Awakening a 10,000x Skill Proficiency Multiplier in the Apocalypse

ZAAAAP!

The teleportation transit back to the Valley of Cinders was significantly less jarring than the trip to the slums. Sebastian was getting used to the nauseating sensation of having his digital atoms rearranged. He materialized on the large stone platform of the Sanctuary grand hall, immediately followed by the heavy thudding arrival of Galleon.

THUD!

The dwarf stumbled off the glowing runes, clutching his stomach and groaning loudly. ”Ugh...” He took one look at the towering black pillars, the vaulted glass ceilings, and the perfectly smooth walls of the citadel, and his jaw practically hit the floor. The ambient heat of the valley outside was totally gone, replaced by cool, clean air.

”Holy shit, by the sweat of the First Maker,” Galleon breathed, his alcohol-induced buzz instantly vanishing. He reached out with a shaking hand to trace the intricate masonry of a nearby pillar. ”This is Tier 5 Fortress Architecture. Seamless integration. No mortar. It’s conceptually fused stone! Who the hell built this? Where are the workers?”

”I plugged a leak,” Sebastian said with a tired sigh, stepping off the platform. ”Welcome to Sanctuary, stubby. Don’t scratch the damn walls.”

”Sebastian!”

Valerie shouted across the massive and empty hall. She was standing near the central war table, surrounded by a dozen floating and translucent blue holographic screens. The corporate heiress looked like a stressed worker who had just been handed a failing company. Her pristine blue silk robes were immaculate once again thanks to the instance reset, but her eyes were wide with sheer panic.

”We have a massive problem,” Valerie announced, swiping a glowing interface panel toward him. ”An end-of-the-world type problem, and for once, I’m not talking about real life.”

Sebastian just walked over, his ragged boots clicking against the polished floor ”Did you break the guild interface already? I just gave you admin rights five minutes ago.”

”I didn’t break anything! The game broke us,” Valerie snapped, her fingers dancing across the keyboards. ”When you planted that Mythic Guild Token, the server didn’t just register the territory. It updated the global map. It broadcasted our exact location to every single player logged into the game!”

”Yeah, I figured it would,” Sebastian said, shrugging his shoulders. ”Let them look. They can’t breaking Tier 5 walls with basic iron swords.”

”You aren’t listening to me!” Valerie practically screamed, jabbing a finger at a highly detailed map of their valley. A glowing blue icon was flashing right under the footprint of their new base. ”The scan showed what’s buried under this dirt. Sebastian, we built our base right on top of a pristine Leyline Node!”

Gasp!

Galleon let out a sound that was half gasp and half squeal. The dwarf practically threw himself onto the war table, his bloodshot eyes staring at the pulsing blue icon like a starving man looking at a roasted ham.

”A Leyline Node?” Galleon whispered reverently. ”Infinite mana? An endless power source? Boss, do you know what the fuck I can build with this? Not just a railgun. I can build a localized orbital strike cannon! Plasma turrets! I just need scrap metal! Give me metal!”

”Chill out,” Sebastian said, pushing the hyperventilating dwarf away from the screens. He looked at Valerie. ”Infinite mana is exactly why I picked this spot. My real body is going to need a massive battery to pull this place into reality when the Merge hits. So what’s the issue?”

”The issue,” Valerie said as her voice dropped to a grim whisper. ”Is that every major guild on the server just realized two players in a brand new guild are sitting on the most valuable real estate in the game. And they want it.”

She tapped another screen and brought up the global chat and the localized scouting feeds.

The chat was scrolling so fast it was just a blur of white text, but the scouting feed was crystal clear. Less than two miles away at the southern mouth of the canyon pass that led into the Valley of Cinders, a massive sea of players was rendering into the zone.

”Baron K and Viper didn’t just cry and respawn,” Valerie explained. ”They teamed up. The Golden Lions and the Crimson Skulls formed a coalition. They promised thousands of silver coins to any solo player or merc group willing to join the raid.”

Sebastian squinted at the visual feed. The sheer volume of character models was causing the canyon textures to violently lag. Banners of crimson and gold flapped in the hot wind. There were heavily armored Guardians forming a massive shield wall, hundreds of Mages organizing their spell rotations in the backlines, and swarms of Rogues flanking the ridges.

”Five thousand players,” Valerie said tightly. ”Five thousand armed, angry players marching down the canyon right fucking now. And we don’t have a single turret built yet. We have a stone box, a drunk dwarf, and a rusty dagger.”

Sebastian watched the massive army slowly advancing through the toxic smog of the valley. He could practically see the arrogant and greedy sneers on Baron K and Viper faces from here. They thought they were marching to a free real estate acquisition. They thought they were about to bully a couple of lucky exploiters out of a Leyline Node.

”Five thousand,” Sebastian mused and rubbed his chin. ”That is a lot of loot drops to organize. I really hate inventory management.”

Valerie stared at him, exasperated. ”Sebastian, this isn’t a joke! If they break the core, Sanctuary is gone. We lose our physical anchor in the real world. We die!”

”They aren’t going to break the core,” Sebastian said. He turned away and walked toward the towering titanium front doors. ”Galleon.”

”Yeah, boss?!” the dwarf snapped, practically saluting with his hammer.

”Start ripping up the floor in the east wing. Find the Leyline tap. I want those railgun blueprints ready by the time I get back,” Sebastian ordered.

”You got it! I’m gonna need wire and some highly unstable crystals!”

”Valerie,” Sebastian interrupted, cutting the dwarf off. ”Lock the doors behind me. Don’t step outside. Don’t open the gates until the screaming stops.”

Valerie gripped her wooden staff, knuckles white. ”You can’t fight five thousand people alone! It’s math, Sebastian. You’ll run out of mana. You’ll run out of stamina. They’ll just rush you until your health hits zero.”

”Princess,” Sebastian paused, looking over his shoulder with a tired, human sigh. ”I stopped giving a shit about game logic the second I logged in. I’m not going to fight them. I’m going to introduce them to a severe industrial accident.”

He pressed his hand against the heavy doors. The pneumatic hinges groaned, and the thick metal slabs ground open, letting in the harsh heat and swirling ash of the valley.

Sebastian stepped out into the desolate wasteland. He did not draw a weapon. He did not cast a protective shield. He just stood there in his ragged starter tunic as a solitary speck of grey against the imposing black backdrop of his fortress.

SLAM!

The doors shut behind him, the deadbolts locking with a heavy CLANG.

Down at the end of the valley, the vanguard of the allied army finally crested the last ashen ridge. Five thousand players stopped in their tracks as the massive and impossible Tier 5 Citadel rendered into their field of view. A collective gasp of shock and unadulterated greed echoed across the canyon.

And standing perfectly still in the open ash field, waiting for them, was the man they had come to kill.

Sebastian cracked his neck, the sound sharp in the dry air. ”Alright, let’s get this over with,” he muttered. ”Let’s see what you assholes want.”