CH 173

‘Blood of a Noble Vampire?’

Minhyuk might not know it, but Loon was the only pure-blooded vampire left in the world. The only reason why Vampire Loon survived even after thousands of years was because Gorac had turned him into an undead. Gorac, being a mischievous demon, had placed plenty of his undead minions, including Loon, to guard the trials and challenges that he had set up all over the world.

Minhyuk watched as Vampire Loon walked towards him while licking his lips. As if to answer his provocation, Minhyuk also licked his lips.

Halt!

Vampire Loon stopped in his tracks. The reason why Minhyuk licked his lips was because he recalled the ‘ox blood hangover soup’. He was sure that the ‘Blood Of A Noble Vampire’ would be cleaner than any blood ever. Furthermore, since it was mentioned that there was a ‘Food Ingredient’ in the rewards, he was sure that even ordinary players could eat it.

Flap, flap, flap!

Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap!

Dozens of bats that were surrounding Vampire Loon flapped their wings strongly as they flew towards Minhyuk. He hurriedly pulled out the bow from his back.

[Master Archer’s Random Fire.]

[One arrow will become dozens of arrows.]

As soon as Minhyuk let go of the string, the single arrow that shot out immediately scattered and turned into dozens of arrows.

Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop!

The bats that were directly hit by the arrows fell down on the floor.

Flutter, flutter, flutter━

Most of the bats that were still struggling to fly suddenly sagged as if they had been dried up. Minhyuk tightened his hold on the hilt of Barraca’s sword when he saw this scene.

Then, Vampire Loon stretched his arms forward as the blood from the surroundings was sucked into his outstretched arm, before slowly congealing into a rapier. Then, Vampire Loon quickly dashed towards him.

***

Lee Minhwa continued to stare at her monitor as she said, “Team Leader, the Sixth Trial is starting.” 

Team Leader Park hurriedly moved behind Lee Minhwa to watch the ongoing situation with her. He said, “He achieved four new records...”

There were usually rewards for players whenever they broke a record. There was no problem up to this extent. However, the Sixth Trial was more difficult and strenuous than any other trial. Of course, its rewards and compensations were also tremendous. The rewards for the Sixth Trial generally varied depending on the clearing time, but clearing it alone would give the player a new record reward. Additionally, the shorter the time it took for the player to clear the trial, the better the reward he would get.

“If he successfully hunts Vampire Loon within 15 minutes, then he will get 5x the EXP. If it’s within 10 minutes, he will also be able to acquire one of the artifacts that Vampire Loon cherishes...” Lee Minhwa said, opting to stop at this point.

Team Leader Park was the one that finished her words, “And if you hunt him within 5 minutes, then you will be able to summon Gorac himself.”

“Yes.”

The Mischievous Demon, Gorac. He was set to be one of the Three Great Demons in the Athenae world lore. He was one of the absolute and important rulers of the Demon World.

The Demon World. There was also the Spirit World, the Heavenly Realm and of course, the Human Continent. In each world, there existed the strongest monsters and beings. It had not been updated yet, but the developers believed that there would be a time when the players would be able to visit those places someday.

When it came to the Demon World, Gorac was considered to be the king of that place.  Mischievous Demon Gorac was also known as the Eccentric Gorac. With his eccentric and ill-tempered behavior, he had created a multitude of classes and professions all by himself. 

There were plenty of methods of acquiring Gorac’s class. Demon Worshippers all over the world could change into one of the classes that he created by completing quests. There was also this method… becoming the first person to summon Gorac that had been sealed for thousands of years. It was programmed this way so they could make sure that the person that met Gorac for the first time was strong and powerful.

Encountering Gorac for the first time would give the player ‘Gorac’s Book’. Once a player acquired Gorac’s Book, the book would choose one of Gorac’s classes and give them the quest related to it. However, Gorac’s Book would only give the player a new class. In other words, the player had to have no class at all, or they would have to give up their current class in order to acquire the class.

