Chapter 131
My final taunt had landed quite effectively.
Because a long chat message from the opposing top laner had appeared in the lobby after the game ended.
- Wow, the enemy Blood literally did nothing and still won lol
- He spent all day mindlessly splitting and farming minions
- Then he says “top diff” like that—I’m so damn jealous, fuuuuuuuck!!!!
“Why would that be Jinjo’s fault? You should have called the jungler properly.”
I lightly shrugged.
If I called for ganks that much, I suppose I had to accept being mocked after losing, right?
0 kills, 3 deaths, 1 assist.
I admit I got carried.
But that didn’t mean I had really done nothing and won.
‘A novice judges by nothing but the KDA.’
Since I absorbed all the enemy’s ganks, the other lanes had an easier time.
And by continuously managing the side lane, I grew stronger and drew away aggro as well.
Thanks to that, hadn’t I created an environment where IceCoffee could grow comfortably?
Besides, in the final team fight, I diligently pinged the direction the enemies were in.
Of course, since I was pushing top, I didn’t join them myself.
‘I did my share.’
I hadn’t fought directly, but I had created the victory through command and sacrifice.
It was truly a very “lordly” style of play, just like my class.
After the game ended, I had a brief conversation with my duo partner, IceCoffee.
[Jinyu: Honestly, I think I did everything I needed to that game, right? Admit it.]
[IceCoffee: Yeah.]
[IceCoffee: You did well.]
[Jinyu: Right? You have a good eye after all lol]
[IceCoffee: So… play with me again next time.]
[Jinyu: Okay~]
‘Ah, the Great Ice Emperor.’
As expected of a top-tier S-rank hunter, they had recognized my hidden skill.
And since they were offering me another free ride next time, I certainly wasn’t complaining.
Ah, but hadn’t they said they had something they wanted to tell me before the game?
[Jinyu: But didn’t you say you had something to tell me?]
[IceCoffee: Ah.]
[IceCoffee: I did, but I’m fine now.]
[IceCoffee: Thanks.]
‘Huh?’
Why were they thanking me?
If anything, I was the one who should be grateful, since I’d gotten carried.
In any case, I was glad they seemed to have cheered up.
I had wondered why the Ice Emperor was playing a game, and I figured they were probably using it to relieve stress.
I could say that I was even taking care of an S-rank hunter’s mental health.
After winning several games in a row, I was feeling pretty good.
Thanks to that, I felt I could brush off the strange reactions I’d seen in the community earlier.
It was irritating that such a strange atmosphere had formed, but ultimately, even that attention helped me accomplish my Great Deeds.
I decided not to go out of my way to explain myself.
Since it wasn’t true anyway, it would naturally die down with time.
Instead, I decided to lurk through other people’s posts rather than posts about me.
I idly scrolled down the system window.
[Title: Wassup, Korea! The Start of a New Alliance!]
[Author: Godchris]
‘Oh, Chris made an agreement with Oseong?’
Chris, the American ranker. He had sponsored me quite a lot and was a fairly friendly person.
I wondered if I should reply to him at least once if I got the chance later.
But his habit of making a huge fuss about everything was a little burdensome.
Above all, he was a man.
Ahem. In any case, given my background, I couldn’t help being more interested in female rankers.
[Title: Hiking Bukhansan. In Progress,,, A Scenery Shot^^]
[Author: The Path of the Sword Is Endless]
‘This old man is always hiking.’
I understood this registered user to be the “Sword Saint.”
One of Korea’s four S-rank hunters, and the country’s only ranker.
He wasn’t affiliated with the Association and belonged to Oseong, the number-one guild.
But he was a true founding member who had been with Oseong since its creation, supposedly holding a position even the guild master couldn’t treat casually.
The Sword Saint occasionally left favorable comments on my posts or sponsored me, but he wasn’t the type to send personal messages or actively approach me.
And then I saw the next post.
The title was a little frightening.
[Title: I hear something urgent happened in the Arctic ㄷㄷ]
‘Huh? Did a Gate open in the Arctic?’
