Chapter 54

Chapter 54

A newly created world had appeared inside the Heavenly Spirit Medicinal Forest.

Kang Ha-min entered it after hearing the news.

And what appeared was completely unexpected.

It was a city of night.

Everything was covered in darkness,

and rows of red lights stretched through the streets.

At first glance,

it looked like a city of pleasure.

But the eerie energy inside it was far from ordinary.

The city felt completely empty.

As though the night had taken away every living thing.

No matter where Kang Ha-min walked,

he couldn't sense a single presence.

It simply existed there.

"...Nightmare Land."

Siriel was the one who spoke.

She followed behind Kang Ha-min

as though the place was extremely familiar.

Kang Ha-min had already vaguely suspected it might be connected to Siriel.

It was the same with Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong.

A world had suddenly appeared with Baek Cheon-myeong too.

There was no explanation other than Siriel.

Is forming a soul contract the condition for a place connected to the corpse to appear?

The Secret Floor had remained quiet after Siriel was raised.

Then Nightmare Land suddenly appeared after they formed a soul contract.

That made the theory seem likely.

"Ms. Siriel, do you know what advantages this place has?"

"...Nightmare Land is a city of dreams."

"Anyone here can fall into a peaceful sleep."

"They can forget all the chaos of the world and live inside a happy dream."

That was...

"...They never wake up from that dream, right?"

"No one wants to wake up from a happy dream."

This place was seriously dangerous.

They should probably leave immediately.

"Ah, Lord will be fine."

"Lord possesses my power now!"

That was at least reassuring.

"Is there anything else useful here?"

Otherwise,

this would become a land no one could ever safely enter.

Kang Ha-min carefully asked about other uses.

Siriel thought for a moment.

Then she lightly clapped her hands.

"Ah, there's a Blood Stone mine underground."

"A mine?"

"Yes. The reason people dream inside Nightmare Land in the first place is because of the blood mana flowing from the Blood Stones."

"They're the treasure of True Ancestors."

"Would they help me?"

"Yes, I think they'd be very useful!"

"Lord can use my power, so you should also be able to absorb Blood Stones without any problem."

That was great news.

Kang Ha-min had already become stronger after undergoing Body Reformation through the Heavenly Spirit Medicinal Forest's herbs.

If Blood Stones could make him even stronger,

there was no reason not to use them.

"Ah, but there is one possible problem for Lord."

There was something else?

"Consuming too much Blood Stone causes thirst."

"It's not a major problem for vampires, but Lord is..."

Kang Ha-min was human.

Even though he shared Siriel's power,

he still felt uncomfortable at the idea of drinking blood like a vampire.

If he developed a craving for blood,

that would almost certainly cause a headache.

He immediately became less interested in Blood Stones.

"Of course..."

Siriel pulled slightly at her collar

and exposed her neck with a shy expression.

"If Lord doesn't mind consuming me, ahem..."

Why did she look happy?

Kang Ha-min really didn't understand vampire thinking.

"Eating the bat's blood would only give Master stomach problems."

Baek Cheon-myeong, who had silently followed beside them, finally spoke.

"What? Do you even know how noble my blood is?!"

"No matter how noble it is, it is still bat blood."

"And thirst is not necessarily a bad thing."

Thirst wasn't bad?

Kang Ha-min looked at Baek Cheon-myeong in confusion.

He raised one finger.

A crimson moon hung above them.

It was the symbol of Nightmare Land

and the moon called forth by the mana of Blood Stones.

"The foundation of the fate this body was born with, the Heavenly Slaughter Star, is murderous desire."

"It is a fate of killing and devouring every living being."

"The moment one is born with that fate, it is no different from the thirst the bat described."

A life spent wanting to kill all living beings.

Kang Ha-min couldn't even imagine how horrible such a life would be.

"Naturally, Master also inherited the fate of the Heavenly Slaughter Star after connecting with this body."

And apparently Kang Ha-min was now the protagonist of that life too.

In an instant,

Kang Ha-min had learned he carried the fate of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.

He panicked.

"D, does that mean I'll start killing people too?"

"This body considered the possibility."

"But Master has shown no such signs until now, so there is no need to worry."

The Heavenly Slaughter Star changed one's very nature.

If Kang Ha-min had truly inherited that fate,

it should have appeared long ago.

"The Star-Destroying Sword Flow was created to control the fate of the Heavenly Slaughter Star."

"Master could use the Star-Destroying Sword Flow from the beginning, so you are instinctively controlling the Heavenly Slaughter Star."

Kang Ha-min let out a breath of relief.

He absolutely did not want to start feeling uncontrollable killing intent toward people.

"Thirst should be something similar."

"Compared to the fate of the Heavenly Slaughter Star, it is nothing."

"Ha, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Siriel immediately objected.

"You're comparing the instincts an entire race has carried for countless generations to some fate from being born under a single star?"

"Vampires are an inferior race anyway."

"A life where you need blood just to survive is pathetic."

"Isn't a human life much more pathetic, eating all kinds of filthy things mixed together?"

"Come to think of it, what was it again?"

"If you don't properly consume all your nutrients, you die?"

"We can survive with only blood."

"How inefficient."

The two immediately started fighting again.

Kang Ha-min quickly stepped between them.

"Both of you, stop."

"Anyway, Ms. Siriel, I can control the thirst, right?"

"...Yes, Lord. Probably."

