Vampire (1)
Vampire (1)
That evening, when the children gathered at the restaurant.
Eunha cautiously opened her mouth and shared her goal.
"......You want to become a ballerina?"
"Yeah......."
Her sudden declaration caused the kids who were eating to react dramatically.
The biggest reaction came from none other than Ga-hee.
"Out of nowhere?"
"I got scouted. Yesterday on the street......."
"Scouted? Isn't that a scam? Did you check it out?"
"I haven't checked yet......."
"You gotta be careful. There are tons of scammer bastards pretending to be agencies to rip people off, or pervert bastards luring girls for dirty deeds. The entertainment industry's full of 'em."
As someone with tons of real-world experience as an active professional back on Earth, Ga-hee gave extremely practical and helpful advice.
Fortunately, no one opposed her wanting to do ballet. Well, ever since they'd become Level 3 adventurers, they'd been free from money worries.
In a civilized society, that was basically like having infinite coins to play a game nonstop, turning challenges that others had to risk their lives for into something they could just try out and quit if they wanted.
"Wow, so Eunha's gonna be a ballerina now?"
"......I don't really know. They called it a troupe."
"A troupe? So you're becoming an actress?"
Aram, who'd been sharing a room with Eunha all this time, was thrilled about it like it was her own business. Whether that was from the closeness of rooming together or just her personality, who knows.
"Do your best."
Dojin cheered her on.
Hearing Dojin's encouragement, Eunha lit up like she'd gained a heavenly army, clenching her fist tight.
"Yeah. Definitely."
"Definitely......?"
That didn't seem like the right word for this, but he let it slide without a second thought.
The kids, who'd been intrigued by this unusual happening in their routine lives, soon lost interest and went back to their meals.
By the time dinner ended, no one was paying Eunha any attention.
Puk-!
A long Ice Pillar pierced right through the monster's head.
Paruruk-! The Big Spider with its eight legs trembled all over before going limp.
A 40th-floor monster.
Not a single one you could take lightly.
If it got out to the city, it'd rampage for hours massacring people before finally being subdued— that level of power.
But it'd picked the wrong opponent.
"No more around."
"Yeah?"
The world's strongest ability user.
As far as Dojin knew, no one surpassed her.
To take her on, you needed quality, not quantity.
No matter how many ants gathered, they couldn't beat an elephant— to face her, you needed resistance beyond a certain level.
And monsters on this floor that had enough resistance to stand up to her ability naturally had weaker defenses as a tradeoff.
If the ability got blocked, use swordsmanship; if swordsmanship got blocked, use the ability.
Dojin and Seoyun were perfect partners who covered each other's weaknesses.
"Feels kinda more comfy when it's just us two, somehow."
"Well, yeah, 'cause you don't have to worry about the others."
"That why?"
When partying with Eunha, Raize, or Orion, they had to move as one unit.
That meant holding back Dojin and Seoyun's full power.
But now? No need. Both could go all out, and the combined strength of the party's two strongest outdid even a full five-person group.
'Could we just clear this with me and Seoyun alone?'
But Dojin never dreamed of ditching the party over that thought.
They could push forward like this now, but like with Han-young's group, he couldn't assume these Cheat Abilities were permanent.
Limits would come eventually.
Personal limits were clear-cut.
That's why they needed group strength.
'Gotta push 'em a bit harder.'
The viciousness of Cheat Abilities lay in their sheer power.
The ones who got them could live like kings without lifting a finger, just relying on the cheat.
Get drunk on unearned wealth and power, and before you know it, you forget how to even try.
Hit your limit after getting insanely strong yet forgetting how to train? No way out.
That's exactly why Dojin, Seoyun, and the rest could still roam the Dungeon.
Dojin never rested on his own power. If anything, he trained even harder after getting it.
'Wonder what Eunha's up to right now.'
Suddenly, he missed her. Sure, as a Level 3 adventurer, she'd handle herself fine, but......
He couldn't help worrying if the socially awkward girl would adapt okay.
"Welcome!"
Mera treated Eunha, who'd come to his Theater Troupe, like a state guest. Made sense—she was basically here to help him out.
The troupe members treated her like a parachute drop-in and glared unpleasantly, but Eunha didn't care.
"Hmm...... You don't know how to do ballet? No problem! You'll master it in a week!"
Having seen her physical movements and assuming it was her talent, the troupe leader figured she'd pick up ballet quick and perform soon.
"Teach her? And master it in a week?"
"Yeah."
"You think that's possible...... Ah, whatever. The director said so?"
