MAEPG: Episode 38
Episode 38 Jin So-ran (2)
“Ah! So, may I ask how you ended up there?”
Jin So-ran, who had come to her senses after chattering for a while, turned her attention to me again.
“Call me Heinz. That bastard Gamma was trying to lure me in, so I followed him. I was confident I could get myself out, no matter what tricks he pulled.”
“Um, that’s… amazing. Yes…”
She swallowed her words with a subtle expression.
She wanted to say it was reckless, but she couldn’t because I actually rescued her and escaped with her.
Even though she didn’t expect her companion’s betrayal, she was the one who ended up being captured.
“Ah, right! This isn’t the time!”
Jin So-ran suddenly rummaged through her pocket and took out her smartphone.
She must have been trying to report what had just happened, but unfortunately, her smartphone didn’t have a self-healing function like her.
“Ah~ Ah! There are still a lot of installments left…”
The screen was completely shattered.
Naturally, it wouldn’t turn on.
After being frozen with a dejected expression for a moment, she started fidgeting, cautiously gauging my reaction.
As if she wanted something but couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“…Want to borrow my phone?”
“Ah! Yes! Thank you!”
She readily accepted before I could even finish speaking.
And then she took the burner phone Heinz handed her and fiddled with it for a while.
“Whew, done. Ah! Is it okay if I delete the call history?”
“Sure. But is it okay to just call people with a stranger’s phone?”
“It’s okay. It’s an emergency contact list for situations like this.”
She seemed relieved after making the call and leaned back in her seat, relaxing.
And then she started glancing at me again.
“…Do you have something to say?”
“Yes! You seem very strong, Heinz. Are you affiliated with any organization?”
She asked, as if she had been waiting for the opportunity.
She was a woman who didn’t miss a chance when it came.
“No, actually, I just returned to Earth. The reason I followed Gamma was that I was interested in the Blood Alliance he was talking about. It’s an organization where most of the vampires in Korea gather, right?”
It was the perfect timing.
But Heinz didn’t show it and naturally brought up the topic.
“There are probably some who belong to other organizations. But I think about 70% are members of the Blood Alliance? I can’t be sure because I don’t know how many are captured by the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau or in hiding.”
“What happens to vampires who haven’t committed crimes if they’re caught by the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau? They wouldn’t just kill them, would they?”
I asked questions I had been curious about while talking.
This kind of information wasn’t even on the internet.
“Sigh… they don’t kill them. But they don’t treat them well either. I heard it’s practically like prison.”
She added that she heard it from someone who was captured and escaped.
“Actually, even after the Mad Blood Devil incident, there were attempts to embrace vampires with moderate tendencies. It didn’t work out for some reason, but… after that, they’re practically treated as potential criminals.”
“Hmm, I guess it was a good thing I didn’t voluntarily report myself after returning.”
“Right. So, about that…”
She spoke with sparkling eyes.
“If you’re looking for a place to belong, how about the Blood Alliance?”
And she started to enthusiastically promote the Crew she belonged to.
They were part of the moderates within the Blood Alliance, who pursued peace, they had a stable supply of blood packs through connections with blood banks, and they could occasionally suck blood from clinical trial subjects.
“We pay money to buy people to suck blood from. We put them to sleep, suck just enough blood so there are no health problems, treat the bite marks, and send them off.”
She stopped talking excitedly and looked at me again.
“So… if you want to build up your power that way, our Crew wouldn’t be a good fit for you. If that’s what you want, I can introduce you to another place. One that causes less trouble…”
“No, that’s fine. I don’t really want to become stronger by sucking the blood of humans.”
Yes, I was going to become stronger by sucking the blood of vampires.
Jin So-ran’s expression brightened, unaware of my thoughts.
“Then it’s perfect! Wow~ maybe this is fate?”
She suddenly stopped while rejoicing.
And she blinked and looked out the car window.
“But where are we going?”
“You’re asking that now…”
I had been driving since she woke up.
But she was only asking now… well, it was my fault for not telling her.
“There’s no particular destination. Our goal was to escape in the first place. I’ve just been driving around nearby roads after getting away from that place. So if you have a place you want to go, tell me. I’ll take you there.”
I should have stopped somewhere suitable if I had known the conversation would be this long.
