Kael stood in the sunlight for a full minute just breathing. The air tasted different up here. Cleaner. No mold or old blood. His arm was still bleeding through the bandage but it had slowed down.
The safe zone was right there. Maybe fifty meters. He could see people inside. Dozens of them. They were watching. Some of them had weapons. Makeshift stuff like pipes and boards.
"We made it," Sarah said. She sounded surprised.
"Don't jinx it." Kael pushed off the wall. His legs felt like rubber. "We still need to go back for the others."
Cruz was checking his empty pistol. Useless now. He threw it into a trash can. "The department store is what, fifteen minutes back through the tunnel? Twenty?"
"Less if we run," Maya said. "But those goblins are still out there. The ones that were surrounding the store. They didn't just disappear."
Kael pulled up his map. The red dots were still clustered around the department store. Maybe thirty of them. But there was a path. A narrow gap on the east side. If they came up from the subway entrance two blocks over, they could approach from behind.
"We don't go back the same way," he said. "There's another subway entrance near the store. We come up behind them."
"And then what?" Marcus asked. "There's six of us and thirty of them. Even with your fancy electrocution trick, there's no water up there."
Kael thought about it. His head was pounding. The swollen eye wasn't helping.
"We don't fight them all," he said. "We create a distraction. Draw them away. Then the civilians run for the safe zone while the goblins are chasing us."
"That's a suicide mission," Jen said.
"Maybe. But it's the only way."
Maya shrugged. "I've done dumber things."
Cruz looked at Kael for a long moment. Then he nodded. "You've gotten us this far. I'll follow."
Kael didn't feel like a leader. He felt like a guy who was too tired to be scared. That was probably the same thing.
They rested for ten minutes in the safe zone. Claimed their free items. Drank water. Kael used his last health potion. The cuts on his arm closed up but left scars. The system was weird like that.
He checked his stats again. Level 7. HP 165. MP 85. STR 8, AGI 16, INT 23, VIT 9. His build was coming together. Glass cannon. Fast and smart but one good hit could still kill him.
The bone staff was down to 40 durability. He needed a real weapon. Or a way to repair things.
The Shop had nothing useful. Just the same basic items. He bought another rope. You never know.
"Ready?" Maya asked.
No. But he nodded anyway.
They took the second subway entrance. It was closer to the department store. The tunnel was dark but short. No monsters this time. Maybe they'd killed them all. Maybe there were more deeper down. Didn't matter right now.
They came up in an alley behind a pawn shop. The department store was two blocks east. Kael could see the metal shutters. The goblins were still there. Pacing. Hissing. Waiting.
"How do we draw them away?" Sarah whispered.
Kael looked around. There was a car. Old sedan. The windows were busted. The tires were flat. But the gas tank might still have something.
"Fire," he said. "Goblins hate fire. I noticed it back at the first safe zone. When the shaman died, the little ones ran from the burning car."
"You're going to set a car on fire," Cruz said.
"I'm going to try."
He crept toward the sedan. The goblins were on the other side of the building. They couldn't see him. Not yet.
The gas tank was on the side. He could smell the fuel. A tiny leak. Perfect.
He took out his dagger and scraped it against the concrete wall. Sparks. Nothing. He tried again. Harder. A spark caught. The fuel ignited.
The fire spread fast. Faster than Kael expected. The whole back of the car went up in seconds. Black smoke poured into the sky.
The goblins turned. They saw the flames. They screeched. A few of them ran toward the fire. Then more. Then almost all of them.
"Now!" Kael shouted. "Run!"
He ran toward the department store. The goblins were distracted but not all of them. Three stayed behind. They saw Kael coming and charged.
He didn't have time to fight. He just ran faster. His AGI was high. He was faster than them.
The first goblin lunged. He sidestepped and kept running. The second one grabbed at his leg. He jumped over it. The third one was right in front of him.
Kael swung the bone staff like a golf club. It caught the goblin under the chin. The creature flew backward and landed on its head. It didn't get up.
He reached the shutter. "David! Open up!"