Siriel wasn't pleased,

but she couldn't lie to Kang Ha-min.

When she admitted it,

Kang Ha-min felt relieved.

He absolutely didn't want to lose his mind and start trying to drink people's blood.

"Let's go!"

If Kang Ha-min became stronger,

Siriel and Baek Cheon-myeong would become stronger too.

Compared to training,

Kang Ha-min much preferred simply consuming something.

Following Siriel's guidance,

they entered the underground area.

Strange red liquid flowed along the underground walls.

At first glance, it looked like blood.

But it didn't smell like blood.

"It's essence extracted only from the dreams seen inside Nightmare Land."

"It comes from the mana created while people sleep."

There really was everything imaginable here.

Nightmare Land was basically a giant farm for vampires.

And Blood Stones were created from all that dream blood.

Beneath the place where Kang Ha-min stopped,

there was an enormous crimson gem.

It looked large enough for several apartment buildings to fit inside.

It was so huge that Kang Ha-min couldn't even properly understand its scale.

"Then I'll extract a portion."

Siriel snapped her fingers.

The upper layer of the Blood Stone turned into liquid.

The liquid floated into the air

and gathered at her fingertips.

"Lord, didn't you have a cup before?"

A cup?

"Ah, the Blood Moon Chalice!"

Kang Ha-min quickly summoned the Black Coffin.

Then he took out a single chalice stored inside.

The Blood Moon Chalice.

It was the item that had activated when he summoned Siriel's grave.

"When I saw Lord holding it before, I thought that might be the case."

Siriel's eyes gleamed as she looked at the Blood Moon Chalice.

"As expected, it was a rare treasure."

"Lord, if you use that chalice, you can consume dream blood in its purest form."

So the Tower hadn't given it to him for no reason.

"How do I use it?"

"Just hold it out."

Siriel poured the liquid into the Blood Moon Chalice.

Then the blood inside began changing.

At first,

it was a clear crimson color.

But soon,

it began absorbing light.

It turned darker than deep red,

as though pitch-black darkness had seeped inside.

Even moonlight falling upon it failed to reflect.

It was too dark to simply call blood-red,

but too red to simply call black.

...He was supposed to drink this?

It looked like there would be no going back afterward.

"The taste won't bother you."

"It doesn't taste like anything!"

That was at least good news.

Gulp.

Kang Ha-min exhaled with a tense expression

and drank it in one go.

"Ugh!"

A burning sensation spread through his throat.

It felt like drinking an extremely strong liquor.

He could clearly feel every part of the liquid traveling down his esophagus into his stomach.

It was a horribly unpleasant sensation.

"I, is that it?"

"You'll know if you wait a little!"

Just a little?

Kang Ha-min rubbed his throat.

Then suddenly,

heat began spreading through his entire body.

It was the heat created as the Blood Stone was absorbed.

At the same time,

the inside of his mouth began feeling rough.

How should he describe it?

It felt like when you ate too much acidic pineapple.

"Lord, how do you feel?"

"Hmm, my mouth just feels a little rough."

There didn't seem to be anything especially unusual.

"As expected of Lord!"

For some reason, Siriel looked impressed.

Kang Ha-min looked confused.

He had no idea why she was impressed.

"An ordinary vampire would die from Blood Rampage after consuming that amount!"

Then why did you give me that much?

Kang Ha-min looked horrified.

Siriel looked proud instead.

Her expression said she was proud her Lord was so powerful.

"Lord and I are one, so I knew that amount would definitely be fine!"

While saying that,

Siriel liquefied more Blood Stone.

Then she casually offered Kang Ha-min another cup.

"Here, Lord. Drink plenty!"

"...You just said that amount would normally kill someone."

"I can drink about one hundred cups of this amount without any problem!"

That's you.

Still,

he couldn't ignore Siriel's sparkling eyes.

In the end,

Kang Ha-min reluctantly accepted another cup.

One cup.

Two cups.

Three cups.

Four cups.

"Lord, here!"

"Ugh."

"Lord, here!"

"Agh."

By the time he had drunk too many cups to count,

Kang Ha-min became certain.

He would rather train.

This wasn't right.

Even company dinners with his boss hadn't been this painful.

Just when Kang Ha-min began wondering if his stomach would burst,

his scalp suddenly started tingling.

Then the heat inside his body became much stronger.

"M, Ms. Siriel."

"Yes, Lord!"

"It feels much hotter than before, and my fingertips are tingling."

"It's finally here!"

What's here?

"True Ancestor Transformation!"

What?

This was the first time she had mentioned that.

"Lord's status is growing, so just relax and enjoy it!"

Enjoy it?

Kang Ha-min couldn't even move.

Burning heat swept across his entire body.

Never in his life had he felt heat this intense.

This was...

No.

There was no way to explain it.

One indescribable sensation after another continued.

"Uh... ugh..."

The world began spinning.

Kang Ha-min collapsed.

"Lord, just a little longer! Endure just a little longer!"

Siriel's voice grew distant.

Kang Ha-min slowly lost consciousness.

And then he understood what this feeling was.

Ah.

This was that feeling.

When you were extremely drunk,

lay down on your bed,

and the whole world started spinning.

He had thought his body would never get drunk again.

He never imagined he would experience that feeling like this.

Kang Ha-min quietly sank into dizziness

and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again,

"W, what is this?!"

Kang Ha-min had become a child in the mirror.