After a long discussion, Luscho finally agreed to Ethan's proposal. Ethan was glad—his first problem was solved. Now, what he needed was his team members.
Since a guild team had a minimum member requirement and the event only applied to guild members level 30 and above, Ethan and Luscho needed to make some adjustments.
"Pick your members however you like. Just remember my plan. Don't choose anyone who might end up slowing you down later," Ethan said.
"I know. You don't have to remind me about that again," Luscho replied firmly.
He opened his guild panel and started adjusting the settings. He changed his guild from private to public, then sent an invitation for EthanArk to join.
Right in front of Ethan, the guild system panel appeared, displaying the invitation for him to join their guild.
[Invitation!]
[You've been invited by LuschoMeier to join Guild: Sword Liberation]
[Accept] [Decline]
Ethan smiled, pressed [Accept], and officially became a member of the guild.
His guild panel changed, showing the list of members inside.
They had a total of 78 members—12 were above level 40, 39 were around level 30, and the rest were below level 30.
With Ethan joining, he became the only player in the guild with a level above 50.
Luckily, the maximum level allowed to join the event was level 60.
I didn't expect there'd come a time when I'd join a guild other than LionArk.
"How is it?" Luscho asked.
Not only did Ethan see the members' names, but also other detailed information.
His name and status were displayed clearly on the guild member panel.
[Guild Members:]
[8. EthanArk || Lv. 52 || Warrior || ATK: 7462 || DEF: 6625 || Member]
The base ATK and DEF stats were visible. Not just his, but everyone's.
From what I see, not many players know how to improve their ATK and DEF properly. Their base stats are too low for their levels.
Is this guild run by beginners?
"Luscho," Ethan called.
"What?"
"Tell me—are you a beginner?" Ethan asked.
Luscho froze for a moment, then sighed and nodded. He admitted it even though not many people knew.
"Yeah."
"I can tell. Your level's 44, but your base ATK and DEF are below 2000," Ethan said.
"Your base stats should be around 2500–3000 at that level," Ethan explained.
Ethan sighed. None of the other members seemed to judge Luscho's low stats because they were beginners too.
Luscho acted tough and confident to hide the fact that he was new to the game.
"I'm just an office worker who got interested in technology. I saw an ad for VR Full-Drive and decided to try this game, even though I've never played games before," Luscho said.
"I didn't expect my curiosity would trap me inside such a terrifying game," he added.
"As long as you keep up your image, no one will ever guess you're a beginner," Ethan replied.
"The guild leader's a beginner… hehe. If they find out, they'll leave me," Luscho said with a weak laugh.
Ethan didn't answer. He took a final sip of his beer and ended the conversation.
He wasn't interested in hearing Luscho's story—everyone here was betting on themselves, no matter the situation.
"The Thousand Stars Event will start in three days. Gather four people to join my team and register the guild for the event," Ethan ordered.
"Got it. I'll take care of it," Luscho replied.
He walked to the door and said goodbye. Ethan simply cleared his throat and nodded, letting him and his group leave the village.
Ethan decided to stay until the event began. He could monitor Luscho's progress through the guild chat window.
Through his room window, Ethan saw Luscho and the others walking away from the village.
They were talking about something, but Ethan was sure Luscho wasn't stupid enough to expose his plan.
[DING!]
[Your pet egg will hatch in three hours]
Ethan flinched slightly, his eyes fixed on the system panel that suddenly appeared in front of him.
The message showed that the Viper Egg he had placed in incubation would hatch in three hours.
Midnight, huh?
"I can wait. I've been hiding for a week anyway, waiting for this Viper Egg to hatch."
Ethan summoned the Incubation Capsule and placed it on the table.
The countdown timer on the device showed 2 hours and 57 minutes left before hatching.
"Since the egg is a Rare type, there's a good chance the pet I'll get will also be Rare rank."
"But pet eggs are basically like gacha. There's always a chance to get something higher ranked," Ethan muttered.
"Still, even a Rare-ranked pet is more than enough to boost my base ATK and DEF."
Ethan pulled up a chair and ordered room service for another round of beer.
Two hours wasn't too long, so he decided to wait it out and open the incubator once it was done rather than tomorrow.
The noise from the village streets slowly faded. Only a few players remained outside. Ethan noticed the silence growing as the night deepened toward midnight.
[Countdown:] [00:00:03] [00:00:02] [00:00:01]
[Incubation Complete]
[Starting Hatching Process]
Ethan set down his beer and stood up. He stepped closer to the table, watching cracks appear on the brownish-black egg.
The cracks spread wider and deeper. In a single motion, the top half of the shell broke apart, revealing a black viper with brown and green markings.
[DING! Congratulations, you've obtained a Pet!]
[Name: Venomfang Queen]
[Race: Twin-Fang Viper]
[Rank: Epic]
[Level: 1] [HP: 950/950 || ATK: 450 || DEF: 350]
[Pet Essence: 0/1000]
[Deploy Pet?] [Y/N]
Ethan's eyes were locked on the serpent—it had two glowing green fangs and a raised crown-like ridge on its head.
Its narrow reptilian pupils stared straight at him, as if recognizing Ethan as its master.
An Epic-ranked pet? I didn't expect luck like this to hit me.
Wait! This is gacha, right? And it's midnight…
Again, I'm exploiting the day-change bug.
Ethan smirked, fully satisfied. His luck was incredible. If he had waited until tomorrow, he might've gotten just a Rare pet instead.
Seeing the advantage he gained, Ethan didn't waste the opportunity. He extended his hand toward the newly hatched Viper.
At first, the snake hissed as he reached out, but once it caught the scent of the same aura from its egg, it stopped and turned calm.
Seeing that, Ethan pressed [Accept] to deploy the Venomfang Queen as his pet.
[DING! Venomfang Queen successfully deployed]
[ATK: 9962 || DEF: 9125]
His base ATK, which had been around 6000, jumped sharply.
Having an Epic-ranked pet didn't just help in battles—it also gave Ethan a personal buff.
Curious, he opened the pet panel to check Venomfang Queen's starting stats.
[PET!]
[Name: Venomfang Queen]
[HP: 950/950] [ATK: 450 || DEF: 350]
[Bonding Buff: 10% Poison Damage, 25% Poison Resistance]
[Active Skill: Venomous Thorn]
[Desc: Attacks all enemies within a 5-meter radius, inflicting Venom Stun — a poison that weakens resistance and drains HP and MP.]
[Ultimate Skill: Dominion of Mist]
[Desc: Launches a poisonous orb into the air, forming a 25-meter dome that causes blindness, reduces DEF, and heals the Pet and its Master.]
Ethan nodded. Its abilities were unique and could be very useful later on.
Still, he needed to be careful—Venomfang Queen was an Epic-ranked pet, too valuable to risk recklessly.
"Venomfang Queen, huh? That's too long of a name."
"Since you always hiss when you're near me, I'll call you Hissy."
The viper hissed again, but stayed perched on Ethan's right shoulder—it had already accepted him as its master.
"All right then. Time to get ready."
"We're going back to the city—again."