329. A Strange Buff Time
329. A Strange Buff Time
***
After clearing Phase 1: Hall of Illusions, just before entering Phase 2.
Serin's party entered a space where the fog had lifted and a green cluster of light had settled. It was none other than a safe zone, one of those scattered throughout the raid.
It was for taking a brief rest mid-raid, changing equipment settings, or preparing supplies for the next phase.
...
[Did Phase 1 take 30 minutes?]
[It's going smoother than expected;]
[Is this really something three people can clear?]
[What skill did Rin use? I looked it up under sword skills and couldn't find it]
[Wow, they barely even clashed and took down the illusions that easily;]
[Seeing stuff like this makes me feel like I can't raid...]
[fr even just watching the stream, corpses that don't vanish into the light cluster are unsettling]
[Seeing it in person would probably feel really weird]
"Over sixty thousand viewers are watching right now. I'll trust everyone to keep chat respectful. Sorry I haven't been able to pay much attention to it."
Serin, feeling like the broadcast had been pushed aside by the project, spoke with an apologetic look.
"Plea-lings! I'm so grateful for the donations, but what do I do? I don't think I'll be able to properly react to the stream today either. You'll all be generous about it today, right?"
Sua likewise paid attention to her own viewers, soothing them little by little.
Yujeong, who had been quietly watching the two of them tend to their streams while resting, fidgeted with her hands for no reason and hesitated, lips wavering.
'They're all so busy.'
It hit her anew that being a streamer must be a hassle, and she felt the current situation settling in.
The Five Million Project.
I'd heard that today's raid would be uploaded to the NewTube channels of the two streamers, and the two of them had said they'd look after me a bit in return. Honestly, even if the raid failed, the compensation already felt more than enough, but...
'That's not what matters right now.'
What I was actually most concerned about was something else entirely.
How to bring it up so that the two of them would accept my actions without suspicion. That was all I was thinking about. I considered the fact that they were streaming an opportunity, but I still hesitated to speak.
The Zervallua Raid would surely not be easy from Phase 2 onward. That made now seem like the right time all the more.
Once my thoughts were settled, they immediately turned into action.
"Ah."
When I spoke up casually to draw attention, the two of them, each tending to their own streams, soon turned their gazes toward me.
"It's nothing major... but before we proceed with the raid, there's something I'd like to tell you first."
"What kind of thing?"
"Yes. Please go ahead."
Plea answered as if hearing it for the first time, and Rin answered calmly. Looking at the two of them, I slowly steadied my breathing.
And without realizing it, my gaze drifted to Rin.
Gulp.
Today, Rin's neckline caught my eye, and even that looked pretty to me.
I hesitated over whether it was right to make this proposal so publicly, but it was hard to shake off the temptation. Still, bringing it up under the name of the raid would make the situation least likely to feel off-putting.
"...It's good news. It's something that will be a huge help for the raid going forward."
After pausing briefly, I looked once at the two curious faces and continued.
"I... have awakened as a vassal of Louise Tepes."
I looked at the two of them, feigning calm composure.
"A vassal!?"
"A vassal, as in...?"
The two of them reacted with equal surprise.
I nodded at them, pretending to be composed on the outside, but inwardly I was trembling badly.
Because today was, in a very real sense, like the day I would fasten the first button for myself.
Of the two, Plea might not matter, but Rin, at least, must not feel any aversion. That thought made my fingertips tremble for no reason.
***
The feeling of something sharp piercing flesh.
Even if the act itself caused no pain, would anyone actually want it?
Some people loathed even having to get a shot, and most simply endured it because they had no choice.
And now.
In a situation where something larger, sharper, and more pointed than a syringe needle was approaching her.
A woman was instead even smiling faintly.
Even though it was drawing closer and closer to her neck, which could be called a vital point rather than an ordinary spot, she remained composed.
No, rather than composed, she was feeling a kind of fascination.
As if thinking, so this place has something like that too.
The woman with mysterious silver hair was calm, but the woman watching her was trembling—a bizarre sight.
...
"Ugh..."
In one part of Serin's vision, she could see Sua frowning even though she wasn't the one being bitten. Her hands kept flinching, and she shook her head over and over, looking like she genuinely hated it.
"Sua, why does your face look like that?"
It was so funny that I spoke up without meaning to.
"No... Serin. I mean... if it were me, I think I'd really hate it. Are you really okay with this?"
"...!"
At Sua's voice, which bordered on revulsion, Yujeong, who had been slowly bringing her face closer, flinched and stopped. Then she carefully studied my expression and met my eyes. I met that gaze calmly, and a silly laugh slipped out.
