CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: TOO LAZY TO PROVE IT

When Evan mentioned Grimmount, Tina gave the slightest frown.

Grimmount was smart and hard to deal with. He never did anything that put him at a loss. Helping [Windchaser] kill a player inside the Safe Zone had cost him a lot.

So he must have gotten plenty from [Windchaser] to do that.

But as a player, what could [Windchaser] even offer Grimmount?

The best answer was that [Windchaser] had promised to help Grimmount with some things.

With that in mind, Tina found Evan’s take very reasonable.

Her tone went back to the cool calm from the start. She said: "Can you explain why the [Berserk Blood Warrior] trial went wrong?"

The moment Grimmount came up, Tina’s attitude turned clearly cold, with a touch of disgust and hostility.

Ethan noticed at once. He began to think that the NPCs in Safe Zone 9527 might not get along that well.

Admin Tina and Sheriff Evan were both on the opposite side of Grimmount.

From what they said and how they acted, it even felt like Grimmount might do something that would harm the Safe Zone.

So Ethan chose not to answer whether he had completed the class change to [Berserk Blood Warrior]. Instead, he wanted to keep using Tina and Evan’s misunderstanding.

That way, he could probe for more intel.

Safe Zone 9527, Tina, Evan, Grimmount, the strange white plant deep in the sewer map...

Ethan had a faint feeling that if he could find a few key bits, his own analysis would lead him to some very important intel.

So he put on a slightly guilty look, lowered his head, stared at the watch on his wrist, and said:

"Explain what? I really don’t know what went wrong with the trial. Inside, I just kept getting killed by monsters and killing monsters."

"When I came out, the class change was already done."

"As for Grimmount, yes, we made a deal before. But when he killed [Overlord], the deal was finished."

After Ethan spoke, the air fell silent for a moment.

Evan kept a wary eye on Ethan, as if he’d move the second Tina gave the word and pin him down.

Tina wanted to read Ethan’s face, but he kept his head down, staring at his watch.

Also, as the admin of Safe Zone 9527, if she laid hands on a player, the punishment would be more than she could risk.

So Tina could only say, "Since you say your class change is complete, then hurry up and leave."

"But I need to warn you about one thing. Stay away from calamity, and keep your distance from Grimmount. It won’t do you any harm."

Ethan’s ear twitched. "Calamity"?

What was that?

Was it the huge, strange white plant deep in the sewer map?

Was Grimmount trying to use that giant white plant to create a "calamity"?

But then why didn’t he go into that massive underground space and stop the big white grub from getting close?

Ethan had a lot of questions, but he couldn’t ask them straight out.

From what Tina said, he knew she wanted him gone fast.

But Ethan didn’t want to leave. He wanted more useful info. If he walked away now, he might never get into the spire again.

So he said without hesitation, "I really didn’t class change into [Berserk Blood War General], but..."

"As soon as he finished, Evan said, "I knew it."

"Not just [Berserk Blood War General]—you didn’t even complete the [Berserk Blood Warrior] class change, did you?"

"Now tell us how you made the trial go wrong."

Ethan glanced at Evan and said bluntly, "You do know it’s very rude to cut someone off before they finish, right?"

"I didn’t class change into [Berserk Blood Warrior], and not into [Berserk Blood War General] either. I changed into [Berserk Blood War God], the one you never mentioned."

Silence.

Tina, who had been about to turn away, stopped in her tracks.

She, Evan, and Elise were all thinking the same thing: What is [Berserk Blood War God]?

Ethan had to remind them, "It’s the one you talked about earlier—the class you can get if you kill the last ten monsters."

"The trial probably glitched because I didn’t leave when I could. I stayed and kept trying to kill more monsters."

Only then did Tina remember the possibility she herself had raised.

But it was just a possibility!

No one had ever killed ten monsters in the [Berserk Blood Warrior] trial.

You only had to endure dying a hundred times without breaking to clear it and class change into [Berserk Blood Warrior].

She hadn’t told Ethan about [Berserk Blood War General] before the trial because she thought he wouldn’t even finish [Berserk Blood Warrior]—let alone the harder [Berserk Blood War General].

And now Ethan was saying he’d completed something even harder than [Berserk Blood War General], the almost impossible [Berserk Blood War God]?

Tina’s first reaction was that it was impossible.

She wasn’t the only one. Evan thought the same. He let out a cold laugh and said to Ethan:"

"Enough. Don’t take us for idiots. You players always have this weird arrogance."

"If you really got a class stronger than [Berserk Blood War General], you’d have rushed to brag about it already."

Ethan felt a bit helpless. He really wasn’t excited about [Berserk Blood War God].

He had intel on the strongest hidden class, [Hellblade].

It was like telling a trillionaire that a random lottery ticket won ten million, then asking why he isn’t excited.

He couldn’t be bothered to explain or prove anything. It was just a [Berserk Blood War God] class—nothing to get worked up about.

He wasn’t a very emotional person to begin with.

So Ethan said directly, "Believe it or don’t. Same with the Grimmount thing—I’ve already explained it. If you still doubt me, that’s your problem."

"If you doubt someone, you bring the proof. That’s basic."

"Never fall into the trap of proving yourself."

Evan shot back at once, "If we believed whatever anyone said, this Safe Zone would’ve been gone a long time ago."

Ethan gave Evan a dismissive look. He felt the sheriff of this Safe Zone had it in for him.

He didn’t want to waste time proving anything. He’d finished his class change—now he could level up, get stronger, kill new monsters, and earn new intel rewards.

If anyone could call him a liar and make him prove himself, then he might as well do nothing.

Time was precious to him, so before he turned to leave, he said:

"If you doubt it, then go investigate. Anyone can stand here running their mouth and saying useless stuff."

"Idiot."

Without a hint of hesitation, Ethan turned and left.

Elise hesitated for a moment and glanced at Tina a few times. Tina nodded.

Then Elise quickly caught up with Ethan.

In front of the huge blood-red iron gate, only Tina and Evan were left.

After a brief silence, Tina suddenly said, "Do you think this [Windchaser] really class changed into the so-called [Berserk Blood War God]?"

Evan answered firmly, "Impossible! His talent is only the Blue-quality [Pain Resistance]."

"Plenty of people with Purple-quality or even Orange-quality talents can’t class change into [Berserk Blood Warrior]. There’s no way he could."

Tina sighed and said slowly, "The powerhouse who left this trial behind also only had a Blue-quality talent."

Evan froze for a second, then shook his head. "That one was different. I know his story—he was a born warrior."

Tina nodded and changed the subject. "You should get yourself in shape too. When most players in the Safe Zone head to the settlement, you should set out as well."

"Oh, and keep an eye on Grimmount. I can’t shake the feeling he’s planning something in secret."

As for [Windchaser], to Tina he was just a weak player, not worth much attention.

Once most players enter the settlement, all kinds of highly talented players will appear. Those are the ones who really matter.

...

After leaving the spire, Ethan set a time with Elise, then went straight to where [Lucas] was.

Just now, [Lucas] had sent him some messages, saying there was a problem with the auction.

While checking his watch, he saw a friend request.

[Player ID: No Sneak Attacks is requesting to add you as a friend.]

[Request note: It’s me.]

Seeing the familiar ID, Ethan knew it was Leo.

Back in school, they played a lot of games, and Leo always used this ID.

If Leo suddenly added him, there had to be a reason.

Ethan agreed to the friend request without any hesitation.