The ballerina assigned to teach her scowled at Eunha. She didn't like this new rock that might roll in and take her spot.
So her teaching was half-assed, just rough demos.
And that was plenty.
A Superhuman learning ballet.
"Got it all."
"......What'd I even teach her?"
Even without real instruction, Eunha's sharp eyes and her learned Ho-yeon-ryu perfectly stole the ballerina's techniques.
Sure, not flawless, but her incomparable strength and flexibility as a Level 1 ballerina made up for it.
Just 3 days.
The time it took Eunha to master ballet.
After seeing her master it in three days, the ballerina and other troupe members started acknowledging her bit by bit.
Not that Eunha cared whether they did or not.
'This pose...... wonder if Dojin'll like it.'
While Eunha spent her time thinking stuff like that, the first performance day was finally set.
Ever since Ga-hee tried culturally invading the Otherworld, its people had gone hungry for culture.
Thanks to that, the cultural scene hit an unexpected boom, with ballet and musicals—usually ignored—suddenly getting spotlighted too.
And that trend spread not just to humans, but to demi-humans as well.
"Oho......."
Especially for vampires, called nobles of the night, a troupe that blocked the sun was prime entertainment.
So it wasn't weird at all for her to take an interest in the troupe.
"A virgin brazenly baring her body, and not just that—competing in dances?"
Ridiculous.
Since when did the world get this loose?
Since when did women get so frivolous?
'Suits me just fine.'
From a vampire's view, who savored virgin blood as the ultimate delicacy, a world where virgins were easy to spot and drain wasn't half bad.
"Aw, tsk tsk. Back in my day, there was at least some chase to it."
Like old fogeys romanticizing their tough youths, Adelange reminisced about her own young days as she headed to the troupe.
The two things a sun-seeing vampire could claim superiority in were lifespan and wealth.
She snagged the best VIP seat with the prime view.
She killed time there, sipping fruit juice brought by the server, until finally the ballet troupe burst onto the stage and the play began.
"Oh, ooh......."
To a centuries-old stick-in-the-mud vampire, it was way too raw and shocking.
Dancing in skin-tight underwear with weird fuzzy yarn dangling all over?
She thought she'd wandered into a whore strip show.
Sniff sniff-.
'Good thing it's not.......'
A vampire's virgin-sensing ability put a unicorn's power to shame.
Unicorns just did it for fun; vampires hunted virgins for gourmet meals—so yeah, natural.
Adelange's scan showed most women on stage were virgins.
'......But this scent.'
And among them, one girl gave off gourmet vibes despite not being a virgin.
These types popped up sometimes.
Blood Lovers who enchanted vampires regardless of virginity.
Sure, post-Dungeon, most were high-level knights or adventurers......
'No way a high-level adventurer's dancing here.'
And from the scent, she wasn't just some knight—more like a Knights Order captain level.
A national heavyweight you couldn't find by scouring the country.
If someone like that was casually dancing, word would've spread already. But this girl was a nobody.
'Lucky me.'
Muttering that, Adelange watched the play.
When it ended amid the chaos, she went straight to the troupe leader.
Even in the post-show bustle, he gave her VIP treatment.
Mera fidgeted nervously before his VIP guest, asking why she'd come.
"Sir, was there something wrong with our show......?"
"Nah, the opposite."
"The opposite......?"
"I wanna invest in this troupe."
"Invest!"
Business takes money. Art takes money.
Art business? Double the money.
Always cash-strapped, the troupe leader's eyes lit up and he ushered her inside pronto.
Entering the exclusive back area others couldn't, she scanned the troupe members.
'Mm, female scents.......'
A sweet blood smell wafted over. She fanned her face with her fan to cover a sniffle.
"Ahaha, sorry. We just finished the show......."
"No, it's fine."
And there she was—the girl she'd marked.
Maybe 150 cm, a tiny girl.
Black hair, black eyes.
A slightly exotic look.
'How's a body like that pull off those moves?'
And that proved her blood was pure, clean, and potent.
She wanted to rip out her heart and squeeze it dry...... but she wasn't one to gut the golden goose.
"Give me that girl."
"......Pardon?"
"Oh, my bad. What I meant was...... I'd love for that girl to star in every show from now on."
"Of course!"
Get close slowly, and a chance to sample blood would come naturally.
That day, three people smiled at once.
Adelange, lost in thoughts of blood.
Mera, seeing the recruitment payoff right away.
Eunha, gaining popularity.
Everyone was blissed out.