Side Story 6 - Think of the children! (Patreon)

Katelynn took off her uniform in the changing room and quickly took out her phone from her locker. She checked her phone to find a good podcast to listen to while driving home, wondering if a new episode was out of that true crime one she really liked.

She had just gotten off work from a 12-hour shift at the maternity ward, where she worked as a pediatric nurse. It had been another long day of taking care of the newborn while trying to explain to the parents that no vaccines do not cause autism; they prevent deadly diseases.

Social media was a mistake, she thought hypocritically as she browsed one said media on her phone, having already gotten distracted from her task of finding a podcast.

As she stood there looking at her phone, she heard a weird noise.

*DING!*

She barely had time to wonder where it came from before she blacked out.

--

Katelynn didn’t know how much time had passed, but she suddenly found herself in an entirely weird room with a humanoid figure before her. It explained things that she found incomprehensible but reminded her a bit about one of those overrated animes her roommate in college had made her watch.

The figure explained things and made her choose between picking a class or a profession. After hearing the difference, she went with class, already assuming that either she was having a weird-ass fever-dream, or she was about to be thrown into a forest or jungle filled with monsters that wanted to eat her. A class seemed best for the latter.

Of the six classes offered, she didn’t hesitate to pick the one that appealed to her the most: Healer.

She believed that maybe her knowledge of modern medicine would allow her to get a headstart or maybe make special abilities or skills or something. At least that is what people could do in those novels and animes she had seen…

After picking the class, she took on a white robe offered, and after waiting for a few moments, she found herself someplace new.

At first, it looked like a regular hospital, just like the one she had just left, but she soon noticed that it seemed a lot more… antiquated.

Everything was made of wood and simple stone, with only the general layout still remaining really. Just as she was wondering what was going on, people appeared all around her. Some she recognized as colleagues, but most were absolute strangers.

A few minutes later, when everyone was there, a message appeared before them all.

*Tutorial commencing*

[Tutorial Panel]

Duration: 63 days & 21:45:51

Tutorial Type: Development

Completion Criteria: Help the other tutorial attendees better adapt to the new world.

Tutorial rules: Collect Tutorial Points (TP).

Tutorial Information: The world has changed, and so must humanity. Yet, some are weaker than others and not in a position to do so. Help the young and the Natives and scour the land beyond the compound for valuable materials to help you all develop. But be warned, for the outsiders are not welcoming to newcomers.

Tutorial Point Rules: Gain TP by assisting your fellow humans by developing the compound’s facilities. TP may also be gained from slaying the outsiders and turning in valuable materials to the administrators.

Final Rewards based on TP and the state of the compound upon conclusion of the tutorial and humanity’s standing with the administrators.

Total Survivors Remaining: 5700/5700

TP Collected: 0

And thus began another tutorial of the 93rd universe.

But unlike one like Jake’s, this one was not one of bloodshed or fighting.

After they all appeared, they began trying to find out exactly what had happened. That is when a weird golem appeared before them, calling itself an administrator of the compound.

The tutorial’s purpose was to prepare and develop themselves for the new world, but even more so help prepare those that couldn’t prepare themselves.

Of the 5700 brought into the tutorial, nearly half were children below the age of 1. Another half of the remaining were parents or a parent of the children. The last quarter was split between people who worked with childcare before the system arrived, a few random people, and general hospital employees.

Asking around, they discovered that while many parents and children had been taken from homes, the employees were from hospitals split all around the country. The class distribution was also very skewed, with nearly 90% having picked the healer class.

Some people had also chosen professions and gotten a very varied array. Some had professions associated with management and leadership; some had professions to build and construct things, with even a few having more magical stuff like alchemy or runecrafting.

Katelynn felt that while her life had significantly changed, it wasn’t actually that massive of a shift. She had only worked as a nurse for a bit under a year and was one of the younger people in the tutorial, so she felt like she very much just kept working like normal. Albeit with magical powers now.

The children needed a lot to help them adapt to the new world, but healing worked wonders to help them slowly get used to it. The compound was already equipped with special rooms for the newborn to be in that would help them adapt to mana.

She leveled her class plenty by helping the children and other employees, but that wasn’t all. It was a hospital, after all.

The compound housed more than just the newly integrated humans. There was also another race of humanoid-being that lived among them. They looked human but had skin with many different colors, only a single eye, and not a single hair on their bodies anywhere.

They called themselves the Natives, and they fought the Outsiders. Weirdly enough, they didn’t react negatively to the humans suddenly appearing but seemed just to take it as an everyday occurrence. Even more weirdly, whenever they spoke to them about it being a tutorial, they just ignored it like they couldn’t hear it.

These Natives often entered the hospital for healing, and some of the staff even went out to help them. A few who could fight also joined them in trying to bring back resources for the Administrator. It was especially the ingredients for the crafters that they needed.