I was planning to naturally take Jin So-ran to the Crew headquarters and subtly show interest…
“Ah! Then I’ll gladly accept your offer! Why don’t you come with me, Heinz? It’s late, and I’ll arrange a place for you to rest.”
The eventful dawn was coming to an end.
The sun was starting to rise.
“Ah! So, may I ask how you ended up there?”
Jin So-ran, who had come to her senses after chattering for a while, turned her attention to me again.
“Call me Heinz. That bastard Gamma was trying to lure me in, so I followed him. I was confident I could get myself out, no matter what tricks he pulled.”
“Um, that’s… amazing. Yes…”
She swallowed her words with a subtle expression.
She wanted to say it was reckless, but she couldn’t because I actually rescued her and escaped with her.
Even though she didn’t expect her companion’s betrayal, she was the one who ended up being captured.
“Ah, right! This isn’t the time!”
Jin So-ran suddenly rummaged through her pocket and took out her smartphone.
She must have been trying to report what had just happened, but unfortunately, her smartphone didn’t have a self-healing function like her.
“Ah~ Ah! There are still a lot of installments left…”
The screen was completely shattered.
Naturally, it wouldn’t turn on.
After being frozen with a dejected expression for a moment, she started fidgeting, cautiously gauging my reaction.
As if she wanted something but couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“…Want to borrow my phone?”
“Ah! Yes! Thank you!”
She readily accepted before I could even finish speaking.
And then she took the burner phone Heinz handed her and fiddled with it for a while.
“Whew, done. Ah! Is it okay if I delete the call history?”
“Sure. But is it okay to just call people with a stranger’s phone?”
“It’s okay. It’s an emergency contact list for situations like this.”
She seemed relieved after making the call and leaned back in her seat, relaxing.
And then she started glancing at me again.
“…Do you have something to say?”
“Yes! You seem very strong, Heinz. Are you affiliated with any organization?”
She asked, as if she had been waiting for the opportunity.
She was a woman who didn’t miss a chance when it came.
“No, actually, I just returned to Earth. The reason I followed Gamma was that I was interested in the Blood Alliance he was talking about. It’s an organization where most of the vampires in Korea gather, right?”
It was the perfect timing.
But Heinz didn’t show it and naturally brought up the topic.
“There are probably some who belong to other organizations. But I think about 70% are members of the Blood Alliance? I can’t be sure because I don’t know how many are captured by the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau or in hiding.”
“What happens to vampires who haven’t committed crimes if they’re caught by the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau? They wouldn’t just kill them, would they?”
I asked questions I had been curious about while talking.
This kind of information wasn’t even on the internet.
“Sigh… they don’t kill them. But they don’t treat them well either. I heard it’s practically like prison.”
She added that she heard it from someone who was captured and escaped.
“Actually, even after the Mad Blood Devil incident, there were attempts to embrace vampires with moderate tendencies. It didn’t work out for some reason, but… after that, they’re practically treated as potential criminals.”
“Hmm, I guess it was a good thing I didn’t voluntarily report myself after returning.”
“Right. So, about that…”
She spoke with sparkling eyes.
“If you’re looking for a place to belong, how about the Blood Alliance?”
And she started to enthusiastically promote the Crew she belonged to.
They were part of the moderates within the Blood Alliance, who pursued peace, they had a stable supply of blood packs through connections with blood banks, and they could occasionally suck blood from clinical trial subjects.
“We pay money to buy people to suck blood from. We put them to sleep, suck just enough blood so there are no health problems, treat the bite marks, and send them off.”
She stopped talking excitedly and looked at me again.
“So… if you want to build up your power that way, our Crew wouldn’t be a good fit for you. If that’s what you want, I can introduce you to another place. One that causes less trouble…”
“No, that’s fine. I don’t really want to become stronger by sucking the blood of humans.”
Yes, I was going to become stronger by sucking the blood of vampires.
Jin So-ran’s expression brightened, unaware of my thoughts.
“Then it’s perfect! Wow~ maybe this is fate?”
She suddenly stopped while rejoicing.
And she blinked and looked out the car window.
“But where are we going?”
“You’re asking that now…”
I had been driving since she woke up.
But she was only asking now… well, it was my fault for not telling her.
