323. Louise Tepes / Bloody Night Vassal Contract
323. Louise Tepes / Bloody Night Vassal Contract
***
Even among hidden classes, the class called "True Ancestor" was especially unique.
That was only natural. In Another World, now boasting millions of users, it was a special class that only ten users could possess at any given time, and according to Another World's official stance, that number was "immutable."
Unless a user who possessed the True Ancestor class deleted their character or voluntarily gave up the class, no new user could ever obtain the True Ancestor hidden class.
Since Another World's official lore established exactly ten True Ancestors, it was a class with a conspicuously small population compared to other hidden classes.
As a result, actually meeting or even seeing a user with the True Ancestor class was exceedingly rare, and despite its fame, very few True Ancestor users were active.
Even so, the reason the True Ancestor class kept getting dragged into controversy and balance debates at the drop of a hat was none other than a single user.
—True Ancestor. Louise Tepes.
She was the only True Ancestor user ranked among the Arena rankers, and Louise Tepes's striking appearance, personality, and distinctive approach to the class made her a topic of conversation no matter what.
Her own words and actions, which maintained a captivating concept, played a large part in that, but beyond that, she was effectively the first to showcase the mysterious power of the True Ancestor class.
Ten True Ancestors. Since each user's personal preferences made the class traits and playstyles wildly different even among True Ancestors, Louise Tepes's play, which pushed the "Body Enhancement" line to its absolute limit, stood out even more.
She competed against ranker users without a single weapon, and the sight of her casually deflecting most attacks as if brushing them aside was almost mystical.
Because of that, many people who first encountered the True Ancestor class through her pointed out the hidden class's balance issues.
In fact, Rin, whose stock was rising rapidly these days—
Louise Tepes was one of the very few users who had landed a meaningful blow on her. Even though Louise had done nothing notable since, her fan cafe membership had only grown.
......
"I had so much fun today. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's raid too, you know?"
Bloody Night. Yujeong pushed aside her lingering regret as she said her goodbyes and signaled the end.
"I enjoyed working together like this too. It's been a while."
"Yujeong, good work today. See you tomorrow."
Sua and Serin smiled softly as they saw her off, and Yujeong beamed before moving to her house.
As the two figures vanished, a crimson-stained mansion soon appeared in her view. Gazing at the building, constructed with an antique interior that seemed to depict a medieval manor, Yujeong slowly wiped away the smile she had been wearing until just now.
"Seriously, every single one of them... their stamina is monstrous too."
Her slightly sharp tone as she muttered was a complete one-eighty from moments before. She slumped onto a nearby bench, faintly furrowing her brow as she pressed a hand to her head.
They had finished the rehearsal with about four hours of hunting, but deep fatigue weighed on her.
"Hoo..."
Appearing on a broadcast watched by tens of thousands of people had been nerve-wracking in ways she hadn't fully noticed, and after witnessing Rin's actual skill, her head felt tangled, as if the exhaustion was piling up all at once.
'Honestly... I like Rin, but I also hate her.'
Given her own personality, which loathed having too much to think about, Rin was exactly the kind of person who clashed with her.
Now that she had a sort of goal of making Rin fall for her, simply being around Rin kept making her head complicated and filled with endless thoughts.
On top of that, now that her carefully laid plans seemed useless, it was hitting her as extreme stress.
But even so, just being with Rin made her affection for her swell enormously, leaving her heart conflicted.
"Ah, seriously. Should I just scrap the whole Outlaw switch?"
Actually, thinking about it, she hadn't even attempted anything yet. She hadn't shown any sign of it outwardly either.
With her plans already warped, she was starting to wonder if she even needed to cling to the Outlaw path. The huge sum of money she'd received from Phantom hadn't been spent, so she could just send it back.
'Thirty million won is definitely not a small amount, though.'
But if someone asked whether I was the kind of person to be tied down by that much money, I wasn't.
As her feelings for Rin grew, the sum of thirty million won kept losing its shine.
The more she thought about it, the more her mind seemed to change.
'Actually, my relationship with Rin right now isn't so bad.'
Once tomorrow's raid was over, she might find another point of contact with Rin, and from the conversations they'd had, Rin's personality didn't seem like the type to reject someone's approach.
As Yujeong sank deeper into her tangled thoughts, a sudden idea struck her.
True Ancestor, Louise Tepes.
The whisper she'd received from her midway through had only deepened her thoughts.
Honestly, looking at the whisper alone, it was nothing.
—Hi.
She'd only sent two letters as a greeting. But those two letters seemed to carry another meaning, and a small sigh escaped Yujeong's lips.
"Becoming a True Ancestor's vassal, huh..."
Honestly, when she'd first received the offer, it hadn't sparked much interest. But today, after facing Rin's skill and watching all her plans fall apart, a different thought had emerged.
