Chapter 109
On this floor, Dark would be in Katarina's care.
I had a carrier like one used for carrying puppies specially made as an East Asian-style bamboo chest, and planned to carry him around inside it.
Unlike the fifth floor, where we had been treated as honored guests by the lord and could do as we pleased, the sixth floor was an unfamiliar place where we would be starting completely anew.
If I openly carried around a Western-style baby dragon, it was obvious we'd attract far too much unnecessary attention.
That was when.
“Master! I made one more!”
Grinning.
Riri approached with a mischievous smile.
She was hiding something tightly behind her back.
‘Hmm?’
I gave her a puzzled look.
I had definitely only ordered the East Asian-style versions of [Bloodsilk Garment] and [Inkshadow Parasol] from Riri.
I didn't remember asking her for anything else.
“What is it?”
“Ta-da!”
What Riri pulled out from behind her back was—
It was a folding fan.
A folding fan with a smooth, finely polished ebony frame covered in jet-black silk.
Delicate animal figures had been embroidered on it in gold thread.
“It's a present for Master! I had some leftover blood after making the clothes and parasol, so I made this!”
The animals embroidered on the fan were a wolf, a cat, a puppy, a rabbit, and a dragon.
And finally, a fox.
“This one is Katarina-nim, this one is Siyeon-nim, this is Riri, and this is Sarah! Dark, and this one is Master!!!”
Riri excitedly explained each one, pointing at the fan.
Especially the fox in the very center showed how much effort she had put into it.
It depicted a gumiho, its nine tails spread elegantly.
‘Oh. Our whole family is here.’
I liked it quite a lot, both because the design was pretty and because its meaning was nice.
I especially liked the fox, my symbol, because it looked cool.
“How thoughtful of you, Riri.”
“A fan that perfectly embodies my lord’s majesty…!”
Following my praise, the other retainers couldn't contain their admiration.
Seeing that the fan was decorated only with my direct retainers, Haeun and Auntie Suyeon looked secretly envious, so Riri pointed at one corner of the fan.
“These two are Haeun and Suyeon!”
A tiny sparrow and a deer were adorably embroidered in the corner.
She hadn't forgotten them either.
“Oh my gosh, I'm touched!”
“Oh my…. Riri-nim….”
Haeun and Auntie Suyeon looked moved.
Riri proudly puffed out her chest and said,
“Then I'll teach you how to use it too!”
‘How to use a fan? Don't you just open it and wave it? What else is there?’
When I looked at her doubtfully, Riri demonstrated directly with the fan.
“You open it like this, cover your mouth, and then laugh stylishly like, ‘Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo…!’”
‘…….’
Ah. So it wasn't for cooling yourself down, but for doing that?
Anyway, all the preparations were now perfectly complete.
As soon as the entrance cooldown was ready, I entered the sixth-floor world without hesitation.
***
The world of the Nightmare-level sixth floor unfolded as my vision brightened.
The first thing that caught my eye was a dirt-floored street and East Asian-style wooden buildings.
At the same time, a system message window floated in the air.
[You have entered the sixth floor of the Trials, Nightmare difficulty.]
[The first story begins.]
[Objective: Choose one of the two paths.]
[Righteous Path (正道): Choose one of the Nine Sects and One Gang (九派一幇), and earn their recognition.]
[Demonic Path (魔道): Gather information and make contact with the Demonic Cult (魔敎
faction.]
‘Just like the strategy guide said.’
I recalled Solo Warrior's strategy guide.
If the fifth floor was Western fantasy, the sixth floor's genre was ‘murim.’
The setting was the era of the Great War between the Righteous and Demonic factions.
Unlike the fifth floor, whose route had been firmly fixed through Arden territory, the special thing here was that I could choose one of the two factions.
The Righteous faction was the Murim Alliance, while the Demonic faction was the Heavenly Demon Divine Church!
‘A True Ancestor who knows her murim~.’
I had conducted extremely thorough preliminary research for this climb.
I had read tons of murim web novels and perfectly mastered the world's lore!
Then which of these two should I choose?
Normally, I would have chosen the Righteous faction, the good guys.