Yujeong had been the one to propose this first, yet now she was so deeply embarrassed that I, watching her, was the one left dumbfounded.
'Why on earth are you getting embarrassed now?'
Honestly, just a moment ago, I'd been bewildered by Yujeong's mention of awakening as a vassal. But after hearing the explanation of the vassal contract involving a True Ancestor, I understood, though I was a little surprised.
Simply put, Yujeong had obtained a better skill. After that, Yujeong had asked us for consent to use the skill, saying it could raise the party's combat power.
She said it was a kind of buff skill that helped both sides, so Sua and I accepted, and that was how we had ended up in this situation.
My upper body was slightly loosened to expose my neck, and Yujeong, leaning against me, had been about to sink her sharp fangs in and drink my blood. And then she had stopped.
I thought the skill's conditions were peculiar, fitting for a Vampire Class, but I accepted it.
"Um... if you dislike it too, Rin, I can do it on another spot, even if the effect gets a little weaker."
But when Yujeong, after a moment of hesitation, carefully spoke up, I shook my head at once.
"I'm fine. Just drink directly from my neck."
I tapped my exposed neckline as I said it.
"You said it would be over quickly anyway, didn't you?"
Honestly, if I'd felt pain or any other sensation, I would've refused too, but Another World wasn't like that. So I had no particular hesitation about accepting.
Now, seeing Yujeong, who had proposed it first, keep hesitating like that, I ended up telling her to just go ahead without reservation.
I didn't know how big a buff it was, but it was a skill obtained through a vassal contract with a True Ancestor.
So it was obvious as fire that the effect would be outstanding.
"If you insist that much, Rin... then, if you'll excuse me."
I nodded at the breath that reached my ear, and then I felt something sharp slowly sink into my neck with a soft push.
Immediately after.
"...Ugh."
Seeing Sua shake her head with even greater revulsion, I realized the bloodsucking had begun.
A feeling of something continuously prodding lightly around the midpoint between my collarbone and neck. On top of that, the sight of Yujeong slowly leaning her body against me made me wonder if it really had to be done like this.
'This looks really suggestive.'
As the person involved, I simply thought the bloodsucking was proceeding, but from a third party's perspective, we probably looked very strange.
After about ten seconds passed like that, Yujeong, who had been drinking with her lips pressed to my neck, slowly pulled her head away.
Ding!
*
————
[You are the 'target' of the Craving for True Blood effect]
————
*
The hologram informing me that I was the skill's target appeared only briefly before Yujeong's face, blood smeared around her lips, caught my eye.
"So the skill was used without any problems, right?"
When I asked right away, Yujeong nodded repeatedly, her face flushed red like a ripe apple.
"Yes. Without any problems..."
She answered with a slightly dazed look in her eyes, and my gaze lingered on her without meaning to as I swept a hand over my pierced neck. I could feel the wound closing, the two spots where the fangs had punctured filling back in with my original skin as if by magic.
'It really does feel strange.'
Honestly, there had been no pain or any other particular sensation, but the very act of touching the traces like this felt strange.
Compared to being bitten in Black Ark, it was really nothing, but the situation made it so.
And although I didn't show it outwardly, I couldn't help looking at Yujeong with suspicion in my eyes. It was probably because of the skill's effect. Even so, her flushed face and extremely cautious attitude seemed a little different somehow.
Swish!
Soon after, Yujeong revealed her lengthened nails, rolled up the sleeve of her suit on her right arm, and exposed her pale wrist. Once she had my attention, she brought her nails to it without hesitation and carefully sliced open the pale wrist.
Then bright red blood began to ooze out.
"If you drink an appropriate amount of my blood, the buff effect will be applied."
She then carefully extended her arm. I brought my face toward it without thinking, and this really was a skill you couldn't use on the opposite sex.
Yujeong bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, looking like anyone would think I had done something to her.
'Seriously, what kind of skill is this?'
Thinking that, I carefully took the blood that had run down the pale arm onto my lips. At that moment.
Ding!
[You have received the Craving for True Blood effect from user 'Bloody Night'. Your Agility stat increases by 37%!]
An unbelievable buff window filled my vision.
'37 percent?'
For a moment I looked again, wondering if it was 3.7%, but the number was definitely 37%.
Immediately after, the vitality coursing through my whole body made me feel light, as if I had used an Awakening Skill, and I blinked blankly.
"Sua?"
Then, without realizing it, I called out to Sua, who had been looking away from the situation in revulsion.
No, this was...
This was simply a buff I absolutely had to take.