“There’s no particular destination. Our goal was to escape in the first place. I’ve just been driving around nearby roads after getting away from that place. So if you have a place you want to go, tell me. I’ll take you there.”
I should have stopped somewhere suitable if I had known the conversation would be this long.
I was planning to naturally take Jin So-ran to the Crew headquarters and subtly show interest…
“Ah! Then I’ll gladly accept your offer! Why don’t you come with me, Heinz? It’s late, and I’ll arrange a place for you to rest.”
The eventful dawn was coming to an end.
The sun was starting to rise.
__________________
“So-ran unnie~! I heard what happened! Are you okay?!”
As we entered the lobby of a building in a villa complex, a girl who looked to be in upper elementary school rushed out and threw herself into Jin So-ran’s arms.
It was a body tackle with considerable force, but she gently absorbed the impact and hugged the girl.
‘She seems quite skilled.’
But to think that such a young child was a vampire, how old was she when she went to another world?
Was she actually older than she looked?
“…Who’s this mister?”
The girl peeked out from Jin So-ran’s arms and looked at me cautiously.
“This is Heinz, who’s going to join our Crew. He helped me this time. Say hello, Na-hee.”
“…Hello.”
“Yes, hello.”
The girl bowed her head and greeted me at Jin So-ran’s words, patting her back.
She seemed to have relaxed her guard a bit after hearing that I helped Jin So-ran.
But she was still clinging to her.
“Um~ Na-hee? Unnie has something to do… can you let go of me?”
The girl shook her head, burying her face in Jin So-ran’s arms again.
“Unnie will come to your room after I’m done. Let’s sleep together later. Can you let go for just a moment?”
At her gentle coaxing, stroking her hair, the girl reluctantly let go, pouting.
“You’ll come quickly, right? I’ll be waiting without sleeping.”
“Yes, yes. Unnie will be there soon.”
But after she finally managed to send the girl off, she had to deal with others in succession.
They must have heard Jin So-ran returning and come out, as they all had good hearing.
‘She’s popular.’
“Whew, I’ll show you where you can rest for now.”
Jin So-ran, finally freed after greeting everyone and introducing me, led the way up the stairs.
“But I’ve been wondering, when are you going to take off your mask?”
“I’m a bit shy. I’ll take it off when we get closer.”
“Ah… yes. Do as you please…”
She awkwardly agreed with a wry smile at my shameless answer and then led me to an empty room without saying anything else.
It was a clean room with not many furnishings.
It seemed sufficient for a short stay.
“There was a very young child in the Crew earlier.”
“Ah… Na-hee?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen such a young returnee. I wondered if she was actually older than she looked.”
The youngest returnee they had identified so far was a high school student.
Even that was extremely rare, and usually, it was adults over twenty who were sent.
But she looked like she was in upper elementary school, at most middle school…
“She’s not a returnee. Her father was a returnee, and he turned Na-hee into a vampire to save her from an incurable disease.”
I realized then that I was mistaken.
Not all vampires were returnees.
Even vampires who returned to Earth were infected by someone in another world, and they could also turn others into vampires on Earth.
‘I understand why the government is trying to control vampires. They’re practically like an infectious disease from outside.’
No wonder I occasionally saw low-level Servants among the vampires when I was cracking down on criminal organizations.
They weren’t strong enough to be used as soldiers.
But then again, there seemed to be fewer of them than I thought…
“Ah, it’s not like vampires can increase their numbers indefinitely. I don’t know why, but it takes more than ten times the power to infect someone on Earth.”
I see, that makes sense.
It must be a difference caused by being in another dimension.
If their own power decreased every time they turned someone into a vampire, there would be a limit to recklessly increasing their numbers.
“But that Na-hee girl seemed quite strong?”
Naturally, it took more power to make the infected target stronger.
But the girl, when I checked with “Insight”, seemed to be at least at the intermediate level among Fledglings.
“Her father pushed himself a bit because he wanted Na-hee to be able to live freely under the sun.”
Level 1 vampires burned to ashes under sunlight, and Level 2 vampires suffered continuous burns.
From Level 3, they didn’t take damage, although their condition deteriorated.
The girl named Na-hee seemed to be at the late Level 3, so her father must have suffered a considerable loss of power.
