Ethan Quinn’s lip curled in a silent sneer.
The media company he slaved for was a mere cog in the Sovereign Group’s machine. And Stella Mercer? She was the chairman’s daughter, the spoiled princess of the entire empire. He remembered the look she’d given him once—an appraisal, as if he were a piece of meat she was considering for a single night’s entertainment.
Most men would have been ecstatic. Stella wasn't a classic beauty, and her frame was boyishly flat, but the wealthy-fair-beautiful trifecta usually overrode such details.
But Ethan had seen the spade tattoo on her calf.
That one image told him everything he needed to know about her "proclivities." He felt nothing but visceral disgust. The office rumors were a cesspool of her exploits: hotel rooms shared with half a dozen foreign businessmen, joyrides with groups of men she’d picked up like accessories.
If Godsfall hadn't arrived, offending a woman like Stella would have been professional suicide. But in his past life, the apocalypse had cut her "casting couch" games short. She hadn’t stayed in The Daxia Realm for long; she had fled to North America and founded the Wonderland Pact—one of the top three guilds on that continent and a persistent thorn in Daxia’s side. Sovereign Group became their primary backer.
Stella Mercer had always been a self-loathing local, obsessed with foreign men and dismissing Daxia’s warriors as inferior. To her, Ethan was just a toy to be broken.
If I remember correctly, she’s stranded at Phantomhaven International Airport right now, Ethan mused.
The initial descent of Godsfall had paralyzed global transit. Flights were grounded. It would be days before Stella managed to secure a private charter to North America.
"If she were in Rivenhaven, I’d end her today," Ethan muttered. "But no matter. Once I’ve extracted higher attributes, I’ll make a trip to Phantomhaven. I need to erase her before she leaves the country. If she reaches North America and builds her power base, she’ll be a nightmare to uproot."
Stella Mercer was officially on his hit list. If she died now, the Wonderland Pact might never even form. The guild’s founding members had all been tied to her through "intimate" connections; without her acting as the glue, that alliance would crumble before it began.
His phone interrupted his thoughts. The caller ID made him pause: Evie Quinn.
"She’s actually calling me?"
In his memory, Evie never reached out first. In his previous life, he had spent weeks begging for her forgiveness, eventually dragging her to her school to force her into Godsfall just to keep her safe.
He answered, his voice devoid of warmth. "Yeah?"
"Ethan? You're actually picking up? I figured you’d be dead in that game by now," Evie’s voice was sharp, laced with coldness. "Since you're alive, consider this your notice. I’ve made enough money to buy my own place. Don't come looking for me. Stay out of my life."
Ethan could hear the underlying tension. Was she lashing out because Victor had "fired" her? Or was it Finn Solo’s death?
It didn’t matter.
"Do whatever you want," Ethan replied, his tone flat. "You’ve always complained that I smother you, Evie. Fine. Consider the leash gone. I don't care where you go or what you do."
There was a stunned silence on the other end. Evie hadn't expected the "doting older brother" to sound so indifferent. She had prepared a whole speech for a fight, but he had just... walked away.
She doubled down, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and relief. "Good! You have no idea how suffocating you are. From this second on, we’re done. Don't call me, don't look for me, and don't you dare ask around about my new address!"
"Done," Ethan said.
He hung up.
He felt a weight lift off his shoulders—a burden he had carried through two lifetimes. He powered down the phone and tossed it onto the sofa. His body began to shimmer, turning translucent as he dived back into the world of Godsfall.
On the other side of the city, Evie Quinn stared at her silent phone. She felt a wave of liberation. Finally, she was free from Ethan’s shadow. She and Sophie had already moved into a spacious three-bedroom apartment. The paperwork wasn't finalized, but they were in.
"No one to drag me down anymore," she whispered. "Now, I just need to find Shade..."
The news of Finn Solo’s death was already global. Everyone suspected Shade. The mystery of how he could use game abilities in the real world only added to his dark allure.
"Evie..." Sophie looked at her, worried. "Cutting ties with your brother like that... are you sure? Maybe you should just apologize. He sounded different today."
"Apologize? To him? Never," Evie snapped. "Let’s go. Once I’m under Shade’s protection, Ethan Quinn won’t even be a memory."
They logged in, surfacing in Shellcroft. Evie met with Marcus, who handed her a Bronze-tier Assassin skill book: Blackjack.
