Additionally, everything was so lifelike, sometimes to a frightening level. Alan had been genuinely afraid of dying in the last moments before he collapsed. The level of pain was unbelievable as well, the creators of the Game hadn’t mitigated that much at all. If he ended up getting hurt that much every time he went into battle, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle it…

That meant he should probably try a ranged character of some sort. A standard assault class might be best, but fighting in the front lines would probably result in Alan getting shot, or worse. So, that left becoming a sniper. That probably made the most sense; with Eve’s abilities to calculate everything, she’d be able to make all the calculations a spotter would ordinarily do. Her ability to recognize nearby enemies would be quite helpful too. Of course, a sniper would only be useful in an open field of battle, and was rather vulnerable in enclosed spaces. Maybe he could get Kitana to teach him more swordplay, or better yet be his bodyguard.

Okay, so I think I want to purchase the sniper ability, do you believe that sort of ability would be useful? Alan asked.

Affirmative. Based upon your low tolerance for pain, such a choice suits us.

Alan rolled his eyes, then purchased the Gifted and Sniper ability for 75 points. Like before, he didn’t feel any different, but once he actually used a sniper rifle he’d probably know how to use it; the sneak ability hadn’t come into effect until he began to try to sneak about. He probably should have made sure that the aliens had sniper rifles, but whatever, too late now. Human weapons seemed fairly effective too, at least at this level.

The last three points were put into improving Alan's perception, at Eve’s request. To his surprise, the range at which Eve could detect things extended a few inches as a result. He’d never bothered with such a stat in most of the games he’d played, instead deciding to invest in more important things like strength or agility or intelligence. It might be useful to have expanded senses as a sniper though, especially with Eve.

Silently, Alan pondered what to do next. He should try to prepare for the next round, which meant spending some of the 3000 credits he’d earned. If Alan recalled correctly though, the exchange rate between credits and dollars was something around $10 for every credit, which meant that he had literally made $30,000 from surviving one round in this Tutorial!

Alan could see why if this was an enhanced Tutorial, Thiago and the others had paid Pharaoh to participate in it. It did bring up the question though of why the ship’s AI had allowed him on, but he supposed that was probably an issue for another time.

Now that Alan was more awake he began feeling hungry. Alan walked back to his cot, opening up his bag and eating a grey block of food as he wandered around the edge of the bunker, examining the tables lined with items. The grey block tasted like mush, but was filling.