[Ding... System Notice: Welco back to Ethereal!]
Back in the ga again.
Ethan stood still for a mont after spawning, letting his eyes adjust to the familiar yet strangely distant world around him. He had reappeared in the capital of Harmony City, exactly where he used to log in countless tis before. The city was as loud and overcrowded as ever, packed with players rushing through the streets, shouting in chat, bargaining over gear, or sprinting toward their next objective. It was the sa chaos he rembered, only now it felt like he was looking at it from the outside.
"Hey, look at that guy. Check his gear out, it’s complete trash. He looks like sobody’s lost pet."
"There are still new players joining? He’s only level sixty-sothing, right? Damn, though... a year and a half ago that setup would’ve been top-tier."
"Now it’s vendor junk. But wait, are new players really still coming into Ethereal? And he’s a Druid too."
"Keep your voice down. Didn’t you see the insignia? He’s with Renegade Alliance."
That last comnt changed everything. The group that had been laughing suddenly noticed the crest on Ethan’s chest, and their expressions tightened. They instinctively stepped back.
"That low level and he still got into Renegade Alliance? He’s got backing."
"So... what do we do?"
They exchanged glances. Then, almost in unison, their attitudes changed.
Smiles appeared. The one who seed to be leading them walked forward first.
"Hey, man. You new around here? Want us to help you level a bit? No charge."
They stopped in front of him with friendly faces and practiced warmth.
Ethan blinked, caught slightly off guard. He gave their gear a quick glance instead. Every piece glead with enhancent effects and aura flares. Even the weakest among them wore equipnt with a hazy yellow glow.
Gold-tier at minimum.
"Co on, don’t be shy," the leader said with an easy laugh. "Hard to trust people these days, sure, but we get reputation points for helping lower-level players grind too."
A party invitation appeared in front of Ethan. He looked at it for a second, then quietly hid his character na before accepting.
Coming back this ti felt different.
The urgency was gone. That old obsession, the constant pressure to stay ahead, to dominate everything, had loosened its grip. Maybe it had sothing to do with the sleep he’d gotten yesterday. Maybe he was just tired of carrying that weight.
As soon as he joined, the others noticed his hidden na. Instead of a userna, they saw only a line of asterisks.
Private ssages started flying between them. So annoyance, so suspicion.
’This guy thinks he’s important.’
But whatever complaints they had disappeared quickly when their leader shut it down. Everyone there understood the situation. Soone with Ethan’s level and gear should never have gotten into Renegade Alliance unless he had serious connections.
They were nobodies.
A temporary rcenary squad of freelancers who had grouped together for convenience. If they played this right, maybe they could gain sothing from knowing him.
Ethan understood all of that the mont they approached him.
He just didn’t care enough to expose them. Besides, it had been a long ti since he’d casually fard monsters with random players.
Earlier, he had checked the guild roster. Not even the Honorary Leader was online, and her offline tir showed three full days.
That ant Celia, Tears of the Fallen, was still missing too.
Most likely still trapped inside Silverwood family territory, where all communication had been cut off.
Even so, Renegade Alliance continued to function normally.
That was the strength Victor and the others had built into it. The guild’s managent had long since evolved beyond relying on one person. Squad leaders, company leaders, battalion heads, quartermasters, treasury officers, layer upon layer of structure. More like a military machine than a gaming guild.
If one link vanished, the rest kept moving.
The guild leader’s direct presence had stopped being essential a long ti ago. Only major matters, things like vault withdrawals or high-level approvals, still required the leader personally.
Everything else ran on systems.
Contribution points governed the vault. mbers exchanged points for gear or withdrew rewards according to rank. Salaried players received paynt automatically.
There was no chaos or collapse.
Because of that, Ethan had no intention of revealing himself yet. As for these people offering to power-level him...
He nearly laughed.
Sure, the gear he wore was outdated. Mostly Silver-grade equipnt with a few Gold pieces mixed in. He wasn’t carrying the Twilight War Spear either.
But his level? Ethan checked it again and clicked his tongue.
127.
All the monsters he had slaughtered in the Divine sea territory had pushed him that far. Then he opened the leaderboard.
First place was level 104. He was twenty-three levels ahead, and that sent a small thrill through him.
