[You have obtained one Gold-Tier Treasure Map.]
"A Treasure Map!"
A spark ignited in Ethan Sorel's eyes as he examined the item.
[Gold-Tier Treasure Map]: Follow the map’s guidance to locate a Gold-Tier treasure chest.
[Hint: Use the Treasure Map to mark the treasure route on your system map.]
[Warning: The final coordinates of this Treasure Map are located outside the Starter Village.]
"Are you kidding me? A nesting doll?" Ethan rolled his eyes.
Who would have thought a Gold-Tier chest could contain the coordinates for another Gold-Tier chest? Any other player who had fought tooth and nail to kill a guardian boss only to find this would probably be apoplectic.
But for Ethan, this map was different. Its value was on another level entirely. If his theory was correct, the ultimate reward from this simple scroll would be legendary.
The thought made his eyes burn with intensity, his grip tightening on the parchment.
Cataclysm!
His target: the Gold-Tier Treasure Map.
“Ascension Tier 1!”
[You have obtained one "Dark-Gold Treasure Map."]
"It worked!" Ethan couldn't help but clench his fist.
He’d just finessed a Gold-Tier Treasure Map into a Dark-Gold one. Next, he would find the Dark-Gold chest and upgrade it to Epic. Then, he would take whatever items were inside and Ascend them to Legendary.
A triple win. This was the ultimate nesting doll.
Before opening the chest, Ethan would never have imagined that a simple Silver-Tier box could lead to a Legendary-tier payoff. Compared to this map, the Gold-Tier Staff of the Withered Wood seemed utterly insignificant.
Still, he decided to upgrade the staff to Dark-Gold first. He was, after all, still wielding a Level 5 Bronze-tier [Crude Wooden Wand]. In comparison, a Dark-Gold staff was an astronomical improvement.
[Staff of the Withered Wood]
Type: Staff
Level: 10
Tier: Dark-Gold
Durability: 200/200
Requirements: 100 Spirit
Attributes:
Spell Power +280
Spirit +30
Agility +10
Constitution +10
Effect: After triggering a spell critical hit, the casting time of your next skill is reduced by 1 second.
Attached Skill:
[Withered Wood’s Spring]: Instantly restores health to a target equal to 100% of your Spell Power. Cooldown: 120 seconds.
(Even withered wood dreams of spring.)
While the staff wasn't perfectly suited for him, it was far better than what he had. The 30-point Spirit boost alone was worth it. He couldn't complain.
Tossing the Staff of the Withered Wood into his inventory, Ethan picked up the [Dark-Gold Treasure Map] and chose to use it. The yellowed parchment slowly dissolved, its essence flowing into his system map.
A moment later, the smile on Ethan's face vanished.
[Hint: Route marked. The final coordinates are located in the wilds of Serenmoor within The Blossom Realm. Please proceed to The Blossom Realm to begin your treasure hunt.]
"What the hell?"
Ethan’s good mood evaporated instantly. After upgrading the damn map, its destination had jumped to another country!
According to the information provided by Myriad Realms Online, the national borders were not yet open. The specific time they would open depended on the overall progress of players in the Azure Prime server.
That meant his Legendary-tier payload was, for now, completely inaccessible. The first step of his grand nesting doll scheme had hit a dead wall.
"Well, that was a bust."
Watching the empty chest slowly fade away, Ethan shrugged, sat down on the spot, and resumed grinding.
An hour later, a pillar of golden light erupted around him.
[Congratulations, player "Whitenox"! You have reached Level 10. Quad-Stats +1, Skill Points +1, Free Attribute Points +15.]
[Hint: You have reached the level cap for the Starter Village. Please find the Village Chief to teleport to your designated city. You will no longer be able to gain experience here.]
[Congratulations! You are the first player in the Azure Prime server to reach Level 10. You have been awarded the title "Trailblazer."]
[Hint: A server-wide announcement for Azure Prime is imminent.]
[By reaching Level 10, you have triggered the early launch of the Starter Village #9527 Level Leaderboard.]
[Hint: A Starter Village announcement is imminent.]
The rapid-fire series of notifications left Ethan slightly stunned. He was the first to hit Level 10? He didn’t realize that would trigger a server-wide announcement. A pleasant surprise.
[Trailblazer]: While this title is equipped, EXP gained from all sources is increased by 20%.
Every player could obtain multiple titles, but only one could be active at a time, with a 30-minute cooldown on switching.
Ethan’s first instinct was to try and finesse it with `Cataclysm`. To his disappointment, like `Summon Capacity`, the title was a property, not a physical object, and couldn't be Ascended.
"Oh well, a 20% experience boost is still great."
Equipping the [Trailblazer] title, Ethan dismissed his skeleton army back into his Summon Capacity and pulled out a Starter Village return scroll. He'd bought a few on his last trip back; at only 10 Silver Coins each, they were cheap.
