Chapter 9: Vampire Serban

#1

Sigrul and Lacrosa looked fairly surprised.

Probably because they had always assumed an avatar had to fight alone.

The towers and Climbers were starting to stagnate.

Of the billions of avatars, not a single one had been a summoner.

Yet here was an obvious entourage of avatars, complete with enormous wolves. How could that not feel new?

Some might call it a bug or an error.

But no. The towers had never once produced a bug or made an error.

They were, quite literally, a perfect game.

“But you’re really a summoner? Wow… This is a sensation.”

“Um, I’m only asking to be on the safe side, but this isn’t a bug or anything, is it?”

“No. I don’t believe it is.”

Hwanung answered without hiding his wariness.

A bug? The towers didn’t have those.

“Well, then… You’re incredibly lucky. There aren’t any others yet, right?”

“Nope. Not even among the World Rankers. Oh, don’t worry. We didn’t come here looking for a fight.”

“Honestly, thank goodness we ended up in the same session… You know what? This idiot—”

“Hey, hey! Think of our image, will you?”

They seemed more easygoing than he had expected.

Nothing like the figure who had roared with laughter while swinging a golden axe.

Had that whole persona been an act, too?

“Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I operate under the avatar name Sigrul.”

“I’m Lacrosa. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Avatar 19930211. Apparently, people also call me Lord 93.”

“I knew it. So you had a good reason for climbing alone.”

True, a summoner avatar had no real need to recruit crew members.

He could keep all the profits, and he wouldn’t need a Sherpa, either.

He would have plenty of firepower, too.

Hwanung simply nodded without answering.

Perhaps because his every movement betrayed his wariness, Sigrul raised both hands as he spoke.

Fighting Hwanung wasn’t his real objective, after all.

They needed to transplant this promising seedling into their own greenhouse, not trample it.

“You don’t have to be on your guard. We’re actually scouts.”

“Scouts…?”

“The Korean League is too small. You’ll want to climb Everest someday, won’t you?”

Hwanung nodded reflexively.

With an ability like this, how could he resist climbing Everest?

That would be laziness bordering on dereliction of duty.

“We could sponsor you. Of course, you’d have to change your nationality.”

“My nationality…”

“If you’re interested in the European Union, get in touch. I’ll leave you my [Avatar Card].”

Beep.

A holographic card displaying Sigrul’s avatar information appeared.

An Avatar Card, known as a Climber’s business card.

It read:

[Avatar No. 18932231]
[Nickname: Sigrul]
[Stats: Private]
[Direct Messages Enabled]
[Affiliation: European Union]

Basic personal information accompanied by a photograph.

You needed this card to send someone a message.

The drawback was that someone without your card could only reply, leaving them waiting for you to get in touch.

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you. Oh, and don’t worry.”

“Honestly…”

Lacrosa shook her head with a quiet sigh.

Sigrul spread his arms and spoke proudly.

Hwanung simply listened to what he had to say.

“We’ve eliminated everyone except you. You happened to arrive last, so you have no competition.”

“…”

“Happy hunting.”

He couldn’t tell whether the man was crazy or deeply considerate.

#2

After receiving that unexpected kindness, Hwanung arrived at the boss room on the fifteenth floor.

Leaving the two behind as they waved and insisted he get in touch, he faced the boss with his summons.

[Vampire Serban] sat motionless.

A pallid face and torn, threadbare clothes.

The shaggy hair, which looked unwashed for days, hinted at the life he had led before his death.

Hwanung folded his arms and sent his summons forward.

And now, his tenth N-rank summon appeared.

“Evolve.”

He consumed those ten components to draw a new summon.

The summon that appeared offered Hwanung yet another opportunity.

[R-rank Summon: Lesser Fire Spirit]
[Strength: 20 | Mana: 35 | Stamina: 15 | Agility: 15]
[Skills: ‘Greater Element,’ ‘Call of Nature,’ ‘Possession’]

[Chirr?]

It was a spirit.

Shaped like a small fire lizard, it settled lightly on Hwanung’s shoulder.

One of its skills caught his interest, and he immediately inspected it.

Could it be…?

[Possession]
[Possesses the summoner’s body.]
[The spirit’s stats are added to the summoner’s stats.]
[While possessed, the summoner can use the spirit’s skills.]

That alone was impressive, but there was more.

This had to be the key.

[Special Technique: Spirit Rampage becomes available.]
[Spirit Rampage: Reduces Possession’s duration to 1 minute in exchange for tripling all stats.]
[However, stats are capped at 100.]
[Possession’s duration increases in proportion to the spirit’s Mana.]
[30 seconds per point of Mana]

A skill that would let his avatar fight for about fifteen minutes.

With Hwanung’s Mana at 100, how would the skills he unleashed scale?

His heart began to race at the thought.

He took a deep breath, then approached Serban in the distance.

“Huh?”

“Vampire.”

“Are you… intruders?”

An unpleasant voice emerged from stiff vocal cords.

Serban rose slowly, studying the group with red eyes.

Then his gaze stopped on Lucas.

“You… You’re the nobles’ lackeys.”

“Huh?”

That line hadn’t been there before.

Videos of Vampire Serban had been circulating for ages.

Countless Climbers had uploaded footage.

In all of it, Serban had only screeched. He had never spoken a single word.

