Volume 7 Chapter 2

ACT 2 Absurd Death

He had learnt a new skill after a long time. Ark immediately headed towards a testing ground to test it out.

“Now, where should I try it out? Magic Detection.”

When he used the skill Ark’s pupils shone with a blue light. In the dark evening, Ark’s eye lit up the forest! Deimos and Dedric looked on enviously.

“Oh, Master, somehow I feel a great force.”

Clack clack clack! Clack clack!

Ark also liked the special effects. However…….he didn’t feel any other changes except for the ones to his eyes.

“What is this? Is this really a skill?”

Ark wandered the forest with an ambiguous expression. As he was walking, he suddenly saw a pale light gathered near a bush. When he approached it looked like the ordinary gravel found anywhere. But it was impossible for an ordinary gravel to radiate light.

“Maybe this is the effect of magic detection?”

As soon as he picked up the gravel then an information window appeared.

-Suspicious gravel (Unidentified)

<Low level texture>

Ark’s eyes widened.

‘That’s it. That is the effect of Magic Detection!’

On the ground it looked like an ordinary gravel. He had never seen this message whenever he picked up a gravel. And he had picked up countless of them while building a camp or for some other reason. But a gravel had never been registered as an item until now. It was like when those who don’t know the value of a gold nugget would think it was just a coated stone. Even if they saw a valuable plant, it would only be weeds for someone without the knowledge. That is the reason Magic Detection was necessary. It could check if a gold bar was a gold bar or if a carrot was just a carrot. However, Magic Detection only told him that the item was special. Finding out why it is special was a different matter. Because the item information would come out as ‘Unidentified.’

“Discerning Eye!”

Sound Ore (Magic Ingredient)

The Sound Ore is a magic ingredient with a unique property.Although it looks just like ordinary gravel, it is an ore that has absorbed the properties of the magic sound field. When turned into a powder, it can be used to dilute powerful magic.

<Grade 5 Magic Ingredient. Value: 10-20 silver >

Ark used Discerning Eye to display the item information and average market price. Surprisingly it was 10~20 silver! It was  15 silver at most for precious minerals. In addition, general stores didn’t buy the minerals at the set value.  Although there was a value attached for the harvested ingredients, he couldn’t sell them in stores. However, when it was an identified magic ingredient then he could sell it for 90% of the value at the magic ingredients store. Of course, there was no ‘feelings’ skill better than his intuition. It normally took 5 gold to release a low level protection and identify the object. If it wasn’t an amazing magic ingredient then he would experience a loss.  However since he could use the ‘Discerning Eye’ that he developed in the blind auction, it wasn’t a problem. In the end, he would still get a profit even if it was a cheap item only worth 1 copper! It wasn’t different from picking up money on the ground or in the streets.

‘If I pick up an item then I can sell it unconditionally! This is perhaps…….it might be a huge windfall!’

Now he knew why Madusein was so determined to keep the skill to himself. There was no other NPC who could use Magic Detection around Lancel Village. So he had plenty of time to search for ingredients. But if Ark could detect magic then the situation was different.  How sick would Madusein be now that he had to share what he had previously eaten by himself?

‘Yes, that’s why it was so difficult to get from Madusein!’

Ark had a wicked smile on his face.

“I’m going to collect all the magic ingredients in the Argus Mountains!”

The world looked different once he had this skill! Just yesterday it was an ordinary hunting ground and now it looked like a field of money. Money! What other word could make Ark so crazy? Of course he could get items and experience from hunting. But with the extra bonus of finding magic ingredients, he found it fun to wander the mountains. It wasn’t tedious even if a monster didn’t appear.

‘Ores, plants, insects…….they’re also magic ingredients!’

He had never seen so many high calibre items piled up neatly in his bag. Bark and larvae that could be used in magic and cooking, magical iron ore and even fruit harvesting that had been impossible until now. Among them were also corrupted fairy wings. There weren’t a lot of magic ingredients. During the 30 minute duration of Magic Detection, he only picked up 4~5 items.  If he was gathering common ingredients in 30 minutes, he would find 15 which was approximately 3 times the drop rate  of magic ingredients so it was quite low. However since there was a light around the magic ingredient when using Magic Detection, there was no need to walk around looking at the ground like when he was searching for common ingredients.

