The scene looked like something out of a movie.
It was practically apocalyptic.
Bodies on the ground, cars in flames, people screaming, monsters running loose, giant spiders crawling up the sides of buildings.
Karma remembered Belial's words. That "game" covered a 5km radius. A huge chunk of the city was caught in it.
Children, women, the elderly. None of them had been spared.
It was like a natural disaster.
He'd heard plenty about the phenomenon tied to the Tower. Heard stories about entire cities being wiped off the map.
Was that what was waiting for this place?
His stomach turned.
It was getting harder and harder to process what was happening.
At first, Karma had actually seen it as an opportunity. A challenge. Something exciting that would make his boring life worth living.
But now he was seeing it for what it really was. Not a game. A tragedy.
"Krrri!" a spider shrieked somewhere in the distance, followed by a cluster of smaller ones.
Karma quickly activated {Analytical Vision}.
[Giant Mother Spider Lv. 5]
His heart sank.
Level five.
After watching a level 3 spider tear through five level 2s without breaking a sweat, he had a pretty good sense of what the gap between levels actually meant. And he'd barely survived a dying level 2.
If he tried to fight that thing, he was dead.
The only viable strategy here was the legendary technique known as: run for your life.
He bolted as fast as his legs would carry him, a car-sized spider and a trail of smaller ones hot on his heels.
Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe putting those points into constitution was already paying off, but Karma noticed he wasn't gassing out as quickly as he should have been.
He weaved around burning cars and other debris in the road, ducking past a few other monsters along the way.
Just as he cut around a corner, a warg pup launched itself at him and went straight for his throat.
Karma caught its jaw with one hand and held it shut, while his other hand materialized the dagger and drove it into the creature's stomach, over and over, until it stopped moving.
[Warg Pup Lv. 1 killed: +100 EXP]
The moment the notification hit, Karma tossed the body behind him and kept running.
The spider spotted the fresh kill and stopped to devour it.
He didn't stick around to watch. He kept sprinting, and then at the end of the street, he spotted a line of police cruisers blocking the road.
Officers were firing on a group of goblins and warg pups. Apparently conventional weapons worked on these things, which surprised him. In every light novel he'd read, human guns were basically useless against monsters.
He could see civilians crouched behind the patrol cars, so he made a beeline for them.
"Watch out! It's doing it again! Everyone take cover!" one of the officers shouted.
That's when Karma noticed a goblin that stood apart from the rest. Feathered crown, a staff in hand, and in the middle of some kind of strange chanting dance.
He didn't hesitate. {Analytical Vision}.
[Goblin Shaman Lv. 4]
The goblin was mid-ritual, reciting a spell.
Without a second thought, Karma thrust his arm out toward it.
"[Fate Devourer]!" he called out, the mark on his palm pulling golden particles away from the goblin as he ran toward the police line.
He kept the absorption going, dragging in whatever he could from the shaman and the monsters nearby.
Behind him, the spider had finished its meal and was back on the hunt.
Karma pushed harder and finally reached the police cruisers, mark still active, still pulling.
The spider was almost on top of them.
But right then, the shaman finished its spell, and a massive fireball materialized at the tip of its staff.
It raised the staff to throw it.
And tripped.
The fireball hit the ground directly beside it. The explosion tore through the surrounding monsters, and the blast caught the spider that had been chasing Karma.
[Goblin Shaman Lv. 4 killed: +400 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed 5 Goblins Lv. 1: +125 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed 2 Goblins Lv. 2: +100 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed 3 Warg Pups Lv. 1: +150 EXP]
[You have indirectly killed 15 Spider Hatchlings Lv. 1: +150 EXP]
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[Spirit +5%] [Attribute Points +3]
Karma let out a low whistle. That was a solid haul.
Though not everything was dead.
The Giant Mother Spider was still standing, only slightly stunned and singed from the blast.
And plenty of hatchlings were still crawling around.
"Now! While it's disoriented! Open fire!" the officers shouted, unleashing everything they had at the spider.
Karma ducked behind one of the patrol cars and watched.
Having armed backup was reassuring, but he couldn't just sit there and let them handle it alone.
"[Fate Devourer]," he said quietly, pulling golden particles from the spider and its brood.
Almost immediately, every shot started landing. Joints, eyes, weak points, the rounds were finding their mark, dealing real damage.
But it still wasn't enough to put it down.
The spider coiled its legs beneath it, and then launched itself into the air above them.
"Oh no..." Karma breathed, watching the massive thing come crashing down toward them.
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