Horizon Tower, Eightieth Floor.
The climb up the emergency stairwell was a fucked-up tour through the sudden death of the upper class. The elevators had long since been disabled by the failing power grid.
Sebastian took the stairs three at a time. His aluminum baseball bat rested casually against his shoulder. His breathing was steady, though he could feel the strain. His heart rate barely elevated.
The five percent physical synchronization with his avatar had turned his heart and lungs into a machine.
The stairwell was a bloody mess. He stepped over the torn-up remains of tech CEOs in expensive suits and socialites in ruined evening gowns. The air was thick with the copper smell of fresh blood and the nasty sulfur stink of Void corruption.
The early Infected were messy eaters. The white marble steps were slick with blood and dragged guts.
"Money buys a lot of shit," Sebastian muttered to himself as he paused. He scraped a piece of someone's intestine off the heel of his boot. "But I guess it doesn't buy cardio."
He reached the heavy fire door of the eightieth floor. The metal was bent outward. It sported massive dents from something hitting it like a damn wrecking ball.
Sebastian didn't bother using the handle. He simply kicked it.
CRASH!
The synchronized strength in his leg snapped the heavy steel hinges like dry twigs. The door smashed into the fancy hallway beyond.
He stepped out of the stairwell and into Valerie's world.
The penthouse corridor was a crazy display of insane wealth. Vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and walls lined with expensive artwork decorated the space. But the art was completely overshadowed by the horrific violence at the far end of the hall.
A Level 10 Flesh Hulk was enthusiastically trying to smash open the safe room.
Sebastian walked down the blood-soaked carpet. He took his time to look at the elite mob. The system aggressively targeted people with good physical conditioning. In this case, it was Valerie's private security.
The bodyguard had turned into a fucked-up, lopsided nightmare.
The Hulk stood nearly eight feet tall. Its original tactical suit was torn to shreds by its massive muscles. Its skin was a sickly, bruised grey and stretched so tightly over its bulging veins that it was actively splitting open.
Thick, neon-yellow pus oozed from the tearing flesh. Sizzle... It burned faintly as it hit the hardwood floor. The creature didn't have a neck anymore. Its head was swallowed by massive, pulsing shoulder muscles.
It mindlessly raised two fists the size of boulders and slammed them into the reinforced titanium door of the panic room.
BANG! BOOM!
The entire hallway shook. The titanium was already sporting terrifying dents.
"Shit, rough day at the office?" Sebastian called out. His voice was flat, but a little breathless, cutting through the sounds of destruction.
The Flesh Hulk stopped mid-swing. It turned slowly. Its swollen, red-glowing eyes locked onto the man in the ragged clothes holding an aluminum baseball bat.
Grrr... It let out a wet, nasty roar. It was a mix of a human scream and an animal snarl that sprayed a fine mist of yellow bile into the air.
Sebastian didn't raise his bat. The aluminum would just bounce off that kind of muscle. He didn't have the time to sit here playing games with a walking steroid freak.
He needed magic.
But his reality synchronization was only at five percent. If he tried to summon a huge spell right now, his physical brain would instantly fry. It would leak out of his ears as his body burst into flames. Fuck that.
He needed something cheap and basic.
He dug into his memories. He bypassed the elemental trees and reached into the dark necrotic arts. He visualized the most basic, pathetic curse a beginner warlock could use. It was a simple hex designed to lower a slime's defense just a little bit.
He channeled a tiny drop of his real-world mana into his right hand.
The reality overlay flickered violently in his vision. The system recognized what he wanted to do.
Then the glitch woke up. The beautiful, world-breaking multiplier activated.
[System Prompt: Action Registered]
↳ Cast Basic Necromancy Hex
[System Prompt: Nexus Glitch Activated]
↳ Proficiency x10,000
[System Prompt: Basic Hex leveled up to 10/10]
↳ Max Level Reached
[System Prompt: Evolution Requirement Met]
↳ Basic Hex evolves to Tier 1: Rotting Grasp
[System Prompt: Proficiency Overflow Detected]
↳ Rotting Grasp leveled up to 10/10
[WARNING: Concept Threshold Breached]
↳ Biological Law Unlocked
↳ Rotting Grasp evolves to Conceptual Law: Touch of Decay
A jolt of freezing cold shot up Sebastian's arm. "Fuck!" he hissed. The veins in his right hand turned pitch black. The darkness spread to his fingertips.
He felt the cold, hard truth of death. He understood exactly how to tell a living thing that its time was simply up.
The Flesh Hulk charged. THUD! THUD! It crossed the hallway in two massive strides. It raised its gross, pus-leaking arms to crush Sebastian into paste.
Sebastian stepped into the charge, his heart pounding.