Rushing into things without much of a plan had become something of Luke's modus operandi, but things were happening at such a high rate of speed that he was getting breathless just thinking about it. All he could do was react to events as they unfolded. Lately, a new feeling of looming danger had settled as a weight around his neck as well, a feeling he couldn't identify. It wasn't Alan, or the more difficult dungeons, or even gangs and countries being after Lifeweavers for their healing abilities. No, it was something else.

  A bit distracted from thinking, he fed Smudge another monster core. The little voidling had appeared from an egg found in a dungeon somehow connected to The Fallen Shepherd. The man himself was dead now, by Luke's own hand, but many questions still remained, like the link to the void and the pet now eating, tucked away in some alternative dimension inside Luke's interface. Relian had set even more events into motion, things beyond Luke's understanding. To say it irked him would be to put it lightly, but there was nothing to be done about that now. He'd just have to react when the effects made themselves known, like with everything.

  But that wasn't it either. Something else was coming, something big. Monsters were getting stronger, and dungeons more difficult. So far, humanity had kept pace for the most part, but would they be able to keep it up? Guide had been silent all this time. And now, Integrated from other systems were popping up in the same dungeons as human Integrated. A sign of things to come, perhaps? If they were to face the void together at some point in the distant future, it would make sense to introduce them as allies sooner rather than later. Not that the assholes Luke and his party met could be described as allies by any definition of the word. They'd been murderous bastards who wouldn't stay dead no matter how many times they were put down.

  Was that it? The reason for the anxious feeling in his chest? Maybe. Maybe not. For now, it didn't matter. Once he found and rescued Dot and dealt with Alan, then he would be able to slow down and relax a little. At least he hoped so, because this wasn't sustainable. A couple of months of just doing the occasional dungeon and practicing enchantment would be like a well-deserved vacation. And in a city like New York? That would be quite an experience.

  It took almost another full hour of running and the occasional Weavestep jumping to make it to Newark, and another thirty minutes before he found a large body of water without walkable bridges. Once across, running alongside traffic on the Vincent R. Casciano Memorial Bridge, not a pleasant experience, Luke found himself in what a sign told him was Greenville. It was here he got the first inkling that things perhaps weren't as they should be. Few people were out and about despite it being early morning on a Friday. Kids should be heading to school and adults to work, but the streets were empty of both pedestrians and cars.

  Weaver's Perception warned him of several portals either open or about to open nearby, with many deeper into the metropolitan area. Slowing down to a walk, Luke caught glimpses of people inside buildings, but few braved the streets. In the distance, he saw what might be the reason for it. A monster.

  Toader. Level 16.

  It looked a whole lot like the protagonists in a game he'd played as a kid, Battletoads on SNES, except uglier, if that was possible, and taller. The damn thing reached up to the second floor of the building it walked past. It peered in before catching a glimpse of Luke standing in the middle of the road.

  "Come on, then!" Luke shouted, waving for the thing to approach.

  Donning the robe, Unwavering Robe of The Fiend, and his new weapon, Mutable Blade of The Lilineese, turning it into a metal staff with a solid amount of heft to it, Luke took a step forward. A few people watched, peeking out from windows. Rather than charge, the damn monster took one look at Luke, then turned and fled.

  Luke followed. "Hey!"

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

  The lumbering toad walking on two legs didn't stand much of a chance. Luke caught up within a block and slammed the staff into the monster's back knee, forcing the monster to the ground. It let out a croak and turned in the air as it fell, swiping with one long, muscled arm. Rather than just block, Luke chose to activate a skill he hadn't used much.

  The Healer's Staff [Active. Mana Cost: Low]: Turn your weapon indestructible for a brief moment.

  Its description didn't seem like much, but it obscured the most important part. Rather than just making your staff indestructible, it also turned into an impenetrable barrier. The toad's blow stopped dead. All that momentum needed to go somewhere, and when it couldn't make Luke budge a single inch, it traveled back into the monster's arm. It squawked in pain, but the Toader's misery didn't last long. A moment later, Luke held the monster core in his hand.

  People were emerging from their low apartment buildings and small houses, heading toward him. Not wanting to put up with the attention, Luke set off running after looting the monster corpse, of course. A monster just wandering about wasn't something he'd seen before. It must've left a dungeon through one of the many portals around. Wasn't there enough Integrated to deal with them all? Monsters needed to be above a certain intelligence threshold to even leave. This one hadn't seemed all that smart, but perhaps it had been ordered out by a boss. If that was the case, there should be more of them about, shouldn't there?

  Seeing no other monsters, Luke kept up his run, still heading east. When he hit I-78, it looked like a mess trying to get past it. If he remembered correctly from his only experience with NY, TV shows, once he got past and headed east again, he'd just hit another large body of water. While he wouldn't mind getting a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, he chose to start heading north instead, to look for a bridge.

  On the way, he ran past a portal with a large crowd surrounding it. By the look of things, most of them were Integrated. He considered heading into it, but decided against it. Dot took priority. After rescuing her, there would be plenty of time to mess around with monsters.

  Boon of Potential grants you an attribute point (+1 Endurance).

  A welcome surprise as he kept up with the running, still searching for a bridge to cross over. He wasn't keeping a close track of how many attribute points the boon he picked at the start of becoming Integrated had netted him, but at this point, he had to be getting close to the +50 in an attribute some of the other boons provided. While it took a little time to grind attributes up, with some being more difficult than others, Luke hadn't noticed much of a slowdown. As long as he kept going, attributes came at a good pace. It was a choice, and one he stood by, picking Boon of Potential.

  Growing tired of not finding the right way, Luke brought out his phone to check in with a map and GPS, but some notifications caught his eye instead. Headlines.

  RISING UNEMPLOYMENT WILL LEAD TO CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES - INTEGRATED TAX SUGGESTED.

  A QUARTER OF US STATES DARK FOR SEVERAL HOURS - ELECTRIC GRID UNDER ATTACK?

  FIND THE BEST GRIND SPOTS - BECOME A TOP INTEGRATED!

  PENTAGON REPORTS IRAN NUCLEAR ATTACK CAPABILITIES NEUTRALIZED.

  INTEGRATED FROM CHINA FIRST TO REACH LEVEL 50.

  CANADA IS STILL FINE.

  "Phew, at least Canada is fine," Luke said, shaking his head. It read as a joke headline, but when he tried to read the article, it was behind a paywall. Who the hell pays for news anymore?

  Like Ray had told Luke, society was in a state of upheaval. With so many changing their lives by becoming Integrated, holes in the workforce meant some services wouldn't stay up and running. Someone attacking the grid might not be a thing. Perhaps it was just that the electric companies couldn't keep up since they'd lost so many workers. He was just guessing, of course, but as he ran, many shops were closed. He'd yet to see a single bus running, not even a taxi, and even McDonald’s had a sign out front begging for people to apply to open positions. People went into dungeons rather than work, and who could blame them?

  On a whim, he opened up the Integrated shop and searched for food items. There it was, with plenty of options. You could also buy items that emitted warmth and light, and even shelters. That meant that whatever happened, people wouldn't starve as long as Integrated killed monsters. If society collapsed, it wouldn't be the end. The System would provide for those who participated.

  The news about Iran's nukes was a little more worrying. If WW3 broke out, that wouldn't end well. Luke had proven to himself that he could survive a whole lot of radiation, but not everyone had that ability.

  "Finally," he said, coming up on a bridge stretching far across the water. Getting on it, ignoring the sparse traffic honking at him, Luke sped up even more. He was getting closer to Dot, getting closer to Alan, and getting closer to a reckoning that would set at least some things right.