‘If this light is on my eyes then I can find things that aren’t visible.’

When the corrupted fairy wings falls to the ground, it is transparent. Madusein dyed the transparent wings and sold them. Although he paid 3 gold for one, when he looked at it with Discerning Eye he saw that it was only worth 1 gold. It could only be found using the special skill, but selling it for 3 times the value…….

‘Damn, Madusein was a vicious merchant!’

Ark could say those things but he also wasn’t a gentle person when it came to money. Anyway, Ark once again realized the importance of learning new skills. Madusein was able to sell one corrupted fairy wing for 3 gold because not many people learned the detection skill. Of course, finding equipment items was important to a user as well. However no matter how good the equipment item, it would be replaced with a better one someday. On the other hand, once a skill was learnt then it was there forever. No matter how good the equipment was, it couldn’t last forever. When Madusein sold something worth 1 gold for 3, a person without the skill would have no choice but to accept it grudgingly. It was a professional skill was a huge additional value! It wasn’t a bad idea to learn as much skills as possible.

‘A lot of the ingredients can surprisingly be used for many things!’

He looked at the ingredients. It was an opportunity for him to create even more new dishes. He had only been able to raise his pets stats to level 90 thanks to the limitations of the ingredients. He had already used all the possible combinations of the ingredients in the Argus Mountains to create new dishes. But since he was now able to find magic ingredients, the situation changed. There were dozens of new combinations of ingredients that he could use to create new dishes! Considering the failure rate of survival cooking, he could raise his pets stats by three or four levels. Once again he would use the opportunity to keep his summons in check.

‘I have to tighten my grip again.’

Ark watched the battles vigilantly and waited for a chance. However, Dedric and Deimos made no mistakes.

‘There is a dangerous look in Master’s eyes!’

‘Damn, am I going to be unreasonably scolded?’

The two pets instinctively felt something. The time had come to take extra care! Dedric and Deimos had spent more than a year of game time with Ark. They had faced the same situation several times.  If there were no new ingredients then Ark was fine. Ark’s nature was that if there were no new ingredients, then it was better to save them and he didn’t make the torturous dishes anymore. However the situation was different if he was able to create new food. He would catch the slightest mistake and force feed the new dish to them. That’s right, ‘New Ingredients= Force feeding’ was already an official situation! While the discovery of new ingredients was a source of happiness for Ark, to his pets it was a catastrophe! It wasn’t below a catastrophe for them.

“Wah ah ah! Take this!”

Clack clack clack! Clack clack!

Deimos and Dedric immediately rushed forward whenever a monster appeared. Dedric would equip a steel helmet and head butt it while Deimos would grasp the legs until it collapsed. Their combative spirit was to such a degree that the monsters were puzzled whenever fighting the summons. But was that all? No matter how complicated Ark’s instructions, they obeyed them perfectly.

“Uhh, even though I suffered some injuries…..I’m going scouting for Master’s sake. Master, there doesn’t seem to be any monsters in the vicinity. Perhaps you should do some errands?”

Once the battle ended, he would go scouting for more enemies.

‘What’s with these guys?’

Ark became embarrassed of his pets. The monsters in the Argus Mountains were relatively low level. Since there was no way the battle could fail, they were relatively relaxed. Of course, he wouldn’t make up an excuse to feed them. However, he would punish any wrong actions. Those were the rules that Ark had established so far. If he pushed it too blatantly then they would become stubborn and cause adverse effects.

