John stumbled out of the Al'drul's emporium, back into the unnerving place in the middle of nothingness named Inviolable escape, and trying to ignore the all-encompassing darkness, walked towards the wooden lodge called Desperate fool's inn.

A fitting name, he thought, laughing at his strange condition. The pain was mostly gone but was now replaced with a feeling of a dull ache of an overtaxed muscle and an annoying itch of a mending bone fracture, all somewhere deep within his very being.

Grabbing the handle on the heavy wooden door, he pulled and almost fell back, surprised by the ease with the massive weight shifted.

"Hey there stranger, no need to bust our door the first time you come over." A young male voice called from the inside.

Catching it and carefully closing behind him, John stepped into a cozy tavern filled with at least a dozen large tables carved from a dark-red wood, a fireplace filled with burning logs, a young man with brown hair standing behind an ornate bar fiddling with an empty glass, and a big painting right above him with a strange lizard-lady with striking yellow eyes holding a massive wooden spear in a victory pose and standing on a corpse of a giant monster.

His embarrassment forgotten, he admired the painting for a couple more seconds before tearing his eyes away and speaking to the person behind the bar.

"Woah, I could have sworn she was looking right at me." He scratched his neck and continued, "sorry for the door, it looked much heavier and I pulled on it too much."

"Ahh, don't worry about it," he looked left and right, and leaned closer before whispering, "between you and me, she made the door exactly like that just to fuck with the newcomers coming to her inns."

"Who's she?" John asked back, also leaning closer.

The young man nodded towards the painting, "Serath, the patroness of hearth, hunt, and justified slaughter. It is a great honor to work in one of her establishments."

"Oh, and do you know what is happening with the Apocalypse we are facing?" John asked, surprised by the willingness to speak about the things Al'drul was adamant about staying silent on.

"Well… a little bit? I mean I've heard about the trial of new worlds, but it is different every time, so anything I say could bring as much harm as help. The outcome is always the same though, either you all die, become enslaved, or carve your place in the wide universe," he tilted his head to the side as if thinking about something before adding, "ohh, or you become harvested as a food source, yeah, that also happened a couple of times." He nodded twice, clearly happy he remembered that one bit.

"It is my first time having the opportunity to serve the trial so I'll try to help as much as I am allowed. Idle talk aside, can I interest you in something to eat? If I may be so bold as to recommend the roasted duck on a secret sauce, today's special. The chef was experimenting with local wildlife and managed to create something truly magnificent."

Well fuck… I don't want to be harvested as a food source, John thought, being more than a little disturbed by the jovial nature and casual disregard for billions of lives. His stomach didn't agree with him though and loudly announced its opinion on the matter.

"I… yes, I'll try the duck. How much does it cost?"

"Excellent," the youth replied and placed his palm on a small silver rectangle placed on the wall behind him. "About the price, am I correct to assume, you are the owner of this shelter?"

"Eh, yes, that is correct. Why does it matter?" John asked.

"We have a policy of rewarding all shelter owners who buy our inn as their first building with everlasting free service for both lodging, and all meals marked as basic sustenance. To prevent any misunderstandings, you have to pay for anything you wish to take out with you, and also pay for special meals with temporary bonuses to your body." The youth smiled, satisfied with John's reaction, but added, "this benefit is only for you though, your people will have to pay for everything they order. After all, we are not running a charity, and we must make the profits back somehow, right?"

John laughed awkwardly with him, nodding his head in agreement, "right."

A wooden plate suddenly popped out on the bar, filled with steaming slices of duck meat dipped in a bright red sauce, and with some flat pieces of something reminding him of pancakes on the side. "Here's your meal, it would be three pieces of white, but as I've said, it's on the house. Enjoy, and please if you can let us know about its quality, the master chef would be very grateful."

"Mhm," John nodded, grabbed the plate, and sat at the closet table.

The meat was fucking fantastic, crisp but soft, and perfectly complimented by the red sauce it was dipped in. At first, John thought it was something made from tomatoes, but after the first taste, it was obviously not. The taste reminded him of strong black pepper mixed with light chili powder, but somehow also keeping the soft sweetness and a very light sour after-taste which was mixed into the whole marvel.

After eating every scrap of food on the plate, he carried it back to the youth with a giant smile on his face. "It was fantastic, send my compliments to the chef. I don't even know what could be made differently and not make the whole experience worse."

"Of course, I'll let him know. Will you be staying for a rest?"

"No, at least not right now. Thanks for the great meal and wonderful service, I am sure I'll come by for a quick bite later this evening." With a nod and a wave, John pushed open the door and watched as it flew wide open, smacking against the wooden wall on the outside and making a small tremor run through the whole inn.

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"Oh shit!" John yelled out, and started to apologize, but stopped halfway through, after hearing the chortling laughter from the youth inside. Sighing, he only shook his head and carefully closed the stupid door behind him.

Somehow, the visit to the inn also served as a great distraction, making him forget the unpleasant ache and only feel the satisfaction of eating an awesome meal.

Such a nice solution for my food problem, and the policy is just the perfect cherry on top. Damn, I am looking forward to the day the cheeky bastard figures out I am the only customer who can come here.

