Chapter 69
[Title: What’s this? A New Difficulty was registered in the Tower?]
Poster: Anonymous
Did the system update or something?
Is it just me? Everyone go check it out.
- Huh???
- Something popped up in my Difficulty Selection Window after Nightmare too.
- Wait, the system gets patches too? Lollll
- Isn’t this the first time the system changed like this? Shudder
[Title: What is this ■■ Difficulty…?]
Poster: Anonymous
So the trending post wasn’t just clickbait?
■■ < < < A pixelated difficulty like this appeared?
But I can’t click it at all and there’s no interaction.
- Whoa, it’s real.
- Why is this real?
- Hah… Are they discriminating against me for having a C-Rank Class? Now they won’t even show me the difficulty name, fuck. T_T
↳ It’s okay, fellow Hunter, don’t worry. I have an A-Rank Class and I can’t see it either.
↳ I think it’s just invisible to everyone?
↳ Is it invisible to S-ranks too?
↳ I saw on a Foreign Community that S-ranks can’t see it either??
- But what kind of difficulty is it that the name is blurred out…?
↳ That’s kind of scary;;
↳ Outer God-level Difficulty shiver
↳ I wonder what it is. If it’s after Nightmare, is it Hell? Destruction? Something like that.
As expected, the first thing to become a hot topic in the gallery was the New Difficulty.
But does the difficulty name not show up for other people?
[Fascinating.]
Since it was definitely my Exclusive Reward, it seemed the system had blocked others' access and Information Access.
It really felt like a difficulty meant only for me.
I figured other people would probably only be able to see Infinite Difficulty if they also achieved S-rank or higher in All Chapters on Nightmare.
Anyway.
Perhaps the shock of a New Difficulty appearing was too great, because my achievement of clearing the Nightmare 5th Floor felt a bit buried in comparison.
Of course, there were still posts like this.
[Title: Crazy;;; True Ancestor cleared the Nightmare 5th Floor shiver]
Poster: News Wrecker
She cleared it at Rank 1 again, which is insane lolllllll
Great True Ancestor, just how far does your strength reach?
- Rank 1 again? That makes no sense shiver
- True Ancestor, is it you again, again, and again?
- At this point, True Ancestor is definitely confirmed to have Ranker-level Power.
- America? China? I’m not jealous at all. Our Korea is a “True Ancestor”-possessing nation!!!
↳ The fact is we’re really becoming a Hunter Powerhouse Nation lol
↳ right now America is the only country with more than two top 10 Rankers, but at this rate we could have two as well.
↳ I’m overflowing with national pride.
But normally, several pages of trending posts would have been plastered with talk about me.
Just as I was feeling a little disappointed, another post caught my eye.
[Title: Did the True Ancestor open the New Difficulty by herself?]
Poster: Analysis Freak
Everyone’s freaking out about the ■■ Difficulty popping up right now, but has anyone checked the timeline?
The time the True Ancestor cleared the Tower 5th Floor and the time the first report of the New Difficulty appearing on the internet match exactly.
Maybe she unlocked a Hidden Difficulty as a Clear Reward or something?
- Is this fr?
- Wow, hearing that gives me goosebumps. The timing is perfect.
- She changed the system itself with a reward…?
- If it’s the True Ancestor, it might be possible…
- God Ancestor
[Oh, they’re quick to catch on.]
As expected, Collective Intelligence is not to be ignored.
It was amazing to see them get so close to the truth with only fragmented information.
While I was at it, I grew curious about the reactions in the [Climber Community], where the strong gathered from all over the World.
Since it was a place where experts who knew the Tower system better than the Hunter Gallery gathered, wouldn’t there be much more accurate and sharp analysis posts?
[Title: True Ancestor-nim cleared the 5th Floor and opened the New Difficulty]
Poster: Solo Play Warrior
Based on the timing, it’s true.
I’ve known it since last time, but she’s truly on another level.
I simply worship her…
As expected, Solo Play Warrior had accurately figured it out right away.
Below that, comments and posts praising my achievements lined up.
Amazing, crazy, and so on.
The various worship posts that went up made me shrug my shoulders proudly.
It was good up to that point.
One post caught my eye.
[Title: I’ve recently developed a hobby of stabbing my nape with a dagger]
Poster: Anonymous
It feels like our True Ancestor-nim is personally performing Vampirism on me, so it feels incredibly good…
You guys should try it too.
I highly recommend doing it while listening to a Voice Recording of True Ancestor-nim. It’s even more effective.
- Are you fr?
- This is a true True Ancestor fan lollllll
- Oh
↳ What do you mean 'Oh' fuck lol
- But what dagger did you use?
↳ Poster) I recommend the A-rank 'Viper’s Fang' twin daggers. Stabbing with this item probably feels the most similar to Vampire fangs.
↳ Wait, doesn’t that have Bleed Damage…?
↳ Poster) Yeah, you just do it while chugging potions.