‘Hah, but if they behave too well then it is also a problem. Should I have just continued feeding them from the beginning? But if I used that system would they still listen now? What should I do? I already tried making the plans too complicated so that they would make a mistake……’

However, that problem was soon solved. There weren’t many monsters in the Argus Mountains that could make Ark tense.  That was because the monsters hunting ground was across the entire mountains. Among them, the most powerful was the level 100 steel maned gnolls.  While there were other higher level monsters, the steel maned gnolls organization and skills made them more difficult to hunt than the level 150 ogres. Their party consisted of  five or six steel maned beasts and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they were the most dangerous enemy in the area. But it was tedious for Ark to face them. Since he had already developed tactics with his summons to deal with them, they weren’t very difficult opponents. So when a group of steel maned beasts came running out of the darkness, Ark had no reaction.

‘The group is back again. I’ll dispose of them quickly since its troublesome.’

If the battle was somewhat unfamiliar, he would examine the surroundings carefully and determine the opponent’s strength. However, since he dealt with them often then he thought he didn’t need to bother. Even if his condition was worse than normal.

…………That was how the mistake happened.

“Awoooo!”

“Kung kung kung kung!”

When it was in trouble, one of them howled towards the forest and summoned more troops. When it howled, four or five steel maned beasts and gnolls emerged from the forest. Confusion was seen on Ark’s face.

‘Don’t tell me another scouting troop was nearby……’

He confirmed that he only had 40% health left. He had fought five steel maned gnolls. Normally he would have 60% left. However, he neglected his normal battle principles and paid for it.  It was harder than usual for him to concentrate on hunting. Therefore he never noticed the gnoll reinforcements were nearby……

‘Damn, I must have been losing my mind’

However, that was not Ark’s real mistake.

‘But I can still win. By using a strategy with my pets, I can beat them!’

“Deimos, defensive stance and protect the back!”

Ark shouted as he penetrated the gap. There were two gnoll archers present but he had protection at the back. There was no need to worry. Deimos would understand and stop the flying arrows. But just as he tried to swing his sword, he felt a sharp pain in his side.

-You have received a critical hit from the arrow of a steel maned archer!

240 damage. With the arrow lodged, your movement becomes slow for 30 seconds.

“Ugh, what, what the?”

It was unexpected damage! After Ark turned around, he was able to understand the situation. Ark had commanded Deimos to take a defense stance at the back. However, Deimos was crouched far away and rummaging around the corpse of a dead steel maned gnoll.

“He, he……..!”

His bone collecting skill was activated in this situation of all things.

Deimos has reassembled the tibia bone using his ‘Bone collector’ skill.

He has replaced it with a sturdy leg bone and is now able to move more quickly.

<Agility +1, Reaction Rate +2>

Deimos was only concerned about the new bone. Then Dedric used the chance to hurl curses at Deimos.

“You foolish skeleton! Do you enjoy your hobby more than your life? Are you going to laugh next? Can’t you see that Master is vulnerable because of you? Master, he should be forced to eat your food.”

Even if Dedric hadn’t said anything, Ark was about to explode. Ark’s operations with his summons had gone perfectly recently. Their role in battles had become much larger. But this was a double-edged sword. When a strategy was pulled over perfectly, a fatal weak point was revealed. When Ark was protected by Deimos, he would jump into the crowd to fight. But if Deimos was preoccupied, he was surrounded by himself. In addition, the arrow slowed his movements!

“Grrr, he thinks he can take care of everyone by himself?”

“This impertinent bastard!”

“Kill him. Grab him and tear him apart!”

“Grrr, the flesh has become soft.”

It was a group attack! Their attacks flew from everywhere. He would stumble whenever he got hit. There was no time to use his skills. A red light surrounded him as his health was steadily decreased. It fell to 20% while the arrows that continued to hit his arms and legs decreased his movement and attack speed.

“Dark Dance!”

Ark managed to escape the group using his evasion skill. But naturally, his bad condition even had an effect on his character. The Dark Dance skill became disabled when the completion rate fell below 30% and he received considerable damage.

“He’s struggling!”

“Catch him!”

The gnolls exposed their fangs and rushed towards him.

‘I’m not ready to die fighting against steel maned gnolls……..’

Eventually Ark used a trump card.

“Dedric, Vampire skill activate!”

