William found himself surrounded by a wall of trees.

He could hear the buzzing of insects and the chirping of birds as the herby smell of lush shrubberies, conifers, saplings, and tall evergreens decorating the landscape around him wafted into his nostrils.

The sky was nearly buried by the shade of the enormous plants, but sunlight oozed from the small spaces that existed between the canopy of leaves and thick branches.

Amidst this overwhelming collage of green and dark brown, the boy with dark red hair, glassy black eyes, and a slightly tall build, seemed completely out of place.

‘I see… so this is Stage 1.’ Will calmly assessed his surroundings. ‘Looks like a tropical forest.’

So far, everything seemed perfectly normal.

The ground was slightly wet, giving off a tangy, earthy smell that seemed to blend perfectly well with the other strange scents that filled the air.

Thankfully, none of them were unpleasant, so he didn’t really mind.

After observing his surroundings for a few more seconds, Will decided he had seen enough to determine his immediate safety.

‘The Administrator did say he would transport us to random locations in the Stage, and considering how this is a dense tropical forest and not flatlands, I shouldn’t be expecting company anytime soon.’

With this in mind, Will decided to collect his thoughts and address the most pressing issue.

“My Token…” He murmured, removing a hand from his pocket, only to bring out a circular object from inside it. The object was golden in color, resembling a coin, and it had a crown insignia embedded on its surface.

‘It wasn’t there a moment ago, but it appeared the moment I appeared here.’

Will would have seriously considered what he was supposed to do in the Tutorial if he didn’t get a Token. After all, only those who had a Token bound to them could pass these Stages and reach T’erah.

If he didn’t have a Token, no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t be recognized as a legitimate Player.

‘It’s like taking an exam without being enrolled in the class… there’s no point.’

As for why he wanted to pass the Tutorial and enter the T’erah, despite knowing absolutely nothing about it, that had to do with his twin brother.

‘I have to know if Kevin is really in T’erah… if he is still alive.’ He clenched his fist. ‘To do that, I have to pass all five stages of this Tutorial.’

With a Token now in his possession, that goal didn’t seem too impossible.

‘The coin also has my name embedded in it, so I can be sure that it’s bound to me. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t get an invitation or that my arrival here was some sort of error. As long as I have the means to compete, I’m in the game.’

Will’s thoughts lit up with slight optimism as he returned the coin to his pocket, his mind quickly considering what else could have changed about his situation.

Without wasting any time at all, he decided to confirm.

‘System…’

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: William (Lvl: 1)

- Class: King

- Integrity: 1

- Physique: 1

- Aptitude: 1

- S Points: 0

- Privileges: NIL

[Skill Information]

1. Check

{Locked}

[End Of Information]

‘Interesting… so my Class has now been unlocked, and it’s different from the others.’

Will smiled.

His Class wasn’t the only thing that was different. He also had an additional Skill, though it seemed like there were still other Skills that were not accessible to him at the moment.

‘Let’s find out more about this.’ He grinned. ‘Examine Class.’

[No Information Available]

‘What? No information?’

Will was confused at this point, considering how this fundamentally went against the explanation of the Administrator, but he quickly recovered from his shock. He was already a special case in the Tutorial, so it made sense that the general explanations wouldn’t apply to him.

Or his Class.

‘The standard class is [Pawn], but I have [King]. Using Chess Terminology, doesn’t that mean my Class is higher than the others? Is that a good thing or a bad thing, though? I have no idea…’

Since he was unable to decipher the full details of that matter, he decided to temporarily put it on the back burner as he set his focus on the only Skill he could access.

He could only hope that there was some information available for this Skill.

“Examine Skill.”

[Check: Passive].

An Exclusive Skill belonging to the King. Following the basic rule of Chess that allows the King one step in any direction, this grants him nigh precognition in the form of an intuitive feeling or dreams.

[No Cooldown]

‘Interesting… so it’s a Passive Skill that gives me a vague sense of precognition, huh? I have no control over it, and it’s not very specific.’ Will sighed. ‘My skeptical side wants to consider this as a useless Skill, but I shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet.’

In any case, he could confirm that the entire Class System was based on Chess.

‘So far, we have the basic, Class [Pawn], and my strange Class, [King]. Does that mean [Rook], [Knight], [Bishop], and finally [Queen] will be available at some point? No… what if they’re already available?’

Will couldn’t help but wonder if he was the only special case among the other Players.

‘There were hundreds of us; about 500 by my estimation. It’s possible… no, actually it’s likely that I’m not the only one with a special Class.’ He reasoned. ‘The Administrator never mentioned it, but I can’t help but consider it.’

It would be foolhardy for him to consider himself as the solely special entity in the entire Tutorial, after all.

Foolhardy and illogical.

‘Yet… why do I have a strange sense of confidence that I’m the only one? Is this an effect of the [Check] Skill?’ Will pondered silently. ‘Even if that’s the case, I can’t completely eliminate the possibility of other Classes appearing in the future.’

However, given his current situation, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking that far ahead.

‘First things first…’ He closed his eyes and nodded. ‘I need to focus on settling in and passing the first Stage.’

Thankfully, this was the most straightforward part of the Tutorial.

‘According to Administrator M, all we have to do is survive for a little over a week. Of course, I can check for the specifics with the System.’

Without wasting any time, Will did exactly that and asked for the Challenge Details.

[Stage 1: Tropical Forest]

Challenge: Survive the forest for 10 days. (Hidden Challenge: Get rid of the Insect Nest and defeat the Insect Queen to obtain the Queen Chess Piece).

‘H-huh?’

Will was surprised once again once he read the lines within the System’s brackets.

‘A Hidden Challenge? If it’s hidden, why is it fully displayed on the System? Or am I the only one who can see it? Is this another effect of the [Check] Skill?’

He didn’t know the details, and right before he could even think about the matter a little further, he heard a sudden sound.

It was soft—nearly imperceptible—but he caught it anyway.

‘Over there…’ Will narrowed his gaze as he inconspicuously stared at some shrubs that stood a small distance from him.

There were small movements there, almost as if the small cluster of plants were being swayed by the movements of the trees. However, Will wasn’t stupid, as he could tell that the breeze around him couldn’t have caused such a sudden shift.

Also, he could sense himself being watched by someone.

Or… something!

WHUUSH!

Suddenly emerging from the bushes, moving its slick body in a flash, was a snake-like creature.

Without mercy, it went in for the kill!