"We're almost out of the city center!" said Grace. "It's a little hard to navigate these side streets, so keep your eyes open; don't want another monster attack like last time."

Lance looked at her with a frown, his thoughts elsewhere. How many monsters might be around them now? What would happen when they got out of this city the open world again? Would the people outside all turn against them, or maybe try to join up with whatever had created these creatures? It had been days since he'd heard anything about his family and friends from home; no word from any of them—not even a message that they were alright—had reached him in the last few weeks. That was nothing new though: things had always been like that before the end—nothing but silence from everyone except for those he saw when he visited them every once in awhile, which was only going through the motions.

Whatever the case, he was nervous for what was out there.

What if there wasn't even anything outside? The police station had been wrong, expanded beyond belief until staircases had led to everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Lance wasn't familiar enough with New York to be sure, but he was fairly confident that there had been changes to the layout of the city as well.

What if the outside was the same? Warped beyond belief, nothing like the world he had once known? What then? Would it be better to just go back inside the city that he'd slowly been refamiliarizing himself with—where people might still be alive somewhere—and wait for help or hide out? Or would he have to keep moving, looking for something that didn't exist anymore? Where could they find shelter against monsters that couldn't be killed without taking on a lot of damage themselves—a bunch of mindless killing machines that seemed impervious to all harm? Was there any way they could ever truly get away from these things?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The presence thrummed again, drawing him out of his thoughts.

As they walked, constantly on guard, Lance brought up his stats sheet.

Name : Lance Samson

─ Race : Human

─ Level : 4

─ Class : None

─ HP: 19; Magic: 21; Strength: 18; Agility: 23; Luck: 20

─ Status Points: 6

─ Skills : Speed (S) +4; Perception (P) +1; Assess (P) +1; Stealth (E) +1, Mana Manipulation (M)

─ Skill Points: 0

─ Gear: Leather Jacket; Brown Belt; Black Trousers; Blue Shirt; Gun; Knife; Ring.

─ Special Abilities: [Mindread]: Lance has the ability to read minds. [Presence Detection]: He also can sense the presence of any other person within a ten-foot radius. He can use this skill to spy on people without them knowing. [Mind Attack]: Lance can strike directly at another’s mind using his P stat (enhanced by M stat).

There were optimizations to be made.