CHAPTER 39: MIDNIGHT IN PORCO CITY

After getting his pet, there were still many things Ethan had to do. Hissy’s starting strength as an Epic-rank pet was quite promising. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to help her level up.

Maybe Ethan could gain more power as Hissy continued to grow stronger. He clearly noticed that she needed 1,000 pet essences to level up.

I wonder if anyone sells pet essence? I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Better to try than to not try at all—that was what crossed Ethan’s mind.

Even if he and Hissy didn’t manage to get pet essence, at least he could buy something else while he was there.

My base ATK is still just shy of 10,000 points. Maybe I should try my luck and do another soul servant gacha?

Ethan decided to do another soul servant gacha once more. Tonight was the perfect time for him to head to Porco City.

The guards were few, most people were resting, and security was loose.

That was good news, especially since the 1000 Stars Event was about to begin.

Of course, most guilds would rather focus on joining the 1000 Stars Event than wasting time hunting Ethan.

After all, everyone believed Ethan wouldn’t join the event—no guild was crazy enough to accept EthanArk.

Leaving the inn, Ethan leapt high and landed on a rooftop.

With his current situation, it was impossible for him to walk on the main streets normally.

Players never looked up; they were too busy watching what was in front of them.

From a distance, Ethan could clearly see the city buildings. Porco was one of the cities in the central region, but it wasn’t protected by city walls.

Back when he was the leader of the LionArk guild, Ethan had managed city layouts and defenses himself.

The game’s complex city features were one of the reasons he loved Tower of Ascension.

One of those city features was walls. Right—if a city reached a certain level, it could unlock the wall feature to protect itself.

Mavelard already had strong walls and watchtowers at every corner since it was one of the largest cities in the central region.

From his estimate, Ethan guessed that Porco City was only at level 2 or 3 in its guild authority.

Walls only became available at level 4 or 5, if he remembered correctly.

Seeing Porco City without a city wall made things easier for Ethan. He could come and go freely without worrying about anything.

The guards only stood watch at the main city gate.

Once inside, Ethan crouched on a rooftop, narrowing his eyes toward the streets below.

He spotted a few drunk players still wandering around the city. Even so, it was much quieter compared to earlier hours.

Time to head to the Enhance Crystal shop.

Ethan jumped from one rooftop to another, moving carefully while glancing to the sides, searching for the shop.

Among the few stores still open, he finally leapt down and landed right in front of a nearly empty Enhance Crystal Shop.

He stepped inside and was greeted by a beautiful young woman.

"Welcome."

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.

"I’d like to buy 10 silver keys and one golden key," Ethan replied.

The woman smiled and nodded, bringing up her system panel and selecting the Silver and Golden Keys.

Ethan nodded back—he needed both for his soul servant gacha.

The transaction went through, but unfortunately, Ethan didn’t have enough money. Not wanting to lose his chance, he sold all his extra crystals and only kept the ones he had equipped.

The shopkeeper nodded and began counting the 22 crystals Ethan brought. Some were of high quality, others were just common ones.

"I’ll give you 120,000 gold for all of these. How’s that sound?" she asked.

"No problem," Ethan said.

The deal was done, and now Ethan had more than enough gold to buy the Silver and Golden Keys.

However, that meant he wouldn’t have enough to rent an inn for the night—his wallet was empty.

He bought 10 Silver Keys and 1 Golden Key for a total of 200,000 gold. With the keys in hand, Ethan headed to the city center to start the gacha.

He was confident the Gachapon machines were still there, and there weren’t many players in the city square this late.

From afar, he saw that the Gachapon area was quiet. The machines still stood there, side by side, each glowing with different colors.

Seeing that golden opportunity, Ethan jumped down from the rooftops and landed right in front of the two gachapons.

He pressed the silver Gachapon and selected the button labeled [10x Summon Soul]. That button would instantly draw 10 summons in one go.

Slowly, one by one, glass orbs appeared and floated in front of him. Most of them were gray—soul essence.

But when the ninth orb appeared, Ethan’s attention was caught by a glowing blue orb. He instantly recognized it.

Soul Servant rank C–A. I wonder what kind of servant I got this time?

Ethan tapped the blue orb to open it. A moment later, the system panel appeared before him, confirming that he had obtained a complete soul servant—not just a fragment.

[DING! Congratulations, you’ve obtained a Soul Servant]

[Name: Jack Spearsun (A)]

He hadn’t expected to get an A-rank soul servant. From the red icon and flame symbol on the panel, it was clear that Jack was a fire-element servant.

With this, Ethan’s soul servant slots were finally full—water, earth, and fire. A perfectly balanced combination in his eyes.

[DING! Congratulations, you have deployed your Soul Servants]

[1. Neryss Abyssborn (SR) || Lv. 1 || Water]

[2. Maelis Terraheart (B) || Lv. 1 || Earth]

[3. Jack Spearsun (A) || Lv. 1 || Fire]

[ATK: 10,462 || DEF: 10,025]

[DING! Congratulations, you’ve obtained a title]

[Title: Legendary Player]

[Desc: Achieved base ATK 10,000]

[Use Title?]

Ethan smiled. Only one of his accounts had ever earned the [Legendary Player] title—and that was his main one.

When he earned it again as EthanArk, he felt both happy and sad.

The happiness comes from success. The sadness came from realizing how much time had already passed without him.

Maybe... if I find Ashley, all this sadness will finally disappear.

He decided to equip the title, and a red badge framed in gold appeared above his status, shining brightly with golden text that read [Legendary Player]

Not done yet, Ethan tried his luck with the Golden Key. But all he got were 3 fragments of an SSSR-level soul servant.

Forget it. If I collect 25 of those fragments, I can summon it eventually. The road’s still long, no need to rush.

Done with his business in the city, Ethan leapt back onto the rooftops and ran off.

But before returning, he planned to hunt a few monsters to earn some extra gold.

The 1000 Stars Event would begin in three days. Ethan had prepared well enough, but one thing still bothered him—the Talent Quest.

His current level was 54, and the next Talent Quest would unlock at level 55.

He was worried it would trigger while he was inside the 1000 Stars Event.

There’s no clue or hint about the next Talent Quest. But still, that talent has helped me so much.

Indeed, without the Rage Infinite buff that multiplied his skill power five times, Ethan wouldn’t be this strong.

Still, every Talent Quest came with its own consequences—consequences Ethan knew he’d have to face eventually.

Maybe those consequences will show up later as I complete more Talent Quests.

Thinking about Talent Quests reminded him of his ultimate goal—to become the enemy of mankind just to survive and not die.

Ridiculous. Truly ridiculous.

With this PK status... am I already walking the path my fate decided for me?

Only the Tower of Ascension knew the answer.