A flash of white light enveloped him, and his figure vanished from The Verdant Plains, leaving behind a field of monster corpses that had yet to despawn.
At the same time, the system announcements began to roar. But the first one wasn't about him.
[Starter Village #9527 Announcement: Congratulations to "Dominion Guild" for achieving the World First Clear of "The Mistwood" on Hard difficulty! Let this be an inspiration to all players to strive for greater rewards!] x3
Outside The Mistwood’s entrance, GrandDominion and his team emerged from the dungeon. The system announcement echoing in his ears was music to them. He’d finally scored a win.
While he was in the dungeon, Dominion’s recruitment had not stopped. The elders he’d promoted had worked tirelessly, successfully filling the guild to its Level 1 cap.
Three thousand members.
That number accounted for nearly a tenth of the entire population of Starter Village #9527. The extent of Dominion's influence was now immense. While most of these players were weak, their numbers had indirectly boosted GrandDominion's own power. Now, with the Hard Mode First Clear under his belt, his mood soared.
"Get ready! We're tackling Nightmare difficulty next!" GrandDominion shouted, soaking in the admiring gazes of the surrounding players.
Just then, five flashes of white light signaled the exit of another party from the dungeon portal. WealthSupreme, MapleWhisper, and their team had emerged.
The system announcement that followed immediately wiped the smug look off GrandDominion’s face.
[Starter Village #9527 Announcement: Congratulations to the party led by "WealthSupreme" for achieving the World First Clear of "The Mistwood" on Nightmare difficulty! Let this be an inspiration to all players to strive for greater rewards!] x3
In that single moment, GrandDominion felt like a complete and utter clown. He stared at WealthSupreme’s group in disbelief, his voice low and heavy. "How could you possibly have cleared Nightmare so fast?"
"Just got lucky," WealthSupreme replied with a faint smile.
GrandDominion scoffed, his eyes turning cold. He’d already seen in the guild chat how they’d done it.
It was all because of Whitenox.
The realization that he had lost the Nightmare First Clear because of that one player made his blood boil. That damn Whitenox! You have gear and skills to sell, so why only to WealthSupreme? Did you think the leader of the great Dominion guild couldn't afford them?
He also remembered the friend request Whitenox had rejected. A glint of malice flashed in his eyes as he added another black mark against Whitenox's name in his mind.
Noticing GrandDominion's hostile stare, WealthSupreme and his team frowned, turning to re-enter the dungeon. The First Clears were gone, but now they were aiming for the ultimate challenge: Inferno Difficulty.
GrandDominion was about to do the same, intent on challenging Inferno himself. But the next announcement stopped them both dead in their tracks.
[Azure Prime Server Announcement: Congratulations to player "Whitenox" for being the first to reach Level 10 and earning the title [Trailblazer]! A new era of adventure begins!] x10
The announcement, repeated ten times, echoed across every Starter Village in The Sanctum Prohibitum. The resulting shockwave was just as powerful, if not more so, than the last one.
Players from every nation erupted in discussion.
"How the hell did he level so fast?!"
"The game just launched! He's already Level 10, and I'm still stuck at Level 4! Is this for real?"
"The EXP needed after Level 5 is insane. Is Whitenox hacking?"
"Dude, listen to yourself. You can't hack Myriad Realms Online."
"Can we report Whitenox? I feel like he's destroying game balance."
"Balance? What balance? It takes me ages to kill a single mob, while some lucky bastard with an S-Tier Talent one-shots it."
"Even if Whitenox has an SSS-Tier Talent, what about all the other SSS-Tier players? Why is it always him triggering these announcements?"
...
The very SSS-Tier players they were discussing were just as dumbfounded.
In The Eagle Dominion, Felix. In The Blossom Realm, LunaFate. In The Korrath Kingdom, SolHeir. Even The Dracoveil Empire's own AzureBlade. Across every Starter Village in The Sanctum Prohibitum, all the players who had awakened SSS-Tier Talents were stunned by the announcement.
These top-tier experts all checked their own levels.
A single thought crossed all their minds: How is Whitenox leveling so much faster than me?
They were, without exception, all Level 7. Given the exponential experience curve after Level 5, reaching Level 10 should have taken at least another half a day of non-stop grinding.
When Whitenox got the Catastrophe First Clear, they could rationalize it as bad luck on their part for not triggering the difficulty. But this raw leveling speed was something else entirely. It was terrifying.
They all had SSS-Tier Talents. So why was Whitenox the Trailblazer? How was that fair?
...
The Dracoveil Empire, Starter Village #9526.
Marcus Chen and Willow had just secured the Normal difficulty First Clear and were now tackling Hard Mode. Their village clearly lacked any truly powerful Talents, or the clear would never have been theirs.
"It's him again," Marcus Chen murmured, his eyes narrowing as the announcement played. "Willow, what do you think the odds are that he's Ethan Sorel?"
