I stood in the dark hallway, panting heavily, the sound of my breaths echoing in the silence left behind by the fleeing lackeys. The smell of burnt flesh and charred leather emanated from the gang boss lying at my feet, reminding me of the sheer power of the magic I had just borrowed.
My right shoulder ached fiercely, as if a hot nail had been hammered into the joint. This was the price. My frail body, with a strength that did not exceed two points, could not withstand the recoil of an offensive skill from a Light Swordsman class without tearing from the inside. But I was euphoric. The pain was proof that I was alive, and that I was no longer the victim waiting for his demise in a corner.
Coin cawed on my left shoulder, his metallic coins shaking with a greedy clink.
Good job for a beginner, Master, the crow said in his hoarse voice. But leaving garbage in the hallway is uncivilized behavior. It will attract attention, and we are still in the foundation phase. Bring him into your room, and let us take a look at our real profits tonight.
I nodded in agreement. I bent down and grabbed Kyle by the collar of his burnt jacket. He was as heavy as a bull corpse, and due to my pathetic stats, it took me five full minutes of grueling, sweaty effort to drag his massive body across my doorway and dump him onto the rotting wooden floor of my room.
I closed the door behind me and locked it tightly. The room was a cramped space containing a single bed with a thin mattress and a small window overlooking a back alley the sun never reached.
I sat on the edge of the bed, breathing hard. Alright, Coin, I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I read a notification about a secret Karma Shop. Show it to me.
The metallic crow hopped off my shoulder and landed on the unconscious Kyle's chest. The crow tapped his golden beak twice on the large man's forehead.
A faint red glow emitted from Kyle's body, and thin threads of shiny black energy, resembling smoke but shimmering in the dark, rose from him. Coin opened his beak and swallowed those threads with obvious greed, his coins making a sound like gold striking gold.
A wide system screen materialized in front of me, but it did not look like the cold blue screens that other Awakened possessed. My screen was bordered by black and red patterns resembling intertwined chains.
[ Secret Karma Shop ] [ Current Balance: 15 Blood Karma Coins ] [ Note: Karmic coins are harvested through the pain, despair, and debts you impose on your enemies. The greater the opponent's arrogance and power, the higher the value of their debt. ]
I looked at the list of items displayed in the shop, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.
The list was divided into several categories: Items, Passive Skills, Contracts, and Class Upgrades. The numbers displayed there were enough to make any king or global guild master drool with greed.
[ Instant Limb Regeneration Elixir - 1000 Karmic Coins ] [ Absolute Spiritual Enslavement Contract - 5000 Karmic Coins ] [ Physical Stat Ceiling Upgrade Ticket - 10000 Karmic Coins ] [ Cloak of Concealment from System Gods - 50000 Karmic Coins ]
I looked at my pathetic balance of only 15 coins, then at the astronomical amounts required for real upgrades.
It seems the road is very long, I muttered in disappointment.
Coin laughed with his annoying voice. What did you expect, Master? To buy world domination by hitting a level four street thug with a rusty pipe? This is just the beginning. But look at the bottom section of the shop. There are beginner tools that fit our modest budget.
I scrolled down the screen and found an item glowing with a faint light.
[ Karmic Appraisal Eye - 10 Karmic Coins ] [ Description: A passive skill integrated into your left eye. It allows you to see the hidden stats of individuals, their psychological weaknesses, and the amount of bad karma they carry. A successful creditor must know the value of their prey before lending. ]
I did not hesitate for a moment. This was exactly what I needed to know who to target and who to avoid.
Purchase, I said clearly.
[ Purchase confirmed. Installing Karmic Appraisal Eye. ]
I felt a sharp sting in my left eye, as if an ice needle had been thrust into my retina. I squeezed my eye shut and covered it with my hand, enduring the pain that lasted for a few seconds before fading away, leaving behind a strange coolness.
I opened my eye. The room had not changed, but when I looked at Kyle lying on the floor, fine red text appeared above his head that had not been there before.
[ Target: Kyle ] [ Level: 4 ] [ Bad Karma: Very high. Involved in extortion, theft, and cold-blooded murder. ] [ Psychological Weakness: Extreme cowardice in the face of higher authority, and fear of the dark. ]
I smiled. Knowledge is the most powerful weapon in this world.
