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The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 58
🕑 Added 2025-06-21 16:55:51 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 57 | Index | Chapter 59 >>
Gorax the Cleanser radiated joy throughout the entire operations area dedicated to the 103rd Grand Integration. Every single assistant who sensed his emotions was trembling in fear at what might follow.
They had never seen their administrator happy before, which only made them more nervous. Gorax was a temperamental boss at the best of times, but as the tutorial drew to a close all of the system servants assigned to this integration couldn’t help fearing for their lives.
In the end it was the guileless Ixian, Shneevol, who was the first to approach Gorax’ and make a report. “Administrator, phase 1 of the integration has now begun for all of the newly integrated space. Tutorial completion is currently at thirty-two percent. Nightmare survival rate is still holding in first position across all integrations.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing Boramir’s face in the next administrator council,” Gorax said with a devious smirk. Now, tell me about the anomaly. I will not have my reward threatened by some crusty old fossil’s meddling. This better not be another 76th situation.”
Shneevol quivered slightly as he watched Gorax’s spinal fist raise threateningly, but he had developed some resistance to the administrator’s aura of terror through working under him these past few weeks. He was glad the report on the anomaly was both positive and negative, otherwise his boss might have left some permanent mental scarring with his reaction.
“After initially discovering the anomaly, I had some of the low level assistants look into it. For some reason, an unusual number of individuals with high potential emerged on Planet 2.48e11E. The same planet had some strange energy readings during the tutorial, but they ended around 2 days ago. Forgive me for asking this, administrator, but do you think you could tell us about the incident that occurred then, I am sure that-”
The Ixian was sharply cut off as Gorax’s aura burst out from his hulking body. It clamped down on the shivering creature, reminding him of his worst childhood nightmares.
“You know what happens when servants try to peer at their master’s secrets. If you fuck this up for me, I will happily bring about the end of the Korax Accords myself.” Gorax’s tone was cold, yet Shneevol could feel the simmering fury that lay behind it.
The Ixians, plump insectoids whose natural predators were Orkens—the warlike species to which Gorax, his boss, belonged—had eventually reached a peace agreement after the invention of a deadly fusion weapon. It had turned the situation of predator and prey into one of mutually assured destruction between two equally lethal parties.
That agreement was known as the Korax Accords. Yet Shneevol fully believed Gorax when he said he would end the accords singlehandedly.
The rewards an administrator received for successfully handling an integration were only whispered of in rumours, but all who had received them in the past had reached godhood. The punishments for mishandling an integration were equally severe… those who failed were erased from history.
“More talented people in my cohort is not a bad thing. As long as the anomaly isn’t a threat to the integration as a whole, ignore it. Just monitor the situation and report to me if anything goes wrong,” Gorax eventually said with a sigh.
The plump insectoid nodded and beat a hasty retreat. Gorax returned to watching various livestreams on floating holographic screens. There were names underneath each one.
The individuals he was keeping a close eye on were all prodigious talents who would lead the way for the 103rd Grand Integration. They were his golden geese.
Nothing would stand between Gorax and the rewards which awaited him at the end of this… hassle. Especially not a single damned planet. He’d wipe it out himself, even if it meant losing almost a third of the special talents.
“Planet 2.48e11E…” he muttered to himself. “Let’s see if I missed anyone interesting. There are a few already finished with the tutorial.”
He flicked through a dozen screens a second, every single person involved in the integration was able to be observed by the system. He suddenly stopped on one person in particular, a male humanoid.
“Cultivating already. Body aspected, too. I like this one. Let’s have a look,” he continued mumbling as he watched the humanoid suffer through his first session of cultivation.
“Here we go! Ronan Steele, completed the normal difficulty tutorial by defeating the boss. Overall rating of B+. A little disappointing, but perhaps…”
Despite the humanoid being mostly average, Gorax couldn’t help notice that he had emerged from the tutorial around the time of the anomalous readings. Of course a mere newly integrated being couldn’t have caused such a thing, but it was important to keep an eye on the details when in charge of such a huge event.
As he was reading through the information on the humanoid’s sector, he noticed something that made his three eyebrows rise to his hairline. “Well, if he can bring down one of those things and claim the pillar, he might be worth taking note of. I’ll check back on you in a while, Ronan Steele.”
With that, Gorax dismissed the stream and continued looking for other individuals with the potential to increase his rating during the management of the 103rd Grand Integration. He doubted any of them would come close to that monster who’d completed the nightmare tutorial in just four days.
A shiver ran up his spinal arm thinking about that challenger. He was torn between wanting to eliminate a future rival and salivating over the rewards she would earn him through her success.
Ronan flicked the blood from Thurg’s Razorspear onto the ground before keeping it in his inventory. Keith took out a water bottle and started drinking in great gulps, while Ronan read through the summary of their most recent battle.
You have killed [Two-Tailed Fox Lv.20-29]x5!
Experience has been split among your party members!
Party Experience Bonus has been applied!
+186 Copper Credits
+3 [Spear I] Mastery
+4 [Stamina I] Mastery
+Fox Fur (Common) x5
You have leveled up to Lv.34!
You have been restored!
+1 Vitality
+2 Endurance
+2 Strength
+1 Resistance
+1 Tenacity
+1 Charisma
+2 Free Stat Points
They’d spent the entire day exploring the area around their chosen base of operations, discovering that the city was nothing like they’d left it. The terraforming had been a radical change to the landscape.