“What about her father?”
Jin So-ran didn’t answer the question and just smiled awkwardly, shaking her head.
“…It’s late, you should get some rest. You’ve been through a lot today. Let’s talk again in the evening.”
She spoke brightly and then left after saying goodbye.
Even though they were vampires, they were still people with their own circumstances.
A room with blackout curtains drawn.
Heinz lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
“So-ran unnie~! I heard what happened! Are you okay?!”
As we entered the lobby of a building in a villa complex, a girl who looked to be in upper elementary school rushed out and threw herself into Jin So-ran’s arms.
It was a body tackle with considerable force, but she gently absorbed the impact and hugged the girl.
‘She seems quite skilled.’
But to think that such a young child was a vampire, how old was she when she went to another world?
Was she actually older than she looked?
“…Who’s this mister?”
The girl peeked out from Jin So-ran’s arms and looked at me cautiously.
“This is Heinz, who’s going to join our Crew. He helped me this time. Say hello, Na-hee.”
“…Hello.”
“Yes, hello.”
The girl bowed her head and greeted me at Jin So-ran’s words, patting her back.
She seemed to have relaxed her guard a bit after hearing that I helped Jin So-ran.
But she was still clinging to her.
“Um~ Na-hee? Unnie has something to do… can you let go of me?”
The girl shook her head, burying her face in Jin So-ran’s arms again.
“Unnie will come to your room after I’m done. Let’s sleep together later. Can you let go for just a moment?”
At her gentle coaxing, stroking her hair, the girl reluctantly let go, pouting.
“You’ll come quickly, right? I’ll be waiting without sleeping.”
“Yes, yes. Unnie will be there soon.”
But after she finally managed to send the girl off, she had to deal with others in succession.
They must have heard Jin So-ran returning and come out, as they all had good hearing.
‘She’s popular.’
“Whew, I’ll show you where you can rest for now.”
Jin So-ran, finally freed after greeting everyone and introducing me, led the way up the stairs.
“But I’ve been wondering, when are you going to take off your mask?”
“I’m a bit shy. I’ll take it off when we get closer.”
“Ah… yes. Do as you please…”
She awkwardly agreed with a wry smile at my shameless answer and then led me to an empty room without saying anything else.
It was a clean room with not many furnishings.
It seemed sufficient for a short stay.
“There was a very young child in the Crew earlier.”
“Ah… Na-hee?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen such a young returnee. I wondered if she was actually older than she looked.”
The youngest returnee they had identified so far was a high school student.
Even that was extremely rare, and usually, it was adults over twenty who were sent.
But she looked like she was in upper elementary school, at most middle school…
“She’s not a returnee. Her father was a returnee, and he turned Na-hee into a vampire to save her from an incurable disease.”
I realized then that I was mistaken.
Not all vampires were returnees.
Even vampires who returned to Earth were infected by someone in another world, and they could also turn others into vampires on Earth.
‘I understand why the government is trying to control vampires. They’re practically like an infectious disease from outside.’
No wonder I occasionally saw low-level Servants among the vampires when I was cracking down on criminal organizations.
They weren’t strong enough to be used as soldiers.
But then again, there seemed to be fewer of them than I thought…
“Ah, it’s not like vampires can increase their numbers indefinitely. I don’t know why, but it takes more than ten times the power to infect someone on Earth.”
I see, that makes sense.
It must be a difference caused by being in another dimension.
If their own power decreased every time they turned someone into a vampire, there would be a limit to recklessly increasing their numbers.
“But that Na-hee girl seemed quite strong?”
Naturally, it took more power to make the infected target stronger.
But the girl, when I checked with “Insight”, seemed to be at least at the intermediate level among Fledglings.
“Her father pushed himself a bit because he wanted Na-hee to be able to live freely under the sun.”
Level 1 vampires burned to ashes under sunlight, and Level 2 vampires suffered continuous burns.
From Level 3, they didn’t take damage, although their condition deteriorated.
The girl named Na-hee seemed to be at the late Level 3, so her father must have suffered a considerable loss of power.
“What about her father?”
Jin So-ran didn’t answer the question and just smiled awkwardly, shaking her head.
