Online Game: My 10,000x Intelligence Buff Awakens

Ethan stood at the entrance of the safe zone, holding a purple-quality [Ruin Spear] in his hand. His gear, including the [Dragonscale Set] and [Shadow Belt], was glowing brightly with a thick purple light.

Right in front of him, more than a thousand players were standing still, their eyes wide open, completely unable to believe what they were seeing.

One player rubbed his eyes like crazy and shouted, "Holy crap! Am I dreaming?"

"[Windchaser]'s gear—and the weapon in his hand—they're glowing purple?"

"Purple-quality?"

Other players nearby immediately answered, "You're not seeing things. Even our Guild Leader doesn't have any purple-quality gear. How come [Windchaser] has so much?"

"Being a little ahead of others is talent, but being ten steps ahead is cheating!"

"I seriously think [Windchaser] found a bug in Dawnfall Online and used it to boss around NPCs and get high-grade gear."

Ethan listened to the chatter with a blank face.

He wasn't staying low-key anymore. He showed off his Purple-quality gear on purpose, to avoid any surprises later and to scare everyone here with his strength.

This time, his target was the "Siphoner" near Safe Zone 9525. He didn't pick the one in the sewers under Safe Zone 9527.

Because he had a deal with Grimmount, and he wouldn't break his word.

So he had Lucas auction off intel on the other two "Siphoners" to other guilds.

Of course, that did not include the "Siphoner" in the icy valley near the Ice City settlement.

Right now, thousands of players had also gathered in other safe zones around Ice City.

They were just waiting for Ethan's signal. Once he gave the word, these fearless, reckless players would charge in like mad and fight the "Siphoner."

Ethan thought about this and glanced around. He saw many familiar faces, like Serena's Winter Guild and several other guild leaders from Safe Zone 9525.

Right now, they were all staring at him in silence, eyes locked on his high-quality gear. Only Serena was looking at his face with a resentful, almost hurt gaze.

Ethan ignored those looks. He gripped his spear, raised it high, and shouted:

"Move out!"

Near Safe Zone 9525, inside a huge icy canyon.

The quiet canyon suddenly exploded with loud blasts!

Thousands of players surged in like a raging tide. Their faces were full of excitement as they swung their weapons and launched fierce attacks on the monsters around them.

The normal monsters that lived in the canyon fell before they even knew what was happening.

Ethan stood on the canyon rim and slowly looked down.

Deep inside, the ground began to shake. A white plant, tens of meters tall, burst out of the earth.

The "Siphoner" had appeared.

Ethan took a deep breath. It wasn't his time to act yet. He would let the regular players wear the Siphoner down first.

He also knew it wouldn't be long before Deputy City Lord Ford of the Ice City settlement heard that a Siphoner was under attack.

Ethan only planned to kill three "Siphoners," to push the [Ice Calamity] into a weakened state.

Only then would he have a chance to solo the weakened [Ice Calamity] and get the [Calamity Aura].

Behind Ethan, Serena kept lifting her hand to check her watch, sneaking glances at him now and then.

Joy kept flashing across her face. According to messages from guild members, the monsters around the Siphoner were stronger than the regular ones outside.

But in return, the drop rate after killing them was much higher.

In game lingo, once the "Siphoner" showed up, this icy canyon basically turned into a high-drop map—loot everywhere.

It wouldn't take long for Serena to earn back all the money she and the other guilds spent on buying Intel.

Of course, Ethan chose the area near Safe Zone 9525 on purpose. His research showed the players here were a bit weaker.

By showing up himself, he could prevent a lot of accidents.

Knowing Ethan, if he takes action, he won't leave empty-handed. Besides cutting some of the Intel costs, he had one more condition:

He would help the players of Safe Zone 9525 kill the "Siphoner," but he wanted first pick of the loot.

This meant loot other than the Intel rewards.

