As time ticked by, Ethan watched at his leisure as the two Coffin Guild players, beset by several Frost Tumor Beasts, grew ever more grievously wounded—their faces paling, lips drained of color.
Bleeding out, each moment brought them closer to death. Bigwave trembled all over, his features twisted in pain and fear.
Terror of death breeds venomous hatred. Fixing Ethan with a glare full of malice, Bigwave kept repeating, "You're finished. You're going to die!"
Faced with the threats of a man at death's door, Ethan only smiled, then hoisted his Rusty Cleaver and strode toward the Frost Tumor Beasts.
Seeing this, Bigwave's pale face curled into a mocking sneer. He drawled, "What's the matter—scared? Scared to make enemies of Coffin Guild and become a marked rat?"
Ethan shook his head, his gaze locking onto one wounded Frost Tumor Beast ahead. The Coffin Guild players had fought bravely, but whenever a Beast was near death, Ethan swooped in to land the killing blow.
By now, including the first Beast that dropped the Purple-quality Intel, he'd slain three monsters.
Bigwave and his companion were on the brink—their strength spent. Ethan planned to finish off one more Beast; then, taking his time, he could dispatch the rest himself.
The enemies did all the hard work fighting the Beasts, only to have Ethan steal their kills and absorb all the XP.
Ethan couldn't help but sigh, "Too bad—you were doing so well. A little longer and you might've made it."
At Ethan's words, Bigwave's pallid face flushed scarlet—obviously enraged. He and his partner had struggled to stay alive in a life-and-death brawl, while Ethan did nothing but land finishing blows. And now he dared mock them for their weakness!
Humiliation—plain and simple.
Summoning his last reserves of strength, Bigwave hurled his Rusty Cleaver at Ethan. But Ethan wasn't foolish—he'd stayed vigilant.
The thrown cleaver clattered uselessly at Ethan's feet. With a flick of his wrist, Ethan dispatched another Frost Tumor Beast.
Bending down, he snatched up the discarded Rusty Cleaver and looked at Bigwave with a grin:
"Is this for me? Thanks—it's just the kind of weapon I was looking for."
Bigwave's body spasmed as he pointed a trembling forefinger at Ethan, stammering,
"You… you… just you wait!"
Then he coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed—dead.
His companion fared no better. Surrounded by the remaining Frost Tumor Beasts, he, too, was swiftly torn apart.
On the battlefield now lay Ethan—and three injured Frost Tumor Beasts. Ethan wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by; he needed to level up as fast as possible to face the crisis he sensed looming.
Bigwave would surely spread word of the Purple-quality Intel reward. If Coffin Guild really had hundreds of members, they could seal off the main roads of Safe Zone 9527 at any moment. They might already be moving.
He could retreat into the safety of the zone and contact wealthy buyers to sell the Intel—solving his debts and covering future medical expenses.
But that would trap him behind the zone's walls forever, always looking over his shoulder at Coffin Guild.
Instead, Ethan resolved to strike first and dismantle Coffin Guild.
To anyone else, this would seem lunacy—a newly logged-in player taking on a guild of three hundred.
Ethan studied his character sheet's Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward and drew a deep breath. For everyone else, this was impossible—but for him, it was his imminent future.
Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward was his ultimate ace in the hole.
Three minutes later, the three wounded Frost Tumor Beasts lay dead. Ethan moved with lightning speed—partly to guard against more monsters, and partly because the injured Beasts were already weakened.
As he tidied the battlefield, he discovered an unexpected prize on Bigwave's corpse:
[Blood-Soaked Bandage]
[Quality]: White
[Use Requirement]: Minor bleeding wounds
[Effect]: Stops bleeding and restores 10% HP over time
[Description]: You really don't want to know if the blood on this bandage carries any infection—use at your own risk.
In Dawnfall Online, when a player dies, all their ordinary equipped weapons and gear drop. If you're unlucky, items and materials stored in your wristwatch Storage may also spill out.
That's why the Coffin Guild duo didn't attack Ethan outright at first—they were trying to intimidate him and protect their own loot.
However, staring at the Blood-Soaked Bandage in his hand, Ethan frowned slightly—his attention drawn to the Description.
This thing did look a bit… unsanitary.
Still, if he didn't find a way to remove the Bleeding status, he couldn't keep killing monsters and leveling up.
Without another thought, Ethan used the Blood-Soaked Bandage. Almost instantly, the Bleeding status vanished and his HP began to regenerate slowly.
Having tasted the perks of looting bodies, Ethan carefully rifled through the second player's corpse—and indeed found another usable item.
[Torn Sneakers]
[Quality]: White
[Use Requirement]: None
[Equip Effect]: Increases wearer's Speed by 1.
[Description]: Pray the previous user didn't have athlete's foot.
You have to admit, weapon and item descriptions in Dawnfall Online are a bit… bizarre. It's part of the game's charm.
The difference between White-quality and Gray-quality gear lies solely in whether it has an Equip Effect or Item Effect.
In Dawnfall Online, monster kills often drop miscellaneous items, but actual equippable gear is so rare that players constantly complain online.
From what he'd learned, these Torn Sneakers, granting +1 Speed, would fetch a couple hundred yuan if sold safely inside the zone.
That meant the Coffin Guild duo not only got nothing, but would also suffer the death penalty—a big loss.
Ethan could already imagine how furious they'd be once they respawned.
…
Safe Zone 9527: a vast plaza where towering white stone pillars lay buried in snow, their shapes barely discernible.
This was the zone's respawn point, mockingly called the "Noob Nest."
Soon, one pillar cast a beam of pure white light, and within it, a human form began to coalesce.
Bigwave's eyes snapped open—fear swimming in his gaze as his body trembled. Instinctively, he patted himself all over.
Only when he realized he was alive again did he exhale shakily, standing dazed as he tried to steady his shattered nerves.
That's why players dubbed this spot the "Noob Nest": death in Dawnfall Online was so frighteningly realistic it could break you.
It took a full twenty minutes before Bigwave could think straight. Clenching his fists and grinding his teeth to speak of revenge, he froze again.
He had no idea what the ID was of the player who'd just obtained the Purple-quality Intel reward.
Because he hadn't personally landed the killing blow, that player's ID never appeared.
Fortunately, he'd remembered a few details: about 1.8 meters tall, lean build, cold gaze, striking appearance…