Chapter 58: 10th Floor. Vampire Princess (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: 10th Floor. Vampire Princess (1)
[Title: 10th Floor Review.]
[Uh… I feel like I didn’t actually do anything? I just followed someone around, and then it was over.]
[Kang San (15th Floor): I see you cleared the 10th floor. There really wasn't much to do. We were all just busy trying to stay alive. It was a floor that made you feel truly helpless.]
[Albert Lutan (12th Floor): But… it’s a floor I want to visit again.]
[Samamoto Soseki (10th Floor): Ah, I agree with that. I just got back, but I already want to see her again…]
[Baek Seon-ah (14th Floor): Me too… She was so incredibly pretty… beautiful… like a moving statue.]
[Choi Do-yoon (23rd Floor): She even shows up in my dreams.]
[Samamoto Soseki (10th Floor): But isn't the way it ends a bit weird? It felt like being cut off right at the climax.]
* * *
The Vampire Princess. Protect and escort Eldiria to her destination.
That was the objective of the 10th Floor Quest.
"Eldiria" likely referred to the woman standing before him.
Her hair was a tangled mess. Her once-luxurious clothes were frayed and torn, their former luster faded, and her face was smudged with dirt. She looked little better than a beggar.
Yet, no one would ever look at her and mistake her for a commoner.
Despite her bedraggled state, she possessed an undeniable beauty—an elegance that could not be hidden.
Brilliant, shimmering silver hair. Crimson eyes like polished jewels. Skin so pale and translucent her veins were visible beneath the surface.
It was as if a god had personally sculpted the pinnacle of beauty. Though she still bore the lingering traces of youth, her loveliness was impossible to mask.
It’s been a while, but she’s as beautiful as ever, Kang Jun-hyeok thought as he bowed politely.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Eldiria. I am the guard assigned to your protection.”
The quest told him to protect her. In that sense, Jun-hyeok’s words were the textbook response.
The problem, however, was that the subject of the quest didn't believe she needed protection in the first place.
“My guard? A mere human dares to mock me?”
Eldiria’s eyes sharpened. A sudden surge of bloodlust erupted from her, making the leaves around them tremble violently.
This is the problem.
While the quest for the 10th floor was to escort Eldiria, she herself would refuse that protection. In fact, she would treat the Player as an enemy and try to kill them.
Facing Eldiria and surviving her onslaught—that was the very first task one had to accomplish on the 10th floor.
“I shall kill you.”
With those chilling words, Eldiria lunged. The air was displaced with such force that the surrounding shrubbery was flattened against the earth. Jun-hyeok raised his arm.
Boom!
Flesh clashed against flesh. Eldiria threw punches and kicks intended to end his life.
Crrraaaack!
The forest crumbled in the wake of their exchange. Giant trees struck by Eldiria’s fists snapped and toppled, and the undergrowth was torn from the soil by the force of her kicks.
Eldiria was strong.
Her physical capabilities were far beyond the realm of an ordinary human. A typical Player wouldn't even be able to react to her attacks. Normally, the start of the 10th floor involved being suppressed by her.
But he was different. Jun-hyeok’s fist collided with hers as it flew toward him. The aftershock of the impact exploded outward.
Thump!
“Urgh!”
Eldiria groaned as she was pushed back, her expression painted with shock. Jun-hyeok shook out his wrist.
“Why don’t we start with a conversation?”
“…You are no ordinary human. Fine. I shall crush you into the dirt.”
A strange, eerie energy began to waft from her. The whites of Eldiria’s eyes slowly stained crimson. Droplets of fresh blood began to bead and float around her body.
A Vampire’s Authority.
Jun-hyeok clicked his tongue.
“Die.”
The droplets of blood poured forth, piercing through the forest like bullets. Jun-hyeok kicked off the ground, dodging them with rapid, fluid movements.
Eldiria swung her hand violently. The droplets merged into a stream of blood, forming the shape of a blade. They lunged all at once. Dozens of great trees were sliced into pieces and fell.
I guess talking really won't work.
In that case, he had to resort to his secondary plan. Jun-hyeok drew his weapon and took a slow, steady breath.
Short and deep; calm yet explosive.
Stepping forward, he swung his sword.
Craaaaash!
The blade of blood shattered upon impact with his sword. Using that momentum, he charged forward even more fiercely. Eldiria’s eyes widened.
“You!”
She hurriedly manipulated her blood to protect her body. Jun-hyeok gathered his Internal Energy to reinforce his physical frame.
The blood defense and the sword collided.
Clang!
And then, Eldiria’s defense shattered.
He saw the shock on Eldiria’s face. She tried to react in a panic.
[Instant Acceleration.]
In that moment, Jun-hyeok’s body accelerated.
Combined with the reinforcement of his Internal Energy, it was a speed Eldiria couldn't possibly track. In an instant, Jun-hyeok closed the distance.
“You—!”
“Please sleep for a moment.”
Jun-hyeok grabbed her head and slammed it into the earth. With a thunderous roar, a crater formed in the ground. Eldiria’s body went limp.
“Phew.”
Jun-hyeok regulated his breathing. It hadn't been easy to control his strength to ensure she wasn't injured—especially since she was already quite exhausted.
She really is strong.
Someone would surely come to investigate the commotion. He had to move before then.
[Rift Movement.]