“…It’s late, you should get some rest. You’ve been through a lot today. Let’s talk again in the evening.”
She spoke brightly and then left after saying goodbye.
Even though they were vampires, they were still people with their own circumstances.
A room with blackout curtains drawn.
Heinz lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
___________________
Morning started with a warm and hearty bowl of soup.
I ate scrambled eggs and spicy pork rice bowl, and finished it off with a hot dog and a tub of ice cream for dessert.
“Hmm… Is this enough?”
No, this was just the right amount for breakfast.
The original body didn’t burn calories to the extreme like the avatars.
I watched the avatar devouring healthy food like chicken breast and boiled eggs and chewing on a high-calorie protein bar.
-Individual Name: Harley
-Common Traits: “Mind Hub”, “Persona”, “Super Recovery”, “Clear Mind”
-Individual Traits: “Adaptation”
-Special Notes: Han Seong-hyeon’s fifth avatar. Quickly and efficiently adapts to changes, even in extreme situations.
About a week had passed in Earth time since Heinz heroically died in Azantu.
He was the one who became available for re-summoning around the time Heinrich entered the Church.
‘And I learned something. It was a week this time, but it would take about half a month to regenerate the next dead avatar.’
And I also learned that the required time would continue to increase as it happened repeatedly.
‘Well, I can just dismiss them if they’re in danger, so they probably won’t die easily. That time was a special case.’
Coincidentally, Hans, Heinz the Second, and Heinrich all had survivability greater than a cockroach, so I just had to be careful with the new avatars that would be born in the future.
‘But judging by his initial skill, this guy also seems like he’ll be quite tenacious.’
The initial skill of the newly born ‘Harley’ was “Adaptation”.
It was a truly cockroach-like ability that allowed him to adapt and survive even in extreme environments.
And since he also perceived the strain on his body during training as an extreme situation, the efficiency was incredibly high when combined with “Super Recovery”.
‘Well, I don’t know when or where he’ll be deployed. I’m just preparing him in advance so I can use him right away when needed.’
I then checked the Karma Shop.
I hadn’t expected much because I had used most of it when leaving Azantu and there hadn’t been any major incidents since then, but…
『Karma Shop』
『Unique Skill Enhancement (800,000)』
『Status Enhancement - View Details』
『Karma Owned - 331,087』
More Karma had accumulated than I thought.
It wasn’t a shocking amount, but it felt like unearned income to me, who hadn’t really done anything.
‘What did I do? After I got “Persona”… Hans clashed with the Church while researching magic, and I took the siblings to Raffella City.’
I encountered a True Blood vampire in Talaria, and Heinrich joined the Main God Church.
Most of the major incidents after that happened on Earth, but since I couldn’t acquire Karma on Earth, if we excluded that…
‘…I really haven’t done much?’
Hans’s clash with the Main God Church was very brief, and Heinrich was still just a holy knight candidate.
It was hard to say that I had a major impact on the world.
‘Oh, wait. Come to think of it…’
There was something I heard from the holy knight who had been my city guide while Heinrich was on his way to the Roselia Cathedral.
‘He said they fought more against vampires and dark mages than the Immortal King’s descendant. And in the process, the dark mage forces lost their base in the Talia Kingdom and went into hiding…’
Hmm, I see.
So that means…
“…Is it my fault?”
I did stir up some trouble, but…
I didn’t expect it to come back to me like this.
“…Well~ whatever. It’s a good thing. Good triumphs over evil, good triumphs over evil! As expected, living a good life brings good fortune. The old saying is never wrong.”
I muttered to myself for no reason, even though there was no one to listen, and then focused on the Karma Shop again.
It was still quite a bit short of upgrading my unique skill.
Then it was either upgrading my stats or saving it.
‘I’ve already enhanced my stats to some extent.’
Right before Heinz died fighting a vampire and Heinz the Second was deployed.
I had enhanced various stats like strength and agility a few times, worried that something similar might happen again.
‘I didn’t invest enough to get related skills, just raised them evenly.’
Actually, enhancing stats to obtain related skills was very inefficient.
I gained “Super Recovery” after investing a total of 310,000 points in ‘Physical - Stamina - Recovery Enhancement’.