It was the vampirism skill that Dedric had just learned in the hook bat cave! When he sucked the blood of a monster, he could absorb a random skill that could only be used once. The skill that Dedric had currently absorbed was Grimwing’s ‘Confusing Supersonic Wave,’ which had an 80% chance of causing confusion in opponents with low resistance! The battle situation could change in an instant thanks to that one skill! It wouldn’t be hard to control the dogs that had been confused.  However, that was the most crucial mistake committed by Ark. His concentration suddenly fell as he received damage to his neck and all the information windows that popped up displayed a crazy amount of information.

Dedric had used Vampirim on the Steel Maned Gnolls. The existing skill was deleted and a new skill saved.

* Currently absorbed skill: < Howling> Summon all the gnolls in a 100 meter radius.

The steel maned gnoll had been bleeding heavily. Thanks to the blood, Dedric could not resist his blood sucking vampire instincts. When Ark ordered him to use the skill, Dedric lifted his head and howled.

Awo, Awoooo!

It wasn’t necessary to see the results. After the howling sound was heard, a group of steel maned gnolls once again came running from the forest. Dedric was surprised and gave a hasty excuse.

“I, I didn’t know! It’s not my fault! Master ordered me to do it!”

“Damn, this guy is really…….!”

The situation became even more complicated. However, Deimos’ and Dedric’s nature didn’t help the situation. His health was already at a critical condition. In such a situation against another group of steel maned gnolls, the only possible result was death. In addition, he had already sold all his intermediate potions and only have low level ones left. Drinking 1~2 potions that restored 100 health would not help the situation.

‘There’s only one option!’

Ark pushed the gnolls back using Riposte. Ark’s level was 151. With the dark attribute bonus it was 211. But now he had to run away from level 100 monsters…….. His pride might be hurt but wasn’t living more important?

Kung kung kung kung!

The steel maned gnolls immediately chased after him. But there was a small mercy. His Indomitable Will and Adrenaline had kicked in thanks to his critical condition. Fortunately, his defense and reaction rate increased and he could endure a few attacks while widening the distance. And he soon appeared in front of a sheer cliff. Its height was approximately 10 metres.

‘My remaining health is 120. If I use the Cat Knight’s flexibility to reduce the fall damage then I can live!’

“Grrrr, die human!”

As soon as the clubs aimed at his head, Ark dived off the cliff. Ark tensed his body and twisted it as he was about to hit the ground. Although he felt some pain, luckily he only lost 30 health.

‘I did it! Alright!’

Ark jumped up and scanned the surroundings.

“Grrr, that bastard is alive!”

“Chase after it, it is dinner. Do not miss!”

They started steadily jumping down the cliff. But it would take some time to reach the bottom of the cliff. He used ‘Stealth’ to widen the distance between them. But just before he left out a sigh of relief, a red light flashed in front of Ark.

-Your pet ‘Deimos’ has been forcefully recalled to the Netherworld. You have received 50% of his health as damage.

‘T-this……!’

Ark screamed. While he was busy fleeing he had forgotten about his summons. After Ark had run away, the steel maned gnolls had attacked his summons. Dedric had the ability to fly so running away wasn’t difficult for him. However, Deimos was completely surrounded and killed. Deimos wasn’t a trivial summon like before. Thanks to the evolution and cooking, he exceeded level 90. His stamina was 1,500. When he saw the information window, Ark received a critical hit. Ark received 750 damage. He felt dizzy and strength began to slip from his body.

‘It can’t be! To die in this way…….!’

Ah, a warm smile could be seen on the faces of the gnolls approaching. So…….Ark became the dinner of the steel maned gnolls.

“Hah, it was crazy.”

Hyun-woo sighed as he pulled up the blanket. He wasn’t in very good condition as the thermometer showed this his temperature was 39 degrees. He clearly had a cold. It was reasonable. Even though the weather was getting colder, he hadn’t been up to turn on the heater because of the gas cost. He even washed with cold water so it wasn’t a surprise that he had a cold. Then he ignorantly exercised at the crack of dawn, so his symptoms became more intense.

