Karma had to cover his nose as he reached the stairs.
The smell was revolting. The stench of decay had settled into the air like something you could almost touch.
Bodies were scattered across the floor, monsters and humans alike.
It wasn't a pretty sight.
He reached the base of the stairs.
Only corpses and monsters remained. Everyone else had already fled the subway.
Though the game was almost certainly still going on up above.
"God, this is disgusting," Karma muttered, pulling out his dagger as he scanned the stairwell.
Several spiders had stayed behind. Some were spinning webs, others were feeding on the bodies, and a few were laying eggs.
Deeply unpleasant.
"Is that thing seriously laying eggs right now?" he whispered to himself, pressing against the wall and leaning just far enough to peek without being spotted.
He ran Analytical Vision.
Five large spiders at level 2, one large spider at level 3, and roughly 27 eggs at level 0.
"Not much point in overthinking this," he said quietly.
Without wasting any more time, Karma reached his hand out from behind cover and activated his skill.
Golden particles began peeling away from the spiders as always, drawn into the mark on his palm.
Once he'd drained what he could, he pulled back and waited for the bad luck to do the rest.
A moment later, the highest-level spider accidentally stepped on one of the eggs.
[You have indirectly killed a Giant Spider Hatchling Lv. 0: +5 EXP]
So killing level zero monsters did give experience. Players just didn't. That was a relief, it meant people weren't going to start slaughtering each other just to grind EXP.
The other spiders apparently didn't take kindly to one of their own crushing an egg, and they started turning on each other.
[You have indirectly killed a Giant Spider Lv. 2: +100 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed a Giant Spider Lv. 2: +100 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed 3 Giant Spider Hatchlings Lv. 0: +15 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed 2 Giant Spiders Lv. 2: +200 EXP]
He kept listening to the spiders tear each other apart, filling the stairwell with shrieks and sounds he'd rather not describe.
Then the last level 2 spider came scrambling out of the stairwell. Three broken legs, several eyes damaged. It had seen better days.
Karma wasn't about to let that go to waste.
"[Sonic Pulse]!" he called out, firing a concentrated burst of sound straight at the spider's face.
It connected, but not hard enough to finish it off.
The spider locked its remaining eyes onto him and started moving in his direction, slow and deliberate and deeply unsettling.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—" Fear hit him all at once, and he fired the Sonic Pulse again and again until the skill went on cooldown.
It barely slowed the thing down.
"Crap, crap, crap," he cursed, backing away, but his nerves got the better of him and he tripped over a body.
He hit the ground hard, landing in a puddle of blood that was still warm.
His stomach turned, but he didn't let the panic take over.
His eyes shot to a battered spear lying beside the dead goblin nearby.
Right then the giant spider lunged at him, coming down to crush him.
Karma practically threw himself at the spear, and the moment his hands closed around it, he flipped onto his back just in time.
The spear drove through the spider's body with a sickening crunch as Karma braced under the full weight of it coming down.
[Giant Spider Lv. 2 killed: +200 EXP]
He grunted and shoved the body off to the side.
"Okay... that was too close," he breathed, his heart hammering and his muscles screaming from the sudden strain.
He got to his feet slowly and let go of the spear. The wooden handle had snapped and the whole thing was done for.
"Come on, Karma. One more to go," he told himself, trying to push through it as he made his way to the stairs.
There it was. The level 3 spider.
One level higher than the others, and apparently that had been enough for it to take out four of its own kind. But it was in rough shape. Every leg broken, barely able to move.
"Well, I'll take it," Karma said, walking toward it with his dagger in hand.
He didn't hesitate. He drove the blade in, again and again.
[Giant Spider Lv. 3 killed: +300 EXP]
"Gross. Good thing I'm not scared of spiders," he muttered, turning to look at the eggs still scattered around. "Hmm. Kind of feel bad about these ones."
He stood there for a moment, genuinely uncomfortable.
He was about to kill things that hadn't even been born yet. What if they turned out to be peaceful? What if he could have raised them?
It was the kind of thought he couldn't quite shake.
"Whatever. It's not like they're even conscious yet," he said finally, and stepped on the nearest egg with a grimace.
The crunch followed by the wet splat was unpleasant, but it didn't stop him from finishing the job.
[You have indirectly killed 23 Giant Spider Hatchlings Lv. 0: +230 EXP]
"Alright, that's done. Let's see how much I've collected," he said, sitting down on one of the steps. "[Status]."
---
Name: Karma Murphy
Race: Human
Age: 21
Level: 1
EXP: 1,200 / 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: 5
Speed: 6
Agility: 4
Points to distribute: 0
Gift: Fate Devourer {Maljut — 3%}
---
"Still 800 points away from leveling up. This is going to take a while," he said, getting back to his feet. "Let's see what it looks like out there."
He started climbing the stairs, trying not to think about the wet, greenish slime soaking through his shoes with every step.
It felt like the climb took forever. Not just because of the horrible sensation underfoot, or the fatigue settling into his legs, but because of what might be waiting for him at the top. He could already hear it through the walls. Car alarms, screaming, crying, sounds layering on top of each other with every step forward.
Finally he reached the top and stepped out of the subway.
He looked out at what was left of the city.
"God... this looks like hell."
________________________________________
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