Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge

Mia and Molly, unaware of what had happened earlier, pouted over their store-bought breakfast, stirring at the now-lukewarm congee. When they were done, they grumbled their way back to their rooms, eager to dive once more into the game.

Ryan still hadn't managed to identify Molly's in-game character, which meant he couldn't help her directly. He suspected Mia knew Molly's ID, but she refused to say a word, and Ryan had no way around it.

When he logged in, Ryan appeared in Stormhold Fortress.

The moment he materialized, he noticed something was off. The capital was usually quiet and sparsely populated, yet today it felt more like a bustling metropolis. Players of every class filled the streets, and the Regional Channel scrolled wildly as people scrambled to buy resources, their prices already double what Ryan remembered.

The Nyman Revivalist camp had been discovered.

That alone explained the frenzy. Players were desperate to fill the supply gaps that had once seemed trivial. A demand of a hundred thousand stacks for each resource had looked excessive before, but with millions of players involved, it now felt like a drop in the ocean.

Few people even knew what the Nyman Revivalist reputation was good for, yet the promise of Uncommon and rare-quality gear was enough to send everyone chasing after it.

Ryan had planned to buy more supplies that morning, hoping the auction house might have some cheap Enchanted Cloth Bandages. Instead, he found them selling for over thirty gold a stack, while nearly everything else had doubled in price as well. He quickly gave up on the idea. His reputation with the Revivalists was already revered, and the gear no longer tempted him, aside from the rare chance at an epic piece. Most of the rest he simply handed off to Mia for her Enchanting skill.

With purchasing out of the question, Ryan dismissed the thought and Hearthstoned back to Astral City to check the Wandering Merchant for gear.

He had long since stopped bothering with ores, herbs, or cloth. The sheer volume that would eventually be needed was overwhelming, and besides, those level-sixty materials wouldn't matter much until the next expansion—a long way off.

After organizing his inventory, Ryan set out again, returning to the Dreadful Mire with plans to push deeper into the Corrupted Lands. His goal was to take on quests for the Yalta Expeditionary Force and work his way to at least Friendly reputation with them.

The Expeditionary Force was a neutral faction, a coalition of victims from many races who had suffered under the Twilight Cult. In time, they would become central to a major raid dungeon, and building reputation with them would be invaluable.

Their main stronghold was Sunstone City, deep in the Dawn Highlands. From there, players with the proper standing could acquire epic-quality gear and temporary buffs in exchange for reputation and special currency. The catch was that no one could take quests in Sunstone until they'd already reached Friendly status with the faction elsewhere.

That was why Ryan had come to the Dreadful Mire. The Yalta outpost here offered a much faster route to Friendly. Without it, he would have been stuck grinding Twilight Cult NPCs for pitiful reputation gains, an endless slog with little to show for it.

The Corrupted Lands had no convenient flight path from the Cleansing Grove. Players were forced to travel on foot until they completed a chain of quests that unlocked a personal route. Before that, the journey required a half-hour flight from the Grove to the nearest point, followed by a long trek to the corrupted border.

The area had earned its name from the Twilight Cult, who had dumped toxic refuse here for years, poisoning the land beyond recognition. The native insect population had twisted under the corruption, transforming into monstrous, half-demonic versions of themselves.

Some insects remained untouched, and whether driven by instinct or fury, they fought relentlessly against their mutated kin. The battles never ended, a cycle of violence and death played out across the wasteland.

Ryan passed by a pair locked in combat, their screeching claws and mandibles tearing at each other. Normal giant insects were level thirty-one, while their corrupted counterparts were level thirty-two, and both were hostile.

In this zone, creatures died and respawned endlessly. For players, the warring insects were an ideal source of experience, since they often fought at reduced health and targeted one another instead of intruders. It was easy to strike down one and then finish off the other before it turned its attention back to the player.

At the very heart of the Corrupted Lands stood the headquarters of the Yalta Expeditionary Force. Unlike the foul swamps surrounding it, reeking of sewage and littered with corpses, the camp was an oasis. Birds sang overhead, and fragrant flowers grew where corruption dared not creep.

The Force had literally reshaped the land. Using their unique magic, they had transplanted a fragment of the Radiant Plane into this blighted zone. Not only did it give them a fortified position, but it also allowed them to slowly purify the ground around them.

The camp bore its name proudly: First Light.

As Ryan crossed the threshold, the sight struck him. The buildings glowed faintly with a milky-white light, each one constructed of Radiant Stone. Their steady power seeped into the soil, driving back the corruption at the borders and reclaiming the earth inch by inch.

"Welcome, Paladin! Welcome to this land of light!"

A patrol of soldiers passed him, their leader pausing to salute.

It was a small touch, but one Ryan recognized at once as a developer's Easter egg. The Yalta Expeditionary Force greeted Paladins with special respect.

Neutral factions rarely judged by race, yet they often showed clear favoritism toward certain classes. The Verdant Spire in the Arid Plains held special quests for Druids, ones that other players coveted. The Flame of Order in the far-off Land of Four Elements had an affinity for Shamans. Warriors found their place in the Song of Fury, Rogues in the Shadowed Depths, Warlocks in the Demonic Crypt.

And now, Ryan had reached the camp of First Light—a sanctuary that welcomed Paladins above all others.