Katelynn herself picked up the alchemy profession a few days into the tutorial too. As a novice alchemist, she got 4 extra stats per level that were useful for her class, and she could make ointments and simple restorative water.

Time quickly passed in the tutorial as they all gained levels rapidly.

A month in, they had quite a few who had evolved their class or even profession. Katelynn herself was one of them as she joined many excursions with the Natives where she helped heal them and face the Outsiders.

The Outsiders were insect-like creatures for the most part, but some of them appeared more humanoid. At first, they were weak, but the further they moved from the compound, the stronger they became.

One and a half months in, they found a dungeon. Once again, the Natives completely ignored that these even existed. They could stand before the door and literally try and push them into it, and they would act like they didn’t exist… or maybe they were unable to recognize it existed.

A few people entered it but reported that there were far too powerful enemies in there. The dungeon only ended up being truly attempted by a group of five who included some of the few people with classes that weren’t healers. Well, they did have one healer.

Katelynn wasn’t one of those people. She was far too busy improving her skills in alchemy and taking care of the children. They mostly slept, far more so than normal babies, but they still needed to be cared for. Many of them didn’t have any parents brought with them, making Katelynn think a lot about the distraught parents stuck elsewhere two months away from their newborn.

The room where the children were kept, the Ward as the Administrator called it, did incredibly magical things. Somehow, it allowed the children to adapt to the new world, and they clearly had stats and even levels by now. She had seen a baby reach level 7 already one and a half months in, making her believe they would all somehow reach their evolution at 10 before the end of the tutorial.

This isn’t to say that they were super strong babies even with stats many times above a regular man’s. No, they were quite baby-like still, though they were clearly stronger, and a lot of the normal issues that babies experienced apparently wasn’t a thing anymore.

Not a single baby had gotten sick the entire time. They had been sad and cried, requiring the adults’ comfort and attention, but they didn’t get physical illnesses. They still needed to get a lot of nutrients, though.

For that, they were given an initial stash of milk, but not enough to last the entire duration of the tutorial. Instead, the tutorial attendees were given recipes, and the people who had picked the novice cook profession and the alchemists, herself included, teamed up to produce the powder and milk.

It was a peaceful tutorial, all things considered. The entire compound was well-protected by the Natives, and combat was entirely voluntary. Most healers could get quite a few levels just from healing the wounded Natives, so they didn’t see the need to fight… even if it was a lot slower.

Tutorial points were earned just by doing everyday tasks. Heck, Katelynn saw her TP go up just by baby-talking to the children. They especially got a lot when they produced the milk powder for the first time.

Alchemy was an interesting profession. It came with four inferior-rarity skills and one common-rarity skill when she got it. [Brew Potion (inferior)], [Herbology (inferior)], [Concoct Poison (inferior)], [Toxicology (Inferior)] and last but not least [Craft Medical Solution (Common)].

The first four inferior skills were rather basic, but the last one was a bit more specialized.

It was what allowed her to create the powder for the milk and the ointment for the fighters. As for the Brew Potion and Concoct Poison skill… she hadn’t even gotten started on those yet. There were mixing bowls provided, but the process was just… impossible. It was far too foreign.

Even the best alchemist had only managed to create a few mana potions so far, and he still failed the majority of the time when making them. Healing potions appeared even more impossible to make, which was why barely anyone pursued creation potions. Poisons were very much in the same camp.

It was peaceful… but that didn’t mean there weren’t conflicts.

“We need to gather a big team to get the crystal,” the man in the suit, a former hospital director, said.

“It’s in the inner area, dude. The Outsiders there are all at least evolved, and the Natives can’t enter the bubble. Even if we construct a large team, most of you are healers or too low level to use. Having a bunch of people who have barely managed to evolve to F-rank will just get in the way,” the leader of the fighters said.

Nashita was a rather petite woman who had worked as an intern in the hospital administration before the tutorial. In the tutorial, she had become a caster and was now their highest-leveled classer, having already reached level 42 only 50 days into the tutorial. She had had a profession above level 25 to boot, one related to leading the other fighters.

“I am fully aware of that, but if we get it, we can trade it in for a substantial amount of tutorial points, and we may even ge-“

“You just want to complete a damn quest, don’t you?” Nashita shot back. “I am not putting myself and others in danger for your own selfish reasons. If you want to go, go yourself.”

“Now, don’t be unreasonable,” the director shot back, glaring. “We are all in this together, and who is it that directed so many resources to your team to support you in attempting that dungeon just for you to run away scared?”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, you try and face a fucking giant centipede we can’t even see the level of.”

“You took up half of our supply of ointments and anti-toxicity medicine that day. Don’t you think it is only fair that you at least try and pay that back?”

“You know what? Fuck it. Sure, we’ll give it a try, but you are coming with us. You also evolved already, and with you in tow, we can convince plenty of the other fighters to join you, as well as your little team of bodyguards.” Nashita said, looking at the three men who were always with the director - all above level 25 in their race, and all with classes around 35.

