CHAPTER 77: ETHAN VS EVERYBODY

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The Next Day.

Arco Village

Ethan woke early to prepare many things. Luna was still asleep on the bed, while Ethan had slept on the long sofa all night.

He did not want to share a bed with Luna, since they were not related. It felt wrong to Ethan. He also did not want to tell Luna to sleep on the sofa; that would make her uncomfortable.

When Ethan opened the window, he saw many players already up and getting ready for the day.

His goal was to go to the village equipment shop and sell some items he had. Ethan would only sell items useful for crafting weapons, since he did not need everything.

Ethan had a Bloodblade Sword, which meant he owned a top-tier sword not forged from low-grade parts.

Selling that item and making a profit was one of the best things he could do. It would also free space in his inventory so it would not be full.

Maybe I will also buy bread for breakfast.

Ethan put on his gear, wearing his black robe and white mask again.

Right before leaving, he stepped beside the bed and saw Luna sleeping peacefully.

Luna would be fine in the room. Ethan had promised to protect her no matter what.

He raised his hand and summoned Hissy after calling it.

"Hissy. Stay here and watch Luna. Attack anyone who comes into the room except me."

Hissy hissed, then nodded. It jumped from Ethan’s arm to the bed and sat beside Luna, alert and watchful.

With Hissy there, Luna’s safety was secure. Ethan left the room without locking the door.

He walked alone down the inn corridor. No one else was there, only the empty hall in the early morning as the sun rose on the eastern horizon.

Ethan guessed that some players who rented rooms were still asleep. That was good. He did not need to deal with them for now.

He went down to the ground floor and out of the inn. His first stop was the nearby equipment shop, the only one in the village.

It was already crowded with players buying supplies to hunt Star Essence in the forest.

Ethan planned to do the same while also looking for information about Uruk City.

He needed many sources to verify the truth of what the mage woman from the Sacred Hall guild had said yesterday.

Outside the inn, Ethan approached the equipment shop. Only a few players were inside, about seven.

When Ethan entered, their eyes fixed on one point: the mysterious man in a black robe and white mask.

They could not see Ethan’s level because it was hidden, but Ethan dared to show his Bloodblade Ashura just to display something to them.

Ethan was not someone they could easily kill.

"Welcome, sir. What do you need?" the seller asked, not afraid of Ethan.

Ethan opened his inventory panel and pulled out many items he had chosen to sell.

All the items were above uncommon rank, and some were epic.

"You have a lot of items. These are all for weapon crafting and potion crafting. Do you want to sell them?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Let me count them," the seller replied.

Seeing Ethan sell so many items shocked and intrigued the other players. One asked how Ethan had gathered so many items.

"How did you get all those items?"

"Monsters, and guild treasure," Ethan answered coldly without looking back.

"You didn’t steal them from other players’ inventories?" the player asked.

Ethan paused, then glanced briefly at the player, a man with the Assassin class default. Other players also wanted the truth.

"When you kill other players, you don’t get anything, not even items from their inventory."

"Then why do you kill them if it doesn’t benefit you?" the player asked again.

Ethan was silent for a moment, then gave a soft reply with a sigh.

That question was private; he did not want to explain in detail.

"Because they tried to kill me."

"Who?" the player pressed.

"You don’t have the right to know that."

Soon the seller finished totaling the price for Ethan’s items.

There were 87 different kinds of items and materials, with quantities ranging from 1 to 35.

"The total is 1,825,500 gold. How about that?" the seller asked.

Ethan nodded. The seller knew the market value of each item.

If he priced Ethan’s items so high, they must be valuable and popular among players.

"I don’t mind."

The transaction succeeded. Ethan received 1,825,500 gold from selling 87 different items.

Adding his previous gold of about 585,000, Ethan’s total became 2,410,500.

A very large sum of money. Players from mid-ranked guilds had never imagined anyone owning so much gold.

"Thank you for doing business with us."

"Anything else?"

Ethan turned and saw an armor set displayed on the shop wall. His weapon was Legendary, but his armor was still Epic. That felt unbalanced to him.

