Chapter 267: The Vampire King, Desmond (3)

The party began surveying their surroundings. However, they discovered less than expected. The only notable findings were the black fortress visible below the grassy hill they stood on and the blue moon and stars embedded in the sky. The purpose of investigating a dungeon was to estimate the types of monsters that would appear and gauge the dungeons overall size. Yet, none of them managed to find any useful clues.

“The sky is ridiculously high. Could that actually be the real sky? It looks more realistic than the ceiling at Lotte World,” Balter furrowed his brows as he asked.

However, no one responded. Or rather, no one could respond. Even they couldn't deny that the sky looked real. It felt less like they had entered a dungeon and more like they had arrived in an entirely new field hunting ground.

“Excluding the fact that this situation is complete crap, I really like the scenery.”

This time, everyone nodded in agreement. Setting aside the fact that it was a dungeon, the landscape itself was breathtaking. The moonlit green fields were dotted with fireflies dancing peacefully, while crickets chirped in the distance. If given the chance, it felt like the perfect place to pack a picnic and relax.

Just when they were thinking that...

“

Huh?

There’s someone over there!” Michael, who had been standing by, suddenly shouted in an excited voice.

The entire party turned to look in the direction he was pointing, but soon, their expressions twisted.

“Hey, Michael. Maybe your archer vision lets you see them, but we can’t see a damn thing,” Balter grumbled.

At that, Michael scratched his cheek in embarrassment. Aside from him, only Kai could make out the figure in the distance.

“People... They’re actual people.”

“

Huh?

Bro, you can see them?”

“Yeah. I see them clearly.”

Kai squinted and focused on the soldiers patrolling along the fortress walls. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened.

Red.

In

MID Online

, distinguishing between NPCs and players was extremely difficult. The only way to know was through a handshake, which revealed their information. However, there was one exception—when the NPCs were hostile, in other words, monsters.

[Evan Lv. 383]

[Chris Lv. 379]

[Steve Lv. 385]

Their names looked ordinary, just like real people, but they were written in red. Their levels were also high.

Among the party, only Kai, Yoo Ha-Rin, and perhaps Seol Eun-Yeong at best, could take them on.

Kai furrowed his brows and gripped his forehead in frustration.

This is insane.

Since the dungeon map was dropped from Zirukan, Kai had expected a certain level of difficulty. In fact, when he saw the 300-level ghouls in the first-floor dungeon, he had even felt a tinge of disappointment.

But this is too extreme.

In a typical floor-based dungeon, monsters’ levels only increased by three to five per floor.

I didn’t expect the gap to be this huge.

As Kai thought over the situation, Michael approached him.

“Bro, what do you think? The soldiers up there are joking around and laughing with each other. Maybe we can actually talk to them.”

“No. It’s too dangerous. Their names are all red—they’re monsters. And their levels are high. What if they suddenly attack us?”

“

Huh?

But they don’t look much different from other NPCs...” Michael kept glancing at the fortress walls before saying, “Bro, should I go scout then?”

“That’s too risky at your level, and that’s dangerous.”

“No, no, I don’t mean doing it myself.”

Grinning mischievously, Michael made an exaggerated motion like a magician pulling a dove from a hat, then revealed a falcon.

The party let out small exclamations.

“

Oh

, a scouting falcon...”

“It’s a drone.”

Scouting Falcon was a skill commonly referred to as Drone among players. It was a technique that archers could learn at relatively low levels. Its effect was summoning a scouting falcon and sending it for reconnaissance. At level 100, archers could even directly link their consciousness to the falcon.

“This way, there’s no risk.”

“True.”

“Alright, here we go.”

After stroking the falcon’s head, Michael sent it soaring into the sky.

Focusing his mind, he whispered, “Link.”

Michael’s vision changed in an instant. He now shared the falcon’s sight, experiencing everything from its perspective.

The breathtaking nighttime view from thousands of meters above made the city below appear even more beautiful.

Yo, this actually feels like scouting with a real drone.

Whenever Michael felt frustrated while editing videos, he had a hobby of taking his drone to a nearby park. That experience made this kind of reconnaissance feel more natural than expected.

“

Oh

, people!”

The scouting falcon suddenly spoke in human language. Realizing his mistake, Michael immediately shut his mouth. He silently guided the falcon over the fortress, observing the inner city.

This looks no different from an NPC town.

Despite it being nighttime, the black fortress was bustling with activity. The streets were packed with people, and he even spotted a wholesome scene where two parents held their daughter’s hands as they walked together. Merchants enthusiastically called out to sell their goods, and buskers sang with beautiful voices.

No matter how one looked at it, this wasn’t a dungeon—it was simply a city.

It seems Bro was wrong this time. Calling them monsters seems...

They were far too human, and their daily lives seemed peaceful.

I need to convince Bro again. I really think we can talk to them.

Just as Michael turned to return to the party, a palm-sized bat suddenly charged at him.

Michael snorted.

Hmph, what did you take me for?

He might be treated like a tag-along in this party, but the bat was only level 50.

And I’m level 246 now!

Having leveled up again after defeating Shardan, Michael was full of confidence.

He dove forward and pecked the bat with his beak. With just one attack, the bat fell.

Thud.

Hm?

Then, a sudden chill ran down Michael’s spine. It felt as if the air had changed in an instant. Sensing something was off, he instinctively looked downward. At that moment, a wave of goosebumps crawled up his back.

W-what the...