‘I have to play the game…….’

Hyun-woo stared at the game unit. Game time was money. In addition he died in such an absurd manner. He wanted to restore the experience and stats that he lost. But Ark soon shook his head.

‘No, it’s better to rest for the moment.’

It was worth enduring. If he acted unreasonably then the situation might become bigger. Being sick wasn’t the problem. Ever since the health care privatization, the hospital had become incredibly expensive. Without health insurance, it would cost Hyun-woo 100,000 won just for one visit to the hospital. Once the price of injections and medicine was added, the cost was 150,000. It would also be a problem if his cold became more intense and he had to go to the hospital then he would be unable to play. Hyun-woo bought a herb tonic tea and ate with the blanket wrapped around him. But that was when Hyun-woo’s ordeal started.

Since Hyun-woo had been disconnected for a long time, JusticeMan immediately called him. When he told them that he had a slight cold, within 1 hour all the rehabilitation members were over. They came to visit the sick person once they heard the news. Tears welled in Hyun-woo’s eyes. He had thought the only place he wasn’t alone was in the game. But he was wrong. In reality, Hyun-woo also had people who cared if he had a cold.  He was so thankful that he couldn’t speak……but it didn’t even take a few minutes to turn into a nightmare.

Dangtangtang!

It was from the kitchen. Hyun-woo stared horrified at the rice that had fallen to the ground.

“My hands slipped……..Hahaha, it’s nothing to worry about. I bought a lot of ingredients to make porridge.”

Before he could process the words, there was another crashing sound. While Yapsab had been cleaning, he knocked over a vanity table. The lotion bottle that had been on top of it broke and poured out.  That wasn’t all. While trying to mop up the floor, he used so much strength that the mop was torn apart.

‘W-what the hell……?’

The 10 sturdy men couldn’t move around the house without causing accidents.

“Jjak-tung hyung, there’s fire too! The pot……Huck, Bul-kkun. Be careful lifting the computer…….eh? Yapsab hyung, the table leg is broken so it is barely holding up the centre……”

Just as he barely settled that side of the room, he had to return to the kitchen…….He didn’t know whether they had come to nurse him or terrorize him.  The rehabilitation members seemed to think they were pretty good at housework.  Therefore, Hyun-woo started sweating while running around after the rehabilitation members.

‘I might really die……’

His feverish symptoms became so severe that he really felt like his life was threatened.

“Stop moving!”

All of a sudden a sharp voice was heard in the room. At the moment, the rehabilitation members froze in place.  Their fearful gazes turned to where the voice was heard. Standing there was…….Hyun-woo’s saviour. Gwon Hwa-rang had arrived. But the voice that made them tremble in fear was not Gwon Hwa-rang’s.

“Hye-sun?”

The person who had appeared with Gwon Hwa-rang was Jung Hye-sun.

“I knew it would be like this if oppas came first.”

“No, we just…….”

“Enough. I can already guess what had happened. Do you have any idea? Are you here to help Oppa? Or did you come to harass him?”

The terrible rehabilitation members were quickly controlled. As the rehabilitation members pathetically their tail between their legs, JusticeMan said.

“I knew this would happen.”

Anyway, Jung Hye-sun’s appearance was Hyun-woo’s salvation. Once Jung Hye-sung stopped the terrorizing, she gathered the rehabilitation members together and rectified the situation at an incredible pace. The power of a woman was amazing.

While she cleaned up the mess in the house one by one, the fragrant smell of porridge also drifted from the kitchen. Hyun-woo was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

‘I lived……’

How much time had passed? He was able to relax and eat before going to sleep. When he woke up, there was no one around.

‘Did they leave without waking me up?’

He saw that it was 10 o’clock at night. He had slept for 2 hours. After sleeping his body seemed to feel somewhat better. His temperature seemed to have gone down quite a bit.

“It is lucky. After taking medicine and resting, I seem to have gotten over my cold.’

Hyun-woo stood up to eat the rest of the porridge and drink medicine. Then the door opened and Jung Hye-sun came in. Hyun-woo who thought everyone had left  became surprised and asked.