“Player Minhyuk would definitely not give up on the Food God class.” 

Anyone could tell that Food God was the best class for Minhyuk.

“But, if Player Minhyuk had Gorac’s Book with him, he would definitely shine someday.”

Team Leader Park nodded in agreement.

“His DEX is slowly inching towards 2,000.”

Lee Minhwa looked at the monitor and grinned. She said, “But, do you think he will be able to wipe Loon out within 5 minutes? Loon is definitely strong. In fact, he can be quite tricky since he has that ability to recover.”

Vampires had a craving for blood. Among these creatures, the pure-blooded Vampire Loon had the ability to recover. If he was ever in a scenario where his HP had dropped to 1, just a single drop of blood would be able to restore all of his HP. The problem for most players was that his ability had no cooldown at all. What was even worse was that the effect would be stronger if he was given the chance to suck blood directly; it even had the ability to copy the abilities of the beings that he had sucked blood from.

This was the reason why Buckle and his party had tried more than 60 times, but still could not overcome the Sixth Trial. To kill such a guy, they would have to stop any attack that came their way and finish him in one go. In other words, if Buckle and his party were able to cut him down and clear the trial within 5 minutes, then someone would have gotten Gorac’s class already.

In response to Lee Minhwa’s words, Team Leader Park said, “Do you think that Player Minhyuk’s blood is just normal blood?”

“Just normal blood...? What does that mean...” 

She thought deeply about the meaning of his words. Her eyes widened in shock when she finally realized what he meant.

“...Ah!”

***

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

‘He’s fast.’ 

Vampire Loon had unbelievably fast swordsmanship.

Vwooooooooong!

When Minhyuk swung his sword, Vampire Loon would swiftly avoid it all while thrusting his rapier forcefully.

Clang!

Minhyuk was able to block his sword, however, he saw Vampire Loon stretch his left hand as a swirling blood spear congealed and aimed his way.

Shwaaaaaaaak!

For a moment, he could see the blood spinning strongly from Loon’s left hand as it shot straight through him.

“Like the Wind,” Minhyuk said, moving one meter to the left to avoid the attack.

Baaaaang!

The wall that was just behind him suddenly collapsed with a bang. This time, Minhyuk took another one meter step and narrowed the distance between him and Loon.

Claaaaang!

He quickly attacked Loon as he moved, but it was easily blocked. However, at that exact same moment, Minhyuk was able to take advantage of a gap as he penetrated through Loon’s defenses.

“Scattering Sword.” 

Shwaaaaaaaaaak!

A single successful attack could seriously injure Vampire Loon. Currently, Vampire Loon was well within the range of his attack. Minhyuk tried to swing his sword towards Loon’s sides, but something unexpected happened.

Flash!

Vampire Loon suddenly turned into a bat the size of a fist! After leaving the range of Minhyuk’s attack, the bat returned to its original form.

Slash!

Scattering Sword slashed wildly but futilely in the air, while a rapier stabbed straight at Minhyuk’s sides.

Stab!

“Kghk!”

“Human blood always tastes sweet,” Vampire Loon’s androgynous voice rang clearly in the dungeon.

Meanwhile, the blood that fell from Minhyuk’s injuries slowly floated in the air. The blood that dripped endlessly turned into a huge droplet in Loon’s palms. Then without wasting any time, Loon savored the blood.

“Hmm. Delicious. Truly delic...”

At that moment...

“Keuhaaaaaak?!” Vampire Loon shrieked loudly, his body staggering back.

“M…my throat...!”

White smoke came out from Vampire Loon’s mouth as he grabbed his neck. Minhyuk realized that he was not acting.

‘...He’s melting?’

After drinking Minhyuk’s blood, Vampire Loon’s throat was suddenly disintegrating. He looked at Minhyuk strangely for a moment, before realizing the reason for it.

‘The holy power...’

Minhyuk’s Holy Power was at 1,000. It seemed like drinking Minhyuk’s blood was akin to drinking holy water for Vampire Loon, which was dangerous.

