Chapter 18 – Lacking in Class (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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『Manifestation』.

I deformed the shape of the stone statue.

Making the muscular legs supporting its massive body thin.

Crack!

At that, the statue lost its balance and knelt down.

Everything was possible because the stone statue was not a monster.

Not a monster, I say.

How could I be certain?

Because I had confirmed it in the update details.

──────

New Rift, ‘Fortress of the Count Family’ is added.

New Named Monster, ‘Count Ascura’: Lv.430

──────

Fortress of the Count Family.

The only monster that appears is Count Ascura alone.

In that case, direct interference might be possible…….

That judgment hit the mark.

The fact that it wasn’t a monster simultaneously meant it wasn’t the Demon race either.

Because [Natural Enemy] didn’t activate.

There was a little magic power consumption, but well, it was fine.

“Just now, what was that sound……?! What?!”

“……Did everyone see? That monster in one shot!!”

“Everyone move! This isn’t the time to be distracted!”

There were plenty of Players, not only me.

My entering through the main gate became the starting signal.

Toppling the stone statue that was serving as a gatekeeper drove the nail in the coffin.

And Players were pouring into the castle interior like a flood.

I can’t stay still either.

Step

Above all, I had a clear purpose.

─Hunt vampires. (In Progress) ▲

●Announce that the hunt has begun. (Success)

●Make them feel the terror of being hunted. (In Progress)

Take down Count Ascura alone?

That itself was arrogance.

Even going by level alone, it didn’t make sense.

Level 100 VS Level 430.

However, I had the card called [Exorcism Ritual].

I had also properly brought along the Devil’s Item that would serve as the offering for the exorcism ritual.

So what I had to do was simple.

To make Count Ascura feel even a little fear through the exorcism ritual.

As for the remaining process after that…….

‘Leave it to the other Players.’

Some degree of contribution would be recognized.

Not only would I obtain experience points.

With luck, I might even get loot.

Yes, so……

How about walking just a little slower, my legs?

I made a rational judgment based on evidence……!

But I was overflowing with even more confidence than that.

As if it were a runway.

I was confidently strolling through the castle interior.

“Can you even eat a meal while looking at such hideous portraits? Your stomach must be strong. Ascura.”

Suddenly, upon reaching the massive dining table, I poured out harsh criticism.

The portrait hanging on the opposite wall.

It looked like the figure of Count Ascura.

……Isn’t that drawn too realistically?

Setting aside being skin and bones as a secondary issue.

The red eyes, the protruding fangs.

The figure of Ascura in the painting was a vampire through and through.

Moreover, the gloomy atmosphere of the castle made the portrait look even scarier.

Of course, I was looking at that portrait from an aesthetic standpoint too.

“The detailed description and expression of light and shadow are clumsy. It would be embarrassing to even call this the work of a painter.”

……Somehow it felt like I was just spitting insults after entering someone else’s house.

Let’s think of it as fortunate.

If it weren’t for this attitude.

I wouldn’t have been able to act alone like this.

“Failing just like the statue.”

Step

*

The Fortress of Count Ascura Family.

As expected, it was not a Rift to take lightly.

The Players’ faces were full of cold sweat.

Those looking around cautiously with tense expressions.

“……I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“Even with buffs applied, this level of pressure.”

“Doesn’t it look like it too? Each and every one of them gives me a bad feeling.”

It wasn’t melodrama.

In reality, Players, from the moment they entered the castle.

Were suffering from all sorts of status effects.

[Count Ascura is watching you.]

[Your willpower is too low.]

[Status Effect: Fear occurs.]

They hadn’t even come face to face with Count Ascura.

Count Ascura’s portraits hanging everywhere.

It was merely that the red pupils of the portrait were watching the Players.

“……Found it!”

Whoosh!

Upon finding that portrait.

When they burned it with a skill, only then did breathing become a little easier.

The Players clicked their tongues.

“Damn it. The castle, the interior, everything is a trap.”

“I just thought it was a scary artistic direction. But it wasn’t.”

“Is this why it’s worth its level? It’s tricky. Really.”

That was right.

