Ch.42Yeouido

As I was making my rounds through Seoul Station harvesting Blood Fruit as usual, I was dealing with the occasional Fusion Body that appeared when I activated my Mystic Eye. That’s when I noticed that Aurel’s level had changed.

[Aurel]

Level: 13

Race: Vampire

Health: 100%

Mana: 92%

Emotional State: Mild sexual excitement, joy

“Aurel…?”

“Yes?”

Aurel turned her head while stomping on a Fusion Body’s corpse in response to my call.

If my memory wasn’t wrong, Aurel’s level had definitely increased.

I decided to ask her directly.

“What was your level again?”

“Me? It’s 12… wait, huh?”

Even as she answered, Aurel tilted her head in confusion.

Every user knows their own level, even without being able to check their status window.

“My, my level…!”

Aurel looked down at her hands with a shocked expression.

She seemed to have just noticed her level had increased without her realizing it.

“Oh! Charlotte! My level went up!”

Her level had increased. I heard Aurel’s confirmation.

That meant my memory wasn’t wrong.

“Yah! Yah!”

Aurel started throwing punches into the air with a bright smile.

The manifestation of a new skill due to her increased level.

She was using skills she couldn’t use before.

Aurel began emitting a red blood aura and tore apart all the remaining Fusion Bodies.

As I watched, I wondered when her level had increased.

Today? Or yesterday? No, that wasn’t the important thing.

The fact that levels could increase meant that existing users could become stronger.

The god wouldn’t have unlocked the leveling system without reason.

There must be a reason behind this sudden level increase.

“Hiyah!”

Aurel was beating down Fusion Bodies more enthusiastically than before.

As if she wanted to raise her level even higher.

I looked down at a Fusion Body that had collapsed on the ground, barely breathing.

Perhaps now that we had defeated Fenrir, the prologue of the game had finally ended.

“Bbi-bbi.”

At my call, a small girl emerged from the shadows.

It was Bbi-bbi, who had changed from an ordinary human to a vampire.

Because of that, she was still level 1.

In Blood Carnival, a level 1 user can level up just by killing a single Fusion Body wandering outside the town.

If the leveling system had truly been unlocked, Bbi-bbi’s level should increase too.

Bbi-bbi approached me, trembling.

She seemed scared of the Fusion Body lying on the ground.

I stroked her head and said:

“Kill it.”

“Oh! Yes!”

Bbi-bbi nodded at my command.

She formed a small shadow blade and swung it at the Fusion Body.

Slash-!

A precise strike aimed at the neck.

The Fusion Body, already on the verge of death, couldn’t withstand Bbi-bbi’s attack and died.

At that moment, through my activated Mystic Eye, I received her information.

[Bbi-bbi]

Level: 2

Race: Vampire (Charlotte’s Subordinate)

Health: 100%

Mana: 100%

Emotional State: Happiness, euphoria, joy, excitement

“Wow, wow…!”

Bbi-bbi was delighted with her increased level.

Her eyes began to sparkle.

My subordinate’s level had risen. That meant I could make my forces even stronger than before.

I suddenly looked up at the sky.

The fact that we had noticed the leveling system meant others could notice it too.

Perhaps all users would start hunting Fusion Bodies for level-ups.

No, it was certain.

In this world, level equaled power and status.

“Aurel! Hwang-gu!”

“Yes!”

“Yesss!”

The two girls came running at my call.

I said to Hwang-gu:

“Hwang-gu, riding mode.”

“Oh…!”

At my command, Hwang-gu transformed into a large wolf form.

After completing her transformation instantly, Hwang-gu rubbed against me while barking.

“Let’s go!”

After confirming that Aurel and I had mounted, Hwang-gu began to sprint quickly.

Our goal was to annihilate all the Fusion Bodies scattered throughout Seoul.

Normally, we would have avoided unnecessary energy expenditure, but now that we knew we could gain experience, there was no reason to avoid them.

After about half a day of traveling throughout Seoul and raising the levels of Aurel and my subordinates, we finally encountered other users hunting Fusion Bodies.

They were werewolves, hunting Fusion Bodies very enthusiastically.

They must have noticed the existence of leveling up.

I made eye contact from a distance with the one who appeared to be the leader of the group.

Vampires and werewolves were currently in an alliance.

Since there was no reason to clash, nor any reason to approach each other, we simply exchanged nods.

“Ugh…!”

Aurel bit her lip as she looked at the werewolves.

She seemed to have a strong desire for leveling up.

After that, I continued to guide Hwang-gu throughout Seoul.

Information about leveling up spread more quickly as time passed.

The number of Fusion Bodies began to decrease.

