Chapter 15: Guild Feature

After finishing his earlier task, Ethan walked down the hill once his stomach started to growl.

Luckily, he still had some marlin meat stored in his inventory. It was enough for a day, but tomorrow he’d have to find another way to get food.

There were plenty of ways to do that—he could hunt monsters for their meat or just take the simple route by going to town and buying some food there.

Still, with the PK Flag and Red Notice hanging over him, it was impossible for Ethan to enter any city, even though he knew he could easily kill anyone who tried to attack him.

When he reached his wooden hut, Ethan threw himself onto the bed.

He felt tired, even though his Constitution stat had increased, which automatically boosted his stamina as well.

Even if I’m tired, at least killing all those monsters gave me a good chunk of EXP.

He turned his head to the side, watching the fire in the hearth flicker low.

The pile of firewood had started to turn into ash. Ethan grabbed a few more logs and tossed them into the fireplace to keep the flame alive.

21 monsters above level 10 down, 79 left to go. If I’m not too exhausted later, maybe I can hunt again tonight.

Ethan took out a slice of marlin meat and placed it on the grill above the fire. He wasn’t worried about it burning—food didn’t spoil or rot in this game.

The only reason he cooked it was to enjoy the texture and charred flavor. It made the eating experience more satisfying in this world.

He roasted a slice of marlin until it was cooked through, then slowly ate it. That alone was enough to fill him up.

Four slices left. If I’m careful, this should last me two more days.

While eating the marlin, Ethan noticed his Attribute Points had increased from leveling up.

He decided to use his free time to allocate his points to the basic stats he needed.

[ATTRIBUTES:]

[ATK: 364 || DEF: 340]

[STR: 80 || AGI: 50 || INT: 5 || CON: 60 || WIS: 25]

[AP: 0]

Looks like my base ATK went up because I hit level twenty.

The higher the base ATK, the stronger the percentage power for each skill. The same went for base DEF, which raised his damage resistance.

“This is better than I expected,” Ethan muttered.

He closed the Attribute panel and opened another item from his inventory. It wasn’t an ordinary one—it was a Viper Pet Egg.

He materialized a bright emerald egg with black patterns on it, holding it in both hands.

It was heavy, and when he shook it slightly, he could feel liquid swirling inside.

Hmm… normally, pet eggs can be directly input into the pet feature. But this one can’t. What’s going on?

He examined the egg for a while, touching its shell before setting it down on the table. Still, nothing happened.

Not knowing what else to do with it, Ethan decided to store it back in his inventory. His attention then shifted to the three new unlocked features: Guild, Passive Skill, and Soul Servant.

Guild and Soul Servant were the ones he had been waiting for the most—aside from the Talent feature.

With the Guild feature, he could now form a party or guild, or even join one that already existed.

He opened the Guild menu and saw countless guilds had already been formed. The system couldn’t even display the total number of parties since there were far more of them than guilds.

But one advantage of the Guild system was the instant matchmaking feature—it allowed Ethan to quickly find a nearby party for monster hunting, as long as their party was set to public.

[GUILD:]

[Total Guilds: 78,540]

[Search Guild: ____]

[Create Guild] [Join Guild]

There were over seventy thousand guilds so far, and everyone had the right to create their own. The cost wasn’t even that high—only five thousand gold to form one.

[Search Guild: Lionark]

[Searching Guild!] [Guild Found]

[1. Lionark || 10,541 Members || Rank: S (Legendary Guild) || Leader: AshleyLeon123]

Looks like they’ve been doing well over the past few years. Last I checked, their rank was only A-tier. Now they’ve reached the elite S-rank level.

That meant their strength and influence were taken seriously by other guilds and players.

[Join Requirements:]

[1. Must reach Level 50 with Base ATK above 5000]

[2. Must own two Soul Servants above Rank B]

[3. Apply manually in Mavelard City at the guild office]

[4. Must not have any criminal record or PK Flag]

[5. Must obey the leader’s orders]

Ethan fell silent. Ashley must’ve realized how dangerous things had become, which explained why she added all those strict requirements.

She was afraid of traitors infiltrating the guild—that was why she made the rules tighter. Back when Ethan was the leader, the conditions weren’t that harsh.

So I have to go to the city, huh? Looks like I won’t be meeting Ashley anytime soon.

There was a faint sadness in him as he recognized the gap in strength and level between them.

With his new identity and no longer using his old username, Ethan doubted Ashley would even recognize him.

He set the guild issue aside and focused on another feature—Soul Servant.

Simply put, Soul Servants were spiritual knights that assisted their master in battle. They could be ATK-type, DEF-type, MAGIC, or SUPPORT.

[SOUL SERVANT:]

[Servants: 0]

[Status: -]

[Perform Gacha in town to obtain a Soul Servant]

As far as Ethan could remember, Soul Servants were divided into seven ranks: C, B, A, R, SR, SSR, and SSSR.

Each player could deploy up to three servants. Back then, Ethan had two SSR and one SSSR servant.

Getting them wasn’t easy either—he had to top-up and roll for them around 1 a.m. game time.

But now, with no top-ups available, everything depended on a player’s luck.

To do a gacha, I’ll need two keys: a Silver Key and a Golden Key. So far, I don’t have either.

The Crystal Shop actually sold both keys, but purchases were limited per day.

Players could only buy ten Silver Keys or one Golden Key each day, which made the Soul Servant gacha quite tricky.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he muttered.

Just as he was about to check his Passive Skills, a scream for help echoed from outside the hut. Ethan’s focus immediately shifted—someone was shouting for aid.

He rushed out and turned his gaze toward the source. A three-man quest party was running down the hill in panic.

Behind them, he could clearly see a pack of red-furred bears chasing them. Not one, but three of them at once.

One of the women turned forward, spotting Ethan as he stepped out of his hut.

“H-Help us, Ethan!” she screamed.

Ethan reacted fast, summoning his Flamefang sword and slashing it toward the incoming monsters.

A crimson arc of energy exploded across the area, striking the bears head-on. The blast threw them back and left them limp, though not completely dead.

[Maroon Pattern Bear (Lv.15) || HP: 131/950]

Ethan was stunned. The damage from his first skill nearly wiped out a level 15 bear with 950 HP in one hit.

My base ATK went up, so of course the skill’s power multiplier increased too.

The direct hit scared the bears off—they retreated to their territory. The quest party finally caught their breath, saved by Ethan’s overwhelming strength.

“T-Thank you, Ethan.”

“I already told you guys not to climb up there. The higher you go, the stronger the monsters get,” Ethan said flatly.

“We were careless. Lucky you were here to help us,” said the party leader.

Raindrops started falling in the forest. Ethan invited them into his hut to take shelter, and naturally, the three players accepted.

Even though Ethan had just saved them, the three still looked a bit uneasy.

After all, Ethan was a wanted man listed in the Red Notice. Anyone who killed him would earn a massive reward.

Still, after witnessing his power firsthand—how he nearly killed a level 15 monster in one blow—they weren’t foolish enough to fight him.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Ethan said, and they nodded.

“So, since the city’s not safe for you anymore, you decided to stay out here?” one of them asked.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Aren’t you afraid we might kill you?” asked the female player, eyeing him sharply.

Ethan smiled, tossing the last piece of firewood into the fireplace. He turned to face her, eyes calm but cold.

“No. Because you’re weaker than me,” he replied, sitting back on his bed.

“Why would I be afraid of weak ants like you? I’m more afraid of the monsters out there than of you.”

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