CHAPTER 71: ETHANARK, PK AND LONE PLAYER

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Nighttime

Western Forest Region

Ethan dropped the pile of dry wood he found in the forest and began stacking it in the middle of a circle of stones. That’s right—he planned to make a campfire.

Luckily for him, while exploring the western part of the forest, he had found a hidden cave whose entrance was covered by bushes and trees.

When he decided to check it out, he saw three chests inside—just like usual—and the one in the middle had a blue pattern, the mark of a Star Essence chest.

He opened it and got a Star Essence, along with other useful items.

Two chests remained, and there was a chance one of them was a trap.

He had to be careful, even though Ethan knew he could handle a mimic chest if it attacked.

When he opened the left chest, it turned out to be a treasure chest, not a trap. Ethan took all the items inside and left.

His steps stopped when he noticed it was already night outside—a dangerous time to wander around, especially alone.

That’s why Ethan decided to stay inside the cave for the night while warming himself up.

He lit the fire using a fireball created by Jack Spearsun, and the dry wood quickly caught fire, burning bright.

He took out an item from his inventory—a piece of meat he had gotten after killing a forest rabbit—and placed it above the fire to roast.

While waiting for the meat to cook, Ethan opened his digital map panel. It looked empty.

That’s right—the map didn’t show the location of Lara or the others anymore.

After what happened in Arkan City, one by one, they had turned off their live locations from Ethan.

Unlike them, Ethan kept his on, since the map was important to him.

They must really hate me because of what happened.

Sigh... I didn’t have any other choice.

Besides watching Arkan City on the map, Ethan also noticed a dark fog area in the western forest that he hadn’t explored yet.

He didn’t know how big this event world was, but if it followed the "round world" principle, then if he kept walking west, he would eventually appear in the east.

What worried him was if this world had barriers—a flat world with edges on every side. That would make his journey a lot harder.

Sometimes he just let out a slow sigh. He felt there was no need to rush—after all, the event had only been running for six days.

The big guilds had already started their hunts to secure their positions for the end of the event.

Luckily for Ethan, he had already defeated one of the two Silver Star guild teams.

That would make it easier to destroy Silver Star later, since no one in this game could match his power right now.

Before long, the rabbit meat was fully cooked. It didn’t take as long as grilling beef or lamb.

Sprinkling a bit of salt on top, Ethan slowly ate it while occasionally glancing outside, ready in case another guild team found him.

But until he finished eating, no one noticed his presence in the hidden cave.

He saw a few teams passing through the forest ahead, but none of them paid attention to the cave hidden among the bushes and trees.

Then suddenly, something surprised him.

SLASH!

The sound of someone cutting through bushes and grass came from the cave entrance.

Ethan instantly turned his head, stood up, and summoned his Bloodblade Ashura.

"Who’s there?" Ethan asked firmly.

A team of five people stumbled in, looking battered—two injured, three exhausted.

They were clearly hiding from another team chasing them.

"S-Sorry... can we hide here for a bit?" asked a woman—a priest.

Ethan looked them over and faintly heard shouting from deeper in the forest. He guessed they were being hunted.

"Come in," Ethan said.

"Th-Thank you so much, sir."

The five entered and hid inside the cave. Ethan told them to stay quiet, since he could see enemy players outside.

One of the enemy team members was dragging a woman by her hair—a naked woman, bruised and limp.

"They must’ve passed through here," one man said.

Not long after, they all left. Ethan finally relaxed, though he knew he could’ve taken them on if needed.

"They’re gone," Ethan said, turning back.

One of the injured ones was the priest woman. Her teammate helped her drink an HP Potion to recover.

Without a priest, the others wouldn’t survive long or heal properly.

Ethan saw they could handle themselves—that was good enough for him.

He sat back near the fire, keeping his distance from the group.

A few of them looked at him and noticed the red name and "PK" status above his title.

Every player knew what that meant.

Ethan was a killer.

"Are you... a murderer?" asked one of them, an archer.

"Does that bother you?" Ethan asked coldly, staring straight into his eyes.

The archer froze. Whatever he’d said clearly angered Ethan, so they decided not to ask any more questions—especially ones that might set him off.

After a while, the priest recovered and started healing her teammates one by one. Ethan just watched her work.

"Do you want me to heal you too?" the priest asked.

"No. I’ve got HP Regen."

"That’s good," she replied softly.

Through Ethan’s eyes, he saw a golden light glow on their bodies as their wounds closed and their strength returned.

The group looked relieved—they had decided to rest there for the night. Ethan gave a faint smile, realizing how shameless they were.

He’d claimed the cave first, but now they were planning to stay too. Ethan couldn’t allow that.

He didn’t want to rest among strangers. The chance of being killed was too high.

"Alright... looks like I’ll be the one leaving," Ethan said, surprising them.

"Eh? You can rest here with us if you want. We promise we won’t hurt you," said the priest.

Ethan listened, but still couldn’t trust them—not with him being a PK.

"I don’t trust you. What if you kill me in my sleep? Or what if I kill you in yours?"

They went silent. What Ethan said wasn’t impossible—he was a stranger to them, after all.

"Are you sure you’re leaving? What if we—"

One of the priest’s teammates raised his hand to stop her. The others glared at her too.

Ethan saw their reaction and smiled faintly.

So that’s how it is.

The cave was already theirs now. They had no intention of leaving or giving it back, even though Ethan was the one who found it first.

"This cave is ours now. I appreciate that you let me stay for a bit—but you’re a PK. I don’t want someone like you to be around."

"Liam!" the priest shouted.

"This is for our own good. He’s not part of our guild. It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped," Liam replied.

"He saved us! That’s how you thank him?" the priest snapped.

"Keep your voice down," Ethan whispered.

"The cave walls echo. You don’t want the enemy team to hear you, do you?"

"R-Right," Liam muttered.

Ethan nodded. Without saying goodbye, he walked out of the cave.

The priest’s friends tried to stop her from following him, saying the PK player would be fine on his own.

Ethan had only taken a few steps when he suddenly heard shouting.

Four men appeared in front of him. Ethan didn’t flinch—they were warriors hunting the priest’s team.

"You... did you see a guild team of five people come through here?" one of them asked.

Ethan glanced toward the cave. He could see the priest and her team peeking out nervously.

They had driven him away—and now he stood before their hunters.

If he wanted, he could team up with these guys and reveal the cave’s location. But what he said next surprised them.

"You mean the team with the gorgeous priest?" Ethan asked. They nodded.

Ethan raised a hand and pointed north. "They went that way," he said calmly.

"Told you they went north," one of the hunters said.

"Thanks, man," another replied.

The three men didn’t attack Ethan—they just headed north to continue their chase.

Inside the cave, the priest’s team sighed in relief. Some of them felt guilty for driving Ethan out.

The priest stepped outside and called to him. Ethan turned around.

"Thank you for helping us. My name’s Silvie."

"I’m Ethan," he said.

"When the event’s over... would you like to be friends?" Silvie asked.

Ethan said nothing, put his white mask back on, and walked away without a word.

Even though he left coldly, Silvie kept watching him from a distance.

"EthanArk... I’ll remember that name."