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

The safehouse Gwen had rented in the Under-City was a cramped, miserable little box. It was a far cry from the towering, gothic luxury of Sanctuary, but it had four walls and a solid locking mechanism.

Sebastian stood in the center of the room, staring at his reflection in a cracked, dirty mirror.

He hated it. He absolutely hated it.

”Stop fidgeting, you’re going to ruin the stitching,” Gwen commanded from the corner of the room.

Sebastian let out a long, highly exaggerated sigh and dropped his arms.

He was no longer wearing the ragged, blood-stained Drifter tunic or the torn black leather coat. Thanks to a terrifyingly fast and incredibly expensive visit to a high-end Under-City tailor, Sebastian was currently strapped into a perfectly fitted, three-piece corporate suit.

It was woven from deep, midnight-blue Ethereal silk and lined with subtle, silver geometric patterns. It looked sharp, elegant, and screamed obnoxious old money.

He had kept the plain white half-mask. When the tailor had questioned it, Sebastian simply lied and said he had suffered a catastrophic acid burn during a bad dungeon raid, and the mask was a medical necessity. The tailor, seeing the massive stack of Neon-Chips Sebastian was holding, immediately decided not to ask any further questions.

”I look like an asshole,” Sebastian grumbled, adjusting the tight collar. ”I look like the kind of guy I usually drop a gravity well on.”

”You look like a billionaire executive,” Gwen corrected, walking over and handing him a sleek, silver cane. ”Which is exactly what we need. You are now Silas Vance, eccentric CEO of an off-world logistics firm. I am your personal bodyguard. Try to look bored and superior.”

Sebastian took the cane. He didn’t need it to walk, but it completed the disguise. ”Bored and superior. I can do that. I’ve been practicing on World Bosses for months.”

Gwen had also undergone a makeover. She had ditched her rugged trench coat for a sleek, highly functional black tactical suit. Her kinetic pistols were holstered openly at her hips. She looked like a high-end, lethal corporate enforcer.

”Alright,” Sebastian said, turning away from the mirror and walking over to the small, flickering holographic table in the center of the room. ”Let’s review the logistics. We have the money. We have the disguises. How do we get the Core?”

Gwen tapped a few commands into her wrist interface. The table buzzed, projecting a highly detailed, 3D wireframe schematic of a massive, heavily fortified building.

”The Platinum Vault,” Gwen announced, pointing to the projection. ”It’s located in Sector 1, right in the heart of the upper city. It’s the most secure auction house on Server 112. The walls are lined with Tier 5 magic dampeners. The guards are Level 80 Aegis Corp elites.”

She zoomed the map in on the front entrance.

”The main problem is the door,” Gwen explained grimly. ”They use a deep-scan biometric gateway. It doesn’t just read your face; it reads your Ethereal Base Code. It checks your level, your class, and your threat flags.”

Sebastian frowned. He touched the heavy, iron block of the Spoofing Drive still bolted into his left wrist, hidden securely beneath the sleeve of his expensive suit.

”Corbin said the drive would mask my Anomaly tag,” Sebastian noted. ”It broadcasts me as a Level 25 merchant.”

”Yeah, but Corbin is a paranoid basement dweller,” Gwen sighed. ”The drive is good, but if the scanners push too hard, it might short out. If your Demigod stats leak through that spoof for even a microsecond, the vault will instantly lock down, and the automated turrets will turn us both into a fine mist.”

”So, I just need to avoid getting nervous,” Sebastian said deadpan. ”Got it. What’s the extraction plan once we buy the Core?”

”Once the transaction clears, the item is digitally bound to your inventory,” Gwen swiped the map, showing an exit route. ”Aegis Corp guarantees safe transit to the landing pads. We walk out, call a private armored transport, and head straight for the Juncture portal. We jump back to your Earth server before anyone realizes they just sold a planet-anchoring device to a glitch.”

”It sounds too easy,” Sebastian muttered, his silver eyes narrowing as he stared at the holographic vault. ”In my experience, when things sound easy, a giant invisible spider usually drops from the ceiling.”

”There are no spiders in Sector 1, Seattle,” Gwen promised. ”Just greedy men in expensive suits. You blend right in.”

”Hilarious,” Sebastian grunted. ”Let’s go buy a rock.”

Two hours later, Sebastian and Gwen were standing in the pristine, brightly lit lobby of the Platinum Vault.

The contrast between the Under-City and Sector 1 was staggering. The floors here were made of flawless, polished marble. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a warm, inviting glow over the crowd of mingling corporate elites. Men and women in ridiculous, high-fashion armor sipped glowing blue champagne and laughed about their latest planetary acquisitions.

Sebastian stood in line for the security checkpoint, leaning casually on his silver cane. He projected an aura of absolute, wealthy apathy.

Inside, his heart was hammering.

”Next,” a heavily armored Aegis Corp guard barked, gesturing toward the massive, glowing archway of the biometric scanner.

Sebastian stepped forward. Gwen followed closely behind, her eyes scanning the room with professional paranoia.

Sebastian stopped exactly in the center of the archway.

”Hold still, sir,” the guard ordered.

VWOOSH.

