The Unfair Castle

"What a cheap, petty castle... Are you seriously discriminating against people?! How can you do this to a fellow vampire! Cast a curse on that guy right now!" Vlad pointed an accusing finger at the castle and demanded an explanation.

In the distance, passing vampires watched him, tapping their temples and spinning their fingers. What's with that old vampire? He must be out of his mind!

"Vlad. You know I can hear you, right?"

"Y-Your Majesty, I wasn't talking to you... I was talking to those vampires passing by over there."

They were so far away they were barely visible!

"And it's not that the curse wasn't cast. It was, but it didn't have much of an effect."

"What? How? Don't tell me... the power of Archisus?!"

"Exactly."

Akisus was the God of Luck. No matter how much misfortune the Vampire Castle's curse brought, it didn't work on Tae-hyun. But Vlad seemed to understand it differently.

"Well, since Archisus is practically the god of curses himself, a run-of-the-mill curse wouldn't..."

"...Archisus is the God of Luck."

"Ah. Right. Of course."

Vlad had accidentally let his true thoughts slip.

"Your Majesty. In that case, I shall wait here," Vlad spoke with an unfitting sparkle in his eyes. This is my chance! My chance to escape!

"Hmm? No. Stick close to my side. That way, my luck will cover your misfortune too."

"Ah... N-No. You don't have to go that far..."

"I also need a meat shield... I mean, a subordinate, to make clearing this place easier."

"Didn't you just say meat shield?"

"No. Meat shield? Nonsense. In this castle raid, you'll be playing a role similar to Cain."

"I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound very good..."

What is a 'Cain'? Is it a word meaning 'slave' in the Archisus Church? Vlad grimaced.

Regardless, Tae-hyun slowly circled the castle, checking for entry points.

The moat is dug deep, and the walls are high... Should I just fly in?

Looking at the castle walls, climbing them seemed incredibly difficult. They were steep, sloped, and littered with traps designed to stop climbers.

"Has anyone tried flying in?"

Vampires were a race comfortable with flight. Once they reached a certain level, they obtained skills to transform ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into bats or other animals. If a frontal approach was impossible, dropping in from above might work...

"Of course there have been."

"What happened to them?"

"They plummeted..."

"Hmm... I see."

Tae-hyun grabbed Vlad.

"...?"

Whoops. Wrong one.

There we go.

"Y-Your Majesty. Why are you grabbing me..."

"Vlad. Fly!"

Tae-hyun grabbed Vlad and threw him upward. The best way was always direct experience! If only the curse of misfortune flew at him, he would fly in; if there were other curses, he would watch and think...

"Aaaaargh! I curse you, Archisus!" Vlad flailed in midair, quickly trying to use his bat transformation. He had to land on the wall!

"Whoa." Tae-hyun was amazed. The castle seemed almost alive. The walls rising to match an approaching opponent.

Thud! Vlad slammed directly into the wall. The heavy sound made it look incredibly painful.

He didn't die, right?

"No! I'm not climbing! I'm going down! I just bumped into it for a second!" Vlad cried out desperately, but the Vampire Castle did not listen.

"Arghhhhh!" Vlad shuddered as if electrocuted, then fell straight down from the wall.

Tae-hyun quickly caught him.

"Are you okay?"

"I am not okay! Who on earth uses such a barbaric method... Where in the world is it acceptable to abuse an elderly vampire like this?!" Vlad was so terrified that his polite honorifics completely vanished!

"Then should I shoot you from a cannon next time? Would that have been better?"

"...Your Majesty. I must have temporarily lost my mind."

Is the gate the only way after all?

Tae-hyun approached the castle gate. Message windows warning of worsening misfortune kept popping up, but they had no effect on him.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Wait. If I go deeper inside, can I farm experience here?

A sudden thought struck him. Honestly, even if he reached the center of the Vampire Castle, his Luck stat probably wouldn't be completely depleted... But even a partial reduction would be great! At the very least, the amount of experience needed to level up would definitely decrease.

To do that, I need to get in...

Tae-hyun pulled out his hammer. Vlad flinched at the sight of the hammer wrapped in a blazing aura.

Is he a Paladin?!

Vlad didn't know. He didn't know that Tae-hyun had smashed countless castle gates and buildings, to the point of earning titles related to demolition!

Clang!

Rumble-

Ptooey! As if the gate had a mouth, it shot out thorns of red blood.