It was not a simple artistic direction.

The statues.

The portraits.

Even going so far as a single book inserted in the bookshelf.

“……What? ‘Human Cuisine’? What kind of title is that?”

“Hey! Don’t touch that!!”

“……?!”

All of that.

Was inflicting status effects on the Players.

Guild, Gaon.

Analysis was delivered to Nam Tae-min.

-So everything inside the castle is a trap.

“It’s vicious, really. I can feel the malice.”

-Do you think it’s just called a vampire’s castle for nothing.

Nam Tae-min reflected on his experiences until now.

Including when Arcana was a game.

No matter how much he thought about it, this concept was new.

“Back in the day I would have loved it a lot.”

Because the more tricky it was, the more rewarding it would be to clear.

But not anymore.

Because failing to clear was no longer logging out but death.

The sense of responsibility for that was also immense.

Did he notice the anguish contained in the small exhale?

Nam Chul-min’s voice could be heard.

-Don’t feel too frustrated about having no method.

“……What are you saying? All of a sudden.”

-I figured you were probably beating yourself up again. Don’t do that.

Nam Tae-min’s class was Barbarian.

Except for when [Berserk] was activated, his resistance to status effects was low.

Due to the nature of the warrior-type class, it was inevitable but…….

‘It can’t be helped that the healers will feel burdened.’

Not only was he unable to help, but he was a burden.

Nam Tae-min’s worry was something he couldn’t shake off.

-Everyone has different roles assigned. Everyone understands that. I’m telling you not to get ahead by yourself and needlessly overdo it. Because there’s nothing good about that.

As expected, blood doesn’t lie.

Nam Tae-min let out a smirk.

“Well, how do you know me so well? Someone watching would think this was from personal experience.”

A similar laugh was also heard.

-Haha. You can read me like a book?

“……Read me like a book? What, is this really from personal experience?”

-Who knows? Anyway, take it to heart since it’s coming from an elder in life.

It was at that moment.

Suddenly, a presence was felt from the front.

I wondered if it was another guild, but the presence was only one.

“Who is it?”

Hawk Eye.

One guild member used their enhanced eyesight to identify the owner of that presence.

“It doesn’t seem like Count Ascura……. It’s a woman? Blonde hair going down to her waist……. Wait, she’s incredibly pretty?! Her hat is pulled down so only the lower half of her face can be seen. The meaning is she’s a beauty even just judging by the lower half of her face……?! Ow, why are you hitting me?!”

Sigh

What should I do with that guy.

Just as Nam Tae-min was shaking his head in disbelief.

Nam Chul-min’s voice could be heard in his ear.

-You said she’s alone?

Words that sounded obvious followed.

-Recommended Level, 400~450. On top of that, who would be the Player able to walk around alone in this castle where status effects go off everywhere you go? There’s only one person.

Nam Tae-min nodded.

“Yeah, there’d only be one person.”

A Mage, a Mage beyond a Mage.

Jesse Heinness.

It was definitely her.

*

My harsh evaluations continued.

“The structure was also something you didn’t think about at all.”

Someone looking would think I came here to look at real estate.

Let’s be thankful there are no watching eyes right now.

I recalled the structure of the castle I had passed through.

Entrance → Garden → Corridor → Banquet Hall → Study

And the staircase visible in front.

There hadn’t been anything particularly problematic progressing this far.

There wasn’t anything particularly strange either.

Ah, if I were to pin down one thing, there was one.

That there were excessively many portraits of Count Ascura.

And thanks to that, I had been firing off harsh criticisms without a break, for about that amount.

Looking at the structure.

The staircase to the upper floor would only be this one.

There would be no need to search for a path on the opposite side.

Because if Count Ascura had appeared, some kind of commotion would have been heard. In that case, Count Ascura had a high probability of appearing on the 2nd floor.

“The manner of welcoming guests is also a failure.”

It seemed like there were no Players who had entered the 2nd floor before me.

There were no Players who had discovered this staircase either.

I could be confident in that.

Even thinking for myself, my walking pace was remarkably fast.

Overflowing with confidence.