“… Fine.”

Before that day, they only had 23 deaths total after more than 50 days in the tutorial passed. Only nine of them from fighting…. the fourteen because they couldn’t adapt mentally to the new world.

But on that excursion, their number of deaths more than doubled. 31 people died inside the inner area. This included one of Nashita’s four teammates and many lower-leveled fighters who had chosen to join a battle they quite frankly had no right to be in.

Among the deaths were also the director and all three bodyguards. They had gotten greedy to obtain the crystal that was the objective of his quest and had faced a being none could stand before.

A giant moth-like creature had guarded the crystal, and the moment Nashita lay her eyes on it from afar, she immediately ordered a retreat. It appeared to be sleeping, but she was certain it would awake if they approached and that it wasn’t to be provoked.

Her Identify was enough to tell her why.

[Lucenti Moth – lvl ???]

All listened to her order to retreat… all but the director. One of his bodyguards was a light-warrior who had already upgraded his stealth skill to Advanced Stealth and possessed several other skills to help him remain undetected. The director and the bodyguards were sure that he could sneak in and take the crystals hanging from the tree the moth lay sleeping on.

He couldn’t.

The moth awoke when he got within a few dozen feet, and it unleashed just a single attack.

A single god damn attack.

It released a beam of light from its wings that cut across the inner area. It evaporated the bodyguard who had snuck close first. Then it cut across the ground as it killed the director and three bodyguards before hitting the larger party that Nashita was already retreating with. Anyone in its path turned to nothing.

The only lucky thing was that the moth didn’t continue attacking but lay down to sleep once more.

After they got back, the Administrator gathered them up and told them what they had faced. It was a D-grade monster that was worshipped as a god by the natives. They were also told that they would all gain huge awards and “clear” the tutorial if they killed it.

None even considered it. Nashita was sure after seeing that beast.

“No human can fight such a fucking monster after only a measly two months with this system.”

Katelynn hadn’t participated in the expedition as she was now de-facto in charge of developing and crafting food for the kids. After the first month, the kids had also gotten a lot more active, sleeping way less than before.

They played with them, and some of the crafters even made some simple toys. Katelynn herself helped one of the builders set up some swings and make some safe seats. Even if the small kids were more robust than pre-system adults, they didn’t want to take any chances.

The playing did get a bit rough at times, with the kids still adapting to their new and improved stats. Luckily, the one’s making the toys could also make their creations tougher with their skills. They had quite a few good people who liked making small cars, with many tailors making dolls and such.

One of the people in the tutorial was an older lady named Ms. Campert. She had worked as a teacher before she retired and had experience raising six kids and fifteen grandkids, so she was more than qualified to help with the kids.

She had noted that the kids developed a lot faster than before cognitively as well as emotionally. Physically it appeared unchanged, but the kids were clearly smarter than before. Ms. Campert even made some basic logic-puzzles for the children and found them able to solve them.

They also did some other basic tests and discovered that nearly all children, close to a year old, could recognize themselves in a mirror, with the youngest down to less than half a year old. The rouge test showed that the children were indeed developing far faster, and from how they interacted, it was also revealing.

The children played more sophistically, and their babbling was almost understandable at times. Maybe the translation skill did something, but a few babies only a few months old could now even get a few words out. Mainly “food” or “mama” or something like that, but it was still more proof.

This did raise some concerns among the new mothers and hospital staff, but they couldn’t find any negative new developments.

When only three days of the tutorial remained, the first child reached level 10 in race and ‘evolved’. Like with everyone else, it didn’t change anything physically or even mentally. When less than 24 hours remained every single child had evolved.

The only way for the other humans to gain levels was through their professions or classes, making people wonder what would happen when these children got those. They were relatively sure that none of the infants had classes or professions, after all.

When only hours remained before the tutorial ended, the Administrator urged them to pick up the children and hold them as they gathered. The golem had taken them all to a large field, as it spoke to them.

“Shortly, the tutorial will end. I would like to thank you all for your efforts and provide a bit of practical information. Any person, child included, you hold unto physically will be transported together with you out of the tutorial.

“Please take special notice and care for the young ones. As the first of a new generation, they are especially vulnerable and will require protection. It is my hope that you will take up this responsibility and assist them in growing up.”

With that, the tutorial ended.

They never discovered what the Administrator was. It only ever showed a single question mark when identified, and it never fought. It was just a wealth of information, quests and even gave a few seemingly friendly tips here and there.

What they didn’t know was that this Administrator was just a part of a whole. Across many tutorials, this golem existed, guiding countless humans in tutorials, that while similar, were in many ways different. All had the simple directive of leading the tutorials towards the ideal goal; either eliminating the final tutorial boss or the survival of as many people as possible.

This was just a regular tutorial. No gods were interfering, no massive battles of fate or ancient gods’ machinations trying to one-up each other.