Midland Republic of Terra, Sector 4.
Derek Vance sat on the edge of a mattress that smelled of mildew. He stared at the crumpled yellow paper in his hands.
It was an eviction notice. The words were stamped in red letters from his landlord.
He had forty-eight hours to get three thousand Midland credits or he would be thrown out onto the streets of Sector 4.
Derek was eighteen and an orphan. He spent most of his life working in the mechanized factories of the Republic.
Terra was an Earth-like planet but the sky here was always grey and the air tasted of sulfur.
He rubbed his calloused hands against his jawline. He was broke, exhausted and completely out of options.
"Three thousand credits." Derek muttered. "I might as well try to build a spaceship out of scrap metal."
He tossed the notice onto a wobbly wooden table. He leaned back and stared at the cracked ceiling.
The thumping of the factory presses echoed through the floorboards.
Suddenly, the thumping stopped.
Derek blinked. The silence was absolute and unnatural. Even the city ventilation turbines had vanished.
He sat up and his heart fluttered.
"Hello?" he called out.
The air in the room grew heavy and crackled with static. The edges of the room began to blur.
The peeling wallpaper, the yellow notice and the dusty window smeared like a digital filter.
Panic seized him. He scrambled backward and hit the wall.
But the wall did not feel like a wall anymore. It felt like cold hard vacuum.
A mechanical voice echoed directly inside his skull.
[Initiating Planetary Protocol.]
[Candidate designated.]
[Welcome to the Zenith Trials.]
"What the hell?" Derek gasped as he clawed at his head. "Who is there?"
The world shattered like a broken mirror. The shards of his apartment dissolved into absolute darkness.
Derek was falling through a void.
Then gravity violently reasserted itself and slammed him hard onto his hands and knees.
He coughed as his lungs pulled in crisp air. It was completely devoid of the Midland Republic smog.
He forced his eyes open and blinked away the dark spots in his vision.
He was no longer in his apartment. He was kneeling on cracked dry earth.
Above him stretched a crimson sky completely devoid of a sun or clouds.
Surrounding him was an endless desolate wasteland filled with jagged black rocks and bleached bones of massive creatures.
[Tutorial Mission Commencing.]
[Survival Objective: 3 Minutes.]
The voice in his head was accompanied by a glowing blue interface that materialized in the air floating just a few feet in front of him.
Derek stared at it. His mind struggled to process what was happening.
He had heard rumors on the factory floor about people vanishing and secret government projects. They called them Survivors.
He had dismissed them as urban legends. But this was not an urban legend. The dry wind biting at his face was incredibly real.
[Analyzing Candidate.]
[Processing innate soul frequency...]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Derek Vance. You have awakened an innate talent.]
A new window bloomed in front of his eyes. It glowed with a soft golden radiance.
Derek pushed himself up to a standing position. His legs trembled slightly as he read the text.
[Innate Talent Awakened]
↳ Name: 10,000x Multiplier
↳ Grade: Unknown
↳ Description: The user possesses the unique ability to mathematically amplify the effectiveness, output, and force of any basic, mundane action or system skill.
Derek stared at the floating golden words. He played enough video games to understand what a multiplier was.
But ten thousand times?
If he applied that to a simple punch, the kinetic energy would level a building.
The sheer scale of the power made him excited. His fear of the eviction notice washed away.
With this he could do anything. He could survive whatever this twisted trial threw at him.
But as his eyes scanned further down the floating interface, the golden text shifted to a blinking bloody red.
[WARNING!]
↳ The Multiplier strictly amplifies output.
↳ It does NOT automatically reinforce the user physical vessel.
↳ The human body is subject to the laws of physics. Multiplying a skill beyond the limits of your base physical constitution will result in catastrophic physical backlash.
↳ Attempting maximum output without a sufficient physical foundation will result in shattered bones, torn ligaments, ruptured organs, and immediate death.
The excitement vanished and was replaced by cold dread.
It was a god engine attached to a rusted malnourished teenager.
If he swung his arm ten thousand times faster, the air resistance alone would rip his flesh from his bones before he even hit his target. His body would literally tear itself apart.
[System check complete. Preparing beginner combat scenario.]
The glowing interface shattered into particles of light. It reformed into a stark crimson countdown timer hovering in his vision.
[03:00]
Derek swallowed hard and his throat felt dry.
"Three minutes. Just survive for three minutes."
The wasteland around him remained silent but the shadows cast by the jagged black rocks seemed to lengthen.
A foul stench suddenly hit him. It was a putrid mix of rotting meat and stagnant water.
[Tutorial Objective: Survive the siege of the Decaying Ghouls.]
About fifty yards away, the dry earth began to shift.
Clawed emaciated hands burst from the cracked dirt.
Derek stumbled backward.
Three figures pulled themselves free from the soil. They were humanoid but their skin was a sickly mottled grey.
Tattered remnants of clothes hung from their frames. Their jaws hung slack to reveal rows of jagged yellowed teeth.
Their eyes were hollow and glowed with a dim malicious green light.
Decaying Ghouls.
The monsters let out a synchronized rattling hiss that chilled Derek to the bone.
They dropped onto all fours and began to sprint toward him with terrifying predatory speed.
"Okay. Okay, think!" Derek yelled to himself.
His mind raced as he backed away. He had no weapon and no armor.
He just had his bare hands and an innate talent that was just as likely to kill him as the monsters charging him.
The countdown ticked down.
[02:50]
The Zenith Trials had found him. They did not care about his eviction or his empty bank account.
The mandatory lethal nature of this new world was crystal clear.
He either figured out how to use his suicidal power right now or he was going to be ripped apart and eaten.
Derek clenched his fists and raised them in a desperate guard.
He could feel the pulse of the Multiplier resting in his mind like a volatile trigger.
The lead ghoul launched itself into the air. Its jaw unhinged as it lunged for his throat.