We were finally able to return to Seoul Station just before sunrise.

***

As time passed with leveling up, the date I had set for meeting with the clan leaders approached.

Of course, I couldn’t stop Aurel’s leveling, so I sent her and Yeppi to hunt on Hwang-gu’s back.

Finding myself alone, I headed to the place where I had arranged to meet the clan leaders.

Walking alone, I arrived at Prix’s clan hideout, a warehouse.

The inside of the clan warehouse was empty.

The clan members who usually filled the place were nowhere to be seen.

They must have been sent out hunting for level-ups.

Prix greeted me alone.

“It’s been a while.”

“Where are your clan members?”

“They went hunting.”

After that, there wasn’t much conversation.

That was because the other clan leaders hadn’t arrived yet.

After spending some time alone with Prix…

Finally, the other vampire clan leaders began to arrive.

They too, unlike before, were alone.

With everyone who had promised to come now gathered, I carefully broached the subject.

“Everyone did their investigation thoroughly, right?”

“I found out as much as I could.”

“Yes.”

They all nodded at my question.

What each vampire clan leader had been investigating was who had betrayed us.

Clans that suddenly changed their hideout locations, those who abruptly changed their attitudes.

Or they focused on gathering information about vampire clans that maintained close relationships with human users.

The same was true for me.

I hadn’t just been going around harvesting Blood Fruit trees.

I had been closely investigating all the vampire clans in Seoul using Aurel’s sparrows and my subordinates.

Of course, I hadn’t found much information.

“Everyone’s the same. Nothing different from before.”

Prix was the first to speak.

He shook his head as he answered.

He seemed frustrated at not being able to find the traitor, but his information network seemed to have its limits.

The rest of the clan leaders were in a similar situation.

They too seemed to have had little success, shaking their heads with uncertain expressions.

There was also talk about Mary, who was living in the church.

It was natural to be suspicious since she was getting along well with humans.

But they had been friendly with humans even before we planned the Fenrir subjugation.

And those friendly human users were individuals operating without any clan affiliation.

While everyone was sighing deeply in that situation, one girl spoke up.

“I found them. Suspicious ones.”

It was Firin who spoke.

A vampire girl with long red hair.

Though she looked like a soft girl in appearance, she too was a clan leader leading her own clan.

“Who are they?”

“Which area are they from?”

“What’s the clan leader’s name?”

The clan leaders showed great interest in Firin’s words.

Firin calmly began to speak.

“They were from Yeouido.”

“Yeouido…?”

Everyone made sour expressions at Firin’s words.

Yeouido, an area not far from Seoul Station.

But I hadn’t looked closely at Yeouido either.

The reason was the Han River.

There’s a large river flowing between Seoul Station and Yeouido.

Vampires feel a strong aversion to flowing water.

Just looking at the Han River makes them feel nauseous.

This instinctive aversion deeply affects the subconscious, erasing the option of approaching the Han River from one’s mind.

“The clan leader’s name is Aborix. The clan size is about 10 people.”

“What did they do?”

“They exchanged bags with humans. Seems like they traded something.”

“You don’t know what was in the bags?”

“No, I only saw from a distance.”

With those words, Firin closed her mouth.

Seeing her cover her mouth with a palm-sized teddy bear, it seemed she had nothing more to say.

In the end, it was decided to investigate both Aborix’s clan that Firin mentioned and Mary’s church.

Now we needed to divide people for the investigation.

“Who will go to Yeouido?”

I asked the clan leaders, but no one readily raised their hand.

It seemed to be because of the Han River between Seoul Station and Yeouido.

Just as I was thinking I might have to go myself, Firin raised her hand.

“I’ll go.”

“You?”

“Yes. Since I brought it up…”

In the end, it was decided that Firin and I would cross over to Yeouido.

The rest would continue to look for other suspicious clans while focusing on investigating Mary’s church.

After our objectives were set, Firin and I left the warehouse.

I observed Firin walking beside me.

Her eye level was slightly lower than mine, meaning she was shorter.

While I was observing her…

Firin, who had been walking beside me, subtly moved closer.

As the distance decreased, her scent became stronger.

As the faint peach scent tickled my nose, Firin spoke.

“Where did they go?”

“Who?”

“Your clan members.”

She seemed to be looking for Aurel or Hwang-gu.

I moved slightly away as I answered.

“I sent them hunting.”

“Hmm…”

Firin nodded as if disappointed by my answer.

Then she moved closer again, closing the distance I had created.

If she got any closer, our arms would touch.

The proximity was strangely close.

All my nerves were focused on my arm.

At that moment, our arms briefly touched and separated.

Firin’s arm, which had briefly touched mine, was soft and warm.