Chapter 35: Tower of Warriors and Vampire Count

I looked at the new menu.

-----

[Tower of Warriors]

A tower of penance and trials condensed over eons.

Produce the Warrior class.

Cost: 50,000,000 Gcoins

-----

Okay so, fifty million Gcoins weren’t just chump change for me. But still, I was curious about it...

“Whatever.”

My curiosity won. Besides, they said warriors! As if any man would remain calm at the mere mention of that word!

I boldly touched that button.

Ding!

[You paid 50,000,000 Gcoins.]

[Constructing Tower of Warriors.]

Ruuumble!

The tower stood tall in the middle of the makeshift village I created. Since it was a scene in God-Maker, I saw it only through my screen, yet I could still feel its grandeur. Compared to the houses I’d built, the tower was at least a hundred times larger.

“Let's see.” I zoomed in, basking in the majesty of the tower. “Can this tower really produce warriors?”

Woooong! Kieeeeek!

I asked that because the gloomy darkness and screaming skull ornaments on the wall didn’t suggest that at all. If someone said it was a Demon King’s tower, I’d believe them. Did I make a mistake?

Believing there was some kind of mistake, I activated my skill.

Ding!

[Appraisal complete!]

-----

[Tower of Warriors]

Modeled after the tower that worships Eternal Seeker.

It thirsts for the blood and souls of valiant challengers with deep faith.

Special note: Survival rate is below 0.000001%

-----

Shit. Thirst for blood and souls? Also, what’s with that impossibly low survival rate? Didn’t that mean absolute death?

Warrior? Pfft. Bullshit.

[The sight of the Tower of Warriors terrified the Gayamis.]

The Gayamis, who danced happily when I made them farmland and houses, were visibly in fear. Their bodies shook uncontrollably, with terror in their eyes.

“I-if My Lord so wishes, this servant will sacrifice herself to that ominous tower!” said Saintess Anty.

With a pale face, she then crawled slowly toward the entrance of the tower.

“No, hold on! It’s still dirty! Move away, I tell you!” I blocked her path with my finger.

What's with the huge fuss anyway?

“

Sigh

.”

I looked at the tower. Did I just spend fifty million Gcoins for this? Imagine how many Bacchus-F I could’ve purchased with that amount! No wonder impulsive buying was scorned upon. It’d take time before my heart could fully heal.

“

Tsk

. Maybe I should block off the entrance for the time being.”

While I doubted that the Gayamis would enter the tower, I couldn’t say the same for Anty. Despite her cute appearance, she could be quite stubborn.

I opened the Construction menu again. I proceeded to build tall walls around the tower's entrance, crushing a few of them on purpose.

Crumble! Boom boom boom!

A while later, a huge mountain of rocks, weighing a few hundred tons, had piled up at the entrance. That should be enough to keep her out.

“

Oomph

!”

Anty tried to move the rocks herself, but to no avail.

“Hey, like I said, it's dirty. Go away.

Shoo

.”

Just as I was chasing Anty and the scared Gayamis away from the tower, my phone rang.

Diririri!

Mighty Editor-in-Charge

Oh, did he finish reviewing the manuscript already?

“I need to take care of something right now, so you guys better be good. Don’t ever think of going near that tower, got it?”

“Yes! Don't worry about it, O great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin!” Anty and the Gayamis then bowed, sending me off.

“Hello, Mr. Editor,” I answered the call, expecting a positive reply from my editor.

***

As soon as Yu Il-Shin left, the Gayamis dispersed. They went to look around and rejoice at the houses and farmland that had been built for them. Meanwhile, Saintess Anty went to the splendid Temple to offer her prayers, steadfastly expressing her faith again.

Rooooar!

No one was interested in the ominous Tower of Warriors. They steered clear of it. All except for one, who was doing everything in his power to clear the boulders at the entrance.

“

Huff! Huff!

”

Originally, Gayamis were strong beings capable of lifting objects weighing ten times their own weight. However, the boulders left by their god didn’t budge an inch.

Il-Ho’s shoulders sank dejectedly. Was he lacking muscle strength? He looked up at the overwhelmingly huge tower.

Rooooar!

The macabre and desolate aura exuded by the skull ornaments was enough to make him freeze.

Grit!

Il-Ho clenched his jaws. He was made aware of his extreme weakness. If only he had the strength needed to become a warrior of his tribe. Perhaps then, he wouldn’t have lost his friends to the vicious empire. The empire had devoured them alive, like a demon crawling out of hell. He didn’t want his surviving tribesmen to meet the same fate.

The moment Il-Ho laid eyes on the tower, he felt it in his bones. If he conquered this tower of trials, he would gain the power needed to prevent further bloodshed. He clenched his fists.

“Oh Almighty God Yu Il-Shin! Wait for me! I, Il-Ho, will definitely conquer this tower and meet your expectations! I will protect my tribesmen no matter what!”

Flash!

He dashed to the Training Ground, his gaze radiating with blind faith. If he wanted to remove the boulders at the tower’s entrance...

“Muscles! I need strong and thick muscles!”

***

The call I had with my editor ended up lasting for hours. Thankfully, the feedback for my manuscript was relatively good.

—

Haha

, Mr. Yu. Your manuscript is great. If you can increase the length, will you consider serializing it?

“What? S-serializing?”

—Yes. We can start with free serializing on Dalpia, and if the response is good, we can switch to paid serializing later. I’ll also outsource a novel cover for you. Do you have any particular requests?

“...In that case, can I have one of the ants featured on the cover? I don’t care what they look like.”

—Of course, Mr. Yu!

“Wow, serializing.”

Something about that vocabulary always made a writer’s heart race.

I had been rejected for so long, I began to wonder if I should give up on this career. Now, I found a way to stay in the circle again! Back then, I did say that I’d give up on writing as soon as I had my awakening, but I didn’t really mean it.

