Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Into the Plaguelands

Ethan wandered around the quiet village, relying on his memory to navigate. After several minutes, he finally found what he was looking for, a dilapidated shack.

The place looked barely functional, with broken windows and a door that seemed to hang by a thread, just sturdy enough to block out the wind and rain.

“This should be it,” Ethan muttered, stepping inside.

In the small courtyard, he spotted a young girl, no older than 11 or 12, sitting on the porch. She rested her chin in her hands, her gaze fixed on the sky.

“That’s her,” Ethan confirmed to himself.

Walking closer, he said, “Hey there, little one. Still waiting for the plane today?”

The girl’s eyes lit up as she heard him, her face bright with curiosity. “You know about planes too?”

Ethan smiled. Her reaction sparked a bit of confidence in him, this was how the side quest was supposed to begin, though he couldn’t help feeling nervous. After all, in his past life, he hadn’t completed this quest personally.

“Of course I do,” Ethan replied. “I’ve even flown on one myself!”

The girl shot up to her feet, her excitement palpable. “Really? My dad’s a pilot! He promised he’d come back one day in his plane to pick me up. But nobody in the village believes me. They all say planes don’t exist.”

Ethan pulled out the pilot’s watch from his inventory and held it out to her.

“Planes are real,” he said gently. “Your dad’s just really busy right now. Thousands of people need to ride his plane every day. But he knows how much you miss him, so he asked me to bring this watch to you.”

Ethan’s approach was drastically different from the original path taken by the person who had completed this quest in his past life. That player had told the girl the harsh truth, that her father had died.

After accepting the watch, the girl had given that player a silver-tier bracer she’d found in the forest.

Later, when the game developers released a detailed guide for this quest, it revealed an alternate route: conceal the pilot’s death and leave the girl with hope for the future. Choosing this path would unlock a follow-up quest.

The player who had taken the harsher approach had regretted it bitterly after seeing the guide.

The girl took the watch eagerly, her eyes brimming with excitement.

“It’s really my dad’s! Look, my name is engraved on the back. Thank you so much, big bro. I haven’t heard from my dad in over a year, and I’ve missed him so much. Here, take this as a thank-you! I found it in the forest while playing with my friends.”

Ding…

[System Notification: You’ve received an item: Sorenth’s Token.]

Ding…

[System Notification: With Sorenth’s Token, travel to the Plaguelands and find Archmage Sorenth to unlock the next quest!]

Smiling, Ethan bid the girl farewell.

The Plaguelands, a level 40 zone. Fortunately, there was a small town there with a teleportation hub he could use.

As Ethan made his way to the teleportation point, a private message popped up in his chat.

It was from Trusty007.

“Got a good business opportunity? Let’s hear it!”

“Murky Swamp dungeon strategy,” Ethan replied.

He hadn’t expected a fast response, but Trusty007 immediately sent a video call request.

Accepting the call, Ethan was met with a polite greeting from Trusty007, who then got straight to the point.

“Strategies can be tricky to sell. They’re a one-time purchase, and once someone leaks it, it spreads like wildfire,” Trusty007 said, his tone matter-of-fact.

“I know,” Ethan replied, grinning. “That’s why I came to you, to handle the operation.”

“Oh?” Trusty007’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Looks like you already have a plan. Let’s hear it.”

“It’s not a complicated idea,” Ethan began. “I think my reputation, and the notoriety of Renegade Alliance, should still carry some weight, right?” He paused, letting his words settle.

Trusty007 chuckled. “Some weight? That’s an understatement, Sir NotADruid”

Ethan smirked. “Good. Here’s the plan: using my name, announce the sale of a guide for the Expert mode of the Murky Swamp dungeon in every Starter Zone you can cover. Include all lower difficulty guides as a bonus.

“As for the price, I’m setting it at two gold coins per copy. Start taking payments the moment you release the announcement. After three days, distribute the guide to everyone who’s paid.”

Trusty007 thought it over, his expression intrigued. “That actually sounds doable.”

The two struck a deal and signed an in-game authorization contract. This way, Trusty007’s team could present proof that they were officially licensed to sell the guide under Ethan’s name.

With the arrangements in place, Ethan let the matter go. It wasn’t his concern how many copies sold or how far it spread, any income would be a welcome bonus at this point.

Arriving at the teleportation hub, Ethan paid ten silver coins to travel to a small town in the Plaguelands.

The teleportation array lit up with dazzling colors. When the flash subsided, Ethan found himself in a withered forest. Towering trees stretched high into the gray skies, their branches holding a network of rickety treehouses.

Years of rain and wind had left the structures barely standing.

The town in the Plaguelands was a forsaken, desolate place. Long ago, it had served as a quarantine zone for those suffering from incurable infectious diseases. The treehouses had been their homes, and over time, the sick had become the region’s permanent inhabitants.

Now, the place was nearly abandoned.

A hunched NPC dressed in tattered burlap, with a longbow slung across his back, glared at Ethan. The figure radiated an unsettling, dangerous aura.

Ethan quickly lowered his head and walked away, understanding the unspoken rule here. The locals considered themselves cursed and punished by the gods, eternally suffering from their afflictions. Strangers were unwelcome, and even the wrong glance could provoke a violent response.

The NPC who had glared at Ethan might not have looked impressive, but he was a level 40 elite. In fact, none of the NPCs here were below level 40, making the town an extremely dangerous place for Ethan.

Armed with memories from his past life, Ethan moved cautiously, knowing how to avoid drawing attention.

Various NPCs passed by as Ethan navigated the town, always keeping his head down and his posture humble. He maintained a steady pace, carefully slipping past the eerie inhabitants until he finally made it out of the town.

Exhaling in relief, Ethan activated his transformation ability: Deer Form. His body shifted, becoming sleeker and more agile. Without wasting time, he sprinted down the forest path.

The trees in the Plaguelands were unhealthy shades of ashen gray, their skeletal branches tightly packed together. The dense canopy blocked nearly all light, save for a few dim beams that slipped through the claw-like gaps in the branches. On the forest floor, these beams formed fragmented, ominous patterns.

The oppressive atmosphere was suffocating, with twisted roots and overgrown thickets creating a labyrinth of decay.

The monsters here were no joke, with most being level 35 or higher. Ethan remained hyper-focused, his ears tuned to the faintest sound.

As he neared the monster respawn zone, Ethan switch to panther from and entered stealth mode, his movements becoming virtually undetectable.

Outside the Plaguelands, the world of Ethereal was bright and sunny. But here, the perpetual gloom turned the forest into an eerie twilight.

The faint shafts of light only served to deepen the sense of dread, casting shadows that danced like specters on the ground. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the occasional creak of branches in the wind.

To Ethan, none of this was overwhelming. He had endured over five thousand years of trials in the dreamscape, this was nothing in comparison.

Then, a faint rustling sound reached his ears.

He froze, focusing on the noise coming from nearby.