For this meeting, I went out of my way to buy Siyeon a fancy suit. She looks cool in her usual battle suit, but for an occasion like this, a suit really suits her best. When I asked her to buy me three melon flavored ice creams while she was out, she not only remembered but brought them back perfectly—that praiseworthy Siyeon.
She even had the sense to get them as part of a 2+1 deal!
My, just look at how sharp she is. Whose familiar is she, anyway?
I handed two to Siyeon and Katarina, and kept one for myself.
Nom.
As I bit into the ice cream with my fangs, I recalled the scene I had just watched through [Sight Sharing (Unique)].
'It was a bit of a surprise that the Ice Emperor was there.'
I was taken aback when I entered the room and saw the Ice Emperor sitting right next to the Association Chairman out of nowhere. But when I thought about it... the Association must see me as an incredibly strong and dangerous being. It made sense that they would call an S-class as a bodyguard.
Anyway, I was relieved to see that the Ice Emperor seemed to have recovered well. It was worth saving her back then. She’s an S-class Hunter who brings glory to the nation, so she shouldn't be sick. Yep, yep.
In any case, the real negotiation began. Truth be told, it wasn't really a negotiation. It was just a place to receive tribute and hear some explanations. That was why I had only given Siyeon three instructions.
First: Ask if the Association Chairman is lying!
Second: Pass on a message of peace that if they keep their promises, I will be friendly in return!
Third: Ask if they can cover up a major crime, even on the level of the Blackcow incident!
"……."
Siyeon followed my order, staying quiet and listening well.
"There shall be no lies in your promises."
She threw out the first question. I immediately checked the Association Chairman's inner thoughts with [Appraisal Eyes].
[Status: Extremely nervous, telling the truth]
'Oh?'
He really wasn't lying. Instead, he was incredibly nervous. Seeing a man old enough to be my father act like that made me feel a little sorry for him.
"The Lord has said that if the promises are kept well, there is an intention to treat the Association favorably."
And second. The message of peace was delivered safely.
Finally, the third question. Can they cover up a major crime on the level of the Blackcow incident?
"Association Chairman. You said you would help the Lord as much as possible, even in matters beyond the laws of society. If so, does that include the killing of hundreds of humans?"
Honestly, I was a bit nervous when Siyeon asked this. I was afraid they might say that was absolutely impossible. But.
"If such a thing were to happen... it would surely be because of the Progenitor's great intent."
"As long as it is not the massacre of innocent citizens, of course, we will help you."
Unexpectedly, the Association Chairman accepted it very coolly. He did set a condition, saying not to massacre innocent citizens. Naturally, there was no way I would ever do something like civilian massacres.
'What on earth do they think of me?'
It felt strange, so I examined the Association Chairman's inner thoughts more closely with [Appraisal Eyes].
[Status: Suspecting and wary, believing the opponent is a leader-level existence of the vampire faction]
'……Eh?!'
For some reason, the Association Chairman seemed to have noticed that I was a Vampire. H, how on earth did he know? I didn't even send Katarina and sent Siyeon instead to avoid being caught...!
Ah. Right. My nickname was 'Progenitor'. But did he not see that as a concept-play, and seriously believe that I was a real Vampire? Of course, he didn't just come to that conclusion so easily; he must have gone through a very complex thought process to come to a conclusion.
He was half right and half wrong. The fact that I was a Vampire was the truth, but it was a misunderstanding to think of me as the boss of a massive vampire organization.
'Ah, so that's why….'
Now everything made sense. Why the Association was acting so submissive. Being a Vampire, a leader of a faction, and even clearing a Nightmare difficulty Tower in a flash? From the Association Chairman's perspective, it must have felt like a living nuclear bomb was roaming around our country. So it was only natural for them to bow down and offer tribute.
'Hmm. But is there any need to correct him?'
Although it was embarrassing, thinking about it, it wasn't a bad situation. Nothing bad had happened, and I had only gained huge benefits from that image. I tried to hide my identity because I was afraid of being exposed as a Vampire. But since it's already out there, it's good that they think I'm incredibly strong and great. That way, they won't be able to treat me easily.
Anyway, now I have a universal ID card and a secret card! With this, I can deposit money. I don't have to pay taxes. I can even handle real estate transactions or whatever requires an identity.
I was even registered as an unofficial S-class overnight! I don't know what I did to become an S-class Hunter, but anyway, you've hit the big time, Yujin!
All of this was thanks to my two familiars.
"Siyeon. Katarina. You are both very wonderful familiars."
Feeling good, I called both familiars over and stroked their heads with both hands at the same time.
"Master… Ye-es…."
"H-uh, Lord…. Such excessive glory once again…!"
They both seemed to really like it. Actually, I wanted to go beyond just stroking them and hug them, but [Noble Demeanor] had a repulsive reaction, perhaps because that would lower my dignity.
'What a shame.'
I inwardly vowed to find a way to hug them later.
'Great. Now that the urgent problem is solved, I should look at the 5th-floor strategy.'
For reference, the cooldown for entering the Tower up to Nightmare Floor 4 was one week, right? Now it's two weeks. So I had plenty of time for myself. Today, I planned to thoroughly study the strategy guide by 'Solo' that I had saved.
[Title: Nightmare 5th Floor Strategy (Warning: Long)]
Author: Solo
I cleared the 5th floor a long time ago, but there are so many questions lately, so I'm writing a guide.
The 5th floor has a completely different Tower structure compared to before.
Until now, floors 1-4 just required simple combat, right? The arena or the graveyard, the style was the same, just with different numbers of monsters.