At first, I was desperate to recover from my disability, so I poured it all into recovery without thinking twice, but…
‘My physical abilities are good enough now. I have “Super Recovery”, so I can enhance them sufficiently through training. Anything more is greed.’
And enhancing mental power through stats was also inefficient.
Mental power naturally increased when I enhanced my unique skill “Avatar”.
And it was much more cost-effective.
‘Then it’s decided. I’ll save it for the next unique skill enhancement.’
I finished my contemplation and then searched the internet to gather information.
‘Let’s see, Nocturnia… found it. It’s a pretty well-known dimension.’
A world where vampires and humans were the main forces, waging war against each other.
Their known technology level was around the early 20th century on Earth, but anti-vampire technology was extremely advanced.
Vampires were granted bloodline abilities according to their lineage, and Slayers, who hunted them, gained superhuman strength temporarily through potions made by refining their blood.
An endless war was ongoing, so you could accumulate enough Karma to return in about ten years just by doing safe rear support work.
And since vampire detection technology was advanced, there was hardly any danger.
Of course, if you were confident in your survival, you could go to the front lines and shorten that time.
‘Even ten years is only a little over a year in Earth time. There’s a lot of information available because there are so many returnees.’
This kind of information helped increase the survival rate of latecomers.
Thanks to that, the recent return rate had exceeded 20%.
‘It was less than 10% in the early days.’
I then searched for Jin So-ran.
There was nothing when I searched for her real name, so I searched for her online name…
“Orchid… here she is. Oh~ she was quite famous.”
300,000 followers was enough to be considered a successful broadcaster.
But looking closely, her face was subtly different, perhaps because of makeup.
She was less beautiful than in real life, but she looked more lively and approachable.
‘Vampires are pretty, but there’s something subtly inhuman about them. They feel like dolls.’
I clicked on a past broadcast, and her cheerful image appeared.
I scrolled through the video and saw a break announcement on one side of the screen.
‘If Heinz hadn’t gone there, there wouldn’t have been any more broadcasts after this announcement.’
I sank into my chair and closed my eyes.
Heinz was currently at the peak of Pureblood, between Level 6 and 7 by Earth standards.
‘First, let’s make Heinz a True Blood.’
And for that, I needed more prey…
I had all the information about their habitat and hunting tools in my hands.
Morning started with a warm and hearty bowl of soup.
I ate scrambled eggs and spicy pork rice bowl, and finished it off with a hot dog and a tub of ice cream for dessert.
“Hmm… Is this enough?”
No, this was just the right amount for breakfast.
The original body didn’t burn calories to the extreme like the avatars.
I watched the avatar devouring healthy food like chicken breast and boiled eggs and chewing on a high-calorie protein bar.
-Individual Name: Harley
-Common Traits: “Mind Hub”, “Persona”, “Super Recovery”, “Clear Mind”
-Individual Traits: “Adaptation”
-Special Notes: Han Seong-hyeon’s fifth avatar. Quickly and efficiently adapts to changes, even in extreme situations.
About a week had passed in Earth time since Heinz heroically died in Azantu.
He was the one who became available for re-summoning around the time Heinrich entered the Church.
‘And I learned something. It was a week this time, but it would take about half a month to regenerate the next dead avatar.’
And I also learned that the required time would continue to increase as it happened repeatedly.
‘Well, I can just dismiss them if they’re in danger, so they probably won’t die easily. That time was a special case.’
Coincidentally, Hans, Heinz the Second, and Heinrich all had survivability greater than a cockroach, so I just had to be careful with the new avatars that would be born in the future.
‘But judging by his initial skill, this guy also seems like he’ll be quite tenacious.’
The initial skill of the newly born ‘Harley’ was “Adaptation”.
It was a truly cockroach-like ability that allowed him to adapt and survive even in extreme environments.
And since he also perceived the strain on his body during training as an extreme situation, the efficiency was incredibly high when combined with “Super Recovery”.
‘Well, I don’t know when or where he’ll be deployed. I’m just preparing him in advance so I can use him right away when needed.’
I then checked the Karma Shop.
I hadn’t expected much because I had used most of it when leaving Azantu and there hadn’t been any major incidents since then, but…
『Karma Shop』
『Unique Skill Enhancement (800,000)』
『Status Enhancement - View Details』
『Karma Owned - 331,087』
More Karma had accumulated than I thought.
