The moment light flooded his vision, Kaito felt the familiar pull of digital immersion settle into his senses. When his eyes opened, he was once more standing in the town square of South Glade, the cool morning mist curling through the cobblestone streets like faded silk. The air was still, touched by a faint dew, and only a handful of players moved across the plaza—most had long since dispersed into the wilderness for morning grinding.
Glory was in early hours of morning. There were not many players inside the town most of them were grinding in the wilderness to level up.
Before heading anywhere, Kaito checked his inventory and account logs. As expected, the NPC forging stall he had previously rented had already been terminated before he had logged out last time. It was time to resume his true task—production.
His first stop was the bank vault.
Inside the secured room, he retrieved all remaining materials required for forging the Echo Core Ember Plates. Each resource gleamed under the ambient light, carefully sorted.
Carrying everything with ease, he exited the bank and made his way across South Glade toward the forge district.
The forge building stood resolute, its brickwork shimmering faintly with reinforcement runes. A smith NPC recognized him instantly and ushered him to his reserved station—one of the intermediate private forging rooms, which he had prepaid for the next week.
He laid the materials out in careful order, his eyes flicking over the quantities with surgical precision. This would be his final production batch before the expansion to Astralis City.
Activating the Whisper Flame and channeling a trickle of mana into the forge, Kaito began.
One after another, he worked the Echo Core materials into defensive plates, focusing his every motion with mechanical discipline. The base variant—the standard Echo Core Ember Plate—was reliable, forged for widespread use. Its balance of defense and durability made it ideal for Genesis's lower-ranked members and upcoming life guild personnel.
But what Kaito was truly aiming for was the Echo Core Vanguard Ember Plate—the enhanced version. This plate boasted an additional +5% damage reduction, a passive glow-resistant polish, and superior structural toughness that made it coveted by frontline tanks.
The process wasn't perfect.
Some plates cracked under high compression. Others failed to absorb the whisper flame evenly, leading to minor structural flaws. But thanks to his Codex of Embersteel and the bonus from the forge room, his success rate remained abnormally high.
By the time he finished his final run, the numbers were logged cleanly:
Echo Core Ember Plate: 100 successful pieces
Echo Core Vanguard Ember Plate: 20 pieces
They glowed faintly as they cooled on the rack beside him, stacked with care, each one marked with Genesis's private seal—an etched rune that only guild members could recognize.
After completing the entire batch, not only had Kaito gathered twenty Vanguard Ember Plates for the guild, but the repeated forging had also pushed his level up to 14. It was a considerable leap, but he was no longer in the lead.
Many other players were now ahead of him. Several players had reached level 14, and a few top-tier experts had even broken into level 15.
It didn't surprise him—the game's pace was picking up. But it lit a quiet spark in his chest.
Grinding monsters was too slow. Life skills, on the other hand, were efficient.
He had just gained one full level in under two hours through forging alone.
Without hesitation, Kaito stepped out of the forge and headed back to the market plaza. The stall system was as familiar to him as his own name. In less than five minutes, he had rented another NPC-run booth at his usual spot.
Just like before, he handed the list to the NPC in charge:
Grain Rock Chips
Flint Steel Cores
Both were essential for future refinement processes. He paid an advance of 10 gold, instructed the NPC to gather the supplies using posted bounties, and updated the signage to clearly reflect the prices and requests.
Once that was set, he made his way toward the auction house.
The halls of the auction were noticeably livelier today, with new postings being added in real time. Kaito didn't hesitate. He filtered the listings for rare herbs, magical dusts, spiritual water, and future-use alchemical materials—the kind that most players didn't even realize would become critical later.
One by one, he purchased every lot worth its price.
By the time he exited the auction house, his funds had taken a significant hit—but the vault he was building, both figuratively and literally, would repay him tenfold.
As he stepped out into the plaza again, a soft chime echoed in his ears.
Two messages had arrived.
[Zephyr - Storm Life Guild]: "We're ready for the dungeon. When will you be joining us?"
[Velena - Crimson Rose]: "Our side is assembled and waiting for your signal. Let us know. The party's ready."
Kaito's expression relaxed into a faint smile.
It was time to return to Echoing Deep.
...…
The entrance to Echoing Deep loomed like a forgotten wound in the earth—an enormous fissure carved into the mountainside, surrounded by jagged black stone and eerie, pulsating moss that shimmered faintly under the morning sun. Rusted chains and ancient bone totems flanked the descent, remnants of a bygone era when the dungeon had yet to be mapped or mastered. From above, faint howls echoed upward—distant, distorted, and hollow—giving the dungeon its infamous name. Cold mist rolled out from the depths like breath from a sleeping beast, curling around the boots of those who dared to approach. It wasn't just a cave. It was a warning.
This place—Echoing Deep—had become the most talked-about location in all of South Glade Town.
It was the first real dungeon players encountered before reaching Level 15, and thus, the only place where early adventurers could test their strength against elite players, earn precious drops, and gain dungeon-clear experience. Countless players remained active here, grinding mobs and braving its branching paths in hopes of clearing even one floor. Compared to the calm fields outside Novice Village, Echoing Deep marked the first true leap into danger.
And because of that, it had captured the attention of every major guild stationed in South Glade.
For them, this dungeon wasn't just a leveling zone. It was the frontline—the first benchmark of strength, organization, and coordination. It was where alliances were tested, parties rose and fell, and elite teams were born.
This was their first taste of Glory's unforgiving nature.
And no one wanted to be left behind. Most players in South Glade Town, currently hovered around Level 13 or 14. Only a few top-tier elites had reached Level 15—and even they had yet to discover the next dungeon meant for teams of that level, a secret only Kaito currently held.
As a result, Echoing Deep remained the central hub of activity for nearly every player in the region. Whether they were solo adventurers, casual duos, or organized guild parties, nearly all roads led here.
But why did players prefer dungeons over the more open wilderness grinding?
The answer was simple: visibility.
Even though the item drop rates in dungeons were lower compared to certain wild zones, dungeon runs offered something far more valuable—recognition. Every successful run was recorded. Every clear, every difficulty conquered, every new record broken—it all appeared on public leaderboards visible outside the dungeon gate. For guilds, this was invaluable. It wasn't just about loot anymore; it was marketing.
A team that cleared Nightmare difficulty? They'd draw attention.
A team that conquered King level? Like Kaito had?
They'd make history.
For recruiting, building prestige, and establishing a foothold in Glory's evolving world, dungeons were the perfect stage. And Echoing Deep, being the first dungeon accessible to all, had become the proving ground.