A dense, heavy wave of bright red light descended from the top of the archway, washing over Sebastian’s entire body.

It wasn’t a physical sensation, but a deep, digital pressure. Sebastian felt the server’s massive, overbearing intelligence actively probing his code. It was looking for weapons. It was looking for high-tier magic.

And most importantly, it was looking for glitches.

Beneath his sleeve, the Spoofing Drive vibrated violently. The iron needles buried in his wrist burned with a sudden, intense heat as the localized firewall actively fought back against the planetary scanner, frantically pasting the fake Level 25 merchant data over his Demigod stats.

[Warning: External Scan Detected.]

[Spoofing Drive Overclocking...]

[Masking Reality Hacks... Masking Conceptual Laws...]

Sebastian didn’t flinch. He didn’t sweat. He kept his breathing perfectly, mathematically steady. He stared blankly at the guard, looking like a man annoyed that his time was being wasted.

The red light reached his boots and vanished.

The archway pulsed silently. For a terrifying, suspended second, nothing happened.

Then, the archway chimed with a pleasant, melodic sound.

BING!

The lights shifted from angry red to a welcoming, soft green.

[Identity Confirmed: Silas Vance. Level 25 Merchant.]

[Clearance Granted.]

”Welcome to the Platinum Vault, Mr. Vance,” the guard said, stepping aside and offering a polite bow. ”Right this way. The auction is about to begin.”

Sebastian offered a curt, dismissive nod. He stepped through the archway, his cane clicking softly against the marble.

”See?” Sebastian whispered to Gwen as they walked down the opulent, red-carpeted hallway toward the main auction floor. ”I told you I was a model citizen.”

”Don’t get cocky,” Gwen muttered back. ”We still have to win the bid.”

Sebastian pushed open the heavy oak doors leading into the grand auction theater.

The room was breathtaking. It was built like an ancient amphitheater, with rows of plush velvet seating curving down toward a brightly lit central stage. Hundreds of the richest players on the server were already seated, their digital UI tags hidden by the room’s privacy wards.

Sebastian and Gwen found an empty booth near the back. He sat down, resting his hands on the head of his cane, and looked down at the stage.

Standing behind a podium of polished obsidian was the auctioneer. He was a sleek, perfectly rendered NPC wearing a tailored suit.

”Ladies and Gentlemen,” the auctioneer’s magically amplified voice rang out, instantly silencing the murmuring crowd. ”Welcome to the Platinum Vault. We have a truly unique and highly unregulated item up for bidding tonight.”

The auctioneer pressed a button on his podium.

The floor of the stage hissed, and a small pedestal slowly rose from the ground. Resting on a velvet cushion, trapped inside a thick cylinder of containment glass, was the prize.

It was a Regional Core.

It looked incredibly similar to the True City Core Sebastian had planted back in his warehouse. It was a massive, perfectly cut diamond, but instead of glowing gold, it pulsed with a deep, authoritative blue light. It radiated a heavy, undeniable aura of absolute territorial control.

”This is an unaligned Regional Core, harvested from a freshly wiped server,” the auctioneer announced, a greedy smile on his face. ”This item grants the bearer absolute administrative authority over a five-hundred-mile radius in any Ethereal or Integrated zone. Bidding will commence at one hundred thousand Neon-Chips.”

The room instantly erupted into chaos.

”One hundred and fifty!” a man in golden armor shouted from the front row.

”Two hundred!” a woman in flowing red robes countered.

Sebastian leaned back in his velvet chair. He didn’t immediately raise his hand. He watched the corporate vultures tear at each other, driving the price higher and higher. He had five hundred thousand credits in his pocket. He was going to wait until they exhausted themselves, and then he was going to drop the hammer.

”Three hundred thousand!”

”Three hundred and fifty!”

The bidding war was fierce, but it was slowing down. The price was astronomical.

”Four hundred thousand!” a fat executive yelled, wiping sweat from his brow.

The room fell silent. Four hundred thousand was an insane amount of capital. Nobody seemed willing to push it further.

”Four hundred thousand going once,” the auctioneer called out, raising his gavel. ”Going twice...”

Sebastian smirked. He raised his hand, preparing to end the game.

Before he could speak, the heavy oak doors at the top of the amphitheater violently burst open.

BANG!

The sound echoed like a cannon shot. The entire room turned around in shock.

Standing in the doorway was not a wealthy bidder.

It was an Apostle of the Void.

The player was wrapped in a tattered, glitching cloak. Black, corrupted data strings constantly separated from his limbs and dissolved into static. He didn’t look like Cole. He didn’t look like the Apostle from Earth. But the sickening, neon-purple aura was exactly the same.

[Entity Identified: Apostle Vane]

[Status: Administrator Override Active]

”The auction is canceled,” the Apostle’s distorted, multi-layered voice shrieked, echoing off the vaulted ceilings. ”The Void claims this Core!”

Sebastian slowly lowered his hand. His silver eyes narrowed behind his mask. The cold, utterly terrifying aura of the Sovereign bled back into his posture.

”Well,” Sebastian whispered, standing up and gripping his cane. ”Looks like I’m going to have to make a withdrawal.”