The metro yard was still again.
No howls. No twitching limbs.
Only silence.Only the sound of his boots crunching over cracked cement and old bones.
Arjun stepped over the last Ravager — a hulking, deformed man in a shredded DTC uniform — whose skull now bled quietly beneath the imprint of a bent kukri.
He exhaled long.
– Final Kill Confirmed – Ravager Count: 20 / 20 – Local Sector – Jagatpuri Metro: Secured– Sector Status: Temporary Safe– Minor Reputation +1 (You are remembered by the surviving eyes)– Apocalypse Coin – +1– EXP Gained: +40 (Kill Efficiency Bonus Applied)
– Current Status –– Name – Arjun Rathore– Level – 3– EXP – 55 / 300– Coins – 18– Stat Points – 5– Passive Skill Point – 1
Traits:– Grit-Blooded– Ruthless Cadence– Police Instinct (Passive)
He sat down against the rusted metro carriage, drenched in sweat and gravel dust.
His breathing slowed.
The ache in his shoulders settled in like fire under skin. The kukri lay beside him, blood drying thick along the curve of its blade.
He opened his stat interface again. This time… he didn't flinch.
No blinking lights.
Just choices.
Real ones.
– Core Attributes –
– Strength – 7– Agility – 4– Endurance – 7– Awareness – 7– Willpower – 4– Instinct – 5– Stat Points to Allocate – 5
He thought back — the way the Ravagers buckled under his hits…How many times he was one inch too slow…The pain in his ribs after the fifth takedown…
He didn't need flash.
He needed to survive.
He needed to hit harder. Put things down faster.
So they couldn't get back up.
– Allocated Stat Points –
– +3 Strength → Strength now 10 – (Threshold Reached: Tier I Strength Bonus Activated) – +10% melee weapon speed – +15% physical damage – Can now wield Tier 2 blunt or bladed weapons
– +1 Endurance → Endurance now 8 – (+5% total health increase) – (+10% resistance to physical exhaustion)
– +1 Awareness → Awareness now 8 – (+10% enemy detection radius) – (+5% night vision clarity)
His hands trembled as the changes settled into his nerves. His arms felt heavier… but not slower. Anchored.
Every swing would now carry the force of his badge. His uniform. His oath.
He wasn't a soldier.
But he was the wall people ran to, when the world fell apart.
– Passive Skill Point Available –
Available Tier 1 Passives:
– Combat Breather– Fast Draw– Focus Lock– Urban Grappler– Hardened Mind– Situational Awareness – (Unlocked through usage) – +15% evasion when outnumbered – Triggers slow-time when blindsided (1x/hr)
He hovered over it for a second.
Police instinct was always reactionary. But this… this would save him before the hit even landed.
– Selected: Situational Awareness
The HUD glowed faintly, then vanished like heat off hot metal.
Everything inside him pulsed — not with power, but clarity.
– Updated Stats –
Level – 3EXP – 55 / 300Strength – 10 (Tier I Bonus)Agility – 4Endurance – 8Awareness – 8Willpower – 4Instinct – 5Traits – Grit-Blooded, Ruthless CadencePassives – Police Instinct, Situational AwarenessCoins – 18
He leaned back and looked up at the half-buried metro sign.
"Jagatpuri East."
He was alone.But the people hiding in the nearby building weren't.
They'd seen what he did.One or two had even prayed when the monsters fell.
He wasn't a savior. Not yet.
But for tonight…He was proof that monsters could bleed.
And the badge tucked inside his ruined jacket still meant something.
Even in the ashes.