Chapter 83
[Lillian's Horn]
This horn contains Lillian's special mana. Unlike others, she preferred hiding to stepping forward.
Effect: The user's location cannot be identified within the casting area.
The Healthy Goddess is invincible, and I'm a god.
Thanks to the horn the Healthy Goddess gave me long ago, I've been safe all this time.
“So that means I won't get caught as long as I don't make any mistakes?”
As long as I was careful while doing anything that might reveal my location, there was no chance of me being discovered.
It was an absurdly overpowered item!
Or so I thought.
-Vwoong
“What?”
If it weren't for the unfamiliar portal that suddenly appeared in one corner of my room.
-Click
I immediately grabbed the shotgun I had mounted nearby and took cover behind the bed.
[Riot Suppression Shield] - 100p
That wasn't enough, so I also brought out a bulletproof riot shield to reinforce my defenses.
It was a good thing I'd spent the extra points on the expensive shield, just in case.
It had enough firepower to make short work of even a fairly formidable monster that might leap out of there.
“What? It's not coming out.”
But even after waiting for quite some time, nothing changed in the portal.
At most, its blood-red color looked ominous.
“Is this also a one-way portal?”
Rifts only allowed entry until a wave broke out.
Besides, unlike a rift, this portal didn't give me a headache or appear while smashing through buildings.
There was no sign of hostility, so I cautiously approached the portal.
“Can this be scanned, too?”
Just in case, I opened the system analysis window, and fortunately, information about the portal appeared.
[Teleportation Magic – Caster, Erzebet]
A teleportation magic portal leading to the Ruined Castle Mariaca.
Despite its ominous appearance, it is an ordinary portal.
Duration – 00:01:59
“If it's Erzebet, then... Vampire to the Bitter End?”
The portal's true identity was the blue mod's trolling.
The blue mod had installed a portal in my home.
What was this? Was she trying to get back at me for not paying her salary?
Besides, it even had a duration limit.
Despite the fairly short duration, I had the strange feeling that I needed to enter immediately.
“Why did she send this to me?”
Isn't the Ruined Castle Mariaca the home of the blue mod Vampire to the Bitter End?
Putting aside how she had found my location, I couldn't understand why she had sent this to me.
Head Mod*: What is this?
Head Mod*: (Ominous portal meme)
Head Mod*: What is it? Take it back.
I left a message in the admin chat.
But Vampire to the Bitter End still gave me no answer.
Something had clearly happened.
Otherwise, there was no way the blue mod Vampire to the Bitter End, a Gallery addict comparable to me, would stop browsing the Gallery.
“Ugh, but going in there would be a bit much.”
Going in there would definitely be overdoing it.
“If something really happened, wouldn't I get instantly killed if I went in?”
If Vampire to the Bitter End, the strongest person in my worldview, had been defeated, wouldn't a shotgun be useless against whatever did it?
More importantly, fraternization was grounds for a ban.
Not that I was doing this because I couldn't be bothered.
“Woohoo!”
People die when they do things they normally wouldn't.
Me, a shut-in who lived my Gallery life from the corner of my room, suddenly jumping into a portal? That would be the exact moment my life ended.
I slipped back under the covers and continued reading through the featured posts.
No, I was going to.
[Blue mod ‘VampireToTheBitterEnd’ has been placed on indefinite suspension.]
[Would you like to replace the blue mod?]
If it hadn't been for this noisy notification ringing out.
“Hmm...”
Indefinite suspension.
The system confirmed my deduction.
If I did nothing, Vampire to the Bitter End would remain unresponsive for a long time.
“It's hard to find a blue mod like Vampire to the Bitter End.”
Twenty hours of Gallery activity every day.
Tracking down trolls and reality-banning them.
She was truly the Otherworld Destruction Gallery's dependable deterrent.
Vampire to the Bitter End was the blue mod who served as both my lifeline and my insurance.
To resolve this—or at least find out what was going on—I had no choice but to enter the portal directly before it closed.
Duration – 00:00:42
Duration – 00:00:35
Time kept flowing steadily even while I hesitated.
At this rate, I might really have to replace the blue mod.
“Do I go in or not?”
As someone whose motto was safety first, I was in the middle of agonizing over whether to enter when—
-Vwoong
The Holy Sword that had been hanging from the bunker ceiling and emitting a bright light suddenly approached me.
“Oh, right. You were here.”
-Vwoong
It was the Adrian Holy Sword I had once received as tribute from the Crown Prince.
And besides the Holy Sword, the ventilation fan—or rather, the fine sword—the dwarf had given me also approached.
And I even had my trusty shotgun that I always relied on!
“Hmm, maybe this is worth a shot.”
Even if some monster had defeated Vampire to the Bitter End, I might be able to put up a fight with this much equipment.
Besides, if things really went south, I could put on a gas mask, unleash chemical weapons, and forget about what came afterward.
Above all, Vampire to the Bitter End was too valuable a blue mod to simply let her be replaced.
Duration – 00:00:12
“Ah, whatever.”
Before the time ran out completely, I threw myself into the portal.
The scenery naturally began to change.
Instead of my peaceful room, I saw a blood-red interior and an audience-chamber corridor stretching endlessly into the distance.
The first strike wins any fight.
I abruptly aimed the shotgun I was carrying at her and seized the initiative.
“Hands up, hands up! Move and I'll shoot, slash, blow you up, unleash chemical weapons, and detonate a nuke!!!”
