[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-awakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier":3,"chapter-awakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier-awakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier-chapter-18":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Awakening a 10,000x Skill Proficiency Multiplier in the Apocalypse",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1480473,1927,"Chapter 18: [18]: Baron_K’s Revenge, The Gravity Well","awakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier-chapter-18",18,"\u003Cp>The transition from the freezing and sterile atmosphere of the Crypt of Silence back into the industrial runoff sewers of Ironhold was a harsh sensory shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scent of vaporized digital bone was instantly replaced by the oppressive and humid stench of toxic green sludge and rotting refuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian stepped out of the dissolving portal. The grey wireframe polygons shifted back into the solid and moss covered stone wall of the dead end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slipped the newly acquired Ring of Space onto his finger. He felt the immediate and comforting expansion of his digital storage limits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tossed the Grimoire of Souls into the void of his inventory to be analyzed later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, Grog emerged from the rock face. He coughed violently and swatted at the toxic fumes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive Ogre’s rusted iron shield was still radiating a faint and dull heat from the catastrophic nuclear flash of the boss room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grog thought he was going to melt,\" the mercenary complained, rubbing his soot stained face. \"Little boss fights like a crazy demon. Too much fire. Not enough smashing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You got paid to carry, not to critique,\" Sebastian replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His silver True Sight eyes faded back to their normal dark human hue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mana drain of maintaining the conceptual law was negligible. But the visual overload of seeing the world’s source code gave him a mild headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He adjusted his ragged Drifter cloak and began the trek back down the cavernous sewer tunnel. He intended to find a secure and elevated alcove to plant the City Core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t make it twenty paces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ambient and dripping silence of the sewers was suddenly shattered by the heavy and synchronized clanking of armored boots!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian stopped. He didn’t tense, but his posture shifted into a state of relaxed readiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the shadows of the intersection ahead, a massive blockade of players emerged. There were fifty of them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all wearing the pristine and obnoxiously polished crimson and gold plate armor of the Golden Lion guild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They formed a tight and impenetrable shield wall across the width of the sewer tunnel. Their polished broadswords and loaded crossbows gleamed in the dim light of the toxic runoff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Floating above the front line was a player clad in glittering diamond encrusted armor. It offered terrible stats but cost thousands of real world dollars in the cosmetic shop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Player Information]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Name: Baron_K\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Title: Guild Master of Golden Lions\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Level: 18\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baron_K stepped forward. A smug and arrogant grin was plastered across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rested a hand on the hilt of a glowing and enchanted longsword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you really think you could hide from me, you broke piece of trash?\" Baron_K sneered. His voice echoed off the curved stone walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I own the tracker NPCs in Ironhold. The moment you stepped out of the auction house, I had eyes on you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian looked at the guild master. He looked at the fifty heavily armed players blocking his path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a slow and tired sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’In the real apocalypse, this guy would be one of the first to die!’ Sebastian smiled bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the safety protocols dropped and pain receptors were fully engaged, kids who bought their power with daddy’s credit card usually folded the moment a monster tore off a limb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But right now, inside the game, they were a loud and obnoxious obstacle taking up his valuable time!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re standing in toxic sludge,\" Sebastian pointed out calmly. \"Your durability is actively ticking down.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baron_K laughed loudly. It was a grating and entitled sound. The guild members behind him chuckled in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t care about a minor debuff, Drifter. I care about my pride. You humiliated me in the auction house. You bought a trash shard just to spite me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I bought it because I needed it,\" Sebastian corrected. His voice was entirely deadpan. \"You’re just a side effect of my transaction.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baron_K’s face flushed red with sudden anger!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drew his glowing sword and pointed it directly at Sebastian’s chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill the Ogre. Chain the Drifter. We are going to camp his spawn point until his level drops to zero and his inventory spills into the dirt. I want that shard, and I want every piece of copper on his corpse!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grog smash shiny men?\" the Ogre asked. He stepped forward and eagerly hoisted his heavy shield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" Sebastian said quietly. He held up a hand to stop the mercenary. \"They aren’t worth the stamina.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian didn’t draw his Rusty Iron Dagger. He didn’t activate his Void Walk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply opened his inventory and pulled out the last of the trash tier skill books he had purchased in the market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Basic Slow]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a Tier 0 debuff used by beginner mages to slightly reduce the movement speed of fleeing slimes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He crushed the book in his palm. The grey motes of light sank into his skin, and the system immediately threw a fit!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[System Notification]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Action Registered: Cast Basic Slow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Nexus Glitch Activated: Proficiency x10,000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Basic Slow leveled up to 10\u002F10! Max Level Reached!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Evolution Requirement Met.