Grinning, John slowly walked in front of the archway, and after closing his eyes stepped through. Feeling a solid ground under his feet, he looked around and saw his bedroom and the archway turning transparent, and in a couple of seconds vanishing from sight.

Now, standing here, John had to face the question of what to do. His previous plan was to stay around the Valiant's stand, hunting alone or with mixed groups, but now with easy access to both the merchant and the inn, he could move more freely. Another thing to consider was his knowledge of card prices. It was unfortunate he was kicked out from the emporium before spending his remaining funds, but it was ok. He was certain the merchant helped him, and even tried to hint at something, but was somehow punished for it.

Wait, could he have been hit with the same pain I was? Maybe it was a punishment from the system for breaking the rules…

He kept thinking about it for a while, but with nothing concrete, he was unable to come to any meaningful conclusion and decided to leave that for later. The other thing he had decided on was what cards he would buy first. He was so far ahead with his combat potential, he felt buying uncommon modification cards for his abilities wasn't currently necessary, and remembering the difference in his Focus and Vitality becoming rank E, it felt like a good idea to cover his weaknesses by making himself a little stronger and faster.

Five minutes later, John stepped out of the apartment complex with a football-sized ball of crackling energy flying above his shoulder and creating meter-long streaks of lightning behind it like a comet. By his description, it looked fucking impressive, and now, it was time to test it in combat.

Unfortunately, the street he lived in was already cleared, and he turned north, walking at a brisk pace towards the outer part of the city, dominated by large factories and industrial buildings.

His first test subject was coincidentally a stray Rothound, munching on a male corpse in a blind alleyway, and John willed both minions to attack. His golden dagger unstuck from his waist, quickly cutting through the air, but a moment later his eyes were half blinded by a bright flash of light, making him blink away the line between the hound and the wisp flying above him. The damage to the beast wasn't significant, but a spot under its neck was blackened and it had trouble with coordination and movement.

By that time, his dagger already got to work, and remembering the previous fights, John guided it to stab repeatedly into its vulnerable throat and the soft belly underneath it. The second lightning bolt arced through the air roughly ten seconds later, and its collision with the hound's head left it twitching in the pool of its own dark blood.

Damn, that wisp packs a solid punch, John thought, watching the last seconds of the downed Rothound's life bleed away and drop a single blue ash.

"Hey, be careful," cried a female voice behind him, "one of the dog things is in that alleyway!"

John turned around and watched four people coming from the corner, quickly sprint towards him, and only stop after noticing the corpse behind him.

"Jen, you didn't tell me it was already wounded, we could have finished it off before hunting the other two," spoke a short stocky guy with a brown hat.

"But, it wasn't?" A tall woman with a short ponytail replied with clear confusion in her voice.

"Then how do…" The guy tried to argue back, but John spoke over them, interrupting their argument.

"Hey, thanks for the warning, but all's good."

"Who are you, I don't remember seeing your face," a new female voice joined in. "I am certain I'd remember such a handsome face before."

John shook his head, ignoring the second comment, and explained he lived a couple of streets to the south, which made the stocky guy frown.

"I've heard that a group of people from the center came through there and looted anything useful, killing everyone who tried to resist. Is that true?"

John also frowned, remembering his neighbor Mrs. Dunnings. "I wasn't there, but when I came back, my whole apartment building was stripped of all food and yes, an old lady living on the first floor was killed. Do you know who is responsible for it?"

"Not sure, guys talk about a group calling themselves the New Order and claiming the city center is now belonging to them. A crazy sort, killing anyone who disagrees or refuses to join up. If you see anyone wearing a blue scarf tied around their arm, you better run, they only go out in groups, and are more likely to kill you than not."

The woman with the ponytail added, "I've heard it started at the dormitories of Lucian's university. The students there were among the first to adapt and group up, and they quickly expanded overnight until it was too late to stop them. Now they control the cards, and have enough people to patrol the whole center."

"Yeah, luckily Fred and the guys south calling themselves the Valiant's stand put a stop to their expansion here." The stocky guy nodded.

"Who is Fred?" John asked, and was told about the group of survivors living in an abandoned factory to the northeast in exchange for some information about the Valiant's stand.

"If what you say about the shelter is true, we need to let Fredrick know. Will you join us? We could use another capable fighter."

"No, I'd rather stay on my own for now." John shook his head and prepared to go.

"Good luck… oh one last thing, the beast… it wasn't actually injured, was it?" The stocky guy asked, and John only smiled and walked out of the alleyway.

The conversation was very fruitful, but also put a complication on his plans. With another group of survivors in the northeast, this whole area was going to be mostly cleared out, leaving him either pushing further north or going northwest across the river and trying his luck in the northern part of the city.

Going across the river could be interesting because the northern part of the city, otherwise known as the gilded district, was filled with luxurious houses and was by far the most expensive locality to live in. On the other hand, getting there meant going through the Otakar's bridge and he wasn't about to risk another fight with a zone guardian.

This cemented his choice to push further, and he quickly passed through the streets until he got to the countryside with sparse housing, open fields, and a dark forest stretching wide across the horizon in the distance. Through it all, hundreds upon hundreds of zombies, dozens of packs of Rothounds, and some unknown horrors were lurking ahead, waiting for anyone foolish enough to come close.