That was the exact moment I shouted a threatening message without even remembering to include a code phrase!
“Head Mod...?”
A woman sprawled across the floor looked at me and muttered.
Pale skin, and red eyes staring straight at me through wisps of faded white hair.
“Vampire to the Bitter End?”
The owner of the ruined castle and the blue-mod troll.
Erzebet was half-collapsed on the floor.
*
A woman in an expensive, dark-colored dress lay sprawled across the floor.
The strange woman, barefoot after her shoes had come off, wriggled her toes, stared at me, and weakly muttered.
“H-hungry...”
Her drooping eyes and depressed expression immediately caught my attention.
I didn't even have time to think, So this cold beauty was actually a blue mod who spent her time trolling?
“Why are you telling me that while looking at me?”
The blue mod who had once been the progenitor of vampires was starving right now.
And the fact that she was staring fixedly at me set off alarm bells in my head.
Entering the portal in the first place had been a mistake.
I should have been more careful.
What was the difference between this and a delicious steak delivering itself to her?
“J-just one sip...”
One sip, huh? She'd drink every last drop without leaving a single one behind.
A certain post suddenly flashed through my mind.
[Title: First Admin Fraternization Meeting...jpg]
Author: Head Mod*
(Head Mod meme of a skeleton lifting a wineglass)
Ah lol, I could've lived longer, what a shame.
[Recommendations1321] [Dislikes9999+]
- Fuck no, not my beautiful Head Mod!!!
- Fraternization is grounds for a ban, yep.
- ??? What happened?
“No, anything but that!”
I still hadn't finished reading through all the featured posts.
I couldn't die in a place like this.
“Go, Holy Sword!”
-Vwoong
Just then, the Holy Sword that was supposed to protect me swiftly rushed at Vampire to the Bitter End!
“Ugh, go away.”
-Bang!
And then it was sent flying by her flailing hand, utterly defeating the Holy Sword.
Perhaps frightened by the sight, the dwarf's fine sword flew over to a nearby knight statue and hid there, pretending to be another sword.
“Ah, right.”
These were the same ones that had fallen asleep and failed to protect me when Adrian's assassin infiltrated, too.
“Please don't come any closer.”
I aimed the shotgun at Vampire to the Bitter End's head as she weakly crawled toward me.
Everyone is equal before a shotgun.
At the critical moment when it looked like I was about to ban a blue mod with my own hands, I hesitated and lowered the gun.
Instead, I opened the marketplace and quickly bought something.
[Seonji Hangover Soup 600g x5] - 15p
Maximum freshness guaranteed!
Delicious!
Even you can boil and eat it by yourself!
Good for you!
“I can't escape this place alone anyway.”
The ruined castle was filled with all sorts of curses.
Even if I incapacitated Vampire to the Bitter End, I didn't think I could escape this place by myself.
The rational move was to bring Vampire to the Bitter End, who was half out of her mind, back to her senses, then reopen the portal and escape.
This wasn't the time to be saving points.
I also bought a pot, a portable gas burner, a ladle, bowls, and all the other necessities.
“Keh.”
Just then, Vampire to the Bitter End, who had been slowly crawling toward me, fainted from iron deficiency.
This was my chance!
I immediately set about preparing the instant meal kit.
It didn't need to take long.
Tear open the meal kit, dump it in, buy and add a few extra ingredients, and it was done.
[Blood Pack (Random Blood Type)] - 50p
[Purchase of 3 complete, delivery complete!]
Just in case, I ordered some blood packs as well.
By the time the cooking was nearly finished, Vampire to the Bitter End slowly raised her head, perhaps having caught the smell.
“Huh?”
What appeared before her eyes was a bowl of seonji hangover soup.
She must have been terribly hungry; after staring intently at the soup for a long while, she reached out.
“Haaam.”
With her bare hand, at that.
It was the instant she bit into a chunk of seonji.
“Delicious...!”
Life returned to Vampire to the Bitter End's unfocused eyes.
She started in surprise, opened her eyes wide, and stared fixedly at the chunk of seonji.
“How...?”
Seonji was blood, but in a solid, jelly-like form.
Besides, there was no way seonji hangover soup made with all sorts of ingredients could taste bad.
“It's blood, but it's delicious! Chomp.”
“Oh.”
Perhaps speaking was too much effort, because Vampire to the Bitter End plunged her entire head into the bowl.
Just when it seemed like she had cleaned out even the bowl, she licked her lips wistfully, then met my eyes where I was hiding.
“Head Mod?”
Vampire to the Bitter End blinked several times, looking back and forth between the seonji soup and me.
Then she suddenly gave me a foxlike smile and grinned.
“Looks tasty.”
“W-what does?”
What about the blood packs? I'd left them right beside her.
But she didn't even spare the blood packs a glance.
Instead, she sprang upright like a ghost and approached me in an instant.
“Freeze, freeze! Hands up! Move and I'll shoot!”
I aimed the shotgun at her despite the inexplicable chill running through me, but it was of little use.
-Sshk
“Eeeek.”
The shotgun was cleanly sliced in half.
As I stood there frozen and ashen-faced, Vampire to the Bitter End suddenly pulled me into a hug!
“This is sexual harassment! Stop!”
“I'll enjoy my meal.”
-Crunch
I should have been more careful.
In the instant I realized my mistake, she bit me on the shoulder.