Realizing that their lives were hanging by a thread, those evil players couldn't do anything. If they fought back, they'd die.
If they agreed to Ethan's deal, they'd live—though their EXP would be stolen.
The two remaining players stared at each other, as if trying to discuss silently.
In the end, they agreed. They would rather give up their EXP and Gold than die.
Ethan was pleased with their answer. At least this way, he could benefit without extending his PK status.
He worried that killing them might make that status last longer, which would be a huge pain.
"Juno, Eve, come here."
[TEAM BATTLES!]
[Party A!]
[1. EthanArk (Lv. ?)] [+]
[Send challenge invitation?] [Y/N]
Ethan turned around, watching Juno and Eve walk toward him. From the panel in front of Ethan, the two could clearly see that he was opening the battles feature.
He saw Juno and Eve's usernames and added them to Party A with him. Eve looked confused—she had no idea what Ethan was doing.
[Party A!]
[1. EthanArk (Lv. ?)] [2. JunoArcher01 (Lv. 11)] [3. EveRose (Lv. 12)] [+]
[Send challenge invitation?] [Y/N]
Ethan sent a challenge invitation to the two evil players. He clearly told them to form a four-player party, even though three of their teammates were unconscious.
"How do we do that?" one of them asked, confused.
With a sigh, Ethan grabbed one player's hand and pressed the party invitation panel for the challenge. He did the same with the others.
The evil players froze, realizing that such a trick was even possible.
Eve and Juno were just as shocked; Eve finally understood that Ethan was far more experienced than her ex-boyfriend ever was.
Once both parties were formed, they accepted Ethan's challenge.
They didn't have to move to a city arena—Ethan chose to do the team battle right there on the hill.
"What should I do?" Eve asked.
"Stay still and don't do anything."
Ethan drew his sword and ordered them to surrender. He warned them that killing in a team battle didn't count as a crime.
Terrified by the threat, they quickly pressed the surrender button, signaling their defeat.
[DING! Congratulations, you've won the Team Battle]
[Reward: 10,000 EXP || 10,000 Gold]
Ethan earned a huge amount of EXP and Gold just by using their fear of death.
Since all four enemies were level 13 or 14 players, the 10,000 EXP was divided among them.
"Each of you will give us 2,500 EXP. That's a fair price for what you did to Eve," Ethan said.
[DING! Congratulations, you've leveled up!]
[Level 46 → Level 48]
[EXP: 44648/46550] [AP: 140] [+10]
Damn, I still haven't allocated my attribute points.
Even so, she was happy that Ethan had gained EXP from them.
Eve and Juno stared wide-eyed, shocked to see their level-up panels flashing—their level increase was massive.
"W-What just happened?" Juno asked.
"Because you were in a party with me. The reward was split evenly among us," Ethan explained.
"For me, that's just two level-ups, but for you guys, it's different. You gained about eight levels each."
"What about them?" Eve asked, looking ahead—her eyes widening even more.
"W-Wait… their levels became—"
Ethan crouched down with a smirk. The dirty battle had ended; their EXP was completely drained, sending them back to level 1.
"Looks like you'll have to start everything from scratch," Ethan said.
While he was watching the injured evil players, Ethan faintly heard the sound of something moving behind the bushes.
He stood up and turned around. A swarm of spider monsters appeared, red circles glowing beneath their bodies.
"They're aggressive monsters."
"Juno, shoot an arrow at one of those spiders."
"But won't that make the whole swarm come after us?" Juno asked.
"Just do it."
Juno froze for a second, but with no choice left, she knocked an arrow and shot it forward.
The arrow hit the spider's body but didn't kill it—still, it was enough to draw their attention.
Aggressive monsters always attacked anyone in their territory once provoked.
"Good. Now let's go," Ethan said.
Juno and Eve ran down the hill while Ethan watched their backs.
The spider monsters swarmed down after Ethan—but some of them surrounded the helpless evil players still lying there.
"DAMN YOU, ETHAN!" one of them screamed.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Juno flinched at the screams behind her. Her eyes widened when she saw the level-14 spider monsters attacking the evil players.
The monsters detected the players as part of the threat, even though it was Juno who shot first.
