105 - it is a Chance for a Featured Post

There had been a slight misunderstanding, but in the end, the Blood Golem's debut was a success.

‘As expected, you shouldn't judge by appearances alone.’

If you underestimate it just because it's squishy, you'll pay dearly, indeed!

Of course, it was still weaker than Katarina, Siyeon, and Sarah, who were in charge of combat.

But my Blood Necromancy had only just taken its first step.

As I gained more proficiency, new skills would unlock, and the Blood Golem would grow much stronger than it was now.

‘Vam-hahaha~.’

For reference, raising its proficiency required several conditions, one of which was summoning it frequently, so I summoned it whenever I had free time.

I was lounging contentedly in bed when a delicious smell wafted through the crack in the door.

A savory yet sweet aroma.

When I went outside, Auntie Suyeon was busily making something in the kitchen.

“Retainer. What are you making?”

“Ah, True Ancestor-nim! You're out? I heard it's trending on the internet these days, so I tried making it. They're blood-curd chewy cookies~!”

‘Oh. Isn't this that latest trendy thing?’

They had a bright-red, rice-cake-like exterior, with blood curd and crispy ingredients packed inside.

I had been curious about them since they appeared so often in short-form videos, and Auntie Suyeon had thoughtfully reinterpreted them with blood curd to suit my tastes.

Haeun, who had been lying on the living-room sofa fiddling with her phone, smelled them and came over.

“Huh? Chewy cookies? Whoa, are those blood-curd chewy cookies? Hehe. They look tasty.”

Haeun approached with sparkling eyes, then added one more thing.

“Mom, you know this trend has already passed, right?”

‘……Whaaat?! This wasn't the latest trend?’

I was quite shocked.

I was somewhat out of touch with real-world trends.

I knew all about game patch notes and meta changes, though.

“Oh my, really? I saw it so often in videos that I thought it was still trending.”

When Auntie Suyeon laughed awkwardly, Haeun began explaining kindly while counting on her fingers.

“The hottest things these days are Buldak cold noodles, Wakppuball, and Seullang!”

‘I can roughly guess what Buldak cold noodles are…… But what on earth are Wakppuball and Seullang? Are they something you eat?’

My head filled with question marks at those completely incomprehensible words.

Haeun grinned and looked toward me.

“Ah! And True Ancestor-nim is totally trending too! If you scroll through Reels, tons of videos about you come up!”

“Ahem! T-This True Ancestor does not concern herself with the fleeting trends of mortals!”

I hurriedly cleared my throat and looked away.

“This body is merely savoring the tribute made by its retainer.”

Saying so, I bit into a blood-curd chewy cookie.

Chewy-chewy, crunch-crunch!

“……!”

It was a flavor that made my eyes fly open.

‘This is insanely good!’

The deep, savory flavor of the blood curd and the crispy texture of the kataifi packed inside blended together fantastically.

So this was a blood-curd chewy cookie.

“Grr!”

Dark had come over at some point as well, wagging its tail and munching happily.

Auntie Suyeon smiled contentedly as she watched Dark and me eating the blood-curd chewy cookies.

“It's wonderful to see you eating so well, True Ancestor-nim~. You seem to be eating much more these days, too. Are you perhaps about to have a growth spurt?”

“Mmm. Is that so?”

‘Is that so? Hehe. I do feel like I've grown a little lately.’

I was secretly pleased.

Of course, there was another reason I had started eating so much.

The food Auntie Suyeon prepared was simply too delicious.

The raw meat and blood curd I used to eat weren't bad, but when she cooked them like this, I never got tired of them and could keep eating.

That was why I decided that Auntie Suyeon and Haeun should simply live here with me.

I invested a little more gold into strengthening the domain and made two more rooms so they could live comfortably.

“True Ancestor-nim. The artwork I'm planning this time may take a little while.”

“I see. Don't overexert yourself; take your time.”

Auntie Suyeon said she was preparing a new painting.

Since it might contain another tremendous ability like the rose painting from last time, I was quite looking forward to it.

After swallowing the rest of the blood-curd chewy cookie, I straightened my clothes and solemnly declared,

“Ahem! This body now has a very important matter to attend to, so I shall retire to my chambers.”

“Oh! The True Ancestor-nim's important business……!”

“You work so hard, True Ancestor-nim. Call us anytime if you need anything~.”

Leaving Haeun and Auntie Suyeon's respectful gazes behind, I entered my room with a dignified stride.

***

The very important task I began as soon as I entered my room.

It was browsing the Climber Community.

‘I'm not just playing around. It's all for the Great Feat quest!’

This kind of preliminary investigation was essential to fill the completion rate of [The Lord's Great Feat].

I had to accurately understand the community's trends so I could attract attention at the right time and influence powerful people.

After all, simply posting random things didn't always bring a flood of attention.

Right now, everyone went wild whenever I appeared, but if I overdid it or became too common, their interest would gradually fade.

I had to manage it carefully.

The Climber Community had posts on a truly wide variety of topics.

Item trade posts, Tower-climbing information, high-grade Gate strategy reviews, and so on.

Among them, posts by fixed-username users were always highly popular.

24/7 Inquiries Welcome mainly posted market-price information and large-scale auction notices, while Solo Warrior often wrote useful strategy guides.

Of course, rankers didn't always write serious posts.

There were quite a few daily-life posts and shitposts as well.

[Title: This time, instead of a private jet, I rented out the entire First Class cabin lol]

[Author: GodChris]

I'm on my way to Dubai, but I got tired of private jets, so I just reserved the entire First Class cabin!

There really is nothing like the feeling of spending money.

