我Huff. Huff. Huff.

"What? Where am I?"

In the middle of the night, in a small cramped one-bedroom apartment, Ryan sat up, sweating profusely. He looked around and stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar room.

For a second, it felt as if he had just woken up from a bad nightmare, but how could it be possible? Something like that couldn't just be a dream... it was real.

Everything was real, yet now he was back in his old apartment? How was this possible?

Ryan clutched his throbbing head, not understanding anything that was happening. He then turned to look at the phone that was next to him beside his pillow. "Date? what date is it?"

He hurriedly grabbed it and swiped it open, only to be utterly shocked the next instant.

"December 31st... It is December 31st?" He absent-mindedly stared at the date. His eyes then moved hesitantly to the next important thing... time.

11.55 pm.

At this point, Ryan completely snapped. A maniacal look appeared on his face as he continued staring at the time. As realization slowly sank into him, this madness morphed into a smile.

That's right. There was no need for him to panic. In about 5 minutes, everything would be clear, and everything would be resolved.

Did he just wake up from a long neverending nightmare, or did he... come back in time?

Ryan's heart pounded loudly as he found himself wishing for the latter against all his common sense. Maybe... just maybe, it was true? What other explanation could there be?

11.55... 11.56... 11.57... 11.58... 11.59...

The 5 minutes ran out pretty quickly, and all the while, Ryan simply stared ahead at the wall in front of him; now it was finally the time.

12.00 pm

The phone in his hand buzzed with many random messages wishing happy new year. However, Ryan didn't care about any of that. His gaze was still only fixated on the blank wall in front of him.

And the next second...

12.01 am

[Ding. Welcome to the game Apocalypse Online]

[Ding. Player Scanning in progress]

A strange translucent blue screen flashed in front of him.

Ryan did not need any more confirmation about his sanity. He was not crazy. He had actually come back in time! He did not care what exactly happened or how it happened.

All he knew was that he had somehow received a second chance! He had no idea how he got it, but he was not planning to let it go to waste!

Snapping him out of his thoughts, a new message flashed in front of him.

[Ding. Based on your overall status, the following classes are available to you]

[Berserker]

[Brawler]

[Hunter]

[Mage]

[Merchant]

[Chef]

[Thief]

[Swordsman]

..

..

..

[Ding. Please select a class at the earliest. It is important for your survival]

Ryan, however, ignored this and had already jumped out of his bed. Of course, he was not going to pick a class from this list. He knew better!

Selecting a class as soon as possible was indeed key to survival, but he knew the method of obtaining a hidden class, something that wasn't listed in the beginner's menu.

Grabbing the old pizza on the table, Ryan opened his room door and then rushed out.

He ignored the other people standing in the corridor, probably from the shock of seeing the system screen, and ran past them. Time was of the essence here.

Luckily, there weren't too many people around. It was the new year's night, and many were out partying. Ryan took the stairs and soon reached the street downstairs.

As a college student, he lived in a small low income apartment complex located somewhat close to his college campus, so the alleyways in this location were shady and narrow, often containing stray animals.

And this was exactly what Ryan wanted as well.

He ran into one alleyway after another, in between the next to next buildings, searching for something. He then finally stopped at the third turn.

Inside this small dark space, right in between two giant trash bins, there was a small wounded dog. It was a fancy husky breed dog, but its right leg was missing, so it seemed to have been thrown out to fend for itself.

Growl! The dog snarled as soon as it saw the intruder. It did not like the look on Ryan's face. It was definitely the look of someone who would mess with it.

The dog was not wrong. Ryan was indeed here to mess with it, and he had no intentions of leaving after hearing this weak growl.

"Here, doggo. Eat this." Ryan opened the pizza box he was carrying and threw a slice.

He even had a smile on his face, but at this moment, it only looked like the smile of an uncle trying to lure a young girl.

The dog looked at him warily.

"Nice and yummy pizza. See. Eat it. Come on." Ryan took a slice for himself and started eating it, hoping that this would help. "Come on. Come on. Come on."

He clenched his fist and chewed on the day-old pizza as if his life depended on it. In many ways, it did. If he could somehow get this dog to like him, then everything would be...

"Come on." He threw another slice at the dog.

This one had a small piece of salami sticking to it. Perhaps because the dog smelled this and it was too much for it to resist, it gave in to the temptation and started eating it.

Ryan instantly revealed a big smile. He now walked closer to the dog and petted it, giving it another slice.

The dog as well innocently licked his hands, thanking him for the food. As it had been starving for several days, Ryan might as well be a god to the dog.

Hook! Line and Sinker!

The next second, Ryan got what he wanted. In front of him, another new message popped out.

[Ding. You have unlocked the special class Beast Tamer]

[Ding. Do you wish to select this class? Yes/No]

"Hell yes!" Ryan did not hesitate and instantly clicked yes.