I got down on my knees and began searching Kyle's pockets. If this man collected extortion money all day, he must be carrying some physical assets. I found a small leather pouch containing seventy-two copper coins and three silver coins. A small fortune by the standards of the Lower District.
But more importantly, I found a black metal card bearing the emblem of a two-horned skull.
I picked up the card and examined it with my new left eye.
[ Free Entry Pass - Rusty Catacombs Dungeon - Rank F ] [ Valid for multiple uses for an individual or a team leader. ]
I looked at Coin, who was watching me with interest. Dungeons, I said in a low voice. Thugs like Kyle are just small fish. If I want to gather real karmic coins and steal valuable skills, I have to go to the place where arrogant and impulsive Awakened gather. The place where violence is legal and justified.
Dungeons are the real meat market, Master, Coin replied, flapping his metallic wings. But remember, you still have a strength of 2. If you enter a dungeon alone, the weakest slime monster will melt you alive. You need a team. Or rather, you need fools to do the dirty work for you, while you stand in the back and collect your debts.
Exactly, I said, putting the pass in my pocket. I will be their porter. No one pays attention to porters. They are just slaves who carry luggage and crystals, receiving insults and beatings from arrogant Awakened to vent their frustration.
And in my class, every physical insult is a blank check.
I tied Kyle up tightly using an old clothesline I found in my corner, and gagged his mouth with a filthy cloth. I took his comfortable leather boots, which fit my foot size perfectly, and left him there in his burnt underwear to rot until I returned.
At the break of dawn, I was standing in front of the gates of the Rusty Catacombs dungeon.
The place was bustling with activity. Novice Awakened with shiny weapons and clean armor gathering in teams, merchants selling low-quality healing potions at inflated prices, and poor porters standing in a long line waiting for a team to pick them for a day of hard labor in exchange for a few copper coins.
I stepped forward and bypassed the line of porters, heading straight for the registration booth. I showed Kyle's pass to the armored guard who stood boredly in front of the gray swirling portal.
The guard looked at the pass, then at me, and raised an eyebrow in contempt. You do not look like a team leader, boy. Where did you steal this pass?
I used my left eye quickly.
[ Target: Gate Guard Mark ] [ Level: 9 ] [ Psychological Weakness: Gambling addict heavily in debt to the Shadows Guild. ]
I pulled out the three silver coins I had taken from Kyle and passed them skillfully and discreetly into his hand under the table. The pass belongs to my guild, and I am here to accompany an elite team as a private porter. I do not think there is a problem that requires complicating matters, right?
The silver coins vanished into the guard's pocket faster than lightning. He cleared his throat, adjusted his posture, and said in a mock serious voice: Everything seems to be in order. You may enter and wait for your team in the safe zone behind the portal.
I stepped through the swirling portal. The air inside was cold and heavy with the smell of rust and old blood. The safe zone was a wide cave illuminated by magical torches, where teams gathered to organize their ranks before diving into the depths of the catacombs.
I stood in the corner, observing the teams with my left eye, searching for the perfect prey.
I was not looking for a strong, professional team. Those tend to be calm, disciplined, and do not hit their porters for no reason. I was looking for arrogance. I was looking for foolishness.
And ten minutes later, I found them.
A team consisting of three Awakened. In the front stood a young man wearing an expensive, albeit faded, red magical robe, holding a wooden staff topped with a fire crystal that flickered arrogantly. He was shouting at his two companions, a fighter with heavy armor and a female archer who looked nervous.
How could you two forget to hire a porter before entering?! the young man in the red robe shouted in a sharp, unrefined voice. Do you expect me, Garrick, the future fire mage of the Golden Lion Guild, to carry the corpses of filthy goblins with my own two hands?!
I used my appraisal on him.
[ Target: Garrick ] [ Level: 6 - Novice Fire Mage ] [ Bad Karma: Medium. Arrogant, narcissistic, tends to abuse those weaker than him to compensate for an inferiority complex toward his older brother. ]
I smiled. Garrick was the perfect client. Stupid, proud, and prone to unjustified violence.
I approached him with humble steps, hunching my back slightly to appear even weaker and more broken than I actually was.
Excuse me, great Mage, I said in a quiet, respectful voice. My team is late and they did not show up, and I desperately need to work today. I can carry all the loot you will reap with your amazing skills. I only ask for five copper coins at the end of the day.
