I didn't need to keep wondering if all of this was real or drive myself insane with it. My memories of the worlds were part of the proof of it all, and the greatest proof of all was the system screen in front of me.
If I weren't an avid reader of novels, I would probably be so confused by this situation that I would go crazy. However, I knew the best approach now was not to seek answers to unanswerable questions. What I should do was focus on what I could do.
"Hmm... This isn't one of those random class selection systems. Well, it could be a perk given to me as a transmigrated character... Now, among my options, which one has the best potential?" I asked myself with one hand on my chin.
As in every MMORPG, it was necessary to think wisely about which class I would choose. Apart from the future 'specializations' of each class, there was no further information such as skills, attributes, or starting items. This meant my only option was to make a decision based on a superficial analysis.
At first glance, choosing Warrior tempted me the most. I disliked the idea of simply observing the battlefield from afar, waiting for countless fireballs to obliterate my enemies.
Following that same logic, a Mage was certainly out.
A Warrior could fight with anything that resembled a weapon or even bare fists. As I would need to climb the Tower of Babel, like most young people in Aland's current society, I could adopt a fighting style similar to Bram Barleyglory, the Bloody Swordsman, or Dasroy Jassan and focus entirely on strength, brutality, and endurance.
The downside of this was that someone like the protagonist Hunter Ruse could eventually finish me off thanks to his ability to copy skills. As much as I admired Hunter Ruse tremendously, I wouldn't want to have my sword techniques learned by him if we ever fought.
To make a better decision, perhaps I needed to think a little beyond generic classes.
The character I had been reborn into, Brandon S. Oneal, was just a fourth-rate comic relief character who appeared a few times in scenes where he was always the underdog.
Then, when I started to get stronger, Hunter Ruse would realize the difference from his other regressions — since he was able to go back in time when he died — and our paths would cross a few times.
For this reason, I discarded the Ladin and Archer classes. Rogue was ruled out because Hunter Ruse already had skills that could match or even surpass all the Rogue skills I could get. And Archer wasn't an option because of vulnerability, although Archer Coyle of the Oukiwa Kingdom was one of my favorite characters.
With four of my six options ruled out, I was left with a Warrior, which I hadn't completely ruled out, or a Summoner.
I obviously, and quickly, decided to be a Summoner.
You may be shouting and saying now: "Why Summoner?! You've just said that you'd hate to be in the background, just watching the battle. Isn't that exactly what a Summoner does?"
I would categorically answer that you're wrong.
Only weak Summoners who rely solely on their fragile summons are content to watch, but I would never be a one-trick pony.
Summoning skills were also extremely rare in Aland, whether inside or outside the Tower of Babel, belonging only to Lichs and Necromancer Lords of the Elvale Abyss and to rare and weak Blessed Ones. Hunter Ruse himself had never faced a Summoner, and evolving this class to a frightening level was my hope of not becoming another victim of the main protagonist's bloodthirsty path.
[Class Selected: Summoner].
[Do you confirm your choice? YES/NO].
I clicked YES and the screen flashed, refreshing itself. Then a series of new notifications appeared.
[Player Number 2 chooses the Summoner Class.]
[Acquiring all data on the Summoner Class and its Specializations...]
[Data Acquired.]
[Installation required. Do you want to start installing your new class now? YES/NO.]
My eyebrows rose when I read that last message. An installation? I was being referred to as Player 2, but I didn't remember Hunter Ruse needing an installation for his system. Or did he? Well, it had been many years since I read the first chapters of The Journey Beyond, so it was possible that he had.
So, with only one eye open out of fear, I tapped YES and closed my eyes.
"..."
I expected something to happen, but I didn't feel anything after I touched it. I slowly opened one of my eyes and saw the system telling me something.
[Installation in progress: 0%.]
I looked at this screen for a few moments and noticed it had updated to 1%. It wasn't a quick update, but it was painless.
*Grrrr*
Suddenly, my stomach growled loudly, like a rabid street dog.
According to my memories, I had come home from work the night before and gone straight to bed, too tired to eat dinner or even shower. That explained why I was starving so early in the morning.
'So it's time to see my new family...' I thought, looking at the handle of my bedroom door.
As soon as I left the room, I found myself in a short corridor with three other doors. One of these doors was in front of mine, and I knew it was my parents' room. The door next to mine was my little sister's. And the last door was the bathroom.