‘But the Righteous side has far too many restrictions in various ways.’
The Righteous faction was bound to clash with my [Noble Demeanor] and bring about huge penalties.
Besides, according to the strategy guide, in this world, the Righteous faction wasn't exactly wholly on the side of justice, nor was the Demonic Cult wholly on the side of evil.
They simply had different ideologies amid a massive war.
There were good and bad people mixed into both sides.
‘Let's go with the Demonic Cult!’
So I decided to choose the second path, the Demonic Cult.
Once I had finalized my objective, I headed without delay toward the shabby building in front of me.
‘They said this was the universal starting rule.’
It was an inn.
A place combining a restaurant and lodging.
According to the strategy guide, achieving the Chapter 1 objective took quite some time, so it was best to establish a base first.
It was also advantageous because useful random encounters sometimes appeared at inns.
“Welcome!”
When I opened the door and entered, a shop attendant came running over energetically.
“……!!”
But upon seeing me and my retainers, he was greatly startled and froze.
It was a situation I'd already experienced on the fifth floor.
It must have been because our clothing was so luxurious.
‘But isn't he staying still a little too long?’
He stood there slack-jawed, staring at my face as if bewitched.
“Are you not going to show us to a table?”
“Ah…! I-I’m sorry, sirs!”
When I chided him, the shop attendant jumped and bowed deeply.
“I’ll show you to the finest seat, where the sunlight shines brightest!”
“No. Take us to the darkest, most secluded corner.”
Though I was wearing clothes that blocked the sunlight, I still had no desire to eat while deliberately exposing myself to it.
“Ah, yes.”
A hint of puzzlement crossed the shop attendant's eyes, but he soon led me without complaint to a secluded seat at the back of the inn.
‘Hmm.’
Once seated and looking around, I found the interior fairly clean and orderly, unlike the shabby exterior.
I placed an order with the shop attendant.
For reference, system gold could be converted into currency and used here as well.
“Bring dumplings and thin noodles for everyone.”
“Yessir!”
The standard murim order.
Carbonara… no, a dumpling-and-noodle set!
‘I'd always wanted to try this.’
Since this menu appeared in practically every murim web novel, I had wanted to try it at least once.
Normally, I should order bamboo-leaf green wine as well, but hmm. They probably wouldn't sell alcohol to me.
But there was something important.
“Ah, by any chance, does it contain garlic?”
“There’s a little in the dumpling filling.”
“Remove it completely. Not even a little may remain.”
After finishing such a finicky order,
I rested my chin on my hand and fell into thought for a moment.
Could I take first place in the world here too?
As far as climbing the Tower went, Solo Warrior held the number-one ranking.
Not only on Normal difficulty, but even on Nightmare, no one could follow him except me.
But this sixth floor was an exception.
There was exactly one person here with an utterly untouchable record.
That person was the Chinese ranker, ‘Heavenly Demon (天魔).’
She had supposedly achieved the insane feat of being recognized as the true cult leader of the Demonic Cult on the sixth floor and bringing the entire Righteous faction to its knees.
Her average score for that was a whopping 99 points.
‘But I can’t lose either!’
Surpassing the Heavenly Demon’s achievement was my goal for this sixth floor.
Of course, I wasn't sure whether that was possible.
Just then, our meal arrived, steaming.
Hot dumplings and thin noodles in clear broth.
‘Oh. Looks good!’
Full of anticipation, I picked up my chopsticks and tried the thin noodles first.
Slurp!
“…….”
‘Hmm…. Not as tasty as I expected.’
But I quickly grew dejected.
Maybe it was because Auntie Suyeon's cooking at the domain had raised my standards too high.
Ordinary food this plain failed to stir any particular emotion in me.
The retainers also didn't seem to find it very tasty, merely moving their chopsticks in silence.
That was when.
With a noisy clamor, the inn door was thrown open, and three rough-looking men with swords at their waists entered.
‘Murim people?’
“Hey! Bring us some quality meat right now and the strongest liquor in the establishment!”
They plopped down at a table and rudely shouted at the shop attendant.
‘Hmm. Are they from the Unorthodox Faction?’