The shutter lifted. David's face was pale and sweaty. "You came back."
"I said I would."
Kael crawled inside. The others were right behind him. Maya, Cruz, Marcus, Jen, Sarah. All alive.
The civilians were huddled in the back. The woman with the twisted ankle was sitting on a mannequin. She looked better. The ankle was swollen but she could put weight on it.
"We need to move," Kael said. "The fire won't distract them for long. Maybe five minutes. Everyone up. Now."
No one argued.
He led them to the back door. The one that led to the basement. The same path he and the fighters had taken before.
"It's dark down there," someone said.
"Stay close. Hold hands if you have to. We're going through the tunnel. It's clear. We already killed everything."
"Is it safe?"
"No. But it's safer than up here."
They went down the stairs. Thirty frightened people. Some of them were crying. Some were praying. Kael didn't blame them.
Maya took the lead with her phone light. Kael took the rear. He kept looking back up the stairs. No goblins yet.
The tunnel was cold and dark. The bodies of the crawlers were still there. The civilians stepped over them. A few of them gagged. The smell was bad.
"Don't look down," Sarah said. "Just keep moving."
They walked for what felt like forever. The tunnel seemed longer than before. Kael's legs were shaking. His head was pounding.
Then he saw light. The subway entrance. The one near the safe zone.
"We're almost there," he called out. "Keep going."
The first civilians reached the stairs. They climbed up. Kael heard them cheering. Crying. Laughing.
Then he heard something else.
A screech. From behind them. In the tunnel.
He turned. Two red dots on his map. Moving fast.
"Goblins," he said. "Two of them. They followed us."
Cruz grabbed a piece of broken pipe from the ground. Marcus raised his rebar. Jen wrapped her chain around her fist.
"No," Kael said. "Keep the civilians moving. I'll handle them."
"By yourself?" Sarah asked.
"I'm faster."
He wasn't sure if that was true. But he didn't have time to argue.
The goblins came around the corner. Level 4. Both of them. Their eyes were wild. Their mouths were open.
Kael activated Detect Weakness. The weak points lit up. Throats. Same as always.
The first goblin leaped. Kael sidestepped and drove the bone staff into its throat. It gurgled and fell.
[COMBAT]
Defeated: Goblin Scout Level 4. 60 EXP.
The second one tried to run past him. To get to the civilians. Kael grabbed it by the tail. It spun around and bit his arm. The teeth went deep.
He screamed. Pain shot up his arm. But he didn't let go. He pulled the goblin close and stabbed it in the eye with his dagger. Once. Twice. Three times.
The goblin went limp.
[COMBAT]
Defeated: Goblin Scout Level 4. 60 EXP.
Kael fell to his knees. His arm was a mess. Blood pouring down. The goblin's teeth had torn through muscle.
Sarah ran back. "Kael! Oh god."
She pulled out the first aid kit. Bandages. Alcohol. She poured the alcohol on the wound. Kael bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.
"We need to get you to the safe zone," she said. "The healing bonus."
"Go. I can walk."
He couldn't really walk. But he could crawl. He dragged himself up the stairs. Each step was agony.
The safe zone barrier was right there. Ten meters. Five. He reached out his hand.
The barrier touched his fingers. Warm. Like bath water.
He fell through.
The healing bonus kicked in. His HP started ticking up. The bleeding slowed. The pain didn't go away but it became manageable.
He lay on the ground for a long time. People were standing over him. Talking. He couldn't hear what they were saying.
Then someone put a health potion in his hand. He drank it. The wound closed. Not completely. But enough.
Kael sat up. The world spun for a second. Then steadied.
"You're an idiot," Maya said. She was sitting next to him. "You could have let one of us help."
"Did everyone make it?"
"Yeah. All thirty. Plus the six of us. Everyone's here."
Kael looked around. The safe zone was bigger than the first one. More people. Maybe a hundred. Some of them had been here for days. They had tents. Fires. A system.
A woman walked over. She was older. Maybe fifty. Gray hair. She had a clipboard. A real clipboard.
"You're the one who led them through the tunnel?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Name?"
