NABC Chapter 951: The Trial Grounds Trap
Chapter 951: The Trial Grounds Trap
[Ding... System Notice: Welcome back to Ethereal!]Back in the game again.
Ethan stood still for a moment 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 times 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 same chaos he remembered, 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 somebody’s lost pet."
"There are still new players joining? He’s only level sixty-something, 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 comment 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 seemed 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 gleamed with enhancement effects and aura flares. Even the weakest among them wore equipment with a hazy yellow glow.
Gold-tier at minimum.
"Come 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 name before accepting.
Coming back this time 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 something 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 name. Instead of a username, they saw only a line of asterisks.
Private messages started flying between them. Some annoyance, some 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. Someone with Ethan’s level and gear should never have gotten into Renegade Alliance unless he had serious connections.
They were nobodies.
A temporary mercenary squad of freelancers who had grouped together for convenience. If they played this right, maybe they could gain something from knowing him.
Ethan understood all of that the moment they approached him.
He just didn’t care enough to expose them. Besides, it had been a long time since he’d casually farmed monsters with random players.
Earlier, he had checked the guild roster. Not even the Honorary Leader was online, and her offline timer showed three full days.
That meant 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 management 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 time 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. Members exchanged points for gear or withdrew rewards according to rank. Salaried players received payment 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 equipment 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 something 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 game for too long, and people like this always knew more gossip than official guild members. 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 something in him tense for a second, but then he remembered. 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 requirement was sixty, but parties used average level calculations. If several higher-level players brought one lower-level member, 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 came charging at them.
Could they even survive it?
Normally, carrying a low-level into the Trial Grounds was standard strategy.
This time, 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 some 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. Something 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 moment, then smiled and shrugged.
Out of everyone in the squad, he seemed 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 moments later they arrived in an unfamiliar zone.
Ethan casually opened his friends list, two names were online. One was Trusty007, his former creditor. The other made him pause.
NoPaperOnTheBigOne, the Mad Engineer. One of Ethan’s most reliable people.
So he was online. That meant 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 somewhere in his mind he’d assumed the engineer stayed with Lyla’s group afterward.
But now that he thought back carefully, he hadn’t seen him in the Extreme South either. Which meant the man must have returned home 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 immediately.
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 time to time, 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 some 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 confirmed.