Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge

With a flash of emerald light, Ryan found himself back in Astral City. This time, instead of drifting toward the Wandering Merchant as he usually did, he headed straight for the Stormhold Fortress portal. He was impatient to see what rewards awaited him for finishing the task.

Stepping through the portal into the Dreadful Mire, Ryan wasted no time. At the Cleansing Grove flight point, he mounted a flying beast and steered it toward the Yalta Expeditionary Force's First Light camp. Once he landed and dismounted, he made his way quickly to the very spot where he had taken on the quest not long ago. Spirit Malga was still there, standing utterly motionless, exactly as before.

Ryan approached and initiated the dialogue sequence, pulling out his notepad once more. He carefully wrote down every word, ready in case something unexpected happened.

"Oh, my heavens… so this is the truth behind it all!"

Malga's frail, withered form suddenly blazed with radiant light. Torrents of brilliance erupted from within him, flooding outward in waves. His voice broke with emotion as he cried, "My beloved Dimia… how much suffering you must have endured for this!"

Under the holy light, Malga's skeletal body began to change. Flesh and muscle knit themselves over bone. Color returned to his skin, breath to his chest. Before Ryan's eyes, the spirit became flesh and blood once more.

Ryan could only stare, a trace of awe tightening his throat. He had not expected to encounter an NPC like this.

—

Malga, Flame of Radiance (Legendary)

Son of Light, Judge of All Creation

Level: ??

Health: 84,000,240

Type: Spirit

—

"Holy smokes… what a transformation," Ryan muttered under his breath, jaw tightening. Before, as nothing but a decayed husk with barely two thousand health, Malga had looked pitiful. Now, his very presence was overwhelming, worthy of someone blessed by the Light. For a brief, absurd moment, Ryan caught himself wondering what kind of loot Malga might drop if he were somehow defeated.

He shook the thought away. That was a fight no player could win. For now, it was better to wait and see what came next.

Light continued to surge across Malga's restored form, spilling outward until it flooded the entire First Light camp. From high above, a colossal beam of Radiant Light pierced the clouds and descended, merging with the brilliance already surrounding him. The silver-white glow hardened into armor that enclosed his body, each plate gleaming as if forged by the heavens. Golden holy flames licked along the surface, and in his hand appeared a greatsword so bright it hurt to look at directly.

Malga raised the weapon high, his voice carrying like a commandment across the world: "Order! Three days from now, the entire army attacks!"

At that moment, every player received a simultaneous system notification.

72 hours from now, the story quest [Divine Crusade] will begin. Players may report to the First Light camp in the Dreadful Mire to accept the quest before the event begins.

Ryan's interface lit up with the same alert, but alongside Divine Crusade came another quest—one that seemed to continue directly from [The Lost Radiance].

—

[Radiance Rekindled: Thank you, my friend. Because of you, I have learned the truth. My beloved is still the pure and gentle girl I knew. I had meant to bring her back at once, but when I looked just now, I sensed something else. There is a presence there… powerful, and dangerous.

I must wait three days for my strength to fully return before I can destroy them. The Light conceals this place from my enemies, and while its protection holds, I can entrust you with one more task. Featherlight, take my token and return to her. Tell Dimia that in three days, I will come at the head of an army to bring her home!

Quest Objective: Speak with Dimia 0/1

Quest Reward: Malga's Gratitude

—

"Damn it… I have to go back there again?" Ryan muttered, grimacing. The terrain in that region was twisted and hard to navigate, and he only barely remembered the route from last time. But quitting wasn't an option. The reward was too close to slip away now, and the thought of walking away from it made his chest tighten with frustration.

He was just about to head toward the Giant Insect Nest when a private message blinked onto his screen. It was from his sister.

"This whole thing… it's your doing again, isn't it?" Mia's voice carried that familiar sharpness only siblings could manage.

Ryan laughed. "So smart! You really are my precious little sister."

All he got back was a huff before the connection cut off.

In the Forest of Decay, Mia closed her chat window and turned to the girls in her party. She gave them a small nod, confirming their curiosity. "That's right. He's at it again."

"Wow, Mia, your brother is amazing!" said Heavyblade Vina, her eyes practically sparkling. "First he triggers some kind of unique quest, and now he's unlocked a full-blown world story quest! What's he going to set off next?"

"Hmph, whatever it is, he's still my brother," Mia replied, folding her arms with a pout. Her gaze lingered suspiciously on Vina, who looked far too interested. "And why are you acting like one of those girls who can't stop fawning over every guy they see?"

Back across the game world, the system notification about the Divine Crusade was spreading like wildfire. Players everywhere were in an uproar. This was the first story quest of the entire game—and it had appeared in the Dreadful Mire, a zone that required level 30 just to pick up quests. Anyone under the threshold was locked out. The only loophole was if a Warlock summoned them in, but even then, it wasn't clear whether they could actually accept the quest. For most, the only option was obvious: reach level 30 within three days or be left behind.

The urgency sent the player base into overdrive. Grinding became the obsession of the moment. Crowded quest areas weren't a problem—those with extra stamina flocked into dungeons instead. With enough monsters inside, the experience gains rivaled questing.

The sudden rush created a new crisis. Healers and tanks, already scarce, became rarer still. Desperate groups began improvising, forcing plate-wearing damage dealers into tank roles and relying on hybrid classes to patch up the team. Surprisingly, the strategy worked—at least for higher-level players who could storm through dungeons a level or two beneath them. With five pure DPS classes in a party, monsters melted under the sheer damage output.

Of course, this reckless style came with frequent deaths. Complaints flowed from the unlucky stand-in tanks, though most of them quieted down once the parties offered them loot priority as compensation. Soon enough, the "five-DPS dungeon run" exploded in popularity, proving to be one of the fastest leveling methods around.