Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!

Lyla had just finished changing. She walked downstairs and made her way to Ethan.

At the dining table, Celeste was passed out, head resting on her folded arms.

"Bro, why is she so exhausted?" Lyla asked.

Ethan didn't answer. He was staring blankly at the floor.

"Bro?"

Lyla tilted her head, following his gaze. At first, she didn't notice anything strange, two seconds later, her body stiffened. She grabbed Ethan's arm with one hand while pointing at the floor with the other.

Ethan reacted instantly, clamping a hand over her mouth. Under Lyla's wide-eyed, terrified stare, he dragged her outside the villa.

Once outside, he let her go.

"Ethan… Celeste's shadow…"

"I saw it," Ethan muttered, his brows knitted together.

Just then, Victor walked out of the villa across the street. Noticing their tense expressions, he frowned. "What's going on?"

Ethan recounted what had just happened. Victor's face paled. Even as a skeptic, he couldn't deny it—this was beyond unsettling. As regular people, they had heard countless stories about ghosts and spirits.

But now, was Celeste… no longer human?

The three of them stood there in silence.

It wasn't until Leo and Williams arrived from the gym that the tension broke. Seeing the trio standing stiffly outside, Leo raised a brow. "What's with you guys?"

Victor relayed what Ethan had told him.

"Holy shit…" Leo's first instinct was to rush straight into the villa. But just as he reached the door, he stopped short.

Right. He didn't have the key.

"Ethan! Open up!"

Ethan glanced at Victor. Victor arched a brow as if to say, "See? Told you."

Ethan let out a wry chuckle and shook his head. He understood exactly what Victor meant. Leo, practically bouncing with impatience, reinforced Victor's point even more.

Sighing, Ethan unlocked the door, Leo was the first to charge inside. As expected, the moment he saw it, he froze. The rest of them followed him into the dining room, where Victor and Williams immediately fell silent, jaws dropping.

The five of them stood three or four meters away from Celeste, staring at her in eerie silence. Time ticked by. The shadows cast by the dining table gradually shifted as the hours passed.

After nearly two hours, Celeste stirred. Slowly, she sat up. And that was when they saw something even more horrifying.

Her shadow…

At first, it wasn't there, then, faint traces of gray emerged, growing darker until it fully reappeared. The whole process took no more than five seconds, exactly the time it took for her to wake up, sit upright, and stretch lazily.

A shiver ran through all five of them.

Celeste, still mid-stretch, tilted her head—and immediately froze at the sight of them standing in a neat row, staring at her.

Lowering her arms, she forced a smile, looking awkward. "You guys saw that?"

"Uh-huh… Nope!" They all nodded… then, almost in perfect sync, shook their heads.

Celeste let out a soft chuckle. She lowered her gaze to her shadow. "Did it fade… or disappear completely?"

The group exchanged glances.

Finally, Leo stammered, "It… it completely disappeared."

Hearing this, a wry smile tugged at Celeste's lips. "Looks like… my time is running out."

"You—you're not a ghost?" Leo voiced the question they were all too afraid to ask.

Celeste slowly shook her head. Then, without another word, she stood up.

She unfastened the top button of her blouse and swept her long hair forward, draping it over her shoulders.

No one knew what she was doing.

Turning her back to them, she pulled her shirt down, revealing her bare shoulders.

"Lyla, give me a hand," she said, glancing over her shoulder.

Lyla hesitated for a moment before stepping behind Celeste.

"Help me unfasten it," Celeste said calmly.

Lyla blinked in surprise but reached out, unhooking the clasp on Celeste's bra. The moment she did, she let out a small gasp.

Without a hint of hesitation, Celeste stepped aside.

Lyla had been blocking everyone's view, but now, with that single step, her entire back was exposed.

"What the…"

A grotesque, crimson mark—about the size of a coin was imprinted on Celeste's pale skin. It was a snarling, blood-red face. A demonic visage, twisted in rage, its presence stark against her smooth back.

Seeing that everyone had gotten a good look, Celeste gave Lyla a nod. Lyla quickly re-fastened the clasp, the mark disappearing beneath the strap.

Adjusting her clothes, Celeste finally spoke. "This thing is tied to our mission."

Victor narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"We call it… a Shadow Eater."

Leo crossed his arms. "So what, it just… eats shadows? What's the real danger? And how the hell did you end up with it?"

There was something oddly genuine in his concern, though he tried to mask it.

Celeste shot him a glance but continued.

"We don't have all the answers. What we do know is that once someone is infected, their shadow starts fading while they sleep.

"Eventually, it disappears completely. That's when this mark appears—starting at the ankle.

When it first shows up, it's just a tiny red dot. No one notices it. But it keeps growing. Slowly crawling upward… until it reaches the top of the head."

Leo frowned. "And then?"

Celeste shot him a warning look. "If you interrupt me again, I'll rip your damn tongue out."

"Uh…" Leo froze.

The others snickered.

Celeste continued.

"When it reaches the head, you die. And not just a normal death. Your entire body shrivels up—skin, muscle, organs, all dried out. Your brain becomes completely hollow."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

"Our mission is to put an end to this," Celeste said, pulling a thick folder from her bag and tossing it onto the table.

Ethan stepped forward and opened it.

The first thing he saw was the title: Shadow Eater Case—a name assigned by the Ninth Division.

The case had started a year ago, when eleven people mysteriously died, one after another. Celeste… was the only survivor. Six months later, a second group of twelve people. All dead.

One month ago, a third group—another twelve, all marked. The symbol had already reached their waists. And all thirty-six victims shared something in common.

First: Every single one of them was an operative from the Ninth Division.

Second: They had all received classified orders before vanishing.

Third: When they returned, none of them could remember what those orders were. They had no memory of where they had gone. They couldn't even recall who they had been with.

Ethan's eyes flicked up to Celeste. "You were on the first list? But how…"

He didn't finish the question.

Celeste answered anyway. "You're wondering why I'm still alive?" She smirked. "Simple. I have chronic insomnia."

Ethan suddenly understood.

The documents had stated clearly that the Shadow Eater only spreads while its host is asleep.

Ethan had been torn about taking on this mission because Morzan had warned him, he only had five years.

In five years, the Cataclysm would begin. Would this mission get in the way of his growth in Ethereal?

Morzan had said it himself—the stronger you are in the game, the stronger you become in reality. And only by getting stronger… would Ethan stand a chance of surviving what was coming.