It wasn’t a shocking amount, but it felt like unearned income to me, who hadn’t really done anything.
‘What did I do? After I got “Persona”… Hans clashed with the Church while researching magic, and I took the siblings to Raffella City.’
I encountered a True Blood vampire in Talaria, and Heinrich joined the Main God Church.
Most of the major incidents after that happened on Earth, but since I couldn’t acquire Karma on Earth, if we excluded that…
‘…I really haven’t done much?’
Hans’s clash with the Main God Church was very brief, and Heinrich was still just a holy knight candidate.
It was hard to say that I had a major impact on the world.
‘Oh, wait. Come to think of it…’
There was something I heard from the holy knight who had been my city guide while Heinrich was on his way to the Roselia Cathedral.
‘He said they fought more against vampires and dark mages than the Immortal King’s descendant. And in the process, the dark mage forces lost their base in the Talia Kingdom and went into hiding…’
Hmm, I see.
So that means…
“…Is it my fault?”
I did stir up some trouble, but…
I didn’t expect it to come back to me like this.
“…Well~ whatever. It’s a good thing. Good triumphs over evil, good triumphs over evil! As expected, living a good life brings good fortune. The old saying is never wrong.”
I muttered to myself for no reason, even though there was no one to listen, and then focused on the Karma Shop again.
It was still quite a bit short of upgrading my unique skill.
Then it was either upgrading my stats or saving it.
‘I’ve already enhanced my stats to some extent.’
Right before Heinz died fighting a vampire and Heinz the Second was deployed.
I had enhanced various stats like strength and agility a few times, worried that something similar might happen again.
‘I didn’t invest enough to get related skills, just raised them evenly.’
Actually, enhancing stats to obtain related skills was very inefficient.
I gained “Super Recovery” after investing a total of 310,000 points in ‘Physical - Stamina - Recovery Enhancement’.
At first, I was desperate to recover from my disability, so I poured it all into recovery without thinking twice, but…
‘My physical abilities are good enough now. I have “Super Recovery”, so I can enhance them sufficiently through training. Anything more is greed.’
And enhancing mental power through stats was also inefficient.
Mental power naturally increased when I enhanced my unique skill “Avatar”.
And it was much more cost-effective.
‘Then it’s decided. I’ll save it for the next unique skill enhancement.’
I finished my contemplation and then searched the internet to gather information.
‘Let’s see, Nocturnia… found it. It’s a pretty well-known dimension.’
A world where vampires and humans were the main forces, waging war against each other.
Their known technology level was around the early 20th century on Earth, but anti-vampire technology was extremely advanced.
Vampires were granted bloodline abilities according to their lineage, and Slayers, who hunted them, gained superhuman strength temporarily through potions made by refining their blood.
An endless war was ongoing, so you could accumulate enough Karma to return in about ten years just by doing safe rear support work.
And since vampire detection technology was advanced, there was hardly any danger.
Of course, if you were confident in your survival, you could go to the front lines and shorten that time.
‘Even ten years is only a little over a year in Earth time. There’s a lot of information available because there are so many returnees.’
This kind of information helped increase the survival rate of latecomers.
Thanks to that, the recent return rate had exceeded 20%.
‘It was less than 10% in the early days.’
I then searched for Jin So-ran.
There was nothing when I searched for her real name, so I searched for her online name…
“Orchid… here she is. Oh~ she was quite famous.”
300,000 followers was enough to be considered a successful broadcaster.
But looking closely, her face was subtly different, perhaps because of makeup.
She was less beautiful than in real life, but she looked more lively and approachable.
‘Vampires are pretty, but there’s something subtly inhuman about them. They feel like dolls.’
I clicked on a past broadcast, and her cheerful image appeared.
I scrolled through the video and saw a break announcement on one side of the screen.
‘If Heinz hadn’t gone there, there wouldn’t have been any more broadcasts after this announcement.’
I sank into my chair and closed my eyes.
Heinz was currently at the peak of Pureblood, between Level 6 and 7 by Earth standards.
‘First, let’s make Heinz a True Blood.’
And for that, I needed more prey…
I had all the information about their habitat and hunting tools in my hands.
Comments
Post a Comment