The portal deposited Dante in a quiet and secluded alleyway behind the main merchant district of Outpost 404.

He immediately disabled the public viewing of his nameplate.

The Global Leaderboards had just gone live. He knew perfectly well that walking through the crowded streets with a giant ’Dan’ floating above his head would cause a literal riot.

He leaned against the brick wall of a building and took a deep breath.

Aura materialized next to him. The tiny silver fox floated happily in the air.

"Alright, let us test this," Dante said.

On his walk back from the portal, Dante had formed a theory.

The 10,000x Multiplier allowed him to use Zenith-tier skills.

But the physical recoil of swinging a sword with the force of a localized bomb put immense strain on his stamina and health pool. He was constantly riding the edge of exhaustion.

He raised his hand and intentionally punched the solid brick wall of the alleyway at full force without using his gauntlets!

His knuckles shattered. A sharp and burning pain shot up his forearm. His health bar dipped by three hundred points.

Instantly, Aura chimed.

A soft pulse of silver light washed over the arm of Dante.

The shattered bones in his hand snapped back into place in a fraction of a second.

The pain completely vanished, and his health bar instantly shot back up to maximum.

His stamina bar which had been half-empty fully replenished.

[Resurgence Wave applied. 3,050 HP Restored.]

Dante flexed his perfectly healed hand. A wide and dangerous grin spread across his face.

It wasn’t just a heal. It was a complete physical reset.

With Aura hovering next to him, he was virtually immortal in the early stages of the game.

He could push his Zenith-tier skills to their absolute and reckless limits. He didn’t need to worry about stamina burnout, recoil damage, or fatigue.

He could fight at maximum capacity indefinitely.

"Good girl," Dante chuckled and let Aura nuzzle his shoulder. He dismissed her back into the pet-space to keep her hidden.

He stepped out of the alleyway and merged into the heavy foot traffic of the merchant district.

He needed to offload the massive amount of trash loot he had acquired from the Chasm and the Crag-Boars.

His infinite inventory was great, but he needed raw currency.

"Excuse me."

The voice was smooth and quiet. It came from directly behind his right shoulder.

Dante didn’t flinch. He slowly turned around.

Standing a few feet away was a woman wearing sleek and form-fitting crimson leather armor.

Her player ID hovered above her head: Scarlet Fox. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

She had striking red hair tied in a practical braid and held a pair of wickedly sharp daggers loosely at her sides.

"Lyra," Dante said. He recognized her instantly.

She was the leader of the Crimson Lotus. It was a highly coordinated and all-female guild known for their absolute ruthlessness in political maneuvering.

In Aethelgard, Vanguard had clashed with them multiple times over territory.

The eyes of Lyra narrowed slightly. She inspected his [Sun-Forged Cuirass].

"I do not believe we have met," Lyra said and tilted her head.

"But considering you know my real name, and considering the sheer amount of cosmic weight radiating off that chest piece, I am going to assume you are the ghost everyone is currently screaming about. Dan, I presume?"

Dante didn’t confirm or deny it. "What do you want, Lyra?"

She smiled. It was a sharp and calculating expression.

"Straight to business. I like that. I watched the global announcements. I saw the leaderboards."

"You are currently the most valuable free agent in Overture. I am offering you an exclusive contract with the Crimson Lotus."

"I am not looking for a guild," Dante said flatly.

"Everyone needs a guild eventually," Lyra countered and took a slow step forward.

"Silas has issued a blank-check bounty on your head. Vanguard’s Legacy has thousands of members. You cannot fight an army by yourself."

"Sign with us. We offer full protection, a sixty-forty split on all raid loot, and a substantial real-world salary."

"I have done the guild politics game," Dante replied. His voice turned cold.

"I know how it ends. You sign a contract, you put your trust in the leadership, and the second a Supreme artifact drops, someone puts a dagger in your spine. I am playing solo."

Lyra studied his face for a long and silent moment.

She was shrewd, and her high perception stat was practically screaming at her.

"You hold a massive grudge against Silas," Lyra noted quietly. "This is not just about loot. It is personal."

"If you are smart, Lyra, you will keep Crimson Lotus completely out of the crossfire," Dante advised and turned away. "Because wherever Silas goes, I am going to burn the ground he stands on."

Lyra didn’t try to stop him. She simply watched him walk away. Her mind was racing.

She pulled up her private guild chat.

"Command," Lyra sent the message. "Cancel all aggressive operations near the beginner zones."

"Do not engage the player named Dan under any circumstances. We are going to sit back and watch him dismantle Vanguard’s Legacy for us."

Dante navigated through the winding streets until he reached a high-end and instanced tavern near the center of the Outpost.

He walked inside and headed straight for the private booths in the back.

Sitting at a corner table was a woman dressed in unassuming gray robes. She looked like a standard mage, but Dante knew better.

Her ID was Sera. She was the leader of Astral Vanguard, a massive and professional real-world gaming studio.

They didn’t care about boss kills or fame. They cared about the economy. They bought high-end gear with real money and sold it to the highest bidder.

"You are late," Seraphina said. She did not look up from the digital ledger she was projecting onto the table.

"I had a Titan to kill," Dante said. He slid into the booth across from her.

Seraphina paused. She looked up. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in his armor.

"You are Dan," she stated. Her professional demeanor cracked for a fraction of a second. "I thought you were just a rumor. You actually want to sell to us?"

"I have excess inventory," Dante said. He raised his hand.

He didn’t pull out the Titan-tier void ring or the Gold-grade armor. But he initiated a direct trade window with Seraphina.

He dumped the contents of his infinite inventory into the trade screen.

Hundreds of Silver-tier weapons from the Shadow-Stalkers, thousands of raw crafting materials, the [Assassin’s Bane] dagger he had looted, and dozens of low-level skillbooks.

Seraphina stared at the scrolling list of items.

The sheer volume of the loot was enough to equip a small army.

"This... this is an entire guild worth of progression," Seraphina breathed. "Where did you get all this?"

"Does it matter?" Dante asked. "I want real-world currency. Transferred to an untraceable offshore Veridian account. Today."

The business instincts of Seraphina instantly kicked back in. She rapidly calculated the market value of the items.

Vanguard’s Legacy and other major guilds would pay astronomical prices for this gear to speed up their leveling.

"One point two billion Veridian credits," Seraphina offered without hesitation.

"Done," Dante agreed.

He hit confirm on the trade.

The studio account of Seraphina instantly wired the funds to the secure routing number Dante provided.

Dante leaned back in the booth.

His physical body outside the capsule was now financially secure.

He could afford to buy the highest-tier nutrient drips, upgrade his apartment security, and stay in the game indefinitely.

He was rich. He was geared. And he was completely off the leash.