The guilds in Safe Zone 9525 talked it over and agreed. The chance of Intel dropping was too low anyway. Paying one item to get a strong helper for free—and saving a lot on Intel—was a great deal.

Why not?

Thinking of this, Ethan glanced at Serena. He still didn't get why she insisted on bringing the Winter Guild to join him at Safe Zone 9525.

Serena was happily watching the steady stream of messages in the guild channel and didn't notice Ethan look her way. If she had, she would've run over already to find a way to talk.

Soon, under the players' wild attacks, the "Siphoner" suddenly entered a Rampage state.

Its many tentacles started shooting out dark gas in all directions.

Any player who touched the gas froze in place, lost control of their body, and slowly dropped to their knees, letting go of their weapons.

This sudden scene caused chaos in the 9525 safe zone.

Some players, scared, tried to run away, but were pushed forward by others behind them, ending up in the gas cloud and losing control of their bodies.

Soon, the number of dead players started to rise quickly. Many were caught by the tentacles, unable to move.

Ethan frowned and shouted to the Guild Leaders around him: "Players with long-range attacks, focus on the area directly in front of you and create an opening!"

"Others, follow me — we're ready to take down the boss!"

The Guild Leaders looked at Ethan's gear and nodded without thinking.

Soon, when Ethan reached the "Siphoner," the players with long-range attacks had already made a gap.

Without hesitation, Ethan grabbed his [Ruin Spear] and ran as fast as he could. His body moved like an arrow flying forward, rushing straight toward the "Siphoner."

This speed surprised the players nearby.

They felt something moving quickly past them, but when they looked, they only saw a blurry figure.

Ethan was moving so fast that, even if a player had put all their stat points into [speed], they still couldn't keep up with him!

In just a few seconds, Ethan was right next to the "Siphoner."

The "Siphoner," still in its Raging state, didn't sense the danger. It just kept spitting out black gas around Ethan, thinking he would fall like all the other players before him.

But when the black gas touched Ethan, the [Dragonscale Helmet] on his head suddenly glowed for a moment.

The [Dragonscale Helmet]'s [Abnormal Resistance] effect was triggered.

This item automatically used 3 energy points when hit by a control skill, removing the abnormal state.

It also increased Ethan's resistance to abnormal effects for the next 3 minutes, with an hour cooldown.

Ethan took a deep breath, and his skill [Berserk Blood War God] activated—[Bloodthirst Rampage] was on!

[Bloodthirst Rampage (Level 2): Spend 3 energy to awaken your bloodthirsty instinct. Get buffs based on your job level—currently, it boosts 4 strength, 4 speed, and 4 defense. Lasts 10 minutes, and has a 1-hour cooldown.

At the same time, the bracelet on Ethan's wrist suddenly started to glow with tiny drops of blood — his talent [Pain Resistance] was activated!

In just a blink of an eye, Ethan's strength, speed, and defense all jumped by 5 points each.

That wasn't all. Right after that, just as the [Ruin Spear] was about to hit the "Siphoner," Ethan activated the effect of [Dragonscale Set]!

A purple dragon soul, about ten meters long, suddenly appeared above Ethan's head, letting out a powerful roar that filled the air with fear!

In an instant, all the monsters and players around him suddenly stopped cold. They felt a terrifying force coming from deep inside their souls—something they couldn't resist or escape!

Dragonscale Set Effect]: Dragon's Majesty. Costs 8 energy. Activate the broken dragon spirit inside the Dragonscale Set. Increases the user's strength, speed, and defense by 5 each for 3 minutes. Also, it causes a shocking effect on all enemies within 50 meters, reducing their defense and speed by 30%. If the enemy's level is lower than the user, there's a chance to briefly stun them for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 12 hours.

With the effect of [Dragonscale Set] kicking in, Ethan's strength shot up to an amazing 55 points—way beyond scary!

And finally, the "Siphoner" realized the real danger. In a flash, it controlled all the tentacles around Ethan and rushed toward him like lightning!