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

Sebastian stood alone right in the middle of the smooth and empty crater. The Grand Arena was completely silent. The hundred thousand spectators up in the stands were frozen, and their digital jaws practically hit the floor!

In his hand, the True City Core pulsed with a heavy and rhythmic heartbeat. It looked like a massive diamond, but it felt like holding a condensed star. It radiated a pure power that made the hairs on Sebastian’s digital arms stand on end.

”Tournament is over,” Sebastian muttered, his voice echoing in the dead silence. ”Let’s go build a real castle.”

He tossed the massive diamond into his bottomless inventory. The moment the item crossed the threshold into his storage, the system finally caught up to the destruction he had just unleashed.

BING! BING! BING!

[Grand Magic Tournament Concluded!]

[Victor: Zero / The Drifter]

[Reward Distributed: True City Core]

Up in the stands, panic finally broke loose. Players and NPCs alike started screaming, pushing, and trampling each other to get to the exit portals. They had just watched a man wearing trash beginner clothes physically punch an Administrator to death and delete fifty World Bosses with a localized black hole. Nobody wanted to be anywhere near him anymore!

Valerie and Wraith carefully slid down the steep glassy slope of the crater.

Valerie’s blue robes were covered in dust, and she looked at Sebastian like he was an alien. ”You are completely insane,” she breathed, gripping her carved oak staff. ”You almost sucked us into a void!”

”Key word is almost, princess,” Sebastian replied dryly, dusting off his black leather coat. ”I had the math under control. Mostly.”

Wraith didn’t say a word. The Level 25 Assassin just offered a slow and deeply respectful nod. He knew a god of death when he saw one.

”We got the Core,” Sebastian said, his tone shifting from sarcastic to serious. ”The tutorial is wrapping up. The server is going to violently inject this game into the real world any minute now. We need to log out right now and plant this thing in the warehouse.”

”Understood,” Valerie said, her efficiency taking over. She tapped her wrist interface. ”See you on the other side. Try not to blow up the real world before I wake up.”

FWOOSH!

Valerie’s avatar dissolved into a stream of blue light. Wraith offered another silent salute and logged out immediately after her.

Sebastian took one last look at the ruined pocket dimension. ”Physics engine definitely needs a patch,” he grunted, and hit the disconnect button.

VZZZT!

The transition back to reality was like being slammed into a brick wall at high speed.

Sebastian woke up on the cold concrete floor of Warehouse 4. The heavy darkness of the 2077 industrial district crashed into his senses. The air was thick and damp.

”Gahh!” Sebastian gasped, violently ripping the black VR helmet off his head.

He tossed the sleek device aside and rolled onto his hands and knees. His entire body felt like it was on fire. He was sweating so profusely that his clothes were instantly soaked!

Across the dark room, Valerie was already sitting up on a pile of dirty tarps. The beam of a small tactical flashlight cut through the gloom, illuminating her pale and panicked face. She still had her silver-plated magnum gripped tightly in one hand.

”Sebastian? You back?” she called out, her voice echoing in the massive empty space.

”Yeah,” he wheezed, trying to push himself up. ”Yeah, I’m, Ahhh!”

Sebastian collapsed back onto the concrete, clutching his chest.

A sound like a massive grinding gear echoed not in the room, but directly inside his skull. The system wasn’t just letting him log out. It was rewarding him for completing the ultimate milestone.

[Ding!]

[True City Core Acquired. Player ’Zero’ recognized as Faction Leader.]

[Real World Synchronization Initiated.]

[Jumping from 5% to 20%.]

[Warning: Physical Limits Removed. Biological Restructuring Commencing.]

”Oh, you have got to be shitting me!” Sebastian screamed through gritted teeth.

The pain was absolute. Five percent synchronization had made him superhuman. Twenty percent was trying to turn a mortal shell into a demigod!

His muscles violently seized. Every single fiber in his body tore itself apart and rapidly stitched back together in a matter of microseconds. He thrashed on the cold floor, his boots kicking against the concrete so hard that the floorboards actually cracked.

CRACK! CRACK!

”Sebastian!” Valerie yelled, scrambling off the tarps. She rushed over, dropping her flashlight. The beam rolled across the floor, casting wild shadows.

She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands hovering over his thrashing form, entirely unsure of what to do. ”What’s happening?! Are you having a seizure?!”

”Sync, jump!” Sebastian gurgled.

He ripped his jacket open, his fingers tearing the fabric. Valerie gasped and scrambled back a foot.

Under the harsh beam of the flashlight, Sebastian’s physical body was undergoing a horrifying metamorphosis. His muscle density visibly increased, shifting beneath his skin like thick cables of industrial steel.

The veins in his neck, arms, and chest didn’t just bulge, they turned a sickly dark color. It looked like thick corrupted oil was being forcefully pumped through his circulatory system.

”Holy shit,” Valerie whispered, raising her magnum instinctively as her own survival instincts flared. He didn’t look human anymore. He looked like a monster!

HSSSSSS!

Smoke began to rise from Sebastian’s skin. The ambient mana from the Ethereal Plane was bleeding into the real world so aggressively that it was scorching him.

Right before Valerie’s terrified eyes, glowing blue arcane runes literally carved themselves into Sebastian’s flesh. They started at his collarbone and spread rapidly down his arms and across his chest.

”ARGHHH!” Sebastian roared, his back arching off the concrete.

The restructuring was forcefully purging his system of all mortal impurities. The cheap synthetic ramen, the polluted smog of 2077, the plastic in his bloodstream, the system demanded a perfect and untainted vessel for its multiplier.

Sebastian rolled onto his side, his completely black eyes bulging.

He opened his mouth and violently vomited.

SQUELCH. SPLAT.

It wasn’t normal bile. It was a thick slurry of black sludge, coagulated blood, and toxic impurities. He coughed and hacked, expelling essentially all the biological garbage his human body had accumulated over twenty years. The putrid stench filled the immediate area.

He violently emptied his stomach again, his fingers digging deep into the solid concrete floor like it was wet clay.

Finally, the violent spasms began to slow. The blinding blue runes seared into his skin slowly faded, leaving behind faint silvery scars. The dark color of his veins receded, returning to a normal blue.

Sebastian collapsed onto his back, his chest heaving with massive gulps of air. He lay there next to a puddle of his own biological waste, completely drenched in sweat.

”Don’t shoot me, princess,” Sebastian croaked, staring up at the dark ceiling.

Valerie slowly lowered the magnum. Her hands were shaking. ”Are you, are you done mutating into a freak?”

Sebastian let out a weak chuckle. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He wiped a streak of black sludge off his chin with the back of his hand.

He didn’t feel weak anymore. The exhaustion from the arena was completely gone.

He clenched his right fist. The kinetic power coiled in his forearm was intoxicating. He felt like he could punch a hole straight through a bank vault without breaking a sweat! The twenty percent synchronization had officially removed his human limiters.

”I’m not a freak,” Sebastian said, his voice steady, carrying a new strange metallic resonance. ”I’m just updated.”

He stood up. He didn’t stumble. He moved with a frictionless grace that defied normal human anatomy. He looked down at his own hands, admiring the faint silver runic scars permanently etched into his skin.

”The physical vessel is ready,” Sebastian whispered, his dark eyes locking onto the center of the dark warehouse. ”Now, let’s bring the castle into the real world.”