I loved writing, I loved it so much, especially when I typed on my keyboard to bring the world I had been imagining to life in the document. Nevertheless, the process of creation was as joyful as it was painful. Sometimes, that dream could turn into a nightmare—a slump familiar to many writers. Hence why it was a love-hate relationship.

Overwhelmed with mixed emotions, I picked up my phone.

[Launching God-Maker.]

At first, I thought it was some strange game, especially when I saw the ants. But not anymore. The power I had obtained through God-Maker had gotten me through a few close calls. Above all, it had become my muse.

I wonder what my children are up to?

It was also late in the night on God-Maker.

Snore snore—

The ants—no, Gayamis were sleeping in the houses I had built for them. I feel proud watching them, but...

Sigh, why is she sleeping here?

The termite—no, Anty was sleeping on the marble floor of the Temple, drooling. She must’ve fallen asleep in the middle of her prayers.

“Lord Yu Il-Shin...

Nyam nyam

, you’re so cool.”

Even in her sleep? What a fanatic!

Sigh, is there anything I could use to cover her?

I looked around, and spotted a carpet hanging on the wall. I zoomed in on it and saw the scene of me battling an army of red ants, spitting fire like Godzilla. I never did that!

Anyway, upon touching that carpet...

Oh, it moves!

I slid my finger, causing it to be yanked off the wall, and draped it over Anty.

“Muscle! Muscle!”

Hmm?

Just then, I heard a faint voice coming from somewhere nearby. I zoomed in on another part of the screen and saw light coming from the Training Ground, which I had built earlier.

I peeked in and saw a topless Gayami sweating profusely as he lifted rocks. Wow, he was training so hard even in the dead of the night...

-----

[Il-Ho]

A warrior of the Gayami tribe.

Special note: Training hard to protect his tribe.

-----

I had a newfound respect for him upon reading that special note.

“Muscles! Muscles!” he shouted every time he lifted the rocks.

Well, he was commendable and all, but personally, that chant was just pathetic. Engrossed in his training, Il-Ho didn’t seem to notice my presence.

I bought a bottle of Blessing of the Growth God and opened the God’s Grace menu.

Ding!

[Yu Il-Shin bestows Blessing of the Growth God on follower Il-Ho.]

When pulling an all-nighter, Bacchus-F was the go-to! After giving a gift to Il-Ho, I steeled my mind and sat down in front of my laptop.

Alright, I’ll draw inspiration from his motivation and work on my writing!

Tadak! Tadadak!

I opened a bottle of Bacchus-F and began typing away on the keyboard.

***

What was the living thing that humans killed the most? Most would expect the answer to be "humans." But in reality, humans kill only 4.5 million other humans each year. The top spot on that list, however, belonged to a living thing that humans killed a staggering 7.25 million every year, which was...

Crackle! Crackle!

A crack appeared in the air, from which a certain creature slipped into the real world. He was Mosto, otherwise known as Blood Sword, one of the Ten Swords of the empire.

So this is the fortress of the malevolent god...

It took him a few moments to process the unfamiliar sight. Then, he turned to look at the malevolent god. The malevolent god let out a deafening groan while being seated.

That must be the rumored malevolent god.

As expected of the being that dispatched three of the Ten Swords into the afterlife, both his size and aura were on a different level! Yet, Mosto was unfazed.

Tzzz!

His gaze fell on the long needle in his hand. It glowed with a sinister crimson light. This was given by the excellent Goddess Arachne of the empire.

“Bloodsucker Mosto, take this cursed needle bestowed by the Leader of the Horrible Plague, and plunge it into that malevolent god. No matter how robust his body, he will be helpless against this curse.”

Mosto’s eyes widened at her words.

“Hoo. So, this is the divine artifact given by the God of Diseases?”

“Indeed. What do you think? This ought to be simple for you, right?”

Mosto’s stealth was 999 times more impressive than Killerbee’s clan of assassins.

“Of course, Goddess. But can I make a request?”

“What is it?”

Mosto bared his fangs, smiling wickedly.

“Can I taste the malevolent god's blood? I'm curious what the blood of the god worshiped by the black tribe tastes like. Hehe.”

Vampire Count Mosto. As part of the blessings of the Bloodsucking God, Mosto would grow stronger upon drinking blood. However, that skill, acknowledged even by Goddess Arachne, had a certain side effect: a constant urge to suck blood.

Mosto would drain not only the enemies of the empires but also those within his territory, leaving them shriveled up like mummies.

Arachne's dark purple lips twisted into a smile, reminiscent of a poisonous wolfsbane.

“Of course. Both the honor of killing and the blood of the malevolent god are yours to take, Vampire Count Mosto.”

Tadak! Tadadak!

With the needle wedged in his mouth, he stealthily flew toward the malevolent god, who was still typing away furiously.

Whiiiing!

Even after Mosto had landed lightly on the malevolent god’s head, his prey still didn’t notice a thing. Then, Mosto pierced him with the needle.

Poke!

What a fool. All size and no brain. Time to die.

Now, all that was left was to trigger the artifact and watch the malevolent god in his death throes.

“Before that, should I have a taste of his blood first?”

Mosto was tempted by the warm blood coursing within the malevolent god. Opening his jaw wide, he bit the malevolent god’s flesh.

Suckkk!

Mosto instantly widened his eyes. He didn’t expect this at all!

This...!

Fresh blood, as rich as wine, exploded inside Mosto like an active volcano. It tasted divine! Mosto’s skill, Bloodsucking, allowed him to grow stronger the more blood he drank, especially from a formidable foe.

Tzzz!

Mosto was delighted.

“

Oooh

! I can feel it! I can feel power surging through my body!”