"Hmm… so you don't want to join?" the man asked.
Ethan shook his head. He reflexively turned back and studied Elle's face carefully.
Elle noticed his glance, but she still refused to join if Ethan didn't want to. The woman simply responded with a short shake of her head.
"Sorry, my friend doesn't want to join either," Ethan said.
"I see… Well, I won't force you."
The man took the rejection without anger. He and his two companions left the forest after saying goodbye to Ethan.
"Wouldn't their guild be better? You'd be much safer with them," Ethan explained.
"I don't want to. I'm scared."
Ethan went quiet, watching Elle lower her head, her hands trembling. He raised his hand and gently patted her shoulder, speaking clearly so she would believe him.
"Everything's going to be fine."
"Alright, I won't force you. But because of my PK status, I'm afraid you'll get dragged into this too," Ethan said.
Elle lifted her head and looked up at him. The maroon skull symbol with his red name was too striking for anyone to miss.
Anyone who saw it immediately assumed Ethan was a murderer. Elle finally understood what he meant.
"You're a good person. I'm sure you killed them for a reason, right?" Elle asked.
"Yeah, I had no choice."
"I knew it."
Ethan could feel the conflict in Elle's heart. She was probably thinking about the risks she'd face if she kept staying with him, someone already hated by most players in the city.
He couldn't let Elle stay with him forever. The talent power he had was pushing him toward a different path—one he could only walk alone.
I need to get her back to her friends. But who knows if they're even still alive in a game like this.
"Don't worry. Until you meet your friends again, you'll stay with me," Ethan said.
Elle nodded and thanked him. She was grateful he still accepted her as a friend.
Given the situation, Elle was certain Ethan had no bad intentions toward her.
After finishing their business in the eastern forest, the two of them decided to return to the city carrying the items they'd gotten from hunting monsters and opening treasure chests.
They had a lot to do: Ethan needed to manage his attributes, and Elle had to adjust her new Skill Rise. Both of them had leveled up that day.
When they reached the city, Ethan immediately drew attention again. Not good attention, but hostile.
Glares, insults, curses—he got it all. Elle was shocked. She never imagined other players would treat Ethan like this.
Ethan just gave a small smile. As long as they didn't physically attack him, he wouldn't fight back. If it was only words, he let them blow past him like wind.
At the inn, Ethan and Elle entered his room. The curtains were drawn, the lights were on, making the room bright.
"Ethan… are you okay?" Elle asked.
"I'm fine. I already accepted the consequences. I can't argue with them," Ethan replied.
"If only I had come last night, maybe I could've stopped the fight between you guys."
"Don't regret what's already happened. Sooner or later, I would have become a killer anyway," Ethan said firmly.
"A killer? You mean… you'll stay one?"
Damn it! I slipped up.
What I meant was that I'll eventually go against the purposes of the other players.
"Y-Yeah… I mean, chaos will get worse, and maybe in the future, there'll be a lot more killing."
"T-That's… terrifying," Elle muttered.
"I know."
"Forget about killing for now. Let's just focus on attributes and skill."
Elle cleared her throat and nodded. She pulled up her system panel and began allocating her attribute points.
The last time she had done it was on the small island near the Blue Wing Marlin area. She had leveled up four times since then, meaning she still had 40 AP to allocate.
Ethan was the same. He had reached level 10, then level 12, and now level 14. He also hadn't distributed his 40 AP yet.
Both of them opened their system panels. Ethan quickly assigned his Attribute Points to the stats he wanted. With such a large number, his attributes rose sharply.
[ATTRIBUTES:]
[ATK: 220 || DEF: 200]
[STR: 50 || AGI: 30 || INT: 5 || CONS: 35 || WIS: 10]
Ethan had no trouble allocating his points. But when he looked at Elle, she seemed unsure where to spend her remaining AP.
He helped guide her to the right attributes, and soon her panel looked fine too. Now, all she had left was upgrading her skills with Skill Rise.
"To upgrade skills, you'll need a Skill Gem."
"Skill Gem?" Elle asked.
"Monsters under level 5 rarely drop Skill Gems. But don't worry, there's another way to get them."
"What way?" Elle asked.
"By visiting the Crystal Enhance Shop."
"There, you can buy lots of crystals for different uses, like Skill Gems or Crystal Buffs."
"Oh, so I have to go out to buy it," Elle said.
Ethan nodded. He told her to be careful. People might target her just to hurt him, and he didn't want that to happen.
Alone in his room, Ethan opened his system panel and checked the Talent Quest. He had already finished the second mission, which had pushed his second skill to level 10.
[Talent Quest!]
[3. Kill 5 players above level 8]
[Duration: 120:00:00]
[Reward: Skill 3 Lv. 1 → Skill 3 Lv. 10]
Ethan froze, shaking his head at the quest.
This is insane! But in the end, this talent is dragging me into a bloody path of murder.
If I'm not strong, I can't protect myself or survive this game.
He let out a long sigh, thinking hard about the consequences.
He knew if a player died, they also died in real life. But did that give him the right to take another player's life?
If he refused, he didn't know what would happen later—maybe something even more dangerous.
Ethan tapped the information button in the Talent Quest panel. He wanted to know the penalty for failing.
[Help]
[1. Every player blessed with a talent must complete missions within the set time limit.]
[2. Every player must keep their talent secret. If they reveal it, the talent will disappear instantly.]
[3. If a player fails to complete the mission, the consequences are severe: level loss, full cancellation of skill upgrades, or even death.]
[4. A player who fails will lose their talent completely. It will be stripped away.]
Ethan went silent, then lay down on his bed. Realizing how heavy the consequences were, he knew he had no choice but to carry out the missions in secret.
"If I'd known it would be like this… I should've picked an assassin as my class back then."