The small group moved through the streets for a while.
Along the way they ran into a few goblins and spiders, nothing too dangerous. Though it did slow them down, since the officers were running low on ammo and couldn't afford to be reckless with what they had left.
Eventually, they arrived. The safe zone was a shopping mall, wrapped in a red barrier with a listed capacity of 1,500 people.
1,380 were already inside.
"Tch, this one's almost full. We'll have to find another," one of the officers said, his frustration showing.
It made sense. A huge portion of the city was in danger, and safe zones were a limited resource.
"Honestly, I'm surprised there's still room at all given how many people are out there," another officer said.
"It's more understandable than you'd think," Jhonny Chen replied. "A lot of people heard that thing talk and still chose to stay home. And not everyone who tries to reach a safe zone makes it."
Fair point, Karma thought.
"Yeah. Someone on the radio mentioned another shelter earlier. We could take the civilians there," one of the officers suggested.
Karma listened and pieced it together. The officers were going street to street, finding survivors and walking them to whatever safe zones still had room.
It was a genuinely good thing to be doing. And Karma wanted in, not just out of solidarity, but because it would give him a chance to keep leveling up.
"Hey, would it be alright if I came along?" Karma asked, a little awkwardly.
Social situations weren't exactly his strong suit, and if they said no, he had no idea how he'd talk them into changing their minds.
"No. Absolutely not. We can't put a civilian at risk," one of the men said flatly.
Karma took a small step back.
So much for that. Though honestly, he'd seen it coming.
"Hold on, Erik. The kid was doing something back there during the fight. I'm pretty sure of it," Jhonny Chen cut in, his tone measured.
Karma felt a small wave of relief. Maybe it wasn't over yet.
Erik, however, didn't look convinced.
"That right? Then tell me, kid. Level and ability," he said, fixing Karma with a hard look.
Karma swallowed.
"I'm level two. My ability lets me curse enemies with bad luck," he explained, keeping it simple.
It was a clunky way to put it, but accurate enough. At its core, that was what his Gift did, inflict bad luck, with the bonus of being able to absorb other people's Gifts on top of that.
"Bad luck? That's ridiculous. Sorry, kid. You're out," Erik said without hesitation.
Karma's shoulders dropped.
He glanced sideways at Jhonny Chen, hoping for backup, but the man just gave a small shrug. Out of his hands.
Then Karma had an idea.
"Oh, and I can also read people's levels," he added quickly, just as Erik was turning to leave.
An analysis skill might not sound impressive on paper, but in a group situation it was genuinely valuable. He had a feeling that was his best pitch, since convincing Erik that bad luck was a legitimate combat ability was going to be a tough sell.
But {Analytical Vision}? That could save lives. It meant knowing before engaging whether a monster was out of their league, or whether they could take it down quickly without burning through their limited ammo.
Erik studied him for a moment. Then he made up his mind.
"Fine. You're coming with us. But don't you dare slow us down," he said.
Karma felt the tension leave his shoulders all at once.
That meant he could keep farming experience across the city with a police escort watching his back.
"You sure about this, boss? He's just a kid," another officer said.
Had Karma celebrated too soon?
The thought of being stuck waiting in a shelter for the rest of the trial was genuinely annoying. It would be a massive waste. But then again, wandering these streets alone wasn't exactly a winning strategy either. If he ran into another level 5 monster without backup, he wasn't walking away from it.
Last time he'd gotten lucky. The shaman had fired off that spell at exactly the right moment, and even then, he wasn't sure the car explosion alone would have been enough to knock the spider down. How much constitution did that thing have to be able to tank a blast like that? Way more than a 20-point stat could account for, he figured, which meant monster attributes probably worked differently from player ones.
"That's true, but the way things are right now, any help counts," Jhonny Chen said.
Karma was grateful again. At this point the guy was basically his personal lawyer.
"He's right. Now let's stop wasting time. There are people out there waiting on us," Erik said, his voice snapping back to full authority.
Karma had the urge to snap off a military salute and say "Sir, yes sir!" but held it together.
Erik wasn't wrong. This wasn't the time to mess around.
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