“Hah. What kind of crazy nonsense are you spouting…”
I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut.
Was it okay for a Noble Being like me to read such posts?
B-but surely they didn’t actually do it, right?
The strangely detailed equipment recommendations and potion usage gave me goosebumps.
Furthermore, after this post, these kinds of weird, obsessive posts exploded in number!
Perhaps because I had revealed my voice and occasionally interacted in the Climber Community, there were far more weirdos there than in Hunter Gallery.
I mean, it wasn’t like I showed them a picture of my face, but I just revealed my voice!
And even then, they said it sounded full of killing intent and Intimidation because of [Exalted Dignity].
So why do these kinds of people keep multiplying!
They’re doing this even though last time my danger level was emphasized once again due to the Solo Play Warrior Disappearance Incident.
Do they go crazy for it even knowing it’s dangerous, or rather, because of that danger?
[Phew.]
Originally, I was planning to post another message with my voice to celebrate clearing the 5th Floor and set up a sweet Gold Collection.
Having suffered Mental Shock, I decided to postpone that until next time.
[I should stop browsing the Community for today…]
I closed the System Window without any lingering regrets.
I’m getting dizzy, seriously.
[Exalted Dignity] grants Mental Attack Immunity, but…
Somehow, this kind of damage seems to hit as true damage.
Instead.
I decided to do some leveling up now.
It was time to take out and drink the well-aged Mid-grade Blood from the [Oak Blood Barrel] installed in my Territory.
Since I drew the egg as my Fifth Retainer last time, the blood power required for the next [Summon Retainer] had jumped to 400, a whopping double the previous amount.
I had to Level Up diligently and invest a ton of stat points into blood power.
I went to the kitchen and stood in front of the large Oak Blood Barrel.
[It’s high…]
I needed to scoop out the Aged Blood, but because I was short, my hands couldn’t quite reach the opening of the barrel.
I struggled on my tiptoes for a bit.
Eventually, I gave up and called Katarina.
“Katarina, bring me a cup of blood.”
“Yes, Liege Lord.”
Katarina easily scooped the blood from the barrel and poured it into a cup with a rabbit drawn on it.
“Liege Lord. I have brought it.”
I took the cup and carefully held some liquid in my mouth.
[Oh?]
The taste was quite different.
Aged Low-grade Blood had been astringent and bitter, so it didn’t taste good.
The Aged Medium Blood was sweet with a tangy aftertaste, like a refreshing fruit cocktail.
A taste that went down easily like a soft drink!
It wasn’t quite on the level of being incredibly delicious like High-grade Blood or S-rank Potential blood.
Still, considering that regular Mid-grade Blood just had a simple sweetness like flat cola, it was much tastier.
[You have consumed Aged Medium Blood.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
Two level-ups in an instant.
On top of that
[spell power has increased by 1!]
Wow!
Thanks to the aging effect of the [Oak Blood Barrel], it even came with a sweet Additional Stat Option.
My level was shooting up and it gave Bonus Stats, plus it was sweet and delicious, so I couldn’t stop.
Gulp, gulp.
I asked Katarina for a few more cups and downed them one after another.
Drinking them straight down counted as consuming a total of two mid-grade bloods, reaching level 39, and this time my Agility Stat went up by 1.
[Phew… I can’t drink anymore.]
My stomach was full.
As I looked down, my lower belly was sticking out slightly.
I’ll have to drink the rest later.
However,
For some reason, my head was spinning… and my cheeks were burning.
I also felt strangely good, like I was floating.
And my eyes kept closing as I grew sleepy.
[Mmm. Why am I like this…?]
I stumbled into My Room and flopped down on the bed.
I buried my face in the fluffy blanket and was about to close my eyes.
Suddenly, the posts I saw in the Community earlier came to mind again.
Those guys are treating me like some cute little girl and saying weird things.
[I’m still an EX-Rank Class Lord of Blood, and I played a huge role on the 5th Floor this time…!]
I even have a super strong and badass weapon.
A strange sense of stubborn pride welled up in me.
[Should I establish some discipline?]
I stood up and took the Death Scythe out of my Inventory.
I rested the heavy, black scythe on one shoulder.
[Now… Like this…]
Then I held up my Smartphone, framing the shot so the brutal blade of the scythe contrasted well with my slender frame, and took a selfie.
Of course, since my identity couldn’t be revealed, I cleverly cropped my face out of the frame.
I logged into the Climber Community and started writing a post.
[Title: Mortals, look here]
Poster: True Ancestor
(Photo of one shoulder bearing the Death Scythe)
Do you see this
If you keep writing profane posts
I will kill you all with this Death Scythe
So don’t do it, understand??
I attached the photo too. Done. Upload complete.
[Hehe… The Community people will be a bit more careful now, right…?]
I smiled in satisfaction and happily fell asleep on the bed.
I was completely unaware of the uproar this post would cause.