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

She weighed the absolute certainty of his voice against her own survival instincts.

”Fine,” Gwen sighed heavily. ”But if the Military Police catch us, I’m shooting you in the leg and using you as a distraction.”

”Deal,” Sebastian deadpanned.

He picked up the heavy jagged iron block of the Spoofing Drive. He didn’t hesitate. He knew what had to be done.

Phase two of his apocalyptic survival plan was officially starting.

”Alright, Corbin. Boot up the transit portal,” Sebastian ordered. ”It’s time to go back to school.”

”You’re going to want to bite down on something, Boss,” Corbin advised. He nervously twisted a hydro-spanner in his hands. ”The integration process for a Spoofing Drive isn’t exactly... gentle.”

Sebastian stood near the humming transit portal that Corbin had hastily rigged in the corner of the bunker. The swirling golden energy of the gateway cast long shadows across the concrete walls.

He looked down at the dark jagged block of iron in his right hand. The six thick biometric needles protruding from the base of the device glowed with a sickly green light.

”Just a flesh wound,” Sebastian muttered.

Because he had permanently deleted his Nociception Code back in the Spire, he didn’t feel pain.

He didn’t feel the burning agonizing sting that most players experienced when forcefully editing their biological hardware. He only felt a cold mechanical pressure.

He rolled up the left sleeve of his black leather coat to expose his pale forearm. He didn’t hesitate. He simply slammed the device directly into the inside of his wrist.

SHLUCK!

CRUNCH!

The sound was nauseating. The six heavy needles easily pierced his skin, bypassing the dense biological steel of his muscles and burying themselves deep into his bones.

Blood, bright crimson human blood, instantly spilled from the wound and dripped onto the bunker floor.

”Jesus,” Gwen muttered as she looked away in disgust.

Sebastian didn’t even flinch. He just watched the device with mild clinical interest.

BZZZT!

The heavy iron block hissed and instantly locked itself into place. The glowing green runes on the metal flared blindingly bright.

Thick mechanical tendrils shot out from the base of the drive, wrapping tightly around his forearm to secure the hardware.

The system instantly recognized the foreign intrusion and threw a violent fit.

[WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED HARDWARE DETECTED.]

[FOREIGN CODE INJECTION IMMINENT.]

[ATTEMPTING TO PURGE...]

”Here we go,” Sebastian whispered.

The Spoofing Drive violently fought back against the server’s anti-virus protocols.

[SPOOFING DRIVE ACTIVE. OVERRIDING BASE FILES...]

[MASKING ANOMALY TAG...]

[REWRITING USER INTERFACE...]

Sebastian’s vision momentarily fractured into a jagged mess of green and black static.

His silver-tinged eyes flickered rapidly as the absolute authority of the Sovereign fought the forced suppression of the drive.

Then, the static cleared.

The heavy imposing aura of Demigod power that had radiated from Sebastian completely vanished. The terrifying metallic resonance of his voice died.

To the naked eye, and to the server’s backend scanners, he was completely neutered.

He pulled up his UI. The sleek golden interface of his Admin privileges was gone. In its place was a standard boring blue menu.

[Name: Raven]

[Class: Drifter]

[Level: 25]

[Status: Unaligned Citizen]

”It worked,” Corbin breathed a sigh of absolute relief as he leaned against his workbench. ”You’re clean, Boss. To the rest of the multiverse, you’re just a mid-level nobody looking for work.”

”Perfect,” Sebastian said. He casually pulled his leather sleeve back down to cover the bulky bloody hardware bolted to his wrist. He looked at Gwen. ”Ready, Seattle?”

”As I’ll ever be,” Gwen grunted as she stepped up to the glowing portal. She had swapped her heavy kinetic pistols for a pair of sleek easily concealable energy daggers.

”Remember the rules. No black holes. No deleting physics. If you get mad, punch them like a normal person.”

”I’m a model citizen,” Sebastian deadpanned.

He stepped into the golden light of the transit portal.

VWOOSH!

The transition was jarring. It was a violent yank through the digital ether that felt like being squeezed through a tight twisting pipe.

The heavy toxic air of Outpost Rust vanished. It was replaced by the sudden overwhelming sensation of sterile perfection.

Sebastian and Gwen materialized on a massive polished metallic transit pad.

”Welcome to Server 112,” Gwen whispered.

Sebastian opened his eyes and took in the new world.

It was a breathtaking and horrifying testament to absolute control.

They were standing on an elevated platform overlooking a sprawling hyper-futuristic megacity.

Towering skyscrapers of pristine glass and white chrome pierced the clouds. Flying vehicles zipped through the air in perfect orderly traffic lanes leaving trails of neon-blue exhaust.

The sky above wasn’t the bleeding crimson of a dying world, nor the chaotic purple smog of the Juncture. It was a perfectly rendered flawless blue sky.

It was too clean. It was too perfect.

”State your business, travelers.”

A cold robotic voice echoed from above.

Sebastian looked up. Hovering ten feet in the air were three sleek heavily armored Military Police drones.

They were armed with high-tier plasma rifles and their blue scanning lasers swept back and forth across the platform.

Sebastian didn’t panic. He didn’t reach for his glitched inventory. He let the Spoofing Drive do its job.

The blue lasers washed over him.

BEEP!

[Identities Confirmed. Civilian Status Verified.]

”Welcome to the Capital, citizens. Maintain order. Obey the Guilds,” the drone hummed mechanically before banking away to resume its patrol route.

Sebastian let out a slow entirely human breath. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and looked out over the gleaming arrogant city of Server 112.

He was at the bottom of the food chain again. He had to play the game. He had to sneak, steal, and manipulate his way to the top.

”Alright,” Sebastian murmured with a dark predatory smirk hiding beneath the collar of his coat. ”Let’s go steal a core.”

—-

The blinding golden light of the transit portal faded, and the pristine, hyper-futuristic reality of Server 112 slapped Sebastian right in the face.

It was entirely too clean.

Sebastian stood on the elevated metallic transit pad and took a deep breath. He expected the familiar, comforting stench of city grime and cheap dwarven ale. Instead, his lungs filled with sterile, temperature-controlled air that felt perfectly artificial.