Following the small corridor towards the light, I found the largest room in our little old apartment: the living room. It had more furniture than my bedroom. In the middle of the room, a table with four chairs stood. To the right was the kitchen, and to the left was the window that naturally illuminated the whole place. Near the window, there was a sofa and a small table with a small battery-operated radio.
The apartment was empty and quiet, with a bit of wind and city noise coming through the window—horses galloping, shopkeepers shouting, and carriages rolling by.
At first, I was a little disappointed that my parents had gone to work without wishing me a happy birthday, but just as I started walking towards the kitchen, my father, mother, and sister suddenly stood up from behind the counter.
"SURPRISE!" they shouted in unison.
My mouth dropped open, and a silly, excited smile spread across my face.
"Oh~ Happy birthday, Bran," said my mother affectionately, coming to hug me.
"Today is Brother Bran's day!!!" shouted my sister, Marceline, as she ran up to hug me.
For an obvious reason, I felt my chest fill with love. In my old life, I was the only child of a young couple who died in a car accident. I was raised by my grandparents, but they died a year after I graduated from high school. So it wasn't just that I was suddenly living as Brandon, but also having a complete family — it was a life far from ordinary.
They hugged me, showed me a chocolate cake with some candles, and sang happy birthday to me. When we were all sitting at the table, Marceline asked:
"Brother, brother! What did you think of the cake?"
She was leaning forward with a bright smile, her missing teeth adding to her charm. She was around sixteen now, but she was so outgoing that sometimes she still seemed like a child.
I took a bite of the cake and put a generous amount into my mouth. To my surprise, it was one of the tastiest cakes I had ever eaten. The chocolate flavor wasn't artificial, and the peanut butter frosting was delightful.
"It's very tasty," I replied, still with my mouth full.
"I chose it! Did you know?"
I quickly ate another piece. "Ehh? Did you choose the cake?"
Marceline nodded quickly.
"You nailed it!"
In fact, Brandon's favorite flavor for cakes was vanilla. So, even though I was lying, I knew I'd made the right choice when I saw her eyes light up with pride. She looked at our mother and said:
"I told you, Mom! I told you he really liked chocolate!"
"You really got it right this time because last year you chose a mint-flavored cake for your father. Do you remember?" my mother asked.
"That was... That was..." Marceline tried to argue, but she couldn't.
Our financial situation was so bad that we could only afford to buy cake ingredients once a year. That year, it had been my turn to receive a birthday cake, and that meant that no one else would have a cake until next year. Deep down, Marceline still carried the guilt of having chosen the wrong flavor for our father.
My mother, always perceptive, quickly realized that the mood could turn bad and laughed at Marceline's cute expression, prompting my father and me to join in.
My mother's name was Fumiko Shibutani Oneal. She was the daughter of Eastern immigrants and the most skilled accountant in a small neighborhood office. It was from her family that my siblings and I inherited our almond-shaped eyes and black hair. Sure, it was also from this part of the family that we all had the surname Shibutani.
The table became a little quiet after Marceline had calmed down. It was then that my father said to me:
"Brandon, I know you want to help us with the bills, but you don't have to work at the pier today. It's your birthday. Go spend time with friends, relax, or find a peaceful spot to study. You like that, don't you?"
I looked at my father and nodded.
It was strange. Neither he nor my mother had asked me yet if my divine power had awakened.
Through Brandon's memories, I knew that this was an almost forbidden subject under the roof of this small, old apartment. My parents didn't want me to become a Climber because, obviously, entering the Tower of Babel was too dangerous.
Most of the Blessed received simple, weak Blessings. My mother had the ability to manipulate small portions of water, such as gathering fragments of water around her and turning them into a sphere. However, she couldn't throw this sphere more than a few centimeters before it broke apart.
My father, John Oneal, on the other hand, had a more powerful skill that was useful for his work. He could double his strength a few times a day, which was considered a very rare ability. But my father never even considered the possibility of becoming a Climber. My mother would never allow him to do that because we'd be beggars without the money from his work at the port.
So, even though it was my birthday, it seemed like any other day of the week to everyone else in the house. After our breakfast with birthday cake, my mother went to work, Marceline went to school, and my father also went to work. I had the whole apartment to myself.
Coincidentally, my Blessing was about to awaken.
[Installation in progress: 99%.]
[Installation in progress: 100%.]
[Installation Complete!]
[You have received all the basic skills of the Summoner Class. To check, open your General Window.]