“Eh? Hye-sun, you haven’t left yet?”

“Did you just wake up?”

“Don’t you have to go to your part-time job?”

“I called and asked for a day off.”

Jung Hye-sun said with a smile. He suddenly saw that she was holding a basin in her hand.  The basin was intended to make a wet towel.

‘No wonder my temperature decreased……..’

Had Jung Hye-sun been changing the wet towels? Even after JusticeMan and the rehabilitation members had already left? Then in the meantime we were alone in the room? The idea made Hyun-woo’s face heat up. After Jung Hye-sun saw Hyun-woo’s face, she belatedly realized the situation and stuttered in an embarrassed voice.

“Uh,t-that……Hwa-rang ajusshi forgot that he had an appointment today……he said that he would come back later……it was late so he gave me a ride.”

‘Damn, that cunning raccoon that was pretending to be a bear!’

“Oh, Oppa, are you hungry? I’ll bring the porridge.”

“No, I’ll go.”

Jung Hye-sun put down the basin and quickly grabbed the door handle. Hyun-woo was one step slower so when he reached for it, he grabbed her hand instead.

“……..”

There was a strange silence in the air. It was already late at night. The room was a rented place where a man lived alone. A woman was holding a man’s hands while looking at each other. What kind of picture was it?

His heart beat strangely and the white hand he was grasping felt soft.  Jung Hye-sun had tied her long hair up to do the housework. Her sleek neck showed underneath it.  A raised lip. He didn’t have a blood sucking instinct like Dedric, but his saliva suddenly dried up. He heard something that sounded larger than thunder. Hyun-woo was surprised and removed his hand.

No, in this moment the power was in Jung ye-sun’s hands. Hye-sun didn’t avoid his gaze and stared at him with astonished eyes.  There was an incomprehensible power within those eyes. Hyun-woo involuntarily stepped forward, drawn by that power. A man in this situation wouldn’t understand the power and he slowly raised his hand to her shoulders. And…….

“Hey, Hyun-Woo!”

Abruptly, a loud sound was heard. At the same time, the magic was broken. Hyun-woo retreated in surprise. They avoided each other’s eyes while he went out to see who the unexpected guest was.

“Teacher Lee Myung-ryong?”

“Oh, I came to the right place. I wandered around for a long time looking for your house. I heard from Hwa-rang hyung-nim. You have a cold? Anyway, drink this for the time being.”

Lee Myung-ryong held something out with a laugh. It was a somewhat black liquid.

“What is it?”

“It’s my own recipe that I created. It contains ginseng, lemon, carrot, eggs and other things. Drinking this will cure your cold faster than herbal medicine.”

He had created a survival cooking dish in real life…….!

Although Hyun-woo made a face at the ingredients, he had to drink it in front of Lee Myung-ryong. He shuddered as the horrible feeling entered his mouth and slid down his throat.  Now he knew what his summons felt when he force fed them food.

“Hah, how was it? This is a man’s drink. Am I also getting a cold? Why do I feel a chill? I’ll go home and make another cup. Then I’ll be going.”

Lee Myung-ryong left after adjusting his collar. There was a pair of eyes staring at the back of his head from the window. It was Hye-sung and her glare was the cause of Lee Myung-ryong’s chill.

He didn’t know whether it was because of Jung Hye-sun’s nursing or Lee Myung-ryong’s survival cooking, but his cold seemed to have completely disappeared. Fortunately, Ark was able to connect to New World again the next morning.

‘Damn!’

He cried angrily after he appeared in Lancel Village and checked the information window. After leaving the beginner village, he had never died. While there weren’t any particular bonuses applied, he had felt a sense of pride at that achievement.  But now he had ridiculously died from level 100 monsters on what felt like his home ground, the Argus Mountains.

‘There’s no point in getting hung up on it since I already died. But…….’

