The Apocalypse Grinder (LitRPG Apocalypse, Timeloop)

Ronan pulled up the original description of his class to read just what he'd gotten himself into. Somehow he felt that each new class he unlocked was more powerful and yet more terrifying than the last.

Gambler of Fate (Celestial)

Your existence is an aberration. To achieve the luck and fortune you have at such a stage of life is unfathomable, yet somehow you join the ranks of the fated few. To gamble with the fates themselves is a terrifying proposition, but when your very existence is on the line, the rewards are oh so sweet. How much do you want to bet that this class will prove your undoing?

You cannot assign free stat points to any stat besides luck

Luck efficacy and potency +1500%

All rewards from consumables, as well as all loot drops, are exceptionally more likely to be of a higher quality and quantity than usual

Negative consequences of any kind, arising from bad decisions or wagers by the one who has this class, are exceptionally more devastating and difficult to overcome

+750 Luck on level up

Receive Class Skill [Wager of Fated Potential (Celestial)] on class selection

Receive Class Skill [Luck of the Devil (Heavenly)] on class selection

Unlock requirements:

Challenger has 1000 or more points of Luck at Lv.10 or below

Challenger has at least one fate-related skill or trait at Legendary rarity or above

Challenger has at least two fate or luck-related skills or traits at Epic rarity or above

Challenger possesses a fate capable of intriguing the fates

Challenger has sufficient soul-strength to gamble with their very existence

All Ronan could do as he finished reading the description was stare at the notification with wide eyes. The class was ridiculous in every way. He had sought out cold, hard numbers for comfort. They had comforted and excited him, but the rest made him nervous.

This class sounded exceptionally potent, but it also screamed of bad news. Fates and the soul. His future. All were things he had believed to be endless until that point, but he wondered if the powers of his heritage were greater than those of fate itself.

Then he realised he probably wasn't going to be getting to the point that he had to risk too much. Ronan was still only in the tutorial, after all. He could figure out the dangerous parts later.

Right now there was one sentence that drew the most attention from him. His loot was about to get supercharged.

Ronan put all of the free stat points he had just earned into luck. There was no other option after his new class had limited him to that one stat. Not that he would have made a different choice. He was focusing on luck in this iteration.

And probably the next dozen or so now that he had discovered this terrifying new class. Unless it was shit. Then he wouldn't pick it again. He could only earn the chronos merit for a celestial class once, after all.

Ronan stood up. He heard footsteps and shouts nearby. The gorzerk's dying screech had garnered quite a bit of attention, it seemed.

To his surprise, Ji-yoo was the first to round the corner. She had her club out and was rushing in his direction. When she saw the pile of burning flesh at his feet her eyes turned vengeful and she began to swing at him.

Ronan prepared to defend himself, but before he could, another person arrived in the path and shouted at her. "Ji-yoo, stop! Don't be rash. You heard the screech. No human can make a sound like that." Beom Seok had a hand out, a worried look on his face.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Ji-yoo froze as he spoke, but her gaze never left Ronan. She slowly lowered the club and approached the dead gorzerk. She stared at it. Then she kicked it. Then she bent down to inspect it more closely.

After about thirty seconds of intense staring she finally stood up and stared at Ronan again. "You shouldn't walk around the fortress alone. Was everyone in your old camp a moron, too?"

"Ji-yoo! Go help with the laundry, you foul-mouthed woman. Reflect on your attitude. Ronan just survived a gorzerk attack and removed one of the parasites from our midst. Have you even asked if he is injured?" Beom Seok scolded her as he approached, a stern, almost fatherly expression replacing his worry. He turned to Ronan. "Are you injured, Ronan?"

Ronan chuckled. "It's good for a guard to be paranoid. Maybe less than she is, though. I'm fine, mate. Thanks for asking. You should see the other guy."

Beom Seok laughed at that. "You are an optimistic man, Ronan. That is good. We should all be optimistic in this world. I must thank you for killing it, though I am sorry you had to experience an attack. Try not to wander off alone again." The abbot placed an arm around Ronan's shoulders. "Come, let's head to the canteen. I'm sure you're hungry after that."

He wasn't. Cultivation and stats had a weird way of making the body self-sustaining. Not to mention he had a trait that let him fuel himself with mana. Even so, food was great. Ronan reckoned that even post-apocalyptic food was worth a try. "Sounds great, Beom Seok. Am I saying that right?" The man nodded. "Nice. Lead the way."

Ronan woke up with a start. Someone was dragging him across the floor. He looked up. He was being carried by two people, with two more following behind. They were still in his quarters, but they were clearly trying to take him somewhere else.

He recognised the woman. It was Ji-yoo, the angry guard. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he suspected he knew. The people carrying him hadn't realised he was awake and he wanted to keep it that way for a little longer.

"Why didn't we just tear him apart in his sleep? Someone might see us. This is too risky!" One of the two following behind him hissed at the man who held his legs in a vice-grip.

"That would be too easy! This bastard killed one of us. We can't let him die without knowing why. Or suffering." Ji-yoo's face was twisted in fury as she spat her reply back at the other person.

There it is. I wasn't sure if this was some weird faction among the survivors or the gorzerk. Why am I not surprised she's one of them. Well, now that I know they're all bloodthirsty monsters, I can go wild. Ronan conjured a throwing knife in each hand and let them fly.

As soon as he threw the two weapons, he conjured a medium-sized spear and thrust it at Ji-yoo. To her credit, she reacted almost as soon as he'd thrown the knives, yanking his arm and kicking at his head simultaneously.

The spear slashed across her leg as he whipped it downwards. The knives hit their mark and he hit the ground as the gorzerks' grip on his limbs was released. Ronan jumped to his feet and waved the spear around, keeping them all away from him.

His sudden attack hadn't killed any of the monsters, but the two he'd struck with throwing knives were bleeding profusely. "Sorry, but I think you'll find I'm a lot harder to kill than that. You should have done me in my bed, like your clever friend here said. Too bad you're a vengeful bastard." While he was speaking Ronan used his new skill to mark all four of the gorzerks.

"Die, motherfucker!" Ji-yoo yelled as she charged at him. The gorzerk beside her reached out and tried to stop her, worsening the knife-wound in his chest.

Ronan grinned as he easily sidestepped her flailing club swing and thrust his spear through her head. She fell limp instantly and he dropped the conjured weapon, letting it dissipate with her life.

The one who'd attempted to stop her rushed at him, but Ronan was too fast for the shapeshifters. He conjured a series of knives and tossed them as hard as he could in any direction.

The effects of the mark were incredible. No matter where he threw the knife, it would travel a short distance before whipping around and then accelerating towards the nearest of the three shapeshifters. None of them landed a single hit on Ronan before they were peppered with conjured blades and fell to the ground, dead.

You have killed [Lesser Gorzerk Lv.12-13] x4!

+502 Copper Credits

+Lesser Gorzerk Hide (Uncommon)

+21 [Throwing Knife] Mastery

+7 [Mana VI] Mastery

+3 [Stamina VI] Mastery

+5 [Spear IV] Mastery

+4 [Stealth] Mastery

You have leveled up to Lv.11!

…

You have leveled up to Lv.14!

+60 Vitality

+60 Endurance

+8 Wisdom

+8 Intelligence

+12 Acuity

+80 Charisma

+3220 Luck

+1324 Free Stat Points

Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 2 of the tutorial!

+1 Bronze Credit

+290 Copper Credits

+Endless Treasury Token (Epic) x2

Stage 3 will begin in 5 minutes!

4:59…

Ronan stared at the remains of the four monsters. At least they died quietly. I wouldn't want to waste my five minutes trying to explain this to Beom Seok…