CHAPTER 40: THOUSAND STARS EVENT... BEGIN

***

Three days later.

A village west of Porco City.

Two days ago, Luscho told Ethan through a private message that he had already registered him along with four other guild members.

The selection of those four guild members who would accompany Ethan was done carefully and with a lot of thought.

Aside from not wanting to trouble Ethan, the request for those four guild members also matched Ethan’s plan.

Registration for the official event had closed at midnight. The event system panel had changed from showing event details to showing participants and locations.

Ethan was still in that village, not yet moved to the area that would become the main place for all the event participants.

That place was the Alarist Continent—a vast land with five main regions.

Now, the event’s layout was becoming clearer for Ethan and the other players.

There were continents, regions, forests, villages, settlements, and of course, monsters.

The size of that continent made Ethan sure they would need a lot of time to gather Star Essence.

[You have been registered as a participant in the guild team event]

[Would you like to teleport?]

[Yes] [No]

From the village area, Ethan faintly saw a blue light glowing from the main road. The light floated northward, like people flying while teleporting.

The number of participating players was massive. Even the guilds joining the event reached 35,870 out of over 70,000 total guilds in the game.

If each guild sent only one team with ten members, then the total number of players joining the Thousand Stars Event would reach 358,700. That was an incredible number.

"The number’s insane—almost the same as the main Tower Raid Event," Ethan said.

Hissy appeared on Ethan’s right shoulder, and his three soul servants materialized behind his back.

Ethan smiled; their presence would surely help him a lot later on the continent.

"All right. Since we’re ready, let’s go!"

Ethan pressed the [Teleport] button, and his body was wrapped in blinding blue light. He floated upward and flew through walls, heading north.

Ethan’s eyes widened. He was truly flying—with a completely different perspective.

Before, he could fly in the game’s third-person mode, but now he was seeing it from a first-person view.

All his neural sensors could feel the wind brushing against his face. His fingers could even touch and grab at clouds, though only for a brief moment.

He wasn’t alone. When he looked to the side, he clearly saw other players flying beside him.

But none of them could see each other’s names even though they were traveling together.

After passing the central region, Ethan landed in the northern area, often called the Antarctic Region—named that way because the entire land was covered in white snow.

He opened his eyes and saw many players arriving after teleporting. They appeared on a large circular altar with rune carvings on the floor, written in ancient-style game runes.

Even though I’m here, they don’t seem to care at all that I’m a PK.

Ethan froze when he saw another player arrive after teleporting. The man was an assassin, level 47. What shocked Ethan the most was his PK status.

A PK player other than me?

That player noticed he was being watched. He turned and looked toward Ethan, clearly seeing the [Legendary Player] title glowing above Ethan’s head, along with his PK mark.

"A PK, but also a Legendary Player?" the man asked as he walked closer.

"I’m impressed," he added.

"But... that’s a really dumb way to die."

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked.

The man turned his head, and Ethan followed his gaze. When he looked at the other players, none of them were wearing titles—especially not the [Legendary Player] one.

"Only a few people have the right to use that title, and usually, they’re from big guilds," the man explained.

"If they see someone from outside their guilds wearing that title, they’ll take it as an insult to their guild’s name."

"There’s no stupid system rule like that. I earned this title, so I have the right to use it," Ethan replied.

"The system doesn’t restrict it—but the player community does."

"Tch!"

"To hell with social ranks. I’ll crush that hierarchy with my own hands and give everyone the freedom to express themselves!" Ethan said defiantly.

The man was stunned by Ethan’s words—it wasn’t common to hear something like that from a murderer. Ethan had caught his interest.

"You’ll die faster if you do that."

"I don’t care," Ethan replied. "Besides, no one’s going to beat me in this event."

While Ethan was talking to the man, a woman appeared nearby, looking confused. She was wearing a guild uniform with its emblem and abbreviation on it. Clearly, she was part of Ethan’s team.

Damn it, Luscho! Why did you send women as my team members?

Ethan said goodbye to the man, who nodded, letting him go. Every player on the altar gathered with their guild team members.

A countdown appeared on the system panel above the altar, showing the time left—five minutes remaining.

Ethan reached his guild’s team group. All four of his teammates were women, and the highest level among them was only level 31.

Luscho couldn’t ignore higher-level players. If I were him, I’d probably do the same.

"W-What’s our plan, Sir Ethan?" one of the women asked shyly. She introduced herself as Luca, a Priest.

"Just stay together and don’t split up," Ethan answered.

"Got it. Don’t worry, I’ll protect the others," said another woman with a muscular build and revealing red armor—Lara, a Warrior.

"Don’t overdo it. You’ll only slow the team down if you do," said a black-haired woman with a long ponytail and cold eyes. She was Nuwa, an Assassin.

"Leave the scouting to me! I’ll keep our vision clear," said a cheerful woman, raising her hand with a bright smile. She was Celica, an Archer.

Luca, Lara, Nuwa, and Celica. A Priest, Warrior, Assassin, and Archer.

Ethan sighed—the composition was balanced enough, but if he was being honest, he would have preferred a Mage instead of an Archer.

Still, Luscho had made the decision, and Ethan had no choice but to accept it.

His best plan was to quickly gather Star Essence and avoid large-scale fights with stronger guilds.

[Countdown:]

[00:00:02]

[00:00:01]

[Event Started]

[Teleporting to Alarist Continent begins]

Not only did the players’ bodies glow blue, but the altar beneath their feet also lit up with the same color.

Within seconds, every player vanished, leaving the once-crowded Antarctic Region completely empty.

Ethan opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a forest. The blue light slowly faded, while the event panel still hovered in his vision dashboard.

"The Thousand Stars Event has begun," Ethan said.

"I’m sure someone landed nearby."

He summoned his Fire-Pillar Sword and ordered his three soul servants to scout.

Maelis nodded, placing her hands on the ground and sensing vibrations through the earth.

Maelis didn’t speak but sent the results directly to Ethan. In front of his eyes, a detection map appeared—25 meters in radius—and he saw a small green dot near his position.

A green dot? Is that a teammate?

Ethan decided to go check. Unexpectedly, it was one of his team members who had landed close by.

Wearing full black gear and holding assassin daggers, Nuwa met up with Ethan.

"How do we find the others?" Nuwa asked.

"If we can get a map fragment, we’ll be able to detect their locations," Ethan replied.

[Welcome to the Thousand Stars Event. Gather as much Star Essence as you can and become the strongest star.]

[Event Duration: 29:23:59:45]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 34,252]

[Star Essence Count: 0]

"I still don’t get how we collect Star Essence. Are there really only a thousand of them?" Nuwa asked.

"No. The event’s name is just symbolic. There are hundreds of thousands of Star Essences out there," Ethan said.

"The easiest way to get them is by killing monsters or finding hidden caves."

"For now, let’s check this area—maybe we’ll find something."

"Stay alert, and let me know if anything happens," Ethan said.

"Understood, Ethan."