I clicked in, startled, but
there was a post alongside a photo of a crying polar bear, claiming the Arctic was melting because of Jinjo and the Heavenly Demon’s meeting.
In other words, it was clickbait.
- Hehehe
- Sorry, polar bear.
- I love the Jinjo and Heavenly Demon pairing so much...
- Let’s get this global warming started!
‘Oh, come on, seriously!!!’
I might just give them one quick swipe with Deathscythe.
Seriously, were these people risking their lives to write posts like this?
They must think I’m an incredibly frightening calamity-level Jinjo, and the Heavenly Demon was, needless to say, a world-class hunter—the strongest in the world.
I couldn’t understand how they could act so shamelessly even knowing that.
Was this true madness?
So, after scrolling past the endless posts by “24-Hour Inquiries Welcome” or “Light’s Apostle,” I clicked the next post without much thought.
K-17’s observation has concluded.
Although it was destroyed before the experiment could be fully completed, I was able to observe a very interesting power in its final moments.
As with the previous study, it seems that a great deal of meaningful data can be observed in Korea.
These days, I have been researching undead monsters.
In particular, I have been continuing my research into the union of vampires and humans, but it is not easy.
...
‘…Huh? This is a little strange.’
As I read down the post, I felt a strange sense of unease and scrolled back up to check the author’s name.
[Author: Evolutionist]
‘Gasp.’
It turned out to be Evolutionist, one of the trio of infamous registered accounts.
I had clicked it by mistake without thinking.
It was my first time directly reading one of an infamous registered account’s posts.
Fortunately, there was nothing particularly strange in the content or pictures.
Even if there had been, I had immunity to mental attacks from [Noble Demeanor], so it wouldn’t have been much of a problem anyway.
Still, I decided I would be more careful from now on.
Come to think of it, Korea?
‘K-17, huh….’
Could it be referring to that chicken-headed chimera monster I had dealt with during the day?
‘Hmm.’
Was this Evolutionist guy releasing demonkin or something in Korea too?
It left me feeling uneasy.
Anyway, I decided I had seen enough of the Climber community and switched to the Hunter Gallery to look at Korean news.
- So why did the Heavenly Demon <<< come to Korea…?
- Seriously no idea ;;
- Did some super-high-rank Gate break out or something?
The first thing that caught my eye was, naturally, the news of the Heavenly Demon visiting Seoul.
Since ordinary people didn’t know that the Heavenly Demon had come to meet me, wild speculation was flying about over why they had suddenly appeared in the middle of downtown Seoul and dealt with a monster.
While browsing people’s reactions, I spotted some very interesting breaking news.
[Breaking) South Korea’s fifth S-rank hunter candidate is born ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ]
[Author: News Wrecker]
Former C-rank hunter Oh Yuna has just been officially confirmed to have reawakened as an S-rank class in the Association’s detailed rank assessment.
Yep, she’s the C-rank hunter who was grabbed by a slime monster last time.
Her class is apparently [The Unyielding Hero].
- The class name is freaking awesome ㅁㅊ
- “The Unyielding Hero”
- She’s just a hero, plain and simple.
- Is she the one who went one-on-one with a demonkin last time? Wow, good for her.
ㄴ For real, she deserves a class like that.
I only realized it belatedly when I saw the attached photo.
‘Huh? This person….’
She’s that C-rank hunter whom the Blood Golem healed with its tentacles in Itaewon last time, isn’t she?
Along with my surprise, a proud feeling naturally welled up in my chest.
I saved the Ice Emperor too.
I saved the Saint too.
And this time, I had saved a newly born S-rank as well.
‘Was I some kind of S-rank specialist rescue squad?’
If I’d saved three S-ranks, shouldn’t the Association at least stamp three seals somewhere and give me a reward or something?
Below that, there was also an interview with Oh Yuna.
“During the Mapo Gate Break, I witnessed the noble death of a jelly monster.”
“That child who saved me sacrificed itself for everyone.”
“Someday, I will become a hero who protects someone, just like that child.”
‘I told you it didn’t die!’
No. This person also thought the Blood Golem had died.
But then, a thought flashed through my mind.
Wait, hold on.