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Basic Slow evolves to Tier 1: Weight of the Earth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Proficiency Overflow Detected! Weight of the Earth leveled up to 10\u002F10!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Evolution Requirement Met.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Weight of the Earth evolves to Tier 3: Crushing Field!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Proficiency Overflow Detected! Crushing Field leveled up to 10\u002F10!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ WARNING: Concept Threshold Breached. Gravitational Law Unlocked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>↳ Crushing Field evolves to Conceptual Law: Gravity Well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian didn’t feel a surge of elemental energy. He didn’t feel the heat of fire or the crackle of lightning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt the terrifying and cold certainty of mass!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood on a fundamental level how to grab the invisible fabric of gravity and pull it straight down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, boys! Rush him!\" Baron_K screamed. He charged forward with his sword raised high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifty Golden Lions let out a battle cry! Their boots splashed through the toxic sludge as they surged toward the lone Drifter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian extended his right hand, palm facing the ground. He smoothly pushed his hand down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He activated the Gravity Well!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t target an individual. He targeted the fifty meter radius of the sewer tunnel directly in front of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He altered the localized gravitational constant of the server to exactly one hundred times normal Earth gravity!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The effect was instantaneous and absolute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The battle cry of the Golden Lions turned into a collective and horrific shriek of agony that was violently cut short!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if an invisible million ton anvil had been dropped directly onto their shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifty players didn’t stumble. They didn’t fall. They were violently and brutally slammed into the stone floor of the sewer!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound was nauseating. It was a loud noise of screeching and twisting metal and wet and concussive impacts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pristine crimson and gold plate armor didn’t protect them. It became a death trap!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under 100 Gs of force, the steel breastplates instantly buckled inward. It crushed their digital ribcages into splinters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knees snapped backward with loud popping cracks as legs simply ceased to support the impossible weight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Skulls slammed into the cobblestones with enough force to shatter the stone!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baron_K had been leading the charge. He hit the ground so hard his diamond encrusted helmet flattened into a disc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The physics engine of The Ethereal Plane screamed in protest!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It tried to calculate the extreme deformation of fifty character models simultaneously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood didn’t spray. It was forcefully squeezed out of their mouths, noses, and eyes. It pooled heavily on the floor, unable to splash upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They couldn’t move! They couldn’t breathe!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sheer atmospheric pressure compressing their chests made expanding their lungs a physical impossibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They lay there in the toxic sludge, pinned like crushed insects under a boot. Their health bars rapidly hemorrhaged into the red!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grog stood behind Sebastian. His jaw hung open and his piggy eyes were wide with pure terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at his own massive hands. Then he looked at the squashed and twitching pile of armored players. He realized he was standing just inches outside the area of effect!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little boss...\" Grog whispered. His voice trembled. \"What did you do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I introduced them to physics,\" Sebastian replied calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took a step forward and crossed the threshold into the Gravity Well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The conceptual law recognized him as the caster. It granted him absolute immunity to the crushing force. To him, gravity was perfectly normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked casually through the field of groaning and dying players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air in the tunnel felt heavy and dense with the localized distortion of space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stopped next to Baron_K.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guild master was lying on his back. His eyes bulged out of his skull, and blood leaked freely from his lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was suffocating. His HP bar hovered at a mere two percent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian crouched down. He didn’t offer a villainous monologue. He didn’t gloat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply reached out and grabbed the glowing and enchanted longsword that had slipped from Baron_K’s crushed hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He deposited it into his inventory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he noticed a high tier agility ring on the guild master’s trembling finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sebastian placed his standard leather boot directly onto Baron_K’s armored wrist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He applied a tiny fraction of his weight, pinning the arm down. He calmly slid the ring off the struggling player’s finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baron_K gurgled. His eyes filled with a terror that transcended the digital game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was feeling the phantom pressure. He was feeling the absolute helplessness of being utterly dominated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thanks for the delivery,\" Sebastian murmured. He pocketed the ring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood up and continued walking through the sea of mangled bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He systematically looted every dropped weapon, potion, and coin purse that had popped out of the players whose HP had finally hit zero.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t look back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had a City Core to plant, and the apocalypse was ticking closer by the second!\u003C\u002Fp>",1660,"2026-06-06T03:26:14.673Z",1,"novelbin.me","86d88902f12cb8aa426e60281d6110e7fde93061e18bf6ae594740ca4bab8c0d","awakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier-chapter-19","awakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier-chapter-17",198,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fawakening-a-10-000x-skill-proficiency-multiplier-cover.jpg"]