But starting from the 5th floor, it changes to something like a story mode if you compare it to a game.
Chapters are created, and you have to clear quests for each chapter to move on.
The background is a castle in medieval fantasy.
It's the same background as a normal Tower 5th floor, but while that is a normal siege warfare on the castle walls, the Nightmare 5th floor turns the entire castle town into a map, and all sorts of things happen inside.
It's hard to clear if you only have physical strength; various abilities are required.
The difficulty feels similar to clearing the 50s floor of a normal Tower.
But the point here is that the entry condition is restricted to under level 40.
You have to clear what is equivalent to the 50s floor with specs under level 40, so do you realize how tough it is?
So, if your level isn't enough, I recommend you run normal Tower or Gates hard to fill it up to 39 before you look at the full strategy.
There are idiots who try to act cool and clear it with a low level. You'll just suffer like hell and fail, so make sure to get to level 39.
How do I know?
…I didn't want to know.
…
‘Hmm….’
The entire structure of the Tower changes starting from the 5th floor. This was information I had never heard of before. As expected, it's not a Nightmare difficulty for nothing.
'But I'm way lower than level 39.'
[Level: 27]
I leveled up quite a bit by clearing floor 4 and even drinking the Ghoul Lord's blood, but it was still only level 27. It's a full 12 levels lower than the recommended level Solo mentioned.
Can I clear it with this level? Of course, the situation is very different because I have Katarina and Siyeon. But since he said it's not something you can clear with just physical strength, I was a little worried.
I saw on Heon-gal that you usually receive another new skill at level 30. So, it might not be a bad idea to hit level 30, get another skill, and then enter.
Just as I was about to organize my thoughts. One decisive problem came to my mind late.
'Sunlight…!'
Thinking about it, he said the 5th floor is set in an entire medieval fantasy castle, right? Then obviously, the sun would rise there too, right?
Floors 1 and 2 were arenas with ceilings, and 3 and 4 were graveyards with a night background, so I was fine. But the 5th floor means sunlight will shine.
‘I’m going to be really seasick…!’
Of course, it's not an extreme restriction. Anyway, I wouldn't participate in combat, and my familiars would do all the fighting. Whether I'm groaning in the back or not, it probably wouldn't matter much to the strategy.
‘But, it’s going to be rough.’
Seasickness-level motion sickness! Do you know how hard that is?
'What should I do?'
Of course, things like sunscreen won't fix it. Parasols won't work either because they don't block everything completely. Perhaps it would be okay if I wrapped my whole body tightly and wore sunglasses. It might be okay, but I would look so weird.
It's not like I'm a mummy….
[Noble Demeanor] allows me to wear comfortable T-shirts and shorts at home, but I don't think it would ever tolerate me looking like a mummy.
Hmm. What to do. First, I searched for items on the internet, but maybe because there's no demand, sunlight-blocking items didn't come up.
Should I contact the Association Chairman and ask? But I've already received a ton of tribute, and it feels bad to try and squeeze more out of him right away.
Then, trade on the Climbing Community? A user named '24/7InquiriesWelcome' said they always welcome trades. But that also feels like exposing my weakness to the outside world.
Then what should I do?
‘I don’t know…….’
Even after worrying, no answer came out. Since I have plenty of time before going to the 5th floor, let's think about it while I hit level 30. Maybe there's a way to solve the sunlight problem with the new skill I get at level 30.
However.
"……."
For a few days after that, I did nothing but lounge around at home, becoming a lazy Progenitor. Because.
‘Why is it so peaceful these days…?’
No high-grade Gates had opened. To level up, I have to either climb the Tower or drink the blood of high-grade monsters. I kept checking the internet and the official Hunter site with the ID card the Association Chairman gave me, but I didn't see any decent Gates.
‘Hmm. Can’t a random Gate pop up in the neighborhood like last time?’
I even felt like that. Back then, I drank the Pureblood Vampire's blood, leveled up by 3, and it was delicious, too.
Slurp.
I clicked my tongue in regret and then realized.
'Ah, right. Was it today?!'
Today was exactly one month since I awakened. That meant the 30-day cooldown for [Familiar Summon] was up.
[Familiar Summon]
- Blood Power cost: 100
I had 100 Blood Power, so I was fully prepared to use it.
'Let's do it right away!'
I used the skill without hesitation.
Whoosh—!
Blood poured out of my wrist and soared into the air. Then it gathered, writhing, and began to mold into a human shape. It was a gruesome sight, but having seen it once before, I was more excited than grossed out now.
Instead.
"Th-this is the Lord's power……!"
"……!!"
The familiars who were seeing the [Familiar Summon] skill for the first time were very surprised. Katarina's jaw dropped, and even Siyeon, who rarely shows emotion, even flinched for a moment. Anyway, the shape was gradually being completed.
'What kind of familiar will come out this time?'
Please, a good one. Let another SSR-grade familiar like Katarina appear!
The familiar summoned onto the bed was.
'A woman again?'
It was another female familiar.
“……Hmm?”
The woman blinked her eyes and looked around the room. She had the same red eyes as me. Red bob-cut hair, pointy ears. Big, round eyes that looked pure and curious.
Her physique was incredibly good, and also….
She was wearing some kind of work clothes that were very revealing.
Our eyes met.
Immediately.
"Is that, my Lord?"
The familiar tilted her head and stared at me.
"That is so. You are this body's third familiar."
I declared with dignity.
Then.
"Wow, Lord————!!!!!"
With a bright smile.
She flew at me from the bed, arms wide open like a flying squirrel.
'Whoaaa?!'