"[Sonic Pulse]!" Karma shouted, pointing two fingers at a goblin like a finger gun.
A pulse of sound shot from his fingertips and hit the goblin square in the face.
He watched the goblin's long, crooked nose get crushed flat, leaving it stunned, but still alive.
Karma didn't waste the opening. He sprinted toward it as a string of glowing numbers and data in his palm took shape, becoming the dagger he had taken from a goblin earlier.
Apparently you didn't need to say a skill's name out loud to activate it, but saying it was way more satisfying than not.
He drove himself into the little green-skinned creature and buried the dagger in its chest with everything he had.
The blade punched through the goblin's skin and straight through its heart. Karma twisted the weapon, carving out more damage as the goblin stumbled backward.
[Goblin Lv. 1 killed: +50 EXP]
Karma smiled. The dagger dissolved back into a stream of pale blue data and was drawn back into him.
It turned out that converting an object for the first time required physical contact, but once something was yours, you could pull it back from a distance.
"And we're in," Karma said as he hopped up into the steam train car and stepped inside the orange zone.
The barrier flared brightly for a few seconds upon entry.
Then a number appeared on the wall of energy: 1/5.
Five person capacity, apparently.
That was more than enough for him.
"I doubt anyone's going to risk coming all the way out here," Karma said out loud, watching the monsters still fighting in front of the train.
Honestly, he'd had pretty remarkable "luck" getting here, which was ironic given a fortune of -10,000,000.
"Hmm, I wonder if..." He stretched his hand outward, toward the cluster of monsters still swarming outside. "[Fate Devourer]!"
Hundreds of golden particles began peeling away from the monsters and flooding into the mark on his palm.
Though the skill seemed to have a range limit, since the ones further away weren't being affected.
"Ha, this is kind of fun," Karma said with a smile.
Not only was he in a safe spot, he could apparently still reach the monsters outside from in here.
[You have indirectly killed a Giant Spider Lv. 2: +100 EXP]
Karma let out a low whistle. This was a pretty efficient way to farm experience.
On top of that, watching it play out helped him figure out exactly what the system counted as an indirect kill.
It seemed like if his ability caused one target to accidentally kill another, that was indirect. But if a monster died from tripping or some other self-inflicted mishap brought on by the bad luck he'd cursed them with, that also counted as indirect.
He kept watching as the monsters started dropping one by one. Between that and the sonic pulses he was firing to pick up extra experience, things were moving fast.
[Goblin Lv. 1 killed: +50 EXP]
[Warg Pup Lv. 1 killed: +100 EXP]
[Goblin Lv. 2 killed: +100 EXP]
The kills kept coming, and eventually a few viewers started taking notice.
[TomCr03: Hey, what's going on over there? Why are the monsters killing each other?]
[S41am4nd3r: Right? Did they just go feral or something?]
[TomCr03: I don't think so. Wait, what is that human doing? He's doing something to them.]
[Rexonxo_736: For real! You think he got a Gift that lets him control low-level monsters?]
[S41am4nd3r: Imagine. Though if that's the case, his strategy is terrible. I wouldn't kill the ones I could control, I'd save them to use against stronger monsters later.]
[Rexonxo_736: Fair point. Still, he's interesting. I'm keeping an eye on him.]
While the viewers speculated, Karma was starting to feel his arm give out.
Not just tired either. His veins were burning.
Some kind of side effect from overusing the skill?
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[Spirit +5%] [Attribute Points +3]
A robotic voice announced inside his head.
Karma exhaled with relief and let himself drop to the floor.
His left arm, where the mark was, was on fire.
The rest of him didn't feel much better.
"So going overboard with the skill has consequences, huh? Fair enough, I was getting a little too comfortable," he said, sitting down. "[Status]."
---
Name: Karma Murphy
Race: Human
Age: 21
Level: 1
EXP: 50 / 2,000
Fortune: -10,000,000
Spirit (Colorless): 5%
Spells: [None]
Techniques: [None]
Skills 3/5: [ {Analytical Vision} — {Inventory} — {Sonic Pulse} ]
Physical Attributes:
Strength: 7
Constitution: 3
Speed: 6
Agility: 3
Points to distribute: 3
Gift: Fate Devourer {Maljut — 3%}
---
He read through his status carefully.
The first thing he focused on was his Gift, specifically the {Maljut — 3%} entry.
That number hadn't moved since the last time he checked.
"Hmm, does it only go up when I absorb a skill?" he wondered.
Though if that was the case, he'd need to absorb a hundred skills to hit 100%, and that didn't exactly sound realistic.
He also wasn't entirely sure what "Maljut" referred to. Maybe it was the name of the skill's current phase.
"How should I split these points?" he thought out loud.
He'd gained 5% Spirit and 3 attribute points.
Based on his knowledge of video games, Spirit probably worked like mana or stamina, something he'd guessed since he had no magic stat but did have sections for spells and techniques.
As for his attributes, he wasn't sure where to invest.
"What do I actually need right now?" he asked himself.
His strength and speed were decent enough. His constitution and agility were the weak spots.
"Alright, I think I know," he said, putting two points into constitution and one into agility.
He didn't feel any different, but with numbers that small, that was expected.
"Okay, enough resting. Time to get back to work," Karma said as he got to his feet.
His arm was still a little numb but the burning had faded, which meant it was time to get moving again.
But when he looked up, the monsters outside were already gone, cleared out by Marcus and his crew.
Who were now heading straight toward him.
"Tch. Of course."
________________________________________
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