Yet now, Serban was talking?

Hwanung sensed something was off.

What on earth was happening?

‘I’ve never heard of a hidden encounter like this.’

Human beings were more persistent than one might think, and they attempted bizarre feats beyond imagination.

Clearing a tower with no equipment, using only one skill, seeing how far they could climb alone, and so on.

They climbed towers with every conceivable theme and ingenious idea.

Through all those years, Serban had never once spoken.

Regardless, Lucas spoke calmly.

His voice was solemn and firm.

“Vampire, return willingly to the darkness and find your rest.”

“Rest…? Rest, you say…?”

Serban’s red eyes grew more menacing.

Uh, shouldn’t they avoid provoking him?

Just as Hwanung was about to say something, it was already too late.

An ominous tidal wave of emotion swept toward them.

Foul, murky air spread through the room, making every breath catch in his throat.

The Priests began chanting.

They were instinctively trying to repel the outpouring of energy.

“Master, please stay back. There is something dangerous about that creature.”

“All right.”

Crack. Crunch!

The sound of twisting bones rang out.

It came from the boss, Serban.

Hwanung shouted reflexively.

“Attack! Don’t give him time!”

“Yes!”

Lucas hesitated because of that damned chivalry of his, but Eyas was different.

She shot forward like the wind and unleashed Wind Blade.

CRASH!

The wind tore up the floor and battered Serban’s entire body with chunks of stone.

“Kraaaagh!”

“I’ll keep up the pressure.”

Eyas charged in, swinging her sword again and again.

Lucas and the Land Wolves joined the attack on Serban.

It was a shame he didn’t have a single ranged summon, but at least he had the spirit.

“Spirit, can you support them from a distance?”

[Chirr!]

The fire lizard was a flame spirit that swam through the air, its tail swishing energetically.

He decided to see what the nameless little creature could do.

Once he knew how it used its skills, he would know how to put them to use himself.

Meanwhile, Serban slowly rose, howling in anguish.

It had to do with the tragedy of his life.

[You know nothing of the life I’ve lived, yet you dare speak of rest!]

The grief was so intense that even Hwanung could feel it.

He didn’t know why this Serban had become a vampire, but he could guess that he had suffered a terrible injustice.

A black barrier formed around Serban.

Wind Blade raked across his body again, but failed to pierce the shield.

At that moment, a message appeared before Hwanung.

[The Labyrinth Tower reveals its true form.]
[Labyrinth Tower → Tower of Grief]
[The boss grows stronger.]
[Rewards also increase.]

The Labyrinth Tower’s true form was a tomb for those consumed by grief.

Vampire Serban, too, was a boss steeped in anguish and sorrow.

One who had dreamed of revenge at the cost of his body and soul, and had slumbered for an age.

No matter how often he was killed, he rose again. But this time was different.

Now that he had found the true meaning of revenge, he would stake his soul on slaughtering his enemies.

[The nobles must die! Every last one of them!]

[They took my family! My friends! Everything I had—!]

BOOM!

A shock wave hurled the summons back.

Serban charged Lucas at a terrifying speed, as though he were his only target.

The headlong attack was so fast that none of the other summons could intercept it.

“The tyranny of nobles. I know it well.”

Lucas remained unshaken by the onslaught or the torrent of emotion that accompanied it.

He raised his sword, steadied his body and mind, and drew up his mana.

In his concentration, Lucas looked more resolute than ever.

KABOOM!

Serban charged straight at him, and Lucas caught the boss’s blow with both hands on his sword.

Teeth clenched and eyes wide as he confronted evil, he was the very image of a knight.

He belied his title of Apprentice Knight. Here stood an upright knight advancing unwaveringly toward justice.

His feet slid, his armor buckled, and wounds opened, but he never retreated.

He simply weathered Serban’s frenzied attacks with quiet composure.

Hwanung could understand what Lucas was feeling now.

“I, too, lost my family. I, too, ■■■ ■■■, lost everyone I loved.”

[Uaaaaaagh!]

Serban seemed to have lost all reason. He merely screamed and lashed out with his claws.

Calmly blocking the wild attacks, Lucas continued.

“Revenge is not losing your reason and running wild. It is something you achieve by building your strength through rightful means. That, at least, is what I believe.”

What had Lucas’s past been like?

Hwanung quietly watched the fight, taking in his emotions.

Summoner and summon.

Something beyond a simple bond of master and servant had begun to stir between them.

“So you are no avenger. You are merely a vampire. You have forgotten even your purpose, dead man. Find your rest!”

Lucas’s aura surged explosively.

A vampire was unquestionably evil-aligned.

That doubled the power of Lucas’s passive skill.

At the same time, his sword hammered Serban, leaving afterimages in its wake.

It was his skill, [Kingdom Swordsmanship – Schneiden].

Shraaaak!

The air was torn apart in so many directions at once that it sounded like paper being ripped every which way.

[Aaaaaagh!]

A heartrending scream rang out, and the black shield vanished. This was their chance to strike.

Hwanung instinctively shouted the order.

“Now! Attack!”

“Yes!”

And another skill activated.

[Possession]

Whoooosh!

A strange sensation washed over Hwanung as his entire body burst into flame.

[The spirit’s knowledge will now be imparted to you.]

And just like that, he knew how to fight.