Ark had a severe self-criticism time. He had become too lazy after becoming familiar with the monsters in the Argus Mountains. Since he considered the monsters trivial, he hadn’t seen the need to be tense. But a battle was a battle. A different variable was likely to happen at any time. He had died because he forgot this simple fact. However, that was not the whole problem.

‘I’ve been too easy on Dedric and Deimos.’

In fact, yesterday wasn’t the first time he thought that. However, he thought ‘well, it’s just his much……’ and let them get away with it. Ark thought that it was time to tighten up the regulations.  Since he had been together with his summons for a long time, they’ve developed some inconvenient quirks. Deimos had developed the bone collecting skill Collecting bones was an undead instinct.  And since collecting bones raised the stats, didn’t Ark also benefit? He thought like that and left it alone.

……..It was a mistake. Increasing the stats through bone collection was good. But what use was raising the stats if it couldn’t be used to help him in time?

‘Dedric was the same!’

He had absorbed the rare boss skill ‘Confusing Supersonic Wave’! That was the only skill he received so far. The power of the skill was enormous. Furthermore, he couldn’t get it again since Grimwing died. He felt reluctant to give it up but was willing to use it when it was necessary. But Dedric had selfishly used Vampirism and lost the ‘Confusing Supersonic Wave’. But was that all? He had absorbed the ridiculous ‘Howling’ and threw Ark as dog food. He recalled the whole situation and decided to discipline his summons. Ark concluded.

‘I made a mistake so I should fix it.’

He had also suffered along with his summons. After eating lee Myung-ryong’s survival dish, he was able to understand his pets situation. But since he wasn’t willing to endure the same problem over and over again, Ark became resolute.

“Summon Demon, Dedric!”

There was a soft light and Dedric was summoned. Dedric nervously twisted his hands and said.

“M-master! What did you do during that time? I was worried.  Ah, perhaps you are angry? I really couldn’t help it.  A vampire has the vampire instincts. I didn’t even know I was sucking the blood.  So when Master used the skill…….”

“You said instincts right?”

“That’s right. Instinct, instinct. You know? ”

Ark laughed and nodded his head.

“Okay, let’s confirm how unbearable your instincts are. Follow me.”

Ark suddenly pulled Dedric and headed to the hunting grounds. The unlucky prey caught was a troll.

“Would you like to check it? Dark blade!”

Ark had clearly shaken off the cold and the troll was soon in critical condition. After Snake made a haemorrhage poison, he inflicted another blow.

“Oooooh!”

The troll that had been stabbed collapsed to the side while bleeding heavily. It was strange. He was talking about vampire instincts and then out of nowhere attacked the troll…….Dedric’s face had been cautious until his eyes suddenly changed. After he saw the blood, his vampire instincts kicked in.

“Bl……Blood!”

“Resist drinking the blood. Huh?”

Ark had said while glaring at Dedric with a chilly gaze. But once he smelled the blood Dedric went out of control, and despite Ark’s intimidation he flew towards the troll and plunged his fangs into its neck.

Dedric has used Vampirism  on the troll.A new skill has been saved in the empty slot.

* Currently absorbed skill: <Revival> For 5 minutes, this will restore the target’s health by 10 every 5 seconds

Trolls were known for having the best restoration skill.

“Good?”

“Oh, this fulfilment and satiety! It is good being born a vampire!”

Dedric rubbed his stomach with a satisfied expression. Then Ark began to smile and approached Dedric.

“Ack, why, why Master? Are you crazy? Did you become crazy since you lay down once? Huck, ah, it hurts! I just had a meal. It’s coming out!”

Dedric swelled up after having his stomach stepped on and vomited out all of the troll’s blood. The skill disappeared after he just got it but Ark wasn’t interested in the skill. Dedric stared at him as he wept with a hurt face.

“Huk huk huk, what did I do wrong that would make you treat me like this?  Even if you are Master, this is too terrible.”

“Do wrong? Didn’t I tell you not to drink the blood?”

“B-but the vampire instincts……”

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m trying to confirm how much of that troublesome instinct you can endure.”

“Huck, don’t tell me Master…….?”