Of course, Tae-hyun wasn't someone to be scared of this now.

Clang! Clang! Clang! He deflected them with his sword, blocked them, and even used the Circle of Counterattack to send them back.

Vlad was amazed by Tae-hyun, who didn't even blink. As expected of the Avatar of Archisus, he is terrifying! Such boldness, as if he wouldn't even bat an eye while slaughtering vampires!

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Your Majesty's figure is just so magnificent..."

"...?"

Anyway, he could see why others couldn't break through the Vampire Castle. The moment you approached, you were cursed with misfortune. If you endured that and tried to use skills to climb or fly, the castle moved on its own to block you. Even if you tried to break through the gate, it quickly regenerated its health. There were very few people who could break through while defending against the gate's counterattacks under a misfortune debuff.

Of course, there's no need to go through all that trouble.

Tae-hyun strode forward and turned the gate into a bomb. Then he stepped back.

Why? It's not like we haven't done this once or twice.

"...N-No way. There's no way that would happen." Tae-hyun paused as he realized what Carbanog meant. "This castle is a single entity that moves as a whole, and this gate is just a separate component. It won't be enough to blow up the entire castle."

Even if the gate was weaker than the castle, what if it received Tae-hyun's Engineering buff?

...S-Should I cancel it?

BOOOOOOOOM!

"Aaaaaaargh!" Vlad's scream filled the air.

"...!"

Tae-hyun's eyes went wide. Ah. I've been playing Pan-On so honestly all this time! To honestly take all the infamy myself. From now on, I should use others as a front to launder my infamy!

Whew. I've been playing Pan-On way too nicely.

Whether Carbanog was shocked or not, the message windows kept appearing.

"Oops. Gotta go in."

Tae-hyun grabbed Vlad, who was trembling on the ground, by the collar and ran forward.

Oh...!

In addition to blowing up the gate earlier, he got a bonus for entering a place no one else had set foot in.

Is it because my Luck is a bit lower right now?

His current level was 148. Level 150 was not far off. In the past, he had thought, 'I don't think I'll ever reach level 100,' but people always found a way to grow. Though others were racing toward 300... Let's just pretend he didn't know that!

Oh? My Terror stat is 9,995?

The Terror stat. If it was high, just a glance could inflict pressure or various status ailments on enemies, and it allowed him to resist the opponent's fear. While not as crucial as Strength, Agility, Constitution, or Wisdom, it was a handy stat that didn't hurt to have high!

Since Tae-hyun had received a cheat title early in the game, he didn't get scared even when facing various boss monsters, making the Terror stat somewhat redundant.

If I hit 10,000, I feel like a skill or something will unlock...

Flash!

Without any monsters appearing, without clearing a dungeon, the castle meekly handed over its ownership. A message window popped up in front of Tae-hyun. It was the lord management window for the castle.

"...??"

Just giving it to him like this? Tae-hyun and Vlad stared at each other in bewilderment. They had planned to sneak in, but they hadn't expected to get it so easily without doing anything!

"Wait. Are there no monsters? It defended itself so well earlier..."

Tae-hyun looked around disappointedly. My experience points! I thought I could finally level up quickly with the misfortune penalty...

But no matter where he looked, there wasn't a single monster to hunt. The only thing in sight was Vlad.

"..."

"Your Majesty? Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Now that he was the castle lord, the misfortune penalty had vanished. It was a shame, but he had to give up on that.

"First, I should call everyone over."

This castle would be a much better place to fight than the temporary fortress on the coast. He had to move before the other vampire counts caught wind of this!

If the other vampire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠counts heard about this, they would be so dumbfounded they'd grab the backs of their necks. Some random guy had suddenly appeared and pulled an eat-and-run on the castle. It wouldn't be surprising if they came charging in with bloodshot eyes.

Tae-hyun summoned his companions and began checking the castle's status one by one.

Wow! What a piece of trash castle! Compared to this, the Valley of Despair and Sorrow was a land flowing with milk and honey.

Tae-hyun sighed.

Come to think of it, Vlad is the one who's going to rule this castle anyway...

The more he looked at it, the less he understood why the other counts coveted this place. Tae-hyun opened the list of facilities inside the castle.

"..."

"Oh...?"

At least there was something that sounded decent.

Why? Is there something better?

"..."

Tae-hyun closed the rabbit hutch description with a grimace.