Since there were no caves or shelters around, the best place for them to rest was near the waterfall. With the campfire burning, they no longer felt cold.

Ethan stayed awake that night while Nuwa slept soundly in her sleeping bag after eating plenty of grilled fish he had caught earlier.

Ethan's digital map panel was still glowing, his eyes locked on the green dots showing Lara and the others' positions.

From the map, their location was already close to his. He was sure that the Sword Liberation guild team would reunite tomorrow.

Ethan was glad his team would finally be back together.

Once everyone gathered, he would discuss their next goal—he wanted to hear Lara's and the others' opinions about his suggestion to head toward Arkan City.

There's a good chance Cersei and her guild team went to the city. That guild team from Destroyer also went there.

It's possible they're spreading news about me being in this event—especially with witnesses from two different guilds.

That could make things worse for me.

Ethan let out a slow sigh. He never expected things to turn out this bad.

But he had to keep moving forward—there was no way to turn back time.

He felt that what happened in the past was part of a life path he couldn't escape.

No matter what, Ethan couldn't deny his fate now.

Just as he was about to add more firewood to the dying campfire, his ears caught the faint sound of footsteps coming from the forest.

Not just walking—someone was running fast.

The sound came from the southern forest, the same direction where the Destroyer guild players had gone earlier.

Ethan turned sharply toward the sound. He grabbed a burning stick from the fire and carefully stepped forward.

"Someone… please help me!"

Soon, a half-naked woman stumbled out of the trees, holding a magic staff in her hand.

Her green-and-white guild uniform was torn apart, and several men were chasing her from behind.

The woman looked terrified, her face wet with tears, her voice trembling as she cried out.

When she saw a man in front of her, she instinctively ran toward him for protection.

"P-Please… save me."

Ethan narrowed his eyes, watching her closely. Then his gaze shifted forward.

He saw three men stop in their tracks, each holding a sword.

"Stay out of our business if you don't want to die!" one of them shouted.

The three men belonged to a different guild than the woman.

Ethan figured they were hostile players taking advantage of their strength to bully others.

"The woman asked for my protection, so of course I—"

STAB!

Ethan froze in shock as the half-naked woman behind him stabbed him in the back with her sword.

The damage wasn't serious, thanks to his high base defense. But something about the attack immediately caught his attention. Poison.

"Good job, sweetheart," one of the men said, stretching his hand toward her.

The woman smiled and walked over, using an HP Potion to fix her torn guild uniform.

Ethan knelt, groaning in pain and feeling weak. He hadn't expected the woman who asked for help to be part of the enemy's trap.

"How long until he passes out?" one man asked.

"About five minutes. I gave him a strong poison," the woman replied.

"Haha! That's my girl."

"We'll wait until he's out cold. Then we'll kill him and take his Star Essence."

The three men and the woman laughed right in front of the wounded Ethan. Nuwa was still asleep, far enough not to hear anything.

For most players, this would have been a deadly situation. But for Ethan, it was different.

"You really think poison like that can kill me?" he said.

The wound on his back began to dry, and the poison was neutralized.

Apparently, the woman hadn't used a strong toxin—nothing compared to the venom of the Venomfang Queen.

Because of his bond with Hissy, Ethan had gained Toxic Resistance, allowing him to resist weaker poisons easily.

The four players' faces turned pale when they saw Ethan stand up unharmed.

He didn't groan, his body wasn't weak, and his expression stayed calm.

"What the hell?!" they thought, panic flashing across their faces.

Ethan raised his hand and summoned Hissy. The snake slithered out from his sleeve, its red eyes glowing as it hissed toward them.

"My pet is the Venomfang Queen. One of the buffs I got from forming a contract with her is Toxic Resistance."

"Wait! That means—"

"Yeah. I'm immune to weak poison like yours," Ethan cut her off.

Without hesitation, Ethan drew his sword and dashed forward in a blur.

His speed was too fast for them to react. He struck all four in quick succession.

They tried to block and run, but Ethan didn't let them escape. He chased them deep into the forest.

"Hissy!"

The snake hissed in response and darted across the ground, biting their legs. The venom spread fast, draining their HP.

One by one, they collapsed—twitching, vomiting blood, their health dropping rapidly.

Ethan stopped near the fallen players. The woman begged him to remove the poison.

Hissy crawled up Ethan's leg to his shoulder. Ethan explained that the only way to save them was for Hissy to reabsorb the venom.

"Please… do it," the woman cried.

"We'll do anything," one of the men added.

Ethan nodded. He demanded their weapons, HP and MP potions, and Star Essence in exchange.

"You can die, and I'll just take your Star Essence myself. It's your choice," Ethan said calmly.

The four players looked at each other, realizing they had no choice.

One by one, they handed everything over—four rare weapons, forty-four HP potions, twenty-three MP potions, 212 Star Essence from the men's guild, and another 178 from the woman's.

Ethan accepted it all, then signaled Hissy to draw the venom back out. Slowly, their condition improved, though their HP was still low.

Ethan didn't plan to kill them. He let them leave.

"T-Thank you, sir," one of them said before all four ran off into the dark forest.

Ethan turned around and walked back toward the waterfall.

[Talent Quest:]

[Number of Swords: 15/100]

[Duration: 18:03:30:25]

Another panel appeared before him right after collecting the Star Essence.

[Thousand Stars Event]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 18,102]

[Star Essence Count: 1200]

The rank increase was smaller now—competition was getting tougher.

When Ethan reached the waterfall, Nuwa was still there, undisturbed by the noise earlier.

The clock showed 11 p.m. The moonlight was bright, and it seemed like every night in this world was a full moon.

We're resting in an open area. Too risky. Other guilds could attack anytime.

I probably won't sleep tonight.

Too many will try cheap tricks like that. I'll need to stay alert.

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