And I might have to go to Korea soon, so I'm looking forward to it (sunglasses-wearing smiling emoji)

- Wow, this guy's wealth is on another level ㄷㄷ

- The entire First Class cabin? How much money does this guy have?

- Why are you going to Korea? Don't tell me you're going to meet the True Ancestor?

ㄴ GodChris) No comment. (shushing emoji)

[Title: Sharing some sky photos,,,]

[Author: The Path of the Sword Is Endless]

(Photo of a cloudless, clear sky)

(Photo of coffee in a cup)

Today. the sky is so. clear,,,

A warm. cup of coffee,,, and a well-forged. sword,,,

There is nothing. in the world to envy,,,@

I hope. everyone has. a peaceful day,,,

- Did you go mountain climbing first thing in the morning, bro?

- Looks like the weather is nice in Korea today.

- Still, seeing posts from the Sword Saint puts my mind at ease ㅇㅇ

The American ranker Chris and the Sword Saint uncle were the ones who most often posted these kinds of daily-life updates.

In contrast, people like the Heavenly Demon and CorpseLover only posted occasionally.

[CorpseLover: True Ancestor-nim! I absolutely love the dagger~! Thanks~!]

For reference, CorpseLover had also sent me a private message saying how satisfied they were with the dagger.

And the community also had something called ‘regular posts.’

[Title: Today's Scripture.]

[Author: Light's Apostle]

From the Book of Light, Chapter 4, Verse 12.

Even in darkness, the light shall prove itself and guide those who have lost their way.

- In accordance with the Light's will….

- Lumen

- Kitty Punch) ㅇㅅㅇ?

The scripture posted by the Light's Apostle every morning was the representative example of a regular post.

Kitty Punch, who only left the ‘ㅇㅅㅇ’ emoticon in the comments before disappearing, could also be considered a type of regular poster, even if they did not make posts themselves.

Of course, there were also countless people who never posted at all and only lurked.

The Ice Empress Baek Eunseol, who used the real-name nickname ‘Eunseol,’ was one such person, and many other ranker-level Hunters probably did the same, quietly gathering information without revealing themselves.

Anyway, those were the patterns of the ordinary users who frequented the community.

However, there was one more type.

That was the troll.

They were the malicious users who existed in every community.

The Climber Community was no exception.

[Title: As Below, So Above]

[Author: Priest of the Abyss]

[As the stars fall toward the sea and we close our eyes]

[On one day at one time, an irresistible and irreversible change shall occur]

The ‘Priest of the Abyss,’ who plastered the board with inscrutable titles without even using spaces.

They said the posts contained text and images that induced mental attacks.

And.

[Title: Untitled]

[Author: Artist]

[Aesthetics]

[Sculpture]

[The Beautiful and the Rough]

[Rose - Copy]

The ‘Artist,’ who only slapped up short names for their works.

Judging by the reactions of the other users, the attached images were supposedly grotesque and unpleasant gore photos beyond imagination.

Thanks to [Noble Demeanor], I was immune to mental attacks, but I had no desire to ruin my eyes by clicking on them.

For reference, this Artist was also someone who often sent me large sponsorships with nothing but a meaningless single period.

[Title: Experiment Log - 1291]

[Evolutionist]

[Experiment Log - 1292]

[Experiment Log - 1293]

[Experiment Log - 1294]

Finally, there was the Evolutionist, who uploaded diary entries with nothing but experiment logs as their titles.

These three were the representative troll villains the Climber Community was proud of.

‘Ugh. I don't want to get involved!’

Even from their post titles alone, it was obvious that these were not people with ordinary minds.

Last time, I had been unavoidably entangled with that apostle of the Abyssal Cult and sent my retainers to fight, but I absolutely had to avoid getting involved with people like the Artist or the Evolutionist.

‘Still, I'll accept any sponsorship money they send me. Ahem.’

I smacked my lips.

‘Hmm…. On the other hand, I don't have anything in particular to post.’

I still couldn't enter Nightmare difficulty's sixth floor because its cooldown had not yet reset.

But I hesitated to make a post about the Blood Golem.

What if I put it in the training room like last time with the dagger and uploaded a video in the form of a review?

By now, I could already predict the reactions.

‘They'll obviously tease me, saying the squishy True Ancestor is using a squishy golem…!’

Of course, being treated as cute did increase the completion rate of my Great Feat.

But allowing my image to become fixed that way would be far from good in the long term.

I was a True Ancestor, for crying out loud!

This time, I absolutely had to preserve my dignity.

I was pondering how to showcase both my dignity and the Golem's strength when.

I suddenly remembered the reactions of the Hunter Gallery users.

‘That's right. I should show the Blood Golem's combat scene!’

If I merely filmed the pink, squishy Golem standing there blankly and crying “Kkyu?”, people would find it cute.

But if I showed actual combat footage of it crushing an enemy with overwhelming force, the story would be different.

Just as ordinary citizens had trembled in fear when they saw the pink jelly that blew the Demon apart in a single strike during the Itaewon incident.

And if I captured the special abilities it possessed in the video as well.

Especially if I showed the large-scale explosion I hadn't been able to display last time?

‘Hehehe. This is guaranteed to get a great reaction!’

I would be able to draw certain attention while eliciting the astonishment of powerful people.

So from that very day, I began searching for a stage on which to film the Golem's exploits.

Then, one day, as I was waiting for a suitable opportunity.

[Emergency Disaster Text Message]

[Anomalous signs have occurred at an A-grade Gate in Mapo-gu, Seoul. A Gate Break is imminent.

Nearby residents must evacuate to a safe location immediately, and all Hunters currently waiting in the greater Seoul area are requested to respond to the immediate mobilization order.]

At last, the opportunity had arrived.

A chance to firmly imprint the power of my new summon upon the entire world!