the Class called Vanguard.
A red-haired woman became a Shadow Sniper. A grim man in a suit drew Moonlight Assassin, while two others awakened as a Stormbringer and a Paladin.
Naturally, power gravitated toward power.
As the timer ticked down to its final minutes, the newly awakened S-Ranks pushed their way through the awe-struck crowd and converged around Leia.
Recognizing that strength was the way to survival in this brutal new reality, they quickly held a discussion.
Within minutes, they decided to form a main team, establishing a ruling council where six of them would make all the executive decisions for the hundreds of weaker survivors.
As the unofficial heart of this new elite faction, Leia stood proudly among them. She was no longer just a university student but a cornerstone of humanity's survival.
It was the first time she had been in a position like this, so she was overwhelmed. The more nervous she was, the colder she acted.
Ian leaned against a cold rock, watching the newly formed council from the corner of his sight. He looked down at his own faint, glowing screen still hovering in the air.
[Luck: SSS]
[Innate Skill: Absolute Coincidence]
He didn't know what to do about these two strange stats in his status screen. He couldn't even ask others about them, since they were also new to this tutorial.
At a time like this, he really wondered how good it would have been if they had at least been assigned a guide.
Before he could ponder what those strange stats actually meant, the emotionless voice of the unknown echoed across the plains.
[Appraisal Phase Concluded]
[Any humans who failed to awaken a Class have been purged]
Terrifying screams erupted from the far edges of the plain. Those who had cowered in fear, refusing to touch the stones out of fear, were instantly dissolved into ash by golden beams striking down from the sky.
[Survivors remaining: 842]
The heavy silence that followed the purge was quickly broken by the emotionless voice from the sky.
[Next Phase Preparation: Commencing]
[As a reward for surviving the Initial Purge and successfully Awakening, all survivors have been granted a Starter Pack tailored to their respective Classes]
[To access your items, mentally command or vocalize the word 'Inventory']
"Inventory," someone said.
Instantly, a grid-like screen materialized in front of the person, filled with glowing icons. It was exactly like the inventory screens in video games back on Earth.
[Select the items within your Inventory to equip them automatically]
[Note: Starter attire and weapons are soul-bound and cannot be traded]
Following the voice's instructions, people began tapping the glowing icons on their screens.
What happened next looked like a scene straight out of a fantasy movie. The moment their fingers brushed the virtual icons, their torn, blood-stained clothes dissolved into particles of light, instantly replaced by brand-new garments.
Differences between the Class Grades became obvious in an instant. The lower grades received simple leather armor, dull iron swords, or crude wooden bats.
But the S-Rank Awakeners at the center of the crowd transformed into something much more divine.
As soon as the red-haired woman tapped her items, her ordinary clothes were swapped for pitch-black attire that seemed to absorb the light around her.
A futuristic-looking sniper rifle appeared seamlessly strapped to her back.
Beside her, the Paladin tapped his screen. A bright flash of light enveloped him, leaving him clad in beautiful white and gold light armor. A flowing white robe appeared over his shoulders, carrying a divine-looking golden symbol.
In his right hand, a silver longsword materialized, and in his left, a shield radiating a faint aura.
The Vanguard, in stark contrast, was encased in aggressive, interlocking heavy armor.
It was an impossibly thick, impenetrable-looking set of dark steel plates that made him look more like a walking fortress than a man, with a large greatsword resting easily on his broad shoulder.
And Leia was draped in elegant, flowing white robes lined with silver runes. She looked completely untouchable, like a saint descending from the heavens.
Watching from the back, Ian let out a sigh of relief. The idea of physically putting on new clothes right now would have been torture, so the automatic equip function was a small mercy.
"Inventory," Ian commanded.
A small, gray grid popped up in front of his eyes.
Unlike the S-Ranks, whose grids were filled with multiple high-tier items, Ian only had two icons occupying the first two slots.