Despite that, there were enough similarities that they could get by using their memories of the city. Ronan wasn’t sure whether he was disappointed or grateful they hadn’t encountered any other humans yet, but he had a suspicion as to why that was.
Thinking about it, they had actually completed the tutorial fairly quickly. He was sure there were many others out there who would take at least a little longer, so perhaps the planet just hadn’t filled up yet.
What they had found was that the city’s population of foxes had gone from cowardly scavengers to threatening pack hunters. The integration had given them a boost in size, speed, strength, and it seemed even cunning, based on the rudimentary battle tactics they employed.
Unfortunately even with his experience multiplier and the fact that they’d killed at least two dozen foxes during their exploration, Ronan had only gained a single level. The strongest fox they’d fought was only level 29, which he assumed gave him diminishing returns for his effort.
Even so, his masteries had seen decent improvement and he was collecting plenty of fox fur. Unlike the rather distasteful goblin drops, the fox furs could be worn as a warm coat. That was going to be especially useful in the coming weeks, given the lack of clothing they had access to. The suits they’d entered the tutorial with were… better not spoken of.
On the plus side, Ronan had seen firsthand the improvements that even a single realm of cultivation had brought. Sure, the foxes were lower level than him, but their hits should still hurt. Despite that, he’d barely bled when a few of them broke through his guard and landed a scratch with their claws.
“Let’s take a few minutes rest. I leveled up and I want to assign my points before we keep going,” he called out to Keith, who was standing over the fox as it disintegrated into… mana? Some kind of energy, anyway. It was pretty in a morbid way.
The odd phenomenon persisted even after we returned to our home. I thought it was a quirk of the tutorial, but it seemed it was just another aspect of our new reality to get used to.
Probably save people a bunch of cash on funeral expenses. Sucks for undertakers, though. At least a few new careers have opened up recently. He stopped making bad jokes when even Keith threw him a strange look.
Ronan had a tendency to show his inner thoughts through facial expressions, something he had tried and failed to stop doing many times. He pulled up his status instead, somewhat disappointed at his slow gains since exiting the tutorial.
[Status]
Name: Ronan Steele
Race: Human (G)
Heritage: Reverberating Chronosphere (Current Iteration: 7) +
Level: 34
Class: Knight (Uncommon)
Fortune: 13 Bronze Credits, 916 Copper Credits
[Stats]
Health: 420/420
Stamina: 530/530
Mana: 150/150
Vitality: 40
Endurance: 50 (+3)
Wisdom: 14 (+1)
Regeneration: 10
Resistance: 29 (+1)
Strength: 69 (+5)
Agility: 24 (+2)
Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10
Acuity: 7
Tenacity: 35
Luck: 10
Charisma: 27 (+1)
Available Points: 2
[Traits]
Personal: Inevitable (Epic)
[Skills]
Unified Language Adaptation (Universal)
Relentless Training (Common)
Magic Strike (Common)
Vital Surge (Common)
Mighty Strength (Common)
Critical Experience (Common)
Double Strike (Common)
Magic Money (Common)
Excessive Endurance (Common)
Breaking Charge (Uncommon) (Class)
Lionheart (Uncommon) (Class)
Reverberating Path (Epic) (Blessing)
Impact Leech (Common)
[Mastery]
Pugilist I 4/100
Mana I 3/100
Sword I 0/100
Shield I 0/100
Staff I 1/100
Spear I 45/100
Stamina I 28/100
Pain 19/100
[Cultivation]
Mind: None
Body: Stone ★ (58%)
Energy: None
Soul: None
[Blessings]
Blessing of Chronos (Boundless)
He’d felt the effects of the widening gap between his strength and agility during that last battle. It wasn’t that he was slow, but rather that controlling his body felt… off occasionally. Mostly during his more adventurous strikes and movements, but it would only become worse as the gap widened.
With that in mind, Ronan decided to just put both his free points into agility this time. He would do the same whenever he felt the imbalance becoming an issue.
As he finished, he looked up to see Keith tapping the ground where the fox had been a moment earlier. Clearly the guy was interested in the decay process after death, but Ronan didn’t think his methodology was very scientific.
“Let’s go. I think we can map another six kilometres south before wrapping around and heading back to our base for nightfall,” Ronan said.
“Hmm? Sure, works for me. I’m gaining levels quite fast like this. Keep it up, mate,” Keith replied with a wink.
They barely made it ten paces when Ronan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He drew his barbed spear as a shadow flew overhead.
His gaze darted around the empty street, but he saw nothing save for rubble and a few tenacious weeds. Then he felt the edges of his vision blurring. That was when he spotted the floating monster tag in the shadow of a ruined bus station.
[Elite Three-Tailed Fox Lv.37]
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Comments
Josh
Yes when he got Stamina I. He did both pain and Stamina mastery in his final tutorial run.
Kitbashjay
Didn't he make it to Pain I back around chapter 50?
Hello!
I’m surprised he didn’t ever think of going for the harder difficulty to test the rewards for each round. Harder challenges for a higher reward or more progress? Or he was just stubborn and wanted to finish that challenge first before thinking of a harder challenge. I’m also a little surprised he didn’t ever take his time dismantling the goblins to test things out on a 1v1 to try different things to get a higher mastery rewards.