"How about a Legendary equipment set?" he asked.

"Sorry, sir. We don’t have one," the seller replied.

Ethan nodded; he would not force it if the seller truly did not have it. After finishing business, Ethan went to buy bread.

But something surprising happened. Ethan’s steps stopped when a guild team entered the shop. One of its members was Michelle.

"E-Ethan?" Elle asked, shocked.

Arnold, the team leader, heard Elle’s voice. His eyes sharpened. He stepped forward toward Ethan, knowing who EthanArk really was.

"So you are the man Helena and Michelle talked about?" Arnold said.

Ethan stayed silent, but his gaze was steady. Among the seven guild members, only the warrior in front of Ethan was the highest level, level 54.

"I have no business with you," Ethan said plainly.

As Ethan tried to walk away, Arnold’s hand rose and gripped Ethan’s shoulder hard. Ethan turned sharply.

"Didn’t I warn you? If I meet you, I’ll kill you!" Arnold threatened.

Ethan took a deep breath and looked at Arnold through his mask. He reached out and summoned his longsword, Bloodblade Ashura.

People started to stare at Ethan’s sword. A red-blood aura and crimson lightning flowed around the blade.

They did not know the sword’s name, but they knew such an aura could not belong to an Epic sword.

"You are Elle’s friend, the leader of her guild team."

"I have no interest in killing you!" Ethan said.

"I only kill those who deserve to die."

Arnold smiled, then laughed loudly as if mocking Ethan. He had not seen Ethan in a long time and did not know what Ethan had been through.

But a killer was still a killer. Their punishment was one: death.

"It’s been a long time. I didn’t expect your arrogance to grow," Arnold shot back.

"Only the strong have the right to be arrogant," Arnold added.

Ethan grabbed Arnold’s hand to remove it from his shoulder. But Arnold did not let go.

He boldly drew his weapon to show his strength in front of Ethan.

"You will die if you pick a fight with me. Are you sure?" Ethan asked.

Elle and Helena watched the tension between them, a fight between warriors. It was not a fight they could break up, except maybe Elle.

Only Michelle could calm Arnold, because Elle was her lover. She might also calm Ethan because Elle was her friend.

Michelle acted firmly. She stepped between them and stopped the conflict.

She managed to prevent an unneeded fight between Arnold and Ethan.

"Stop, Arnold, Ethan!" Elle said.

Ethan sheathed his sword and tried to calm down. Arnold, however, still stared fiercely, not lowering his weapon.

He wanted to prove something to Ethan in front of Elle. He wanted to show he was better, more dignified, and stronger than Ethan.

"Stop, Arnold. There’s no need for a fight here. The outcome will be bad."

"No. By order of the North Guild Alliance leader, all players with PK status must be killed!" Arnold said.

"But he did nothing wrong here."

"That’s right! But we kill him not because of that, but because of his past sins."

Arnold’s firm voice stirred the other players’ confidence and ambition. After all, many players in Arco Village were bound by the North Guild Alliance rules.

Their guild was part of that alliance.

Many players drew their weapons, gathered, and surrounded Ethan from every side, trapping him with no way out.

"Not only me, but all players from the North Guild Alliance will fight together against Ethan!" Arnold declared.

"We must do this to uphold the credibility of the North Guild Alliance!"

"YES, LET’S DO IT!"

"I will help you kill him."

"LET’S KILL HIM!"

Ethan summoned Bloodblade Ashura again and looked at each player surrounding him.

He smiled widely. This could endanger his life, but he was not afraid. He felt stronger than all of them.

I can use this moment to seize their Star Essence.

"What if we make a bet?" Ethan asked.

"A bet?" Arnold said.

"If you can kill me, I will give you Bloodblade Ashura and all my Star Essence."

"Bloodblade Ashura?!" Arnold was shocked.

Isn’t that one of the rare Legendary swords?

"And if you lose, you give all your Star Essence to me."

"Only the guild team leader may challenge me. I don’t like fighting weak players!"