Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: A Costly Endeavor

Ethan exited the Town Hall, hesitating at the steep teleportation costs. He briefly debated walking to Blackridge, but the only route passed through Springhaven.

Clenching his teeth, he reluctantly spent 20 gold coins to return to Springhaven. From there, he resumed his journey on foot.

As Ethan trekked through the sprawling roads, someone else was facing his own storm of emotions.

Zachary had logged out of the game. Inside his room, chaos reigned—every item lay shattered across the floor. Even his high-tech VR capsule had been bashed nearly out of shape by the relentless blows of a baseball bat.

The reason for his tantrum? Simple. While Ethan, bearing Zachary’s name in-game, continually transferred land titles to new owners, the system notifications flooded in.

By the end, not only had Zachary lost every land deed he owned, but his reputation in Springhaven had plummeted by 4,200 points.

Although he had no clue what a city’s reputation stat affected, he knew it couldn’t be good.

His initial joy had soured into bitterness. The rollercoaster of emotions left Zachary unhinged.

After venting his fury on the furniture, Zachary sank into a chair, his eyes glowing with venomous hatred. His thoughts spun. There was only one person capable of reaching the main city to pull off this betrayal.

He pulled out his phone, hesitated, then dialed a number.

On the other end, a voice answered in a clipped foreign accent: “Who are you looking for?”

Switching to fluent Japanese, Zachary responded, “I need you to find someone for me…”

Unbeknownst to Ethan, his rebirth had accelerated certain events, nudging them beyond his control.

—

Running tirelessly, Ethan made his way closer to Blackridge before the game’s servers went offline.

The following day at school, life remained uneventful. Even Lyla, who had always been unusually friendly toward him, now maintained a distant, almost hesitant demeanor after recent events.

Whenever Ethan’s gaze landed on her, she froze as if caught mid-step.

The tension was enough to make Ethan wonder if he had gone too far. Yet every time he saw Lyla, the image of wet stains on the dining table flashed in his mind, bringing back a tide of emotions.

Still, he couldn’t figure out what he’d done. After all, he hadn’t really done anything… right?

When night fell, Ethan logged back into the game, finally making it to Blackridge after over an hour of travel.

Claiming the reputation rewards tied to his real name, Ethan once again donned his Disguise Mask. This time, he chose to mimic the username “Nightfall.”

As the white mist faded, Ethan glanced down.

His brows furrowed as he noticed two… large additions to his chest. He took a tentative step, immediately feeling off balance, leaning forward slightly.

Struggling to adjust, he had a sudden thought. Glancing around to ensure no one was nearby, Ethan carefully slipped a hand into his waistband.

“Whew… still here!” he muttered in relief.

A strange mix of emotions surfaced, relief followed by a pang of disappointment. Shaking his head, Ethan instinctively reached for his newly “enhanced” chest, giving it a light squeeze.

“Huh, didn’t feel this big before,” he mused.

Quickly shaking off the moment, Ethan confirmed once more that no one was around before briskly heading to Blackridge’s Property Office.

After wrapping up the paperwork, he spent nearly all the 20,000 gold coins gifted by Lord Gregor, leaving only three coins to his name. Satisfied, he strutted toward the teleportation hub, spending a staggering 53 gold coins to return to Harmony City.

The farther the distance, the steeper the teleportation fees. By late-game, such expenses were a luxury few players could afford. Many would rather endure grueling treks than burn their savings on teleportation.

Back in Harmony City, Ethan checked his inventory. Only 95 gold coins remained, and three of those were task-restricted coins from Lord Gregor, meaning they couldn’t be spent freely.

Ethan sighed deeply. “Making money’s hard. Spending it? That’s way too easy.”

The recent guild battle had been costly. He had spent a small fortune compensating his fallen comrades. Sure, Unity Hall had been completely crippled, and their looted equipment, once converted, would undoubtedly yield a hefty profit.

But the repeated teleportation fees alone had eaten through most of the earnings.

Although Ethan had secured usage rights for multiple properties, turning them into a source of income required time. Other players would need to reach the main city, develop the economy, and create demand. Until then, the land would sit idle.

If he wanted to make money now, he’d need to think of something himself.

“What can I do to make money without halting my progress?” Ethan muttered, racking his brain for ideas.

He thought long and hard. Unfortunately, every idea required other players to arrive in the main city first.

No choice. He’d just have to focus on leveling up for now.

Ethan returned to the Town Hall, where he met with Lord Gregor to complete his task. His favourability with Gregor increased by another 300 points, and Ethan noticed a subtle change in the city lord’s demeanor, his tone was warmer, though still mechanical.

Gone was the spirited, human-like debate they’d had a few days ago.

Puzzled but unwilling to linger on it, Ethan left the Town Hall.

As he prepared to search for a life-skills trainer, a video call notification flashed across his screen.

It was Leo, known in-game as Skyblade.

“Boss! We’re stuck in the dungeon. Help us out!” Leo blurted the moment Ethan accepted the call, his face a mix of urgency and frustration.

“You guys went to clear the Murky Swamp?” Ethan asked, raising a brow.

“Yeah. The three of us took a bunch of level 10 guildmates to tackle it. We’ve been at it all night, and we still can’t finish!” Leo groaned.

The Murky Swamp was the first dungeon in the Starter Zone and the only one available there.

The dungeon had five difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, Expert, and Hell.

The harder the difficulty, the better the loot and experience rewards. However, it also required tighter teamwork, better coordination, and higher-quality gear.

The Easy mode could be run endlessly, but its loot drop rate was comparable to the wilds, offering only marginally higher experience. Still, completing it awarded bonus experience upon clearing.

Normal mode allowed one run per day, resetting after the server rebooted the following day.

Hard mode could only be cleared once per week, resetting every Monday at 6:00 PM.

Expert mode refreshed monthly, unlocking on the first day of each month.

Hell mode was unique. It had a strict time limit and required a flawless five-star completion rating to earn rewards. The guaranteed reward? A piece of gold-tier equipment.

Achieving a five-star rating, however, was incredibly difficult. While beating the time limit wasn’t too challenging, earning maximum stars required perfection, flawless execution and attention to every detail.

Even in the late game, when teams returned to clear low-level dungeons, achieving a perfect score on Hell mode was rare. For many top-tier groups, managing it once in ten attempts was considered impressive.

This was the reality of dungeon mechanics in the world of Ethereal.

As for how to achieve a five-star rating? Ethan knew all the tricks. He was confident that with a disciplined team that followed his commands to the letter, earning five stars in Hell mode wouldn’t be an issue.

But dungeons were only as strong as their weakest link. A team’s success depended on its players’ skill levels, execution, and overall awareness.

Ethan couldn’t help but shake his head when Leo admitted they were running the Easy mode of Murky Swamp.

“How many people do you have? And what are their levels?” Ethan asked after a moment of thought.

Leo sighed. “It’s me, SeraphWarrior, and Slashblade, we’re all level 11 now. The rest are 27 guild members who just hit level 10.”