Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge

The Nyman Revivalists' encampment came into view sooner than expected. Ryan signaled for his companions to approach the NPCs and begin trading in their supplies for rewards.

No matter the quality of the supplies, the exchange always yielded the same reward: a small box called Nyman's Gratitude. Only upon opening did one discover whether the contents matched the grade of the offering.

The Flowing Light guild had gone straight for the best. They had purchased the highest-grade items currently listed on the auction house: Enchanted Cloth Bandages. Crafted from Enchanted Cloth that occasionally dropped from level-30 monsters, these bandages were mostly made by players rushing to level their First Aid profession. A stack of Enchanted Cloth Bandages cost around four gold, yet producing a stack required an entire stack of Enchanted Cloth, which on its own sold for ten gold.

High-level players eager to max out their First Aid rarely sold their cloth; most of it was consumed in power-leveling. That made the bandages both relatively cheap and surprisingly high-grade, the perfect donation for squeezing out maximum rewards.

Still, the Flowing Light guild faced one limitation: bag space. Each of them carried ten-slot bags, the best NPC-sold bags available in Stormhold Fortress, but hardly spacious enough. Between potions, food, gear, and other necessities, there was little room left. Even Molly, who had prepared the most bandages, could only haul fifty stacks to the encampment.

While the others lined up before the NPC who accepted Enchanted Cloth Bandages, Ryan drifted away, half out of boredom, half out of curiosity. He circled the camp, checking what each NPC demanded. After a thorough look, he decided the bandages were still the best bargain. The thought sparked a plan: he would log onto an alt later, sweep the auction house clean of every last bandage, and stockpile before the rest of the server caught on. He didn't care if the price climbed a little. Once word spread, all supply prices would surge sky-high anyway.

Even if the long-term purpose of gaining reputation with the Nyman Revivalists wasn't obvious yet, the short-term rewards were worth it. A single level-30 green-quality item could easily fetch ten gold at auction, and the Nyman's Gratitude boxes carried the chance of something rarer, even epic.

When Ryan finally returned, the guild had already finished their trades. They stood gathered together, waiting expectantly.

"Boss, we exchanged about five hundred boxes in total. What do you think we'll get?" Nightwalker grinned, jerking his chin toward the stacks.

"What do you think? Reputation, gear, the usual," Ryan replied dryly. He wasn't about to tease them with talk of epic loot, even if he knew it was possible.

"We were waiting for you before opening them," Nightwalker said. "Even if you don't have boxes yourself, it's still fun to watch us crack ours open, right?"

Ryan smirked and reached out, playfully flicking Nightwalker on the forehead as he laughed, and retreated back into the group.

"Alright, everyone, stop messing around and open your boxes. Let's see what good stuff you pulled," Ryan said briskly. With more than five hundred boxes to open, the odds of landing one or two epic-quality items weren't bad—or so he told himself. Enchanted Cloth Bandages were the best supplies available right now, and the gear they yielded started at level thirty-five. An epic-quality piece would be strong enough for raid dungeons, even at this stage.

The first dozen boxes opened brought little more than sighs. Aside from the guaranteed 150 points of Nyman Revivalist reputation, even uncommon-quality gear wasn't certain, and a few boxes turned out to be empty. That caught Ryan off guard. In his previous life, when he had donated supplies to the Demonbane Expeditionary Force, he had never once seen an empty box, not even after exchanging hundreds of stacks. Maybe this neutral faction worked differently in its early days compared to later expansions. Back then, most players were decked out in rare gear, with the occasional epic piece as a badge of pride. Here and now, even uncommon-quality equipment was considered valuable.

"Holy cow, I got a rare-quality bracer!" AJ's voice rang out over the guild channel. The Protection Warrior was practically bouncing in place as he linked the item for everyone to see. For him, a level 34 rare plate bracer was a gift from the heavens—his old one was only level 27 and merely uncommon.

"Good pull! Keep going. A rare's worth at least a hundred gold right now. Anyone who gets one is making a tidy profit this time," Ryan said, chuckling as he encouraged the others to keep opening.

"I got one too… but it's a rare-quality staff," came Nightwalker's groan. The Rogue sounded ready to cry. Fortunately, the staff was bind-on-equip and fully tradable. Without hesitation, Ryan bought it off him and handed it over to Molly.

"Thank you, big bro." Molly hugged the staff tightly, her cheeks glowing red.

Ryan couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm. He reached out and ruffled her hair, and she lowered her head, still clutching the weapon.

"Waaah!!" A shriek cut through both the guild and raid channels, sharp and excited enough to set hearts racing.

"An epic-quality item! It's purple!" Evelyn practically bounced off the ground, waving her arms and laughing breathlessly.

"Really? No way, your luck's insane!"

"This thing can drop purple gear? Damn, all I'm getting are greens."

"Oh my god, a purple! That has to be worth at least a thousand gold on the auction house right now!"

Everyone crowded closer, eyes shining as Evelyn posted the item in the guild chat. Shouts of awe and excitement filled the channel, though under the surface, envy simmered just as hot as joy. Now that they knew epic-quality loot was possible, every unopened box suddenly felt like a chance at glory.

Ryan's gaze locked on the item. His pulse quickened, and for a moment he forgot to breathe. He could think of only one thing: he had to get his hands on it. That wasn't just any epic drop. It was the epic, the one hailed across servers as the PvP artifact for Protection Paladins.