All the residents of the inner city had stopped moving, standing completely still, staring up at him with blank expressions. He moved around to test their reactions, and sure enough, their eyes followed his every move. The merchants selling their things, the buskers singing in the streets, and even the little girl who had been smiling while holding her parents’ hands—all of them were now expressionless like dolls. It was beyond unsettling, and was downright terrifying.

I-I should get back.

Sensing danger, the moment Michael flapped his wings to retreat, a swarm of bats surged toward him.

“

Screeech!

”

“

Screeeeee!

”

The scouting falcon’s health began to drop rapidly as the swarm of bats attacked.

[You have been drained by a Bloodsucking Bat.]

[You have been drained by a Bloodsucking Bat.]

“

Argh!

”

With its wings shredded, the scouting falcon spiraled downward.

I need to cut the link.

The only drawback of linking with a scouting falcon was that if the falcon died while still linked, the user would suffer serious damage.

“Disconnect link!”

The moment he shouted, the scouting falcon, covered in bats, disintegrated. Then he found himself staring at his comrades’ faces.

“

Ugh

...”

Drenched in cold sweat, he clutched his head. His party members rushed to his side in concern.

“H-hey, you alright?”

“What happened?”

Kai, who had been silently observing, skipped the questions and immediately cast a spell to stabilize Michael’s shaken mind.

“Calm down first. Cure, Sunlight’s Warmth.”

“

Phew

... Thanks, bro.”

After a moment, Michael regained his composure, biting his lip in anger.

“You were right, bro. This is a dungeon. I can’t believe I tried to talk to them. I was an idiot.”

“What exactly happened?” Balter asked.

Michael calmly explained what happened. “And just before I fell, I saw something on the city residents.”

“What was it?”

“Canine teeth.”

Canine teeth were a natural feature for humans. In fact, it would be strange not to have them. Yet, at the mention of that word, everyone’s expressions hardened.

Bats and bloodsucking...

A full moon, and canine teeth.

Quickly piecing together the given clues, they deduced the identity of the monsters.

“

Ugh

... They’re vampires?”

“They're definitely vampires.”

Known as the nobles of the night, vampires were a very rare monster in

MID Online.

“

Ugh,

I’ve never fought a vampire before. I’ve only heard rumors.”

“I have.”

At Seol Eun-Yeong’s words, everyone’s eyes turned to her. Despite being the center of attention, she showed neither embarrassment nor hesitation and continued speaking.

“The Viscount of Carsen Territory once commissioned the Cheonhwa guild for a request. It was to eliminate a vampire that appeared in the city at night.”

“

Hmm.

So how did it go?”

“We caught it.”

But Seol Eun-Yeong’s expression was far from pleased. Rather than looking satisfied, she appeared disturbed.

“Half of Cheonhwa’s main team had to die to make that happen.”

“What level was that thing?”

“327.”

“What? That’s not even that high. Why did you struggle so much...”

“Bloodsucking and the full moon. Those two factors are very deadly variables.”

“I’d like a more detailed explanation.”

At Kai’s request, Seol Eun-Yeong nodded willingly.

“As I said, the vampire’s level wasn’t particularly high. We surrounded it the moment we found it and managed to drain its health rather quickly, but...”

“But?”

“An NPC resident, who heard the commotion outside, stepped out of their house and the vampire captured them. That’s when the nightmare began.”

Recalling the incident, Seol Eun-Yeong furrowed her delicate brows.

“The bloodsucking skill—it’s outright cheating. Whenever it drinks blood, it recovers its own health.”

“There’s a Berserker skill like that, isn’t there? One that absorbs as much damage dealt...”

“It’s on a completely different scale,” she cut Balter off. “If one of our guild members had been caught instead, I would have killed them on the spot along with the vampire. But the victim was an NPC.”

“That made the situation complicated.”

“From what we analyzed, vampire bloodsucking restores 60% of the drained health.”

“What the fuck...” Balter swore instinctively.

If a vampire sucked 1,000 HP, it would instantly recover 600.

“And what about the full moon?”

“Monsters become 30% stronger at night. But vampires under a full moon get all their stats increased by an additional 10%.”

“Damn it, this is complete bullshit.”

“

Ugh...

”

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

In short, the average vampire level in this dungeon would likely be around 550.

Even Ha-Rin would struggle with this.

Even if he buffed her to close the gap, it would still be dangerous.

Kai thought for a moment and nodded. “There’s no way we can win in a direct fight.”

“Are you thinking of a guerrilla then?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe we should just retreat for now and gather a proper raid team before coming back...

Oh

,” Balter sighed mid-sentence.

“Right. This damn dungeon is a destruction-type, isn’t it...”

“You were about to say it’s messed up again, weren’t you?”

“Nah, I’ve said that too many times. It’s getting old. This dungeon is layered with shit like a rainbow rice cake.”

Michael’s face twisted, and Seol Eun-Yeong didn’t look too pleased either.

“Bro, is that what they call Korean humor?”

“Michael, apologize to my country. Right now.”

“I’m sorry, Korea...”

Ignoring Balter’s failed joke, Kai slowly said, “There is one way.”

“As expected from the miracle man. What do we need to do?”

“But there’s a condition. First, I need to level up a bit.”

“How much?”

“About 20 levels would be ideal.”

“With the vampires being so high-level, it’s not impossible. But what exactly are you planning?”

“... I need to use every bit of power I can muster.”

There was no way they could afford to die here.

Kai’s sharp gaze shined as he stared down at the fortress below.