Online Game: My 10,000x Intelligence Buff Awakens

Right after he used [Ice Calamity Intel], Ethan felt a powerful rush, like water, surge out of his watch and force its way into his head.

His vision blurred. When it cleared, he was no longer in Safe Zone 9527. He was slowly drifting down through the air.

Two people stood below him.

Ethan glanced at them and froze.

He knew them well: Emma and Dr. Axel.

They were standing in front of some machine, working nervously on something.

As he kept drifting down, his view widened a bit.

Not far from Emma and Dr. Axel was a huge iron cage. The test subject, Jake, was locked inside.

Ethan realized where he was.

The underground area of that abandoned factory.

Why would using [Ice Calamity Intel] in Dawnfall Online show him the underground of the abandoned factory?

He clearly remembered that at this time he had still been in the ventilation duct. He never saw what was happening here.

This wasn't his memory.

Ethan tried to move, but found he couldn't do anything except see what was around him.

Soon, as he kept sinking, he brushed against Emma's hair.

In an instant, he felt himself merge into Emma's body, and his view became fixed.

He kept thinking it over, and finally remembered the glass test tube Dr. Axel had given him. When an archer attacked him, the test tube fell into the ventilation duct.

Ethan had thought the glass test tube was destroyed when the abandoned factory collapsed.

Now it seemed the thing inside the tube had fallen onto Emma.

He forced himself to calm down and remember every detail he saw. Soon, he noticed something strange.

In his view, Emma's younger brother, Lucas, was killed by [Iron Controller]!

But he clearly remembered that when Lucas was in mortal danger, the vent under Ethan's feet had crashed open, making him fall between Lucas and [Iron Controller]'s attack.

He blocked the attack to protect himself, and Lucas survived because of that.

Yet now he saw Lucas die on the spot, and he himself never showed up.

What was going on?

Ethan didn't dwell on it and just tried to remember everything that happened.

At first, Emma was deeply sad over her brother's death and swore to avenge Lucas. But as time went by, without even noticing, her desire for revenge faded.

Emma was slowly losing her human feelings. She grew cold and began to despise life.

Watching through Emma's eyes, Ethan saw it clearly. He knew it had to be because of whatever was inside that glass test tube.

Then a sudden car accident briefly brought Emma back to her senses. She tried her best to tell the medical staff around her that some monster was eating away at her.

But they thought she was hallucinating from her injuries. No one believed her.

After the treatment, Emma opened her eyes again and looked out the window.

At once, the heavy snow in Dolren City grew even fiercer.

In Ethan's view, all the patients and medical staff in the hospital turned into ice statues.

The ice statues shattered, and monsters from Dawnfall Online appeared in Dolren City. The whole city began to freeze over.

Luckily, Ethan saw [Plague Ghost] Jade, [Head-Cutter] Bao'er, [Grinning Ghost], and the others. Together with Lion, Lila, and many men in black, they badly wounded Emma.

Emma ran away and rushed into a building...

The vision ended there, and Ethan opened his eyes again, confused.

He slowly reached out his hand, letting the cold snow fall into his open palm. That thin chill told him he was out of the illusion.

Soon, he glanced down at his watch out of habit and found new info there—about "Siphoners" and [Ice Calamity].

There were seven Siphoners near the Ice City settlement. These strange beings kept absorbing the energy of death. At the right time, they would pass all that energy to [Ice Calamity], letting it power up fast.

If three of the seven Siphoners were lost and couldn't provide energy, [Ice Calamity] would still awaken after absorbing the energy from the remaining four.

But it wouldn't show its real body. Instead, it would split its power and control powerful monsters to wipe out all nearby life.

...

After reading about the Siphoners, Ethan frowned. If he destroyed all the Siphoners before [Ice Calamity] fully woke, he should be able to stop it from coming again.

But after what happened in the real world, he also knew that defeating [Ice Calamity] would give a [Calamity Aura].

If even the Faceless Department's Special Action Team vice-captain Lila would risk her life to demand it from [Plague Ghost] Jade, then it had to be a very important resource.

Ethan took a deep breath. Thinking about how to get a [Calamity Aura], he turned to the info on [Ice Calamity].

[Ice Calamity: the maker of cold and death, a being that can freeze all things. Once it descends, you must defeat it as fast as possible, or it will grow at an unbelievable speed, freezing everything—even space and time...]

[A Calamity needs a host to descend: either a monster strong enough that has lost its mind, or a human with a high-quality talent that matches the Calamity. The first is a manifestation; the second is a full fusion.]

[Everything has a weakness. Besides striking at the exact moment of full fusion—pushing the host to the brink of death and defeating the weakened Ice Calamity—there's another way: force Ice Calamity to spread its power and destroy the monsters it controls. That will also put it into a weakened state.]

[Anyone with a firm will, unafraid of death and pain, has a chance to kill it completely and get the very rare Calamity Aura.]

[You can only get Calamity Aura after defeating a Calamity. It can be used to forge high-quality weapons, or be absorbed by the human body to raise one's talent grade. But absorbing it feels like your body is destroyed and rebuilt. The pain is beyond imagination. A strong guardian must watch over you and use great power to ease the pain, or the absorber will explode and die.]

...

After reading the info on [Ice Calamity], Ethan let out a slow breath. This thing was even scarier than he had thought.

Once it grows, it can even freeze space and time.

It seemed [Plague Ghost] Jade and the others stopped its rapid growth in time.

Thinking of this, a big question came to Ethan.

The scenes he saw were exactly what happened in the real Dolren City, but everyone was there—except him.

Safe Zone 9527 in Dawnfall Online was likely Dolren City after it was frozen by [Ice Calamity].

The building Emma entered at the end should be Frostspire Tower, which matches the Veritas Snow Group building in the real world.

If Ethan were [Plague Ghost] Jade, he would have gone all out to find the fleeing Emma and finish her.

Did [Plague Ghost] Jade and the others run into something, so they didn't keep searching?

Ethan frowned deeply. He now remembered how strange Emma had been. In the car, Lucas kept saying he was freezing—that must have been because of Emma.

At that thought, Ethan's eyes lit up.

If he killed Emma in the real world, would he get a [Calamity Aura]?

The intel from [Ice Calamity Intel] was clear: you can only get a [Calamity Aura] after you defeat [Ice Calamity].

But in the real world, Emma hasn't fully become [Ice Calamity] yet.

Ethan let out a small, regretful sigh. He had seen what happened to the test subject Jake.

If Emma does become [Ice Calamity], with his current strength he won't be a match for her.

In Dawnfall Online, the only way to kill [Ice Calamity] is to first destroy three Siphoners to make it spread its power, then destroy the monsters it controls. Only then can you finish it off.

As for Emma in the real world, the only way—just like the intel says—is to push her into a near-death state at the exact moment she fully turns into [Ice Calamity]. That's the only chance to defeat the real [Ice Calamity].

He just didn't know if, by doing this, Emma would still have any chance to live.

If Emma dies, the Veritas Snow Group will likely pass to Lucas. From how things look now, Lucas still trusts him.

Ethan shook his head. This wasn't what he should be thinking about right now.

He needed to figure out why he himself was missing from the scenes he saw earlier.