I suppose it was thanks to walking with straight, extended legs.

It was when I was approaching the staircase with those consistent steps.

“Oh!”

A faint single voice was heard.

When I turned my head, there was a large pointed hat.

To be precise, it was a woman with a pointed hat pulled down.

Before I could even express anything, she approached me.

But what was this? This speed.

I wondered if she had wings on her legs and checked, but.

I ended up being even more surprised.

‘……Levitation.’

Her legs were floating through the air!

I felt like crying.

‘Someone diligently scrapes magic power together until they bring in physics……!’

And someone uses magic power freely like water.

It was because I felt the wealth gap in magic power firsthand.

However, I showed none of that.

That pointed hat looked up at my face.

……Thinking whether she’d be able to see anything like that.

The hat leaned backwards and the woman’s face was revealed.

Blonde.

Green pupils.

Snow-white skin.

……It was a face I felt like I had seen somewhere before.

The fact that I felt like I had seen her face must mean she’s a very famous Player. Thinking that, it made my chest hurt a little less.

Yes, levitation like that isn’t something just anyone can use.

“I saw you!”

“?”

“You, such a fascinating magic!”

She spoke to me abruptly like that.

Someone looking would think I was Mr. ‘Fascinating Magic’.

However, looking at those sparkling pupils.

It seemed like sincere words with no ill intent.

“What skill was that exactly? It was a skill I was also seeing for the first time! I watched that video dozens of times! But I still couldn’t figure it out! There has never been a magic-type skill I didn’t know until now!”

So that’s what it was.

The video she watched dozens of times must be referring to the plaza battle.

The magic I used there was a very simple magic of erecting walls and pillars.

However, it’s natural that she couldn’t figure it out. Because that was 『Magic』, not a [Skill].

“I, I really couldn’t hold back my curiosity!”

Sudden!

I looked at the face being shoved in front of me.

It must have been an action stemming from pure curiosity.

Setting aside whether she would understand or not, I might have answered in the old days. Even if it were because I was charmed by those attractive looks.

“Could we talk about that fascinating magic!”

But not now.

I opened my mouth.

“Having proper manners.”

“……Yes? Manners?”

“That is the basic thing a learner must have.”

That alone should have been sufficient.

But I ended up adding one more word.

“Unqualified. Failed.”

“Gasp…….”

From an exclamation mark to a question mark.

Would it be an expression to say it then changed to a period?

The vitality had disappeared from her face.

Even failing a college entrance exam wouldn’t make such an expression.

A briefly cold silence passed for a moment.

Suddenly, letters floated up in my field of vision.

[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy’ is activated.]

The meaning of that message was simple.

Fortress of the Count Family.

The only monster that appears, Count Ascura.

It meant the guy had appeared.

I reflexively looked up the staircase.

And there, Count Ascura was.

A vampire that looked exactly like the portrait.

“Ascura.”

When I said that, the guy responded.

“I am Count ‘Ascura’. You frail human.”

A fishy blood smell wafted from his breath.

How many lives must he have taken with those fangs.

The density was extremely thick.

Grip

Even the woman who had been dazed pulled her pointed hat down tighter and gripped her staff more firmly.

However, at the same moment.

The emotion I was feeling was only one thing.

I ended up smiling.

“Count? That joke passes. Ascura.”

“……A joke? I clearly stated it. I am Count Ascura……!!”

“No. You are not a noble.”

[Necklace Imbued with Blood’s Curse].

I took out the Devil’s Item.

“Disguising a hideous curse as authority. Sharing that curse as if it were your own authority and then taking it back. Furthermore, all the decorations inside the castle where not a speck of class can be felt.”

“……What?”

“It means there isn’t a single shred of pride as a noble left in you, Ascura. But…….”

I shot out the last words.

“Why does a hideous vampire still call himself a noble?”

That provocation was the starting signal.

“Silence!! I will kill you!! Vermin of a human!!”

[‘Necklace Imbued with Blood’s Curse’ is selected as the offering.]

[Skill, ‘Exorcism Ritual’ is activated.]

[Vampire, Count Ascura is invited to the ‘Ritual’.]