Even while absent, he had still left everyone behind.
But there was sothing odd. His level wasn’t showing on the rankings at all, even though he hadn’t hidden it.
’Strange.’
He filed the thought away and focused on the squad instead.
Going along with them for now wasn’t a bad idea. He had been out of the ga for too long, and people like this always knew more gossip than official guild mbers. Freelancers lived on rumors, scraps of information, and overheard scandals.
In another life, he had led groups exactly like them.
"How about we head to the Trial Grounds?" the leader suggested after a while.
"Trial Grounds?" Ethan repeated.
The word trial made sothing in him tense for a second, but then he rembered. He, Leo, and the others had unlocked that place themselves.
The Trial Grounds was a leveling dungeon designed for grinding experience. Back when they first activated it, nobody had even reached level sixty, so no one could enter.
The minimum level requirent was sixty, but parties used average level calculations. If several higher-level players brought one lower-level mber, the average dropped enough to make runs easier while still allowing entry.
Ethan’s expression turned faintly strange. These people thought he was weak. They had brought him specifically to lower the party average.
The problem was that once they entered, the monsters inside would spawn according to the true average level of the party.
And Ethan was level 127.
There was no visible average shown outside the dungeon. They would only learn the truth after entering, when enemies far above their expectations ca charging at them.
Could they even survive it?
Normally, carrying a low-level into the Trial Grounds was standard strategy.
This ti, it was going to explode in their faces.
Ethan simply nodded.
The others kept trying to chat with him along the way, but every conversation was shallow and forced. He answered little, which so of them clearly disliked. They thought he was arrogant.
Still, no one dared show it.
He was connected to Renegade Alliance, and they wanted that connection badly enough to swallow their pride.
Ethan watched the city pass around them. Players flowed in and out of potion stores, the engineering shop, the auction house. Business was thriving.
He had ignored all of it for so long that it almost felt like visiting a city he used to live in.
Then his gaze stopped on the engineering shop. Sothing clicked in his mind.
"How did I forget about him..." he muttered.
"What was that?" asked the rogue beside him, clearly sharp-eared.
"Nothing."
The rogue studied him for a mont, then smiled and shrugged.
Out of everyone in the squad, he seed like the only one without ulterior motives. Ethan found himself staying a little closer to him after that.
The group stepped onto the teleportation array. Their leader paid the fee, light surged upward, and monts later they arrived in an unfamiliar zone.
Ethan casually opened his friends list, two nas were online. One was Trusty007, his forr creditor. The other made him pause.
NoPaperOnTheBigOne, the Mad Engineer. One of Ethan’s most reliable people.
So he was online. That ant he had never gone into Silverwood family territory with the others.
Ethan finally understood why he hadn’t thought of him sooner. After rescuing the man before, Ethan had taken him to the villa, and sowhere in his mind he’d assud the engineer stayed with Lyla’s group afterward.
But now that he thought back carefully, he hadn’t seen him in the Extre South either. Which ant the man must have returned ho on his own and never rejoined them.
It made sense. He was just an ordinary civilian player. The Divine Sea Temple had no reason to target him.
Ethan stared at the glowing icon for several seconds, then closed the list.
’Not yet.’ He would contact him later.
The squad soon reached the entrance to the Trial Grounds.
"Let’s start with Normal difficulty," the leader said.
Ethan nodded, and the others agreed imdiately.
Difficulty settings affected experience gain. Normal gave the least rewards, but it was the safest option if they were carrying a supposed weak player.
The leader kept glancing at Ethan from ti to ti, clearly unsettled by how calm he was. Doubt had started creeping into his mind. Maybe inviting this guy had been a mistake.
But they were already here now. Backing out would only offend him.
Better to finish one smooth run, build so goodwill, then maybe invite him again later for Hard or Expert mode. If they got close enough, they might gain a useful favor in the future.
Ethan understood every thought passing behind that man’s eyes.
He simply pretended not to notice. He was using them too.
Once they entered, he would let them panic a little, then ask questions while they recovered. People talked more honestly when shaken.
[Ding... System Notice: Your party leader has applied to enter the Trial Grounds on Normal difficulty. Do you agree to enter?]
"Agree."
Ethan lifted a hand and confird.
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