Heart pounding with excitement, she opened a private message to Victor.
Victor~ I found an Assassin skill book. Could you ask Big Brother Shade if he needs it? Tell him it’s a gift from me.
She waited, her breath hitching. This was her move. This was her entry into the inner circle of the world's most dangerous player.
Seconds later, Victor’s reply blinked in her vision.
Victor: Boss said he doesn’t need it. Keep it or sell it.
Evie froze. The rejection was so casual, so dismissive, it felt like a slap. Blackjack was a crowd-control skill—it was invaluable for an Assassin. And he just... didn't want it?
[The Coastal Frontier]
Ethan materialized on the shoreline. He didn't even have time to take in the scenery before the screams reached him.
"Monsters shouldn't have respawned this fast," he noted, his eyes narrowing.
As the world snapped into focus, he saw a group of players fleeing in terror. Chasing them was a nightmare of biological engineering—a three-meter-tall horror.
[GoldArthropod (Lv8)]
[Rank: Gold]
The creature had the golden-hued lower body of an eight-legged stallion, but its torso was a segmented, centipede-like mass sprouting dozens of arms. Each hand gripped a rusted iron blade or a jagged sword. Its head was a cluster of hundreds of spider-like compound eyes, shivering in their sockets.
The beast moved with terrifying fluidity, catching a Warrior in a heartbeat. A blizzard of rusted steel descended, and in less than a second, the player was reduced to a heap of butchered meat.
"Sh... Shade?"
One of the fleeing players skidded to a halt. It was Ashen Rose. The fiery mage looked at Ethan with wide, frantic eyes.
"Shade! This thing has True Sight! It killed our Assassin instantly! If you’re going to fight it, be careful!"
Ethan didn't respond. A Gold Boss was 28 Evolution Points walking on eight legs. He wasn't passing that up.
GoldArthropod... its detection is Level 2, Ethan calculated.
He didn't care. Even if the monster could see him, his stealth skills still offered damage multipliers upon breaking concealment.
Shadow Veil!
He vanished.
Ashen Rose bit her lip, retreating but staying close enough to watch. Her team had been shattered, and she couldn't tell if Ethan was engaging or just repositioning.
Ethan drifted past her like a cold breeze. He didn't look at her; his eyes were locked on the many-eyed horror ahead.
Phantom Flurry!
He flickered into existence, a blur of motion passing through the monster’s center.
-1,013!
-3,042 (Weak Point)!
-1,013!
As expected. Stealth Tier 1 is useless against Level 2 detection, Ethan thought. My Class Passive isn't triggering.
Usually, his damage would double if the target couldn't see him. Since the GoldArthropod’s compound eyes tracked his every move, that bonus was gone. However, his Legendary skill Merciful Release had highlighted the monster's heart and central nerve cluster, magnifying those weak points by 200%.
Three of his nine strikes hit those "kill zones."
One Phantom Flurry had ripped away a sixth of the boss’s health.
Ethan spun, launching a Virulent Dart directly at the creature's largest eye. The boss tried to twist away, but Ethan’s Agility was too high. The projectile buried itself in the orb.
-1,785 (Weak Point)!
-223... -223...
The poison damage was negligible. Virulent Dart was only Silver-tier; it was falling behind.
The GoldArthropod shrieked, its eight legs churning the sand as it charged at thirty meters per second. It reached Ethan in a heartbeat, dozens of rusted blades descending in a chaotic, lethal arc.
"Look out!" Ashen Rose screamed.
But what happened next defied logic.
Ethan Quinn didn't just move; he danced. With a series of micro-adjustments—sidesteps, back-turns, and tight rolls—he flowed through the gaps in the monster's steel storm. Dozens of blades whistled past his skin, missing by millimeters.
"What the hell is that speed?" one of the surviving players gasped.
"It’s not just speed... look at his reactions! He knows exactly where the blades are going before they even move!"
"It’s like he’s fought this thing a thousand times..."
They couldn't know. They were seeing ten years of life-and-death muscle memory. In his past life, Ethan had been a Warrior. And a top-tier Warrior wasn't just a meat shield; they were masters of evasion. When his sister Evie had been his healer, she was often too distracted or unskilled to keep him topped up. Ethan had been forced to learn how to solo Epic-tier bosses without taking a single scratch.
If the world thought Shade was only dangerous because of his stealth, they were about to be corrected. Even in the light of day, he was untouchable.