CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 61: THAT’S GREAT

When he heard Ethan, Lucas took a deep breath. He knew Ethan was thinking of them and didn’t want them to get involved.

But the more Ethan acted like that, the more Lucas felt that he, Lucian, and Sylvan had to do something, just to feel a little better.

Lucas had never died in Dawnfall Online. Neither had Lucian or Sylvan.

They already had some power in real life, and after they started playing, they could use that to get more advantages than regular players.

Take Lucas, for example. He had bought [Frost Warrior class change Intel] from Ethan. As long as he finished the class change quest, he could switch to a class stronger than what normal players had.

Sadly, the [Frost Warrior class change Intel] quest was very hard, and he still hadn’t finished it.

Thinking of this, Lucas decided to agree with Ethan for now. He said, "No problem, Ethan. We’ll follow behind you!"

Ethan nodded. He told Lucas and the other two to keep their distance. Otherwise, if those people noticed them and got suspicious, it would be bad.

After giving a few quick instructions, Ethan walked straight out of the safe zone.

The moment he stepped outside, he could tell the mood around him was off.

Players who had clearly been in a hurry slowed down a lot when they saw him and quietly fell in behind him.

Ethan pretended not to notice and kept walking farther away.

Right then, near the exit of Safe Zone 9527, some players cried out in surprise: "Look, isn’t that Sheriff Evan? Why is he here—could there be a hidden quest?"

"For real? Then I’m going to go ask him."

"Go ahead. He won’t answer players. People have tried many times and almost got thrown in jail by him."

When he heard the players talking openly, Ethan looked back. His eyes met Evan’s.

Evan’s face was blank. He looked at Ethan like he was just a passerby, then coolly looked away and stood at the safe zone exit, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

Ethan frowned a little. He didn’t know why Evan was here.

But Evan wasn’t the main issue right now. The real problem was the few players around him who were slowly closing in.

Ethan stopped, swept his eyes around, and said calmly, "Alright, come out."

Right away, a tall, thin man in a black trench coat and black hat stepped out, looking surprised. He glanced around with doubt in his eyes, then fixed his gaze on Ethan and asked:

"You already noticed us?"

Ethan slowly took the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] out of his [Inventory] and held it.

Surrounded by enemies with the blade in his hand, he felt a faint urge to fight—to see blood, to kill.

A bit surprised, Ethan lowered his head and checked the info on the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife].

[Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife]

[Quality]: Blue-quality (upgrade method unknown)

[Requirement]: Defense greater than 6

[Effect]: Bloodthirst. Drinks the user’s blood to activate Bloodthirst. Lose 1% HP per second, Defense -3, Strength +3, Speed +3. When the user’s HP drops to 10%, Defense -6, Strength +6, Speed +6.

[Note]: This used to be a growth-type Orange-quality weapon. After a great battle, it lost its original quality and no longer grows. Still, it’s the best long knife inside Safe Zone 9527.

The info was the same as before. Nothing had changed. But Ethan thought of what Grimmount had said—this was a "Demon Blade."

As Ethan drew the knife, a woman in a white turtleneck sweater and a young man in a gray down jacket with a broad smile both took two steps toward him.

As soon as the two of them showed up, they and the man in the black trench coat who came out first were facing off.

The man in the black coat shifted his gaze from Ethan to the pair. He narrowed his eyes and said slowly:

"This prey belongs to us, [Black Sea]."

The woman in the white turtleneck let out a cold laugh and rasped: "Idiot. Since when did [Black Sea] get this dumb?"

The smiling young man added, still smiling: "No, you’re wrong. They’ve always been this dumb."

The black coat man’s face turned ugly. He took a deep breath, clenched his fist, then stared at Ethan and said:

"[Windchaser], you’re not getting away today. Hand over the recipe intel! If not, you die here."

"We have a special item. When you die, we can pick any one item from your [Inventory] as loot."

"Got it? Be smart and hand it over. It’ll hurt less."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. Kill a player and then choose any item from their [Inventory] as loot?

There’s an item like that in Dawnfall Online?

Looks like they’re determined to get the [Blue Ice Potion recipe Intel].

While Ethan was still curious about that special item, the curvy woman in the white turtleneck spoke to him:

"Don’t be scared, brother. Give it to me, and I’ll make sure you’re safe."

When she finished, the young man in the gray down jacket said with a smile, "Fighting and killing is no good. How about this—you give it to me, and let me handle the fighting."

Right now, all three of them had their eyes on Ethan. Behind them, more people started to step out.

Ethan took a quick look. Behind the man in the black coat stood four players. On the woman’s side, counting her, there were only four.

As for the always-smiling young man, he had even fewer people—only two.

Now Ethan was surrounded by twelve players in total.

He wasn’t far from the safe zone exit, so lots of players in Safe Zone 9527 saw him being surrounded.

Right away, people started whispering: "What the hell happened? That looks like [Windchaser]. Why is he suddenly surrounded?"

"No, I think I saw class change players from other safe zones. Isn’t that [Don’t Read This Sentence]? He changed to the special class [Curse Warlock]. He’s really strong!"

"I recognized one too—he’s a class change player from Safe Zone 9526!"

"Not just that. Looks like everyone surrounding Ethan, except the three in front, are all class change players!"

"For real? Our Safe Zone 9527 doesn’t even have that many class change players."

"Are the safe zones about to go to war?"

"No wonder Sheriff Evan is here."

More and more players from Safe Zone 9527 got the news and gathered at the exit.

To normal players, class change players and special class players are strong and mysterious. And now they were surrounding the most famous player in Safe Zone 9527—[Windchaser].

With something like this, it’s hard not to stop and watch.

In less than a minute, a big crowd had formed at the exit—packed shoulder to shoulder, buzzing like a rally.

Among them was the Winter Guild’s Guild Leader, [EarlyToBed]. She not only saw Ethan, but also saw Lucas.

[EarlyToBed] clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and muttered, "Great. [Windchaser] ignores me, and [Lucas] promised to help me but there’s still no progress."

"Seeing you two now, it’s really hard not to be mad!"

[EarlyToBed] didn’t know exactly what was going on, but she was sure of one thing: today, [Windchaser] probably couldn’t escape from so many class change players.

At this stage of the game, any class change player is a true expert, far stronger than normal players.

In her Winter Guild, there’s only one class change player right now.

So it’s easy to imagine how much pressure Ethan is under, being surrounded by so many of them.

With that in mind, [EarlyToBed] watched Ethan’s face closely, trying to find any sign of panic or nerves.

But to her surprise, even with so many people around him, Ethan stood still and calm. His expression was steady and cool—no fear at all, not even a little.

She watched as Ethan spoke, asking the people surrounding him, "Have you all completed your class changes?"

The man in the black trench coat snorted and said, "Obviously. What, scared now? Then hand it over and be good. I don’t want to waste a rare special item."

The woman in the white turtleneck said, "Little brother, are you still planning to resist? That wouldn’t be very smart."

The smiling young man said nothing. His grin grew wider, and the threat coming off him grew stronger.

Ethan’s lips lifted a little. He nodded, satisfied, and said, "Great. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to gather this many class change players."