Chapter 54
[Title: If he really became a “meal” for the True Ancestor, isn’t that actually a reward?]
Poster: Anonymous
Honestly, wouldn’t you want to get your blood sucked by a soft, squishy, beautiful girl Vampire at least once?
Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa, you lucky bastard…
If I had had 10 billion won, I would’ve let her do it too.
I liked her first.
My small and precious True Ancestor-nim, why oh why?
- Fr lol
- ah, I couldn’t get bitten because I don’t have 10 billion won.
- Isn’t this guy crazy lmaooooo
[Title: Do you guys think this is a joke?]
Poster: Anonymous
There are still kids making jokes without understanding the situation.
A top-tier Ranker went missing right after donating 10 million gold to the True Ancestor.
How is this something to laugh off?
If the True Ancestor is really a man-eating monster, this entire Community could become a target.
She might be a more Dangerous Being than guys like Art1st or ab@yss.
- Fr, this is right;;
- if a powerhouse on the level of sol-Peul-Jwa got taken down, it’s definitely a serious problem.
- Shouldn’t the Association or high-ranking guilds start an investigation right now?
- Meow Meow Punch) …
[Title: It seems this disaster has finally occurred.]
Poster: Apostle of Light
Brothers and sisters. Have I not warned you time and time again?
The True Ancestor, as you can tell from her name, is highly likely to be a being shrouded in terrible darkness.
We must immediately secure sol-Peul-jeon-Sa’s safety and unite globally to investigate the truth
…
“What in the World is going on?”
I felt dizzy looking at the blazing Community.
The snowball that started with a single post questioning sol-Peul-jeon-Sa’s absence was now rolling out of control into conspiracy theories about how I had eaten him or turned him into a Vampire.
It wasn’t completely accepted as fact yet, with people divided into believers, neutrals, and non-believers, but…
If this situation continued, wouldn’t I really become the Enemy of the World?
Until now, I had nothing to lose from the image of a dangerous and powerful being.
But if it weren’t just WWE and I actually became the Public Enemy of the World, that would be an insane loss.
At the same time, I felt frustrated with the still-silent sol-Peul-jeon-Sa.
“Where is this sol-Peul-jeon-Sa guy and what is he doing?”
Did he perhaps take deep offense to my harsh words and go off the grid…?
No. No matter how I thought about it, that seemed like a bit of an overreaction.
Second, I needed to find out the reason for his disappearance.
“What should I do?”
The important thing right now was how to handle this situation.
Should I step up and post an explanation myself?
No matter how I thought about it, that wasn’t a good idea.
Because of my passivity, it would just sound like, “Why is that This Seat’s fault?” and posting an explanation like that didn’t seem like it would improve the situation.
It was then, while I was boiling inside, at a loss for what to do.
Ding.
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: I just got here. Why is the Community on fire right now…?]
‘He’s here!’
Speak of the devil.
He finally contacted me.
I felt a surge of annoyance along with relief.
If this guy hadn’t gone off the grid, I wouldn’t have suffered such an unfair misunderstanding.
No matter how sad or sulky he was.
I immediately opened the chat window and rapidly typed away.
[True Ancestor: Mortal. Do you only now dare answer This Seat’s call?]
[True Ancestor: While you were acting like a slug, those foolish things have been spouting irreverent nonsense toward This Seat. Explain yourself at once!]
As soon as I pressed the Send Button, the Read Receipt popped up.
And messages started pouring in.
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: Gasp. Sry sry…]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: I couldn’t reply because I hurriedly entered the tower;;]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: I barely survived the Nightmare 8th Floor, so I couldn’t even think about logging into the Community. I had no idea this kind of misunderstanding would happen;;]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: Really sry. I’ll explain everything.]
“Huh? Surviving the Nightmare 8th Floor?”
I thought the Community said earlier that sol-Peul-jeon-Sa was trying the Normal 88th Floor.
Did he suddenly challenge the Nightmare 8th Floor out of nowhere?
The Normal Tower and the Nightmare Tower are practically treated as completely different towers, so their cooldowns run differently, which makes sense.
Well, he did have his own busy circumstances.
If he went off the grid for a few days because he was fighting for his life in the tower, I can accept that.
Since he said he’d write an explanation post, I’d be able to clear up this weird misunderstanding too.
My mood softened a bit.
However, sol-Peul-jeon-Sa’s messages didn’t end there.
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: Ah. And.]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: I really wanted to say this.]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: Although this climb was a failure, Thanks to you, I was able to find a clue for the strategy.]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: Thank you sincerely. True Ancestor-nim.]
“…?”
I tilted my head.
Was this how he originally spoke?