“B…bastard...!”

Vampire Loon could recover and copy the abilities of his enemies once he drank their blood. This was his biggest strength. However, even after he drank Minhyuk’s blood, he was not able to get anything at all. Whether it was HP or skill, there was none. Instead, he had given Minhyuk a gap that he could take advantage of.

Minhyuk quickly approached Loon for an attack.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

While he was suffering from his burning throat, Vampire Loon started to struggle in the midst of defending himself against Minhyuk’s attacks. When Minhyuk found another gap and tried to attack him...

Flash!

…he quickly turned into a bat as he tried to escape from Minhyuk.

Slash!

However, Minhyuk did not hesitate at all. He slashed his hand with his sword and sprinkled the blood that trickled down from his wounds on the bat.

Shwaaaaa!

Fwiiiiiiiish!

“Keuaaaaaaaaack!” Vampire Loon screeched, forced to return to his original form from the searing pain. White smoke continuously rose up from the parts of his body that were slowly melting and disintegrating.

Of course, Minhyuk did not let go of the opportunity. He quickly stabbed his sword into the ground.

[Blooming Sword.]

[Swords will indiscriminately rise from the ground and attack your enemies within a nine meter radius from your position. Successful stabbing of the swords will cause an explosion that deals an additional 70% damage.]

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab!

Dozens of swords rose from the ground and stabbed Vampire Loon’s body. It was a pathetic scene as Loon struggled to rise in the air while the sword blades stabbed his body.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Then, the sword blades exploded, blasting Vampire Loon’s body into pieces. Then, notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have set a new record for the Sixth Trial of Ructo’s Tomb.]

[You have gained 200,000 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have obtained the rewards for being the only record holder of the trial.]

[You have gained 100 SP.]

[You have gained 100 REP.]

Minhyuk gained 100 SP in one go which he invested into his DEX, as usual.

‘It’s at 1,800 now... Huh,’ Minhyuk thought, smiling in satisfaction. Then, he waited in anticipation for the ‘Blood of the Noble Vampire’, as well as the important millstone to appear.

Brrrrrrr!

One of the walls suddenly shook before slowly sliding down to reveal a hidden compartment with…

‘A statue?’

…a mysterious statue standing inside. The statue had bat-like wings and two horns on its head. He could see the statue’s arms raised up to its chest with its palms facing up. On top of its palms, there was a millstone floating quietly.

‘Finally...!’ Minhyuk thought, running excitedly for the millstone.

At the same time, black smoke slowly rose from the ring left behind from Vampire Loon’s explosion. The black smoke writhed and moved until it gradually took shape.

***

Demon Gorac was a cold-blooded but mischievous demon. This very same demon was surprised. He thought, ‘Vampire Loon died within five minutes...? And against only one guy?’

There was a limit to the number of people who could enter Ructo’s Tomb. That was why it did not make sense that Loon died in under five minutes. After Loon’s death, Gorac rose from the ring and gradually took shape until he achieved his original two-meter tall figure complete with two horns on his head and a bizarre figure. The moment he took form, Gorac looked at the figure of the human that stopped in his tracks while on his way to get his millstone.

‘...He has my jar.’

Gorac found it interesting. The human in front of him had one of his jars, the Aging Jar to be exact. Right now, he was about to get a second one, Gorac’s Millstone of Abundance.

‘That’s the best combination.’

The combination was also important for Gorac’s artifacts. The strength of the artifacts would differ depending on the combination. Of course, unlocking the seal of the artifacts was also dependent on this human.

Gorac saw the human tremble in restlessness upon seeing him. He thought, ‘Is he afraid?’

Gorac was a demon, anyone could tell just from his figure alone. The human in front of him probably figured out his identity by now.

Just then, the human in front of him suddenly said, “A…are you Gorac? I give you my respects! I truly admire you for making such great artifacts!”

The young man smiled brightly at Gorac as if he had met his long-time idol.