"T-They're dead…?" Juno asked.
"Focus on running. Don't look back!" Ethan shouted.
It didn't take long before Ethan and the others made it out of the forest and escaped the spiders' chase.
Once they crossed the boundary, the monsters stopped and returned to the hill—killing every remaining player there.
"You're terrifying. No wonder you—"
SLAP!
Ethan stopped Eve's rant with a sharp slap. Her eyes went wide as her cheek turned red. Juno quickly stepped in to calm him down.
"What are you—"
"Your arrogance put yourself in danger and made Juno worry!" Ethan snapped, cutting her off.
"You two are the worst party combo ever. A mage and an archer—both ranged classes, no defense, no real experience!"
"I hate to say it, but you'll struggle badly if you keep playing without a warrior."
Eve went silent, lowering her head before breaking down in tears. She crouched and hugged her knees as Ethan stood before her.
They were lucky to have reached the savannah, an area controlled by passive monsters.
"I'm confused… I'm scared… I can't look weak in front of Juno!"
"I'm her big sister. I have to protect her," Eve sobbed.
"It's okay, Eve. We're stronger now. There's nothing to be scared of," Juno said softly.
That night, Eve learned an important lesson—she needed to open up and accept help from others.
Ethan had already saved her three times, more than her ex-boyfriend ever did. Juno seemed to fully trust Ethan now, too.
Eve had to start trusting people—and that had to begin with trusting Ethan.
"It's been a rough night. Let's go back to the city and rest."
Ethan walked past them, heading back. Juno helped Eve stand up. She wiped her tears and slowly calmed down.
Her eyes fell on Ethan's back—then his face when he turned slightly toward her.
Slowly, the corner of her lips lifted in a faint smile. There was a strange calm and comfort in her chest as she followed him back to the city.
She didn't know if it was admiration or something else, but one thing was certain—Eve started to see Ethan differently that night.
***
The next day.
Nile City.
Ethan woke up early in the morning, the room quiet and peaceful. He turned his head, seeing sunlight streaming through the window, warming the air.
Before resting last night, he'd tried his luck again with the Golden Gachapon. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten anything valuable—just five fragments for a rare-rank soul servant.
Even so, he still hadn't finished allocating his attribute points.
I'll deal with that today.
He stood up and opened the curtains. The city was bustling as usual, players crowding the central square to pick up new missions.
They're working so hard… Have they still not found Stephen?
While Ethan was enjoying the morning view, he heard voices outside his room.
Curious, he opened the door—and froze.
A woman sat on the floor, hugging her knees, her head lowered. A tray of food was placed beside her.
People passing by whispered about her. Ethan immediately recognized who she was—Eve.
"Eve?" he called.
The first call wasn't enough to wake her. Ethan called again, gently shaking her shoulder until she stirred.
"Ethan…? Morning," Eve greeted with a yawn.
"What are you doing?" Ethan asked, confused.
"I was waiting for you to wake up. I brought breakfast," Eve said.
Ethan glanced at the tray of food on the floor. He picked it up and motioned for her to come inside, stopping the passersby from gossiping.
Eve nodded and stepped into Ethan's special room, noticing it was much larger than hers.
The tray was placed on the wooden table. Ethan sighed and turned around.
"You didn't have to do that. I can buy food myself."
"I wanted to say thank you," Eve replied.
"You saved me three times. I thought I should repay you somehow—besides just food," she said.
"You should thank Juno. He's the one who convinced me to help you," Ethan said, crossing his arms.
"Without him, you'd probably be in their hands."
"I know. I love Juno," Eve admitted.
As they talked, a low growling sound echoed—clearly not from Ethan but from Eve's stomach.
"Haha!"
"You're hungry but still brought me food? Are you crazy?" Ethan teased.
"You can eat it. Don't worry about me."
"No. That's yours. I can grab food somewhere else," Ethan said.
Embarrassed, Eve suddenly bolted out of the room.
Ethan could only chuckle and shake his head. She had been acting strangely around him since yesterday.
Still, her attitude was much better—she was starting to open up and accept help from others.
That was a good thing for both Eve and Juno.
She's kind of cute when she's not being angry all the time.