CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66: I’LL DIE

Lucas didn’t have many friends. In real life he was rich and Emma’s younger brother, so lots of people wanted to get close to him and be his friend.

But Lucas wasn’t stupid—he knew what they were after.

[Windchaser] was different. When Lucas first met [Windchaser], he chose to trade the [Frost Warrior class change Intel] with him, and Lucas offered a high price.

Back then, he really was trying to prepare for working together in the future.

But later, [Windchaser] somehow managed to get his hands on new, high-quality intel again.

He even took down the entire Coffin Guild by himself and sent [Overlord], that creep who harassed girls, to prison.

At that point, if [Windchaser] so much as hinted he wanted someone to auction his Intel, countless people would jump in.

So when [Windchaser] asked Lucas to take charge of the auction, Lucas was really excited.

Because he knew very clearly that this auction was definitely, across the whole of Dawnfall Online, the most interesting and the most closely watched one so far.

Lucas wanted to do something so people would know him as Lucas, not just "Emma’s brother." [Windchaser] gave him that chance, and when Lucas was threatened, he even stepped up and took the danger onto himself.

While Lucas was thinking, Ethan walked up and said calmly:

"What’s wrong? It’s all handled. Next, we should start the auction."

Lucas nodded. Seeing Ethan’s surprised look, he took a deep breath and said:

"Ethan, don’t worry. Not just this auction—anything you give me from now on, I’ll do my best to handle."

"Ethan, I won’t let you down. I mean it!"

Ethan gave the excited Lucas a puzzled look. He didn’t know why Lucas suddenly got so worked up.

Still, this was actually a good thing, because right now Lucas was doing better than Lucian beside him, who was lost in a daydream, and Sylvan, who was staring at him without even blinking.

A weird smile showed on Lucian’s chubby face, while Sylvan was really excited, like he was seeing his idol.

Ethan waited a bit so Lucian and Sylvan could calm down.

Once everyone was more or less back to normal, he headed into Safe Zone 9527.

Lucas, Lucian, and Sylvan had been closer to the safe zone, but when they noticed Ethan moving on, they held back.

They only followed after Ethan walked ahead of them.

When the four of them reached the safe zone, every bystander was staring at Ethan. Their faces were full of shock and disbelief.

The Winter Guild’s leader, [EarlyToBed], had wanted to walk up to Ethan, but she remembered he hadn’t replied to her messages before.

So she changed course, went to Lucas, and said in a low voice:

"That was more than a dozen class-change players. Do you have any idea how strong [Windchaser] really is?"

Lucas glanced at Ethan’s back, shook his head, and said, "How would I know? Oh, right—about what you told me last time. I forgot to tell Ethan."

"I’ve been too busy lately. Sorry, Serena."

Serena shook her head. "It’s okay. I heard about your situation. Your sister’s pretty upset, but she’s already having people look into the ones who threatened you. She just didn’t tell you."

Lucas nodded. He knew Emma would care about his safety.

But he wasn’t going to give up. He wanted to seize this chance, follow [Windchaser], and build something of his own in Dawnfall Online.

He looked at Ethan’s back, eyes firm. This time, his investment wouldn’t be wrong.

...

At Safe Zone 9527, at the respawn point called "Noob Nest," the player [19110536] slowly opened his eyes, still dazed.

It took him less than a minute to shake off the blank daze after being revived, and he was back to normal.

The first thing he did was touch his neck with a shiver. Then, through gritted teeth, he muttered:"[Windchaser]! Damn it. This is going to mess everything up."

He had done everything he could for this job. He never thought the one who ruined it wouldn’t be the rival groups [Prism] or [Ghostfang], but [Windchaser], the guy he hadn’t even taken seriously.

There was actually such a strong player in Safe Zone 9527—someone who killed eleven class-change players in a single fight.

[19110536] took deep breaths to steady himself. He carefully pulled out his wristwatch. After hesitating, he sent a message.

[19110536]: [Sir, there’s been a problem. The formula was probably taken by that guy Grinning Ghost.]

[WolfShark]: [Grinning Ghost? So it was him. Looks like Ghostfang really cares about this formula intel.]

[WolfShark]: [Wait, did you say "probably"? What happened?]

[19110536]: [Sir, our people and Prism’s people are all dead. Only Grinning Ghost is still alive. He probably has the formula.]

After sending the message, he looked up and scanned the freshly revived players around him. He wanted to find [Windchaser].

Even if [Windchaser] was strong enough to kill them, there was no way he could get away from [Ghostfang]’s people.

Before he could spot [Windchaser], Sir [WolfShark] replied.

[WolfShark]: [You all died? That shouldn’t be possible. Near Safe Zone 9527, there isn’t any force that can threaten you. Did Grinning Ghost attack you?]

[19110536]: [Uh... Sir, Grinning Ghost didn’t attack us. We were killed by that Windchaser. He’s very strong.]

[WolfShark]: [Windchaser?]

[WolfShark]: [???]

[WolfShark]: [Are you useless?]

[WolfShark]: [Useless! Useless! Useless! I gave you a chance and you still blew it. There were so many of you, and Windchaser killed you all!]

[WolfShark]: [Get back here!]

[19110536] looked at the rapid messages from Sir [WolfShark]. He could already imagine how angry he was.

But what could he do? The [Prism] guys were killed by Windchaser too.

He looked into the distance. The woman in the white turtleneck had a grim face and clenched fists.

He suddenly felt a bit less upset, but he still wanted to see Windchaser—the one [Grinning Ghost] supposedly killed.

Then he could mock him a little and feel better.

Clearly, the woman in the white turtleneck hadn’t left for the same reason. She was also waiting for [Windchaser] to show up.

But they waited a long time and still didn’t see [Windchaser].

[19110536] muttered, "What’s going on? Did [Windchaser] not die?"

He wondered if [Windchaser] had no choice and just handed the formula intel to [Grinning Ghost].

As he was puzzling over it, a player who had just revived and cleared his head heard him and answered right away:

"You’re the one who surrounded [Windchaser] outside the safe zone, right? [Windchaser] is totally fine. He’s running an auction right now."

"People at the auction are going crazy. It’s wild."

[19110536] froze. He opened his mouth and asked, "How do you know?"

The player cursed. "Shit! There were too many people at the auction. I slipped and got trampled to death!"

"Damn, I can’t believe Dawnfall Online has a death like that. I’m speechless."

"I’m going to the Safe Zone Sheriff to ask for compensation. That guy’s so irresponsible—he let me die inside the Safe Zone."

"Now I’m the second player to die inside the Safe Zone."

"Shit!"

Watching the angry player walk off, [19110536] was stunned. Why wasn’t [Windchaser] dead?

Did [Grinning Ghost] have something urgent to do and just let [Windchaser] go?

...

Outside the Safe Zone, in the howling snow, [Grinning Ghost] walked across the ice plain with two subordinates.

[Grinning Ghost] opened a map and kept checking the surroundings, like he was searching for something.

While he was focused on the map, the two players behind him exchanged a look.

When he put the map away, one of them couldn’t help asking:

"Captain, why didn’t you make a move? Windchaser was stronger than we expected, but he’s still not your match."

"We came to Safe Zone 9527 for that potion formula intel, right?"

[Grinning Ghost] stopped and answered with a grin, "Someone would die."

The subordinate nodded. "Well, sure. If you act, Windchaser will die."

[Grinning Ghost] shook his head and corrected him. "I don’t mean he dies. My gut says if I make a move, I die."

"I’d die for sure."