Faced with this sudden turn of events, Ethan immediately drew the [Frostblade]. He kept his eyes fixed on the depths of the sewer, where the shaking was even more intense. The filthy water was churning like it was boiling, sending up a stench strong enough to make anyone faint.
Ethan had no idea what was going on—he was sure this wasn't mentioned in any of the guides for this quest.
The strange vibrations lasted for about a minute, and then the whole sewer quickly returned to calm.
But Ethan had no intention of leaving; his work here wasn't finished yet, and he'd only managed to gain one level so far—nowhere near what he was aiming for.
Without too much hesitation, he put the one stat point he'd just earned from reaching level six straight into [Defense].
When he killed that giant two-headed rat earlier, his [Strength] and [Speed] were more than enough, but his [Defense] was still a bit lacking.
After all, at the moment, the only blue-quality equipment he had was his weapon, the [Frostblade]—he didn't have any blue or higher-tier defensive gear yet.
He adjusted his gas mask a bit, then kept moving deeper into the sewer.
Pretty soon, he noticed something was off. The further he went, the fewer monsters there seemed to be—in fact, there were hardly even any [Slightly Infected Common Rats] around.
Normally, the deeper you went into the sewers, the more monsters you'd run into.
Thinking back to that strange tremor from earlier, Ethan couldn't help but wonder, "Did that shaking just now draw all the monsters away?"
If that was the case, heading deeper could be pretty risky.
Sure, Ethan had taken down those monsters earlier without breaking a sweat, but quantity has a quality all its own—if enough monsters ganged up on him, there's no way he could handle them all at once.
Still, fortune favors the bold!
If he let fear of danger or the pain and despair of dying in-game hold him back, he wouldn't be Ethan!
Ethan started off moving slowly, being extra cautious and scanning everything around him. Once his health was back to 100%, he picked up the pace.
Before long, he came to a fork in the sewer tunnel.
He quickly pulled out the map that the NPC from the junkyard had given him, only to find that this spot was marked in red and labeled as [Extremely Dangerous]!
Ethan wasn't worried about running into danger; honestly, he was more concerned there wouldn't be any new monsters left for him to kill.
While Ethan was checking the map, he heard faint voices coming from the path on the right.
A female player whispered, "Tank, maybe we should just head back. We came here mostly to gather info on these mutant rats and update the guide, and I think we've pretty much done that."
Another person answered firmly, "No way." He continued: "Based on my earlier guess, there's definitely a hidden boss and storyline somewhere in the sewer map."
"As a hardcore story player and strategy guide writer, I have to figure out what that weird tremor just now was all about."
Ethan kept listening for a moment. When he heard them mention a hidden boss, he instantly thought of the 'Frostspire Tower' and that [Patient Zero – Ice Virus].
That was the boss that wiped out the high-level players from the Coffin Guild, helped him get rid of his problems, and even handed him some [Hellblade Class Intel].
Now, Ethan was dead set on collecting the full set of [Hellblade Class Intel].
After all, the [Hellblade] class was known as the strongest hidden class in the game!
Obviously, those two up ahead knew a lot more about the sewers than Ethan did. Ethan figured he might as well quietly tail them and go deeper inside.
When the voices ahead finally faded and their footsteps grew more distant and faint, Ethan slipped after them.
In "Dawnfall Online," once you left the safe zone, it was a world where only the strong survived.
Players could start fighting over a monster, a piece of gear, or even just a few harsh words.
There was even a dedicated forum section in "Dawnfall Online" just for players to trash talk and argue.
So Ethan didn't reveal himself right away—he was just being careful.
The two players ahead weren't moving all that fast. Ethan had to slow down as much as he could.
On the bright side, letting someone else scout ahead for danger wasn't such a bad thing, either.
Just like that, Ethan followed the two players deeper into the sewers for about ten minutes. Thick, white slime started to appear on the ground and walls around them.
Up ahead, the sound of conversation started again. The guy who had been called Tank by his teammate spoke up excitedly, "Look! These secretions definitely mean there's a new kind of monster here!"
"The path we just took usually has a bunch of monsters, and the players who come down here for quests are all low level, so no one's ever explored this far."
"Let's keep going! I've got a feeling that once we leak this storyline and strategy, it's going to blow up!"
The female player sounded hesitant as she answered, "Tank, if we keep going, there'll be even more monsters. We could seriously get killed."
The two of them clearly didn't agree and were trying to convince each other.
Ethan just watched quietly from behind. He'd heard their whole conversation, but honestly, what mattered most to him was whether there'd be new monsters deeper in the sewers for him to kill.
Suddenly, he noticed the sewage near the two players start to ripple.
A monster about four meters long, covered in fist-sized tumors and looking kind of like a lizard, silently crawled out of the water and crept toward the two players.
Ethan's eyes lit up. This was a new monster he hadn't killed before, and if he took it down, his [Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward] would kick in and drop some high-quality Intel!
But Ethan didn't rush in.
That Lizard Monster looked pretty tough—white slime oozed from its tumors, and its sharp claws left deep scratches in the sewer floor.
Finally, the two players up ahead noticed danger closing in. They stopped arguing immediately and scrambled to pull out their weapons and fight.
The player called Tank seemed pretty experienced—he managed to barely dodge the Lizard Monster's attacks.
The girl, on the other hand, was clearly terrified and clumsy—she panicked so much she actually tripped herself up.
The Lizard Monster wasn't about to let a downed player go. It instantly locked onto her as its target. Tank quickly whipped out a syringe that glowed green and, without hesitation, injected the liquid into his own body.
Then Ethan saw Tank's strength and speed shoot up instantly, letting him go toe-to-toe with the Lizard Monster.
Ethan still didn't make a move—this wasn't the right moment yet.
Time ticked by, and soon the Lizard Monster was covered in wounds. But both players were also badly hurt by the Lizard Monster and were coughing up blood.
Player [Tank] stared in despair at the still-rampaging Lizard Monster, and said bitterly to the player next to him, [Kayla]:
"Shit! We almost had it. I'm sorry—if I hadn't insisted on going deeper, you wouldn't be in danger. Now we're both gonna die."
"Damn it, why can't Dawnfall Online lower the pain sensitivity setting?!"
Player [Kayla] opened her mouth, her face twisted in pain from her wounds, and she answered slowly:
"[Tank],I was the one dragging you down… Sigh, I'm just too weak."
"It sucks. If we miss this chance, who knows when we'll get another one. If only someone would save us right now."
Player [Tank] let out a sigh. Not many players could stand the sewer's filth and stench, and even if they could, they were usually just low-level newbies—not even close to a match for the Lizard Monster.
If only someone could kill the Lizard Monster so he could keep exploring the hidden storyline and bosses.
Just as the Lizard Monster closed in on the badly injured [Tank] and [Kayla]. It opened its massive, bloody jaws, ready to deliver a fatal blow. At that moment, a figure holding a longsword silently moved up behind the Lizard Monster.