When he first sent me a message, it was in a light tone, just saying, “Hey. Can we have a serious talk?”
Suddenly, he was being polite and using honorifics, calling me True Ancestor-“nim”.
“What is this…?”
Besides, he wasn’t sulking over what I said, but found a clue for the strategy.
I wondered what kind of situation this was, but anyway, it was a relief that he said he’d post an explanation.
I immediately refreshed the Community Bulletin Board.
Not long after, a new post went up under sol-Peul-jeon-Sa’s own nickname.
[Title: Clarifying the misunderstanding.]
Poster: Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa
I’m not dead.
Everyone stop with the weird misunderstandings.
My life was in a bit of danger for a few days, so I couldn’t log into the Community at all.
I can’t say the details for personal reasons, but anyway, those were my circumstances.
And it seems some people are making weird malicious rumors about True Ancestor-nim, but don’t do that.
I’m actually feeling grateful to True Ancestor-nim.
Because she showed me something completely new.
- ????
- sol-Peul-Jwa-nim, if you’re writing this while captured by the True Ancestor, please shake a carrot.
- showed you something completely new? What the Hell did she do omg
- life in danger + can’t say details + showed something new = ?
ㄴ he got done in, he got done in lol
ㄴ what the fuck, I didn’t believe the conspiracy theories, but did he really become a Vampire and undergo Brainwashing;;;
“No, this is crazy.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I told him to explain. So why the Hell did he write the post like that!
Anyone could see it looked like the testimony of a follower who fell into a Cult and underwent Brainwashing!
Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa must have been flustered too, as he hurriedly started leaving replies.
ㄴ sol-Peul-jeon-Sa) I’m telling you it’s not like that;; I mean I’m genuinely thankful for receiving her grace. Thanks to True Ancestor-nim, my eyes were opened.
ㄴ his eyes were opened, he says. Good Lord.
ㄴ does that mean he got red eyes?
ㄴ oh man… Sol-Peul-Jwa… How did you end up getting bitten by a monster like that…
ㄴ sol-Peul-jeon-Sa) no, it’s really not like that.
ㄴ Apostle of Light) it’s all right, sol-Peul-jeon-Sa-nim. It is not over yet. Do not lose hope. I will heal you.
ㄴ sol-Peul-jeon-Sa) this is driving me crazy.
However, the more replies he left, the worse the situation became.
It felt like I had to step in and fix this.
I quickly opened the Message Window and typed.
[True Ancestor: You dull mortal! Instead of doing that, you just need to reveal that you went to the Nightmare 8th Floor!]
I had no idea why he was beating around the bush with irrelevant words and fueling the misunderstanding.
It was a problem that would end cleanly if he just wrote one line saying he couldn’t come because he was challenging the Nightmare Tower again.
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: That’s true, but…]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: As for challenging the Nightmare 8th Floor, I wanted to announce it impressively after completely clearing it…]
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: It’s a bit embarrassing to say it now now that I’ve failed…]
It was a message that gave off a somewhat bashful vibe.
“Argh, is this the time to care about being embarrassed!”
I flared up in anger and was about to type rapidly again, but suddenly stopped myself.
Wait. Let’s think about this calmly.
Either way, he showed up himself, made a Survival Report that he was alive, and even posted an explanation.
There would still be people harboring doubts like the Apostle of Light or some users, but at least officially, it was settled as “Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa was safe and had received grace from the True Ancestor”.
Besides, if sol-Peul-jeon-Sa continued to be active normally in the Community going forward anyway, the misunderstanding that he became a Vampire and underwent Brainwashing would naturally fade over time.
Then, rather than yelling unreasonably at him to expose his secret right now
Wouldn’t it be better to use this situation to my advantage and make him owe me a debt?
I deleted the message I was writing and changed direction.
[True Ancestor: Haa. A mortal’s petty pride is truly a bothersome thing.]
[True Ancestor: Fine. However, since you have committed a great discourtesy to This Seat, you must not forget that debt.]
As soon as I pressed send, sol-Peul-jeon-Sa immediately sent a reply.
[Sol-Peul-jeon-Sa: Thx thx, I was going to do that anyway. I’ll definitely repay this favor.]
Good. I made a World-class Ranker owe me a debt!
I smiled while looking at the screen.
Turning a crisis into an opportunity.
I really am a genius, aren’t I?
Vam-hehe, oh my god.
* * *
At the same time
“By the authority of the Saintess, I convene an Emergency Meeting of the Temple Knight Order!”
“Hmm… True Ancestor. You manage to surprise This Seat once again.”
“…True Ancestor. Did you help someone else besides me?”
Countless powerhouses all over the World were paying attention to this situation.