It certainly wouldn't be as special as a True Ancestor, but if she became a True Ancestor's vassal, she could gain special abilities depending on that True Ancestor's traits.
She would lose the advantages of being a vampire, but through a contract with a True Ancestor, she would gain other special abilities. And those abilities would clearly far surpass her existing advantages.
If she gained a sufficiently useful ability, it wouldn't be unreasonable to draw up a new plan targeting Rin.
Even she herself didn't know what ability she would awaken, so she couldn't imagine Rin being able to handle it.
'...It really is a decent option.'
In truth, they'd only hunted together for a few hours today, but she'd realized quite a lot. Even if she launched a surprise attack, beating Rin was nearly impossible.
That was why she was even considering withdrawing her decision to switch to Outlaw.
After agonizing alone and wrestling with her thoughts, Yujeong soon made up her mind.
"Hoo."
Let's just get it first.
She could decide later whether to continue with the Outlaw path or not. It wouldn't be too late.
—[Bloody Night: That offer from before is still valid, right?]
With that, she sent a whisper to the woman on her friends list.
***
—[Bloody Night: That offer from before is still valid, right?]
Louise Tepes, who had been glancing at the whisper that appeared at the edge of her vision.
Chaeri drove her snow-white hand forward.
Crunch!
She easily pierced the abdomen of a troll several times her size, then slowly withdrew her hand.
Gazing at her hand, now slick with the troll's green blood, she let out a small laugh and flicked her hand lightly, brushing against the troll's body with its chest pierced through.
Poof!
In an instant, the troll's body withered completely and scattered as a handful of ash. It looked unreal to anyone watching, but Chaeri murmured with a nonchalant air.
"What's gotten into her?"
When she'd made the vassal offer before, the response had clearly been lukewarm. But looking at the whisper now, the tone suggested she intended to become her vassal.
—[Louise Tepes: No changing your mind after asking, okay?]
—[Bloody Night: Got it]
Even though she'd sent the whisper playfully, the razor-sharp reply made it clear the other woman had truly made up her mind.
Ding!
Soon after, a house invitation notification popped up, and Chaeri accepted without hesitation.
...
The moment she accepted the invitation, the ornate exterior of a mansion and a gloomy backdrop came into view. This one never changes, she thought as she shifted her gaze.
Then she spotted a sensual female vampire leaning against a bench. Her black suit clung to her body, its curves clearly visible. Truly impressive.
'Is it because this is a game? If it were me, I'd hate it.'
Since she had a similar body in real life, she knew all too well the kind of looks that woman must receive. That was exactly why she'd customized her character to be this young.
Her appreciation was brief; she parted her lips.
"I don't like long speeches. How about we get straight to the point?"
She smiled as she spoke, and Bloody Night, as if agreeing, immediately sent a trade request.
She accepted the trade.
—Clatter!
Along with the sound of countless gold coins pouring out, she saw the amount displayed in the other party's "Amount" field on the opposite side of the trade window: 3 billion silver coins.
That was the price for forming a vassal contract with me.
She accepted the trade without hesitation, and with a message confirming the trade was complete, a fortune of 2.7 billion silver coins—after the 10% personal trade fee—was added to her inventory in one go.
'Making money sure is easy.'
In fact, even just those silver coins worth over 2 billion amounted to a staggering 20 million won in real-world value. Of course, since each True Ancestor could only have one vassal, there was risk involved for the True Ancestor as well. But looking purely at the money, it was an enormous gain for a True Ancestor.
"Good."
She smiled and raised her arm to proceed with the contract, but Bloody Night suddenly gave her an odd look.
It seemed like she had something to say, so Chaeri paused. Bloody Night opened her mouth, her voice hesitant in a way that didn't match her appearance.
"When I become a vassal, I can't choose the ability, right?"
"Right. It's exactly what I told you last time. The ability you awaken is completely random. But I can guarantee it'll definitely be better than the abilities you have now."
She relayed the facts she already knew. It was an explanation she'd heard from another True Ancestor before, and it was written in the vassal skill description as well, so it couldn't be a lie.
To a True Ancestor, a vassal held great significance.
Since each True Ancestor could only have a single vassal, it wasn't an offer that could be made lightly.
"...Fine. Please proceed."
Bloody Night's expression as she steeled herself was amusing, but then she bared her fangs toward the artery visible in my wrist.
Ding!
A warning message about the vassal contract popped up, but she dismissed it immediately and forced the skill through.
Crunch.
As her fangs sank into flesh, deep red blood began to flow from the punctured forearm.
"Here, lick."
I held out my bleeding arm as I spoke and watched Bloody Night open her mouth with a reluctant expression, leaning her head forward.
"It doesn't taste like anything anyway. Don't make that weird face."
At her playful remark, the other woman scowled sharply.
"...I know that too."