Neither Righteous nor Demonic, but an unorthodox faction that simply rampaged, trusting in strength alone.
They were, as I understood it, a third faction that offered no help whatsoever in advancing the main story.
But as they gulped down their liquor, they kept sneaking glances our way.
“Heh-heh.”
“Cute, aren’t they?”
Then they began snickering slyly among themselves.
It seemed their attention had been drawn by how conspicuously beautiful my retainers were.
“……My lord. If you permit me, shall I kill them all and return?”
Katarina made a polite yet terrifying statement.
Siyeon was also silently fiddling with her wooden chopsticks, her eyes murderous, while Sarah frowned as if displeased.
‘Hmm. Well, I don't like those looks either.’
If we caused a commotion at the inn from the outset, things could become troublesome.
“Leave them be.”
Good me, endure it.
I was about to ignore them and continue my meal when—
Eventually, they got up, approached our table, and began pestering us.
“Heh-heh, you look like noble young ladies from an eminent family. What do you say? Don’t be so stiff—why not join your big brothers for a drink?”
"Oh, great heroes! The liquor you just ordered is ready! You must be thirsty after being out in the heat, so please wet your throats!"
"Get lost."
The shop attendant hurried over, bowing and scraping as he tried somehow to draw their attention away, but the men shoved him aside as though he were a nuisance.
It's a common cliché in murim stories for extras like these to cause trouble, but I'd never heard of them being this blatantly lecherous.
‘Hah. Should I put up with this or not?’
I sighed and first activated [Insightful Eye] to check their information.
[Murim member of the Unorthodox Alliance - Lv. 45]
[Murim member of the Unorthodox Alliance - Lv. 46]
[Murim member of the Unorthodox Alliance - Lv. 47]
Their levels were quite high.
They hadn't recklessly approached us, who looked like scions of an eminent household, for no reason.
As I expected, they were from the unorthodox faction.
More specifically, members of the Unorthodox Alliance, the murim alliance-like organization of the unorthodox factions.
In other words, they had decent backing and skill.
‘This is going to be a nuisance. I suppose I can endure it a little longer.’
Just as I was about to have Katarina merely release a little killing intent to frighten them away,
I doubted my eyes.
‘Huh? Wait a second. What’s this?’
Beneath the status window's information, a detail I had never seen before had appeared.
[Special Note: Drinking blood slightly increases maximum Blood Power.]
‘It increases maximum Blood Power?!’
For some reason, it said it would directly increase maximum Blood Power, which had been difficult to raise through leveling alone.
I could tolerate provocation or flirting, but it was rather hard to resist a chance to farm.
‘Kill them. Preserve the blood.’
I sent a telepathic message to my retainers.
The moment the order was given.
Boom—!
The head of the man grinning nastily at the very front burst open cleanly like a ripe watermelon.
Yet the red blood that should have splattered everywhere didn't touch the floor by a single drop, instead freezing in midair as if time had stopped.
It was Katarina's flawless blood sorcery.
Thunk—!
A wooden chopstick that flew from Siyeon's hand pierced both eyes of the large man frozen on the left.
“Guh, ggaaahhh!”
Then Siyeon moved behind him in an instant and snapped his neck in one smooth motion.
Completely unconcerned by the gruesome sight, I picked up the empty cup from the table and collected some of the blood suspended in the air.
Then I took a small sip.
Ding.
[Maximum Blood Power has increased by 1.]
‘Oh, amazing!’
My maximum Blood Power really had increased.
The blood bags had rolled right to my feet.
It was just as I was silently cheering.
“Eek, eeeeeek……! Sh-She drank blood!”
Having not only watched two comrades lose their lives in an instant, but also seen me calmly catch and drink their blood, the last man remaining completely lost his mind.
He began trembling like an aspen, wetting his pants, while the shop attendant collapsed face-first on the floor and froze without even managing to scream.
‘Aha.’
I pulled out the black folding fan Riri had made from inside my robes.
So this was exactly when it was meant to be used?
Fwoosh—.
“Shh.”
Having opened the fan and covered my bloodstained lips, I looked down at the man on the floor and spoke.
“Do not make a disturbance while I am eating.”