[Stealth.]
He leaped through space and silenced his footsteps. He vanished from the spot instantly, heading deeper into the forest. Once he was far enough away, he began to dig.
[Digging.]
He camouflaged the area to hide it from view and laid Eldiria down. She remained unconscious, her eyes closed peacefully.
The Master of All Weapons muttered.
[So this is what she looked like as a child. Quite youthful.]
“You seem to know her.”
[We have a connection. A very old one.]
Jun-hyeok understood what the Master of All Weapons meant. After all, he knew Eldiria as well.
Silver hair. Crimson eyes like jewels. The incarnation of beauty created by a god. Eldiria.
It’s been a long time.
The floors of the Tower were fragments of a severed past. Inserted by the Master of the Universe, they were all actual events that had occurred within the cosmos.
The Goblin King of the 2nd Floor.
The Planet of Ants on the 4th Floor.
The Tomb of the White Sword Sect on the 9th Floor.
All of them were time periods and incidents that had truly existed. The 10th floor was no different.
However, the 10th floor was a bit special.
Eldiria. The Vampire Princess. The escort target of the 10th floor.
She was the miraculous vampire known as the reincarnation of the Progenitor. She was the woman with the greatest talent in the history of vampires.
One of the highest-ranking beings in the universe. A lofty Transcendent and one of those who had fought for the sake of the universe.
Like the Master of All Weapons or Pixie, she was one of the Losers of the Great War—a high and noble being who was still alive and breathing in the current universe.
* * *
Though not in this form.
The timeline of the 10th floor was the distant past. It was a time before Eldiria was known as the Vampire Queen. The current her only possessed enough power to be suppressed by Jun-hyeok.
“Mmm…”
The unconscious Eldiria groaned and shifted her body. Slowly opening her eyes, she stared blankly at Jun-hyeok.
Jun-hyeok gave her a faint smile.
“Are you awake, Lady Eldiria?”
“…!”
Eldiria bolted upright, attempting to leap backward. However, she was blocked by the wall of the dugout and couldn't retreat. She moved to attack instinctively, then hesitated.
“…You.”
She realized it. While she was unconscious, nothing had happened to her.
“What are you?”
Her gaze was filled with wariness. Jun-hyeok spoke calmly.
“I am not your enemy, Princess. I am your guard.”
“A human wagging his tongue so boldly.”
Her suspicion remained fixed on him. The tendons in her hands twitched as if she might attack at any moment.
This was the second hurdle. Eldiria did not trust Players.
The typical flow of the 10th floor began with the Player being suppressed by Eldiria. Eldiria, who had intended to kill the Player, would suddenly change her mind and drag them along as a porter and an emergency snack.
It was essentially a relationship of master and slave.
It was only natural. To a vampire like Eldiria, a Player was an untrustworthy entity. Even though Jun-hyeok had suppressed her, her attitude wasn't going to change easily.
Therefore, he had to build that trust.
Jun-hyeok searched his memories. He gathered the information he possessed, recalling the things the Eldiria of his past life had told him.
The things he knew and the things he didn't. He inserted a lie into the gaps between them.
Jun-hyeok opened his mouth.
“I am a guard prepared in secret by your father, the Great Vampire Lord, Altoso.”
“A guard? Ridiculous. I have never heard such a thing from my father.”
“Of course you haven't. You never felt the need for a guard. He raised me in secret.”
“Why would my father ever raise a mere human?”
“I was abandoned at the gates of the kingdom as an infant. Lord Altoso took pity on me and raised me himself.”
“You certainly have a silver tongue.”
Eldiria narrowed her eyes at him.
“I cannot believe a word you say. Present proof.”
Jun-hyeok smiled thinly.
“Did Lord Altoso not have a habit of gnawing on gems whenever his fangs felt itchy?”
“…!”
Eldiria’s pupils dilated. Jun-hyeok continued.
“He was also troubled by how sharp his eyes looked. He lamented that his subordinates would get scared and jump to conclusions even when he said nothing. He raised his children strictly, but he had a gentle side, quietly watching over them while they slept.”
“You, you, you…”
“He was also self-conscious about his height. Even when those around him said it was sufficient, he insisted it didn't match the dignity of a Lord. He seriously considered wearing elevator shoes.”
Eldiria was flustered. She had no choice but to be.
“The private life of the Great Vampire Lord. These are secrets that were never revealed to the public.”
Private habits that undermined the dignity of a Vampire Lord. Only his family could possibly know such things.
The reason Jun-hyeok knew them was simple.
It was worth attending those terrifying drinking sessions.
It was because the Eldiria of his past life would often talk about them when she got drunk. Of course, they weren't ordinary drinking sessions. They were life-threatening bouts where those who admired her would flee in terror as blades of blood flew around on a whim.
“I was raised by his hand. I learned much and trained hard. All so that one day I could grow up to be your guard and servant.”
Jun-hyeok gave a bitter smile.
“Though I didn't expect us to meet under these circumstances.”
“…”
“Regardless… I am on your side.”
Jun-hyeok bowed. Following the etiquette of the vampires, he addressed her.
“The sole successor of the fallen Vampire Kingdom. The great and mighty True Ancestor. The one born whole and perfect. My Vampire Princess.”
And…
One of my future dear friends.
Jun-hyeok smiled brightly.