"How should I know?" Willow rolled her eyes, elegantly tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. The simple gesture was captivating, making Marcus nearly bow in admiration.
"Whether he's Ethan Sorel or not, it doesn't matter," Willow said with a confident, bewitching smile. "If I want him, I'll get him."
"Haha, of course. I have absolute faith in my baby's charms," Marcus laughed in agreement. "But I still hope he's Ethan. It would make things much simpler. That guy would do anything you asked."
"Why worry about it now? Let's just focus on leveling. We'll deal with it after we leave the Starter Village."
Filled with bright hopes for their future, the pair continued their dungeon run.
...
Back in Starter Village #9527, an additional announcement had played.
[Starter Village #9527 Announcement: As player "Whitenox" has reached Level 10, the Level Leaderboard for this village has been unlocked ahead of schedule.]
[Starter Village #9527 Level Leaderboard]
1. Whitenox, Level 10 (Unaffiliated)
2. MapleWhisper, Level 5 (Unaffiliated)
3. Vince, Level 5 (Unaffiliated)
4. WakingUpIsHard, Level 5 (Unaffiliated)
5. WealthSupreme, Level 5 (Unaffiliated)
6. Marshmallow, Level 5 (Unaffiliated)
7. GrandDominion, Level 5 (Dominion Guild)
8. One-Cut Silencer, Level 5 (Dominion Guild)
9. TurkeyChip, Level 5 (Dominion Guild)
10. MilkyFlake, Level 5 (Dominion Guild)
The leaderboard only displayed the top ten. Aside from Whitenox, every single person on the list was Level 5. The twenty thousand experience points required to level up was no small hurdle, both because lower-difficulty dungeons gave less EXP and because they were splitting it among a party. Of course, without a party, they couldn't have cleared the dungeons at all.
The leaderboard's appearance immediately sent the village chat into a frenzy.
"Whitenox is inhuman! His level is double everyone else on the board!"
"It's not just double! The EXP from Level 5 to 6 is more than from 0 to 5 combined!"
"This is insane. By the time I get out of the Starter Village, Whitenox will probably be Level 20."
"Pessimist. Level 30 isn't out of the question."
"WealthSupreme's team is strong too. Their leveling speed beat out the Dominion Guild members, and Dominion has a 20% EXP buff!"
"Well, yeah, they just cleared Nightmare. It's normal for them to be ahead for now. Dominion will probably overtake them soon."
"I heard One-Cut Silencer has an S-rank Talent too. Can't believe even he joined Dominion."
"What's the use? He's still only half of Whitenox's level."
...
Outside the dungeon portal, GrandDominion's face was grim as he closed the leaderboard. It was bad enough that Whitenox had hit Level 10 so quickly, but his own team, despite having a 20% experience buff, had been outranked by WealthSupreme's party.
This was an outrage.
He shot a venomous glare at WealthSupreme's group before silently queuing up for the dungeon again.
"Whitenox is leveling so fast!" Marshmallow exclaimed in awe.
"Yeah, it's like he's on a rocket," Vince added.
When they had traded with him, he was Level 8 and they were Level 5. Now, after just one dungeon run, they were still Level 5, but Whitenox had shot up to Level 10. Was leveling this easy for him?
"You guys go on ahead. I need to head back for a minute," WealthSupreme said, looking at the 10 Soulstones of Vitality I in his backpack.
He had originally planned to wait a bit before delivering the soulstones to Whitenox. But the successive system announcements had changed his mind. He had to do everything he could to build a good relationship with a player like Whitenox. Even if the man wouldn't join his team, a good connection meant access to premium goods.
Unconsciously, WealthSupreme's mindset had already shifted, a change even he hadn't fully registered. He pulled out a return scroll.
...
A flash of white light, and Ethan appeared on the teleportation plaza of Starter Village #9527. He heard the announcements for the dungeon First Clears and a slight smile played on his lips.
More Soulstones of Vitality were on their way.
The next second, another beam of white light flared up beside him, and the portly figure of WealthSupreme materialized before his eyes.
"Whitenox! Here are the 10 Soulstones of Vitality I from the First Clear," WealthSupreme said with a broad, beaming smile, initiating a trade. "If you get any more good stuff, you can't forget about me."
[Hint: Your Contract No. 2 with WealthSupreme has been fulfilled.]
"Don't worry," he added, his voice oozing with goodwill. "I'll make sure the price is always right."
Ethan gave a slight nod. "As long as you have the coin, I'll have the goods. Contact me after you leave the Starter Village."
With a dismissive wave, he turned and walked towards the Village Chief's house. Neither the Bonewarden Set nor the B-rank skill book [Thunder Cleave] were things WealthSupreme could afford right now. The best time to sell those items would be in a few days.
For now, his priority was clear: be the first player to leave the Starter Village.