Garrick looked me up and down, his upper lip quivering with disgust as he examined my worn clothes.
Five coins? Garrick scoffed. I will give you two coins. And if a single piece of loot falls from your hand, or if you make me wait, I will burn the hair off your head. Do you understand, scum?
I nodded quickly and painted an expression of gratitude on my face. I understand completely, sir. You are very generous.
Garrick turned to his two companions with a triumphant smile. You see? This is how you deal with trash. Come on, let us go in and clear this cave of goblins.
We walked into the dark tunnels. The caves were damp and covered in glowing moss that provided dim visibility. The fighter walked in front as a shield, followed by Garrick, then the archer, and I was in the back carrying a heavy, empty canvas bag waiting to be filled.
Coin was completely hidden inside my shadow, making no sound and not moving. This stealth ability was a basic characteristic of system spirits, and no one would notice him unless I wanted them to.
It did not take long before we encountered our first group of goblins. They were three short, disgusting creatures with pale green skin, wielding rusty daggers and snarling with saliva dripping from their mouths.
The fighter took a step back and raised his shield, but Garrick stepped forward arrogantly and raised his staff.
Get out of my way, losers, Garrick shouted, and a ball of fire the size of a large apple gathered at the tip of his staff. Fire Arrow!
The fireball shot forward and slammed into the chest of the first goblin, blowing it apart in a cloud of smoke and burnt flesh. The second and third goblins screamed in terror and tried to flee, but the fighter and the archer quickly intervened and finished them off.
Watch and learn, Garrick said, blowing imaginary smoke from his staff in a pathetic theatrical display. Then he turned to me and shouted: What are you waiting for, idiot? Go gather the magic cores and cut off their ears as proof of completion! Move!
I ran quickly toward the disgusting corpses and began to work. I used a small knife to cut off the ears and extract the small magic crystals from their chests. The smell of blood and burning was sickening, and my hands were stained with the monsters' entrails.
As I was trying to extract a crystal from the corpse of the goblin charred by Garrick's spell, the body was stiff and the crystal was stuck firmly in the burnt ribcage. It took me a few extra seconds to pry it loose.
Garrick lost his patience quickly, just as I expected. He marched toward me with angry steps, and with extreme agitation, he raised his foot covered in a heavy metal boot and kicked me extremely hard in the ribs.
Hurry up, you lazy pig! he screamed in my face. I am not paying you two coins to sleep on top of monster corpses!
I fell onto my side in the mud and blood. I felt a sharp pain tearing through my right side, and I was certain that at least one of my ribs had cracked. I coughed hard, spitting out a taste that was all too familiar in this world. The taste of my own blood.
The fighter and the archer looked away, indifferent to their teammate's unjustified brutality toward a weak porter. This was the norm in the dungeons. The law here belonged to the strong.
I placed my hand on my injured rib and bowed my head so Garrick could not see my face.
I am sorry, sir, I said in a trembling voice, pretending to be terrified and crying. I will not slow you down again.
I stood up slowly and put the crystal in the bag. Garrick turned and walked forward arrogantly, proud of asserting his dominance.
But in the darkness covering my face, my lips had parted into a crazy, demonic smile.
Before my eyes, in the middle of the cave's darkness, flashed the red screen that had become my new addiction.
[ Critical System Alert ]
[ You have taken intentional, unjustified physical damage from Entity: Garrick - Level 6 Fire Mage ] [ 20 Health points deducted. A rib has been fractured. Blood has been spilled. ]
[ Since the assault occurred within a lawless dungeon zone, karmic interest is multiplied. ]
[ A High-Yield Blood Karma Debt has been registered. ] [ Law of Restitution is available. ]
[ Available options to settle the debt: ]
[ 1. Confiscate 100 percent of his mana reserve and absorb it for yourself. ]
[ 2. Confiscate his active skill (Fire Arrow) and transfer it to yourself permanently. ]
[ 3. Reflect the physical damage multiplied by twenty, causing a complete shattering of his ribcage. ]
In my shadow, I heard Coin laughing with the clinking of his metallic coins, which now sounded to me like the sweetest symphony in existence.
I looked at Garrick's receding back in the dark tunnel.
Great Mage Garrick, you have just signed your signature at the bottom of your bankruptcy contract. And luckily for you, I am a debt collector who never forgets his clients.