Dedric suddenly turned pale as he realized his intention.

“No way! I’m not a dog! This is a violation of human rights!”

“Human rights? You’re a vampire. And you as a dog? No, with training a dog can control its instincts. But the fact that Ark’s pets can’t control themselves is ridiculous. Of course it’s not going to be easy. But even so, we have to work together. Because I ‘really’ love you guys.”

Ark laughed while clenching his fist.

“Do you understand? That is the pain of growing up.”

“……No, you could have died before when I was beating you……”

“So?” You have to recover before the next training.”

Ark immediately took out a pot. Since he hadn’t found any excuses for a while, quite of lot of new ingredients had been built up. However, he didn’t need an excuse to make something.

Rules? Human rights? Don’t be ridiculous.

Ark felt bitter at the mention of human rights and decided not to bother with such trivial things.

“Come and eat. Aren’t you hungry after throwing up just now?”

“I’d rather save my stomach.”

“Would you rather die and go to hell? Or just eat it?”

Dedric was forced to swallow the food and bent over gasping. Heh, what an unlucky fellow. But Ark just continued the training without lifting an eyebrow. Ark continued to cause a bleeding status in the monsters that appeared. Every time, there was the monster spilling blood, blood, blood, everywhere! But Dedric clenched his fists and endured it. After a few minutes, he succumbed to the vampire instincts and sucked the blood. The punishment was imposed immediately! After a few hours of violence and torture by food, Dedric became emaciated.

‘It’s not a joke. In this situation I really will die and wither up!’

It was natural for Dedric to become aware of the danger. The same situation had repeated many times. A gradual change eventually occurred in Dedric. Fear won over instincts! No, a new instinct was produced. Sucking blood would 100% lead to violence and food torture. When sucking the blood, he might be happy. But after the pleasure of the moment, the result would be a world of pain. This idea was so established in his mind that even when the vampire instincts appeared, he hesitated to obey it. His fear had created a new instinct.

“Oooh……!”

Even though his saliva was spilling out, Dedric endured until the end. It was the first time he had won over the vampire instincts!

“Look, you could do it.”

Ark nodded in satisfaction. However, that was not the end of the training. The next training was to fix Dedric’s unbalanced diet. Dedric’s vampire instincts weren’t triggered for every monster. Just like a person had a favourite food, a monster with a more useable skill would stimulate the appetite more.

“Now, this time the trolls.”

Ark was cruel once he set his mind on something. While a monster was bleeding, Dedric was forced to suck the blood of other creatures. It was like a court cuisine was placed right in front of a hungry person and they were told to eat instant noodles. From not eating at all…….Dedric now had to quickly develop a taste for all types of blood. Once again he was tortured with food! Thanks to that, Dedric was able to gain 6 levels in 8 hours…….the horrible situation could be imagined just from that.  However, the effect was obvious despite the terrible methods.

“Come on, eat. No, stop.”

“Gulp! M-Master!”

Dedric stared at the blood while breathing harshly.  Although he had to swallow his saliva, his body did not move. He had instinctively stopped when he heard Ark’s voice.

“No. Wait, wait…….”

Ark was like a cruel master teasing a dog with meat. After approximately 5 minutes he killed the monster.  In the face of despair, the League came up with this dead. A look of despair appeared on Dedric’s face.

“Alright. That’s it.  Even if a monster is bleeding heavily and you want to drink its blood, you are not allowed to without my orders. This standard is enough for now but let’s not forget today’s lesson.”

“Yes!

Dedric replied obediently after being disciplined. After he completed Dedric’s training, he checked the time.  24 hours had passed since he died.  He summoned Deimos who had been forcefully recalled.

“Summon Demon, Deimos!”

With a soft light, Deimos was summoned. Ark clenched his fist and smiled.

“Deimos, shall we have a serious conversation about your bone collecting habits that you’ve been enjoying these days?”

Clack clack clack?

Deimos was confused as he tilted his head. Dedric looked at the next victim with compassion in his eyes.

“Yes, it’s better to learn this as fast as possible………”

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