Could the reason my Great Deeds had risen so much last time
be that the Blood Golem’s sacrifice(?) had somehow influenced her reawakening?
If so, perhaps it would be better not to reveal that the Blood Golem was still alive.
Because that would help me milk its Great Deeds.
Good. That seemed like the better option.
But speaking of the Golem, I should probably get its summoning cooldown going soon.
“Arise!”
I went out into the living room and summoned the Blood Golem.
“Kkyu!”
The Blood Golem still appeared obediently in place, wearing the same blank expression like (ㅇㅅㅇ).
“Grr!”
“Kkyup!”
Dark, apparently thinking the jelly-like Golem looked tasty, approached to lick it, but the Golem extended a tentacle and firmly pushed Dark’s snout away.
“Grr….”
Dark became dejected.
“Lili, I saw the news, and they’re calling the Golem a hero!”
Lili came running over excitedly and hung a small hero cape—apparently handmade—on the Golem’s back.
“Kkyu?”
“A hero is supposed to have a cape!”
The cape was somewhat small compared to the Golem’s broad back.
‘……It is kind of cute.’
Seeing them like that, I naturally smiled fondly.
Just then, Siyeon approached with an extremely serious look in her eyes and asked,
“Master. Shall I bring the one named Oh Yuna, who recently awakened as an S-rank, to the domain? If you give her your blood and make her one of your servants, she will be an excellent asset.”
“N-no, you mustn’t do that!”
I hurriedly waved my hands to stop Siyeon.
If I left her alone, she looked ready to abduct South Korea’s S-rank hunter candidate for real.
“…I’m sorry, Master. I must have made another mistake.”
Siyeon remained expressionless, but she seemed a little crestfallen.
‘No, Siyeon. You were abducted by the Dark Guild yourself—how can you suggest abducting someone else?’
From talking with her, it seemed she wasn’t being malicious; she simply thought that coming to the domain would make people happy, and thus considered it a good thing.
A well-intentioned kidnapping, or something…?
***
The next day.
I decided to calmly organize my goals for the future.
First, the most urgent matter was raising my maximum Blood Power to 400.
‘The next servant summon requires 400 Blood Power.’
My Blood Power was currently in the 300s, so I was still a little short.
But if I leveled up while conquering the Tower of Trials and farmed blood from the martial artists, I should be able to fill it up quickly.
As it happened, the cooldown for entering Chapter 2 of the Tower’s sixth floor was also about to expire.
And the key objective of this climb: Namgung Yeonhee.
She had S-rank potential, an upright personality, and excellent swordsmanship—in short, she was an outstanding talent.
Just one more feeding would open her full S-rank potential by unblocking her clogged meridians.
‘Excellent!’
With a clear plan in place, I felt at ease.
Thus, my peaceful room-bound farming life continued for several days.
I alternated between sending my avatar body and servants to the fifth-floor Infinite-difficulty area.
Katarina and Siyeon wandered around the fifth floor slaughtering powerful monsters,
while Lili made additional items that seemed likely to be useful in the murim setting.
Sera and Ha-eun devoted themselves to practicing Blood Demon-style swordsmanship at the domain’s training grounds.
Auntie Suyeon prepared delicious meals every day and worked hard on her next creation.
Dark…. Hmm. He ate his meals happily.
Still, that was technically an activity that raised his level.
All I had to do was lie comfortably on my bed, watch my servants’ exploits through shared vision, and collect blood and materials.
In the meantime, my Lord’s Great Deeds continued to accumulate.
[Lord’s Great Deeds]
[Current Completion: 89%]
[Current Completion: 93%]
[Current Completion: 97%]
……
And finally.
Ding!
[Mighty beings revere your name.]
[Current Completion: 100%]
[Lord’s Great Deeds have been completed.]
[Part of the Blood Lord’s Divine Artifact has been unlocked.]
[Divine Artifact: You have acquired the Red Crown!]
Along with the notification, red light began gathering in midair.
It soon took the form of a small, pointed crown that looked as though it had been formed by solidifying blood into crystal,
then slowly settled atop my head.
‘A crown…?’