"Kael."
"I'm Patricia. I'm organizing things here. We have food, water, basic supplies. The system gives us a Shop but we need coins. You look like you know how to get coins."
Kael nodded. His arm still hurt. "Kill monsters. Complete quests. Find loot."
"We have fighters. About fifteen of them. But they're not like you. They're scared."
"Everyone's scared."
Patricia smiled. It was a tired smile. "True. But you did something today. You saved thirty people. That matters."
Kael didn't know what to say to that. So he said nothing.
He spent the next hour resting. Eating. Drinking water. The safe zone had a well. Clean water. The system provided.
He checked his notifications. He had unclaimed loot from the crawlers. Dozens of items. Crawler hides. Ichor. A few coins. Some skill fragments.
He opened the fragments. Three of them.
[SKILL FRAGMENT: DETECT WEAKNESS] Common. Already had it. He absorbed it anyway. The skill leveled up to 2.
[SKILL FRAGMENT: QUICK STEP] Uncommon. Effect: Short burst of speed. Cooldown 30 seconds. MP cost 15.
He learned it. New icon in his skill list.
[SKILL FRAGMENT: NIGHT VISION] Rare. Effect: See in darkness for 10 seconds. Cooldown 60 seconds. MP cost 20.
Rare. That was valuable. He learned that too.
Now he had four skills. Improvised Weaponry at level 2. Detect Weakness at level 2. Quick Step. Night Vision. He was becoming something. Not a hero. Just a survivor with tricks.
Maya walked over. She had cleaned the blood off her face. "There's a group forming. They want to clear the next dungeon. Level ten to fifteen. You in?"
"Not yet. I need to rest. And I need to get these people settled."
"These people aren't your responsibility."
Kael looked at David. The accountant was helping the woman with the twisted ankle. He was talking to her. Calming her down.
"Maybe not," Kael said. "But I'm not leaving them until they're safe."
Maya shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm going with the group. I need coins. The Shop has a leather armor set I want."
She walked away. Kael watched her go. She was tough. Probably tougher than him. But she didn't care about anyone. That was the difference.
Sarah sat down next to him. "You did good today."
"We lost people. In the office. On the street. A lot of people."
"You can't save everyone."
"I know." He paused. "But I want to save as many as I can."
They sat in silence for a while. The safe zone was noisy. People talking. Kids crying. Someone was playing music from a phone. It was weird. Normal. Like the world hadn't ended.
Then a notification appeared. Not a local one. A global one. Everyone in the safe zone saw it.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
Arena 07 Day 1 Complete.
Survivors: 1,247,839.
Next Phase begins in 23 hours.
Prepare for Integration.
The message faded. People started murmuring. Asking questions. No one had answers.
Kael read it three times. Day 1 complete. There were more days coming. More phases. The system wasn't done with them.
And only 1.2 million survivors. Out of how many? The city alone had millions. The country had hundreds of millions.
Most of them were dead.
"We need to get stronger," he said. "Fast."
"How?" Sarah asked.
"Dungeons. Quests. Grinding. The same way you level up in any game."
He stood up. His body ached but he could move. The healing bonus was working.
"Tomorrow morning," he said. "We go back in. The dungeon Maya mentioned. Level ten to fifteen. We clear it."
"By ourselves?"
"With whoever wants to come. But I'm going."
Sarah nodded. "Then I'm going too."
Kael walked to the edge of the safe zone. The barrier was steady here. No flickering. This one seemed stronger.
Outside, the purple sky was darkening. Night was coming. He could see shapes moving in the distance. Goblins. Other things. Bigger things.
The world had changed. He had changed with it.
He looked at his status one more time.
Kael Chen. Level 7. Survivor.
Tomorrow he would be higher.
Tomorrow he would be stronger.
Tonight he would sleep.
He found a corner of the safe zone away from the crowds. Sat down against the wall. Closed his eyes.
The last thing he heard before sleep took him was David's voice. "Kael. Thank you."
He didn't answer. He was already dreaming. Purple skies and bone staffs and the sound of goblins screeching.