Within the Central Hall of the Glory Academy, thousands of students sat in rows after rows with various expressions, the atmosphere was tense and heavy.
Some of the students held a calm, almost indifferent expression.
Some of the students held an excited expression full of anticipation.
Some of the students held a terrified expression as if their life was over.
That was all because today was the last day of the Academy where students were to learn if they were capable of being a 'Hunter' or just be an ordinary human.
Thirty years ago, humans had lived normally, that was until a sudden cataclysmic change in the universe 'cosmic wave' that caused the creation of something humans dubbed as 'Gates', 'Dungeons' and 'Dimensional Rift'.
The Dimensional Rift at that time was unbelievably unstable due to the low mana density of Earth hence monstrous creatures flooded out from that portal leading to a mass extinction event that almost wiped out humanity.
A decade into the post-cataclysm world, mana had been culminated enough to cause a huge delay on the Dimensional Rift causing it to only open after a certain amount of time, the accumulation of mana in the air and the years of exposure allowed some the remaining humans to adapt and evolve to awaken mana and acquiring various supernatural abilities to combat the enemies.
All of those awakened humans were called 'Hunters', they're the current backbone of society that fought against the monstrous creatures and put their lives on the line.
The Principal had finished his speech and called for the Examiners from the Association to prepare the Awakening Orb.
Names after names were called.
"Nina Crimsonheart."
[ 5-Star Talent, B-Grade Water Manipulation ]
"Johnny Veldagard."
[ 8-Star Talent, SS-Grade Plant Manipulation ]
"Kevin Carlson."
[ 6-Star Talent, S-Grade Temperature Manipulation ]
"Mike Lionbeat."
[ 10-Star Talent, SSS-Grade Light Manipulation ]
"Diane Weaselberry."
[ 9-Star Talent, SSS-Grade Telekinesis ]
"Harold Donell."
[ 5-Star Talent, D-Grade Mind Reading ]
"Fern Debuckle."
[ 2-Star Talent, E-Grade Fire Manipulation ]
The series of names and abilities became a blur, the time passed by quickly.
Not long after, the Examiner had passed over 60% of all students and their gaze lingers on the next name, the Examiner's lips parted.
"Nathan Venn."
A figure stood up, his gaze lingered on the platform as he slowly walked out of the row of chairs, his brown hair bounced on each step as he held a calm expression.
Within his eyes, one could discern a myriad of emotions—fear, anticipation, excitement, hope, and contentment.
As he stepped up to the platform he let out a deep breath.
His outstretched palm was placed on top of the orb.
There was no light like everyone else.
There was nothing.
[ 0-Star Talent, No Ability ]
"Um, there must be something wrong, let me check it out for a moment." One of the Examiner said as he placed his hands over the orb.
[ 7-Star Talent, A-Grade Metal Manipulation ]
Confused expression was etched on the Examiner's face, as he reread the words.
It was working as intended.
"Well, I'm sorry, this is the first time a zero star exists… Congrats? I guess? I don't know, sorry." The Examiner said, evidently confused.
"That's okay, it's not like I'm going to just spontaneously combust because of this." Nathan said ensuring that he was fine as he walked down back into his previous seat.
"Unlucky, so what are you going to do now?" A red-haired boy asked, he was Cien Ferno, the second son of the Ferno family, a rather well-known family of bakers that jumped into the Dimensional Rift business when they awakened high-level Fire Manipulation.
He was supposedly Nathan's closest acquaintance but not quite a friend.
"I'm not really sure, it's quite sad that I don't seem to have a chance to even attempt to be a Hunter without a guaranteed death, but it is what it is…" Nathan paused as he sighed.
"I'll probably manage, and just work at some mundane jobs until I die in some random Dungeon Break." He calmly added.
Time passed by like a speeding bullet.
Nathan reached his home and slumped over his sofa, he let out a long and deep sigh, his gaze locked onto the ceiling, his dream of being a Hunter was shattered in an instant.
Suddenly, a noise echoed within his head.
— Ding!
[ Synchronization complete: 100% ]
[ Supreme-Grade System - «World Travel Simulator» has been activated. ]
[ The rewards that can be claimed by the Host is based on the grade received upon finishing a Simulation, an E-Grade Simulation doesn't grant anything, a D-Grade Simulation grants one, a C-Grade Simulation grants two, a B-Grade Simulation grants three, an A-Grade grants four and an S-Grade grants all of them. ]
[ To reach an S-Grade or anything possibly higher, it would require full-completion through either the defeat of the strongest entity within the world or uncovering the secrets hidden in the world. When Host had reached an S-Grade Simulation, the option to either simulate a different world or to perform a realistic full-dive experience to obtain the ownership of the world. ]
[ The normal simulation and the realistic full-dive simulation will be ended upon the death of the simulated self. The only difference is that the realistic full-dive simulation's death will lead to a state called 'True Death' due to the fact that the Host's real soul is inserted into the simulated self. ]
[ Do the Host wishes to start the simulation? Before the simulation begins, the system would choose one of the many worlds within the endless series of worlds, the chosen world will remain as the simulated world until the Host completes the world and randomly chooses another one. ]
Nathan squinted his eyes as he stared at the newly formed holographic panel, he rubbed his eyes and looked at it again, it didn't disappear.
"Wow, I feel like I'm not so unlucky after all." He muttered with a laugh.
A smile formed on his face as he said, "Sure, why not?"
[ Loading… ]
— Ding!
[ Going through the endless series of worlds… ]
[ Choosing a world… ]
The minute felt like hours as a familiar 'ding' rang out within his mind.
— Ding!
[ The Chosen World: Zombie Apocalypse World ]
[ The choice to uncover the secret or defeat the strongest entity is placed on your hand. The greater the accomplishment acquired by Host, the higher the Simulation Grade. ]
[ At the beginning before jumping into each simulation, the Host will be given an option to choose three out of five random talents. The quality of the talents grades from lowest to highest are; White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, Red, and Black. ]