CHAPTER 71: CHAPTER 71: LEAVING SAFE ZONE 9527

Leo picked up his phone and took a quick look. His face suddenly turned tense.

"What’s wrong?" Ethan asked.

"Special mission."Leo said. "I have to go back right now. And you don’t need to come to my funeral either. Get some rest."

"Don’t worry. I’ll try to figure out why the higher-ups want me to get into Veritas Snow Group, and learn more about that weapon that can shoot pitch-black flames."

Ethan nodded and tried to get up to walk Leo out, but as soon as his feet touched the floor, a strong wave of dizziness hit him.

So he lay back down. He told Leo to stay safe and not take any risks.

After Leo left, Ethan turned to look out the window.

Maybe his illness was getting worse and his body was weak, he felt a bit cold. He found the AC remote and turned the temperature up a little.

He wondered if Elise had gotten the [Blue Ice Potion formula] yet. Since Elise could recreate the formula, the original wasn’t that important anymore.

Ethan could use the [Blue Ice Potion formula] to see if he could trade with a player called [Grinning Ghost] for something useful—like intel about the real world, or another item with an effect like the [Blue Ice Potion].

But the second option was very risky. If anything went wrong during the trade, his real identity could be completely exposed.

He had worried about this before, but then he thought of Leo from just now.

Leo’s disguise was almost perfect. If Ethan could disguise himself like Leo and pay attention to the small details, almost no one would spot a flaw.

If so, even when dealing with those secret groups hiding in the real world, Ethan could keep himself safe and make sure his identity stayed hidden.

What a pity—Ethan only thought of all this after Leo left. The headache from earlier was still messing with his thinking.

He looked out the window, put his hand to his temples, and slowly pressed.

Then his hands suddenly stopped, and his eyes fixed on something on the glass.

It was a tiny snowflake.

But it’s August in Dolren City, the hottest time of year. How could there be snow?

Ethan shook his head, thinking he must have seen it wrong. Then he picked up his phone and saw a notice:

[Attention residents of Dolren City: According to the weather bureau, a cold wave will reach the area within 3–5 days. Lows may drop below zero. Please take measures to stay warm.]

He frowned slightly. This was a first for him. Even in the coldest winters, it hardly ever snows in Dolren City.

More snowflakes drifted past the window, landing on the glass and melting fast.

Ethan lay back on the hospital bed and closed his eyes.

He needed to log into the game, find new monsters, kill them, and get new Intel drops.

After all, since his class change, he hadn’t killed any new monsters.

It was time to farm a new wave of Intel. Maybe there’d be a surprise—like more intel on the strongest hidden class, [Hellblade]. Or a drop on how to repair the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife].

...

In Dawnfall Online, on a wide icefield near Safe Zone 9527.

[Grinning Ghost] led two underlings to a crack in the glacier and stopped.

This was the place he was looking for.

He looked back at his two men. One was a young guy with dyed yellow hair and heavy dark circles under his eyes. His ID was [Short-Lived Ghost].

The other looked to be in his thirties, very plain, nothing special. His ID was [Wronged Ghost].

[Grinning Ghost] said to the two of them, "This is the place. Take a short break, then we’ll go into the ice abyss."

The yellow-haired [Short-Lived Ghost] let out a slow breath, looked up at the falling snow, and complained:

"Damn, why does it feel like the snow’s getting heavier? And it’s even colder now."

[Wronged Ghost] replied calmly: "Enough. Be glad we didn’t send you to Safe Zone 1987."

"That place is like a flaming hell. If you’re not careful, the heat will kill you."

[Grinning Ghost] slowly held out his hand and caught a snowflake. He sighed and said softly, "[Calamity] is coming."

[Wronged Ghost] and [Short-Lived Ghost] glanced at each other and fell silent.

The mood grew heavy. The three of them rested quietly for a short while.

[Grinning Ghost] walked to the glacier crack—the ice abyss he mentioned—looked down, and took a deep breath.

This was where the organization predicted the [Source of Calamity] was most likely to appear. If they destroyed the [Source of Calamity] before the [Calamity] formed, they could stop it from happening.

Their job this time was only to scout. If they really found something like a [Source of Calamity], they just needed to report it and the mission would be done.

Then the organization would send powerful NPCs to destroy it ahead of time.

That would have nothing to do with them.

...

Safe Zone 9527. Ethan went to Elise’s item shop and found the door locked.

He had planned to check her progress, but it looked like she still hadn’t gotten the recipe.

He turned around and headed to the station near the exit of Safe Zone 9527.

Two tall NPCs stood at the entrance, their cold eyes watching every player who passed.

A few low-level players tried to go into the station to take a look, but the NPCs stopped them.

One NPC shouted, "Get lost! The station won’t open to anyone who hasn’t finished their class change."

The players grumbled back, "I just want to look around. I’m not doing anything."

"It’s just a crappy station, not the presidential palace. Tch, boring."

They walked off, cursing, and ran into Ethan heading toward the station.

Someone called out to warn him, "Bro, don’t bother. Those two NPCs won’t let players in unless they’ve finished their class change. You should wait until you—"

Before he could finish, the two NPCs at the entrance glanced at Ethan, then quietly opened the station door.

It was Ethan’s first time inside. He’d seen some posts about stations on game forums in the real world.

Different safe zones use different transport. Some zones have flat terrain and normal weather, so the transport is pretty modern, similar to the real world.

But in zones with rough terrain and harsh weather, the station transport can be really weird.

He even saw someone complain on the forums that Safe Zone 8356 is an island, and class-changed players have to ride dolphins to reach a bigger hub.

As for what’s inside the station in Safe Zone 9527, Ethan hadn’t found any info. Seems like no one had posted about it yet.

At first, he planned to search around Safe Zone 9527 for monsters he hadn’t killed before.

But he noticed something: there were plenty of monsters nearby, but only a few types. He’d already killed all those types, and killing more wouldn’t drop any new Intel.

So he might as well go somewhere bigger—the main hub for Safe Zone 9527 and nearby zones: the Ice City Hub.

That’s why he came to the station.

After he made it fully inside, he looked around and finally found a very run-down ticket counter.

An NPC inside was nodding off. Even when Ethan walked right up to him, the NPC didn’t notice anything.

Ethan coughed, and the NPC jerked awake and muttered:

"The fare to Ice City is 5,800 Dawn Coins. No discounts, no deals, no refunds."

Five thousand eight hundred Dawn Coins?

That was pricey, but Ethan was pretty rich now.

From selling the [Frost Warrior class-change Intel] to Lucas and the items dropped by Coffin Guild players, he’d made 1.5 million.

Later, on the sewer map, the player [Tank] paid him a 100,000 reward.

And the Intel he’d just auctioned, plus ad fees, came to 5.7 million.

Since he started Dawnfall Online, Ethan had earned 7.3 million in total!

But for that 5.7 million from the auction and ads, he chose untraceable funds like before, which took a 10% cut.

So from 5.7 million, he actually got 5.13 million. Add the 1.2 million he still had left from before, and his current assets were 6.33 million.

He also spent 130,000 in the real world to buy 100,000 Dawn Coins at a 1.3:1 rate.

Right now, in the early stage of Dawnfall Online, Dawn Coins are worth more than real money.

So when he saw the 5,800 Dawn Coin ticket price, Ethan didn’t hesitate and paid.

But when he saw the transport at Station 9527, he froze.