Chapter 10: That Tricky Old Geezer
On the way back to the village, Ethan Carter unequipped all his gear, putting on the beginner's cloth armor and wielding the wooden sword again. He didn't know how many items other players had managed to loot so far, but he was sure they couldn't have as much as he did. After all, he had been efficiently grinding high-level monsters. It was best to keep a low profile—getting surrounded by curious onlookers wasn't something he wanted.
As he passed through the goat area, he noticed countless players grouped in teams of three to five, grinding the goats. As expected, nearly everyone was still wearing beginner's cloth armor and wielding wooden swords. Only a rare few had additional gear equipped. This confirmed Ethan's suspicion: Oracle's drop rate was absurdly low. He was glad he had removed his better gear before returning. Otherwise, he would've attracted too much attention. Without stopping, he quickly walked out of the goat area.
Shortly after Ethan left, a woman wearing a white veil furrowed her brow as she watched him leave.
"Miss, is something wrong with that person?" Uncle Liu asked, following her gaze. However, by then, Ethan was already out of sight.
"It's nothing," the veiled woman said, shaking her head. Something about that player had seemed unusual, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe she was just overthinking it, she thought, reassuring herself.
Ethan soon arrived back at the village. Most of the players had already gone out to grind monsters, leaving the village nearly empty.
"Let's see if there are any quests available," Ethan muttered to himself as he walked toward the white-haired elder standing at the village entrance. That had to be the village chief.
"Village Chief, hello. Is there anything I can help with?" Ethan asked politely.
"Adventurer, your current strength is too low to assist me. Why don't you head to the north side of the village and see if Granny Liu needs any help?" the Village Chief replied.