Descent Upon the Community
"Katarina. Offer me blood."
The first thing to do was consume blood right away.
Now that I knew drinking monster blood would level me up.
So I'd already instructed her in advance to offer me their blood as spoils every time we hunted monsters.
"Yes, my Lord. I shall present the tribute."
At my command, Katarina raised her hand, and the blood from the fallen ghouls floated up lightly.
She took out a cup she'd brought along and filled it with a bit of the blood.
With this many, the experience should be pretty decent.
This'll be a chore to drink.
I took the cup with satisfaction and took a sip.
But at that moment—
Ugh…?!
Ptooey!
I spat it straight onto the ground without thinking.
I had no choice.
'It tastes awful!!!'
This blood was truly revolting.
It was nothing like the pureblood vampire's blood from before or Siyeon's.
What was it like? Sewer water?
I'd never actually drunk sewer water, but it felt exactly like that.
Insanely fishy and nauseating…!
No human—no, no vampire could stomach this.
Ugh… I think I'm gonna puke.
If not for Noble Bearing, I'd have vomited all over the floor right then.
And that's when—
You have consumed low-grade blood.
You cannot acquire experience.
Eek? No experience either?!
My tongue had already instinctively rejected it as inedible, but no experience at all?
In other words, low-grade blood was worthless for both taste and growth.
…Ah.
I felt a pang of regret.
Low-grade monsters won't cut it for leveling up.
As I made a deeply disappointed face—
"M-My Lord…!"
Katarina immediately paled and prostrated herself.
"Forgive me! To dare let such filth touch my Lord's noble tongue…!"
She bowed so low her forehead nearly scraped the graveyard floor.
But it wasn't her fault.
I'd asked for it in the first place…
"Rise. 'Twas merely that their blood proved far too base beyond expectation, rendering it utterly unpalatable."
I tried to console her.
"…Yes."
She still looked downcast, but seemed a bit better.
Then, a sudden thought struck me.
Wait. Maybe Ghoul Lord blood is edible?
Wouldn't the blood of a superior specimen like the Ghoul Lord differ from regular ghouls'?
"Katarina."
"Yes, my Lord."
"This time, fetch the Ghoul Lord's blood."
"As you command."
Katarina moved at once, collecting blood from the two fallen Ghoul Lords and bringing it over.
A much thicker, murkier red than the regular ghouls'.
Visually, still not great.
But I had to taste it.
Steeling myself, I cautiously took a sip.
…Huh?
This one was surprisingly tolerable.
Not delicious, mind you.
What was it like?
Flat cola?
The kind left out at room temp till all the fizz is gone and it's warm. Sweet but bland and meh, yet somehow drinkable.
And then—
You have consumed mid-grade blood.
You acquire experience.
Your level has increased!
Oh!
Leveled up by 1.
Not much, but it worked.
Low-grade gave zilch, but mid-grade trickled in like this.
That pureblood vampire was S-rank, and this is just a 4th-floor scrub, but the level gap isn't that huge?
3 levels vs. 1. A big difference, sure, but not by body class standards.
I'll ponder this later.
Anyway, I nodded and spoke.
"Hrmm. This proves quite palatable indeed. Well done, Katarina. Siyeon."
"Ahh…!"
Katarina's face lit up in an instant.
"'Tis an honor!"
"Thank you, Master."
Siyeon quietly bowed her head in gratitude as well.
After praising my familiars like that, I turned back to the system window.
Experience, gold, various items…
Sweet rewards as always.
And—
Additional rewards granted for clearing Nightmare difficulty Floor 4.
Oh?
Additional rewards.
You have acquired access rights to the Climber Community.
…Climber Community?
As I tilted my head—
Would you like to access the Climber Community?
Didn't know about this. Well, it's a reward, so obviously I'll check it out.
I selected access without hesitation.
Entering Climber Community in Visitor Mode.
What is this place?
The community window that appeared before my eyes.
Its basic layout was a typical forum: post articles, upvote/downvote, leave comments.
Just like Hunter Gallery?
The familiar design felt cozy.
But—
The content of the posts was wildly different.
Floor 86 boss was a total bitch but 87 was surprisingly doable
…Floor 87?
I stared blankly at the number.
87 floors.
Isn't the world record 86 right now…?
World record?!
On Hunter Gallery, clearing Normal Tower Floor 30 gets you treated like a god.
Here, folks casually chatted about 70s and 80s.
I clicked the next post, mesmerized.
Price negotiable, prefer direct trade~
Location no issue~
DM if interested~ ✿
…50 A-rank magic stones?
I got scammer vibes on the black market just for posting one B-rank.
Here, dumping 50 A-ranks in bulk was everyday stuff.
Someone even casually asked about S-rank like it was normal.
The scale was on another level.
Next post.
Anyone attending the US Hunter Conference this time?
…Hold up.
I slowly reread the comments.
Chris? HeavenlyDemon?
They mean those people?
Chris Edwards. World Top 10 US ranker.
HeavenlyDemon. Head of China's infamous HeavenlyDemonCult Guild.
…Holy shit. Everyone here's a big shot.
I swallowed hard.
Didn't seem like bluffing or roleplay—Nightmare Floor 4 clearers are rare enough. Tower Floor 87 climber, magic stone whale dumping 50 A-ranks, US ranker. Totally plausible.
Feels like hitting a wall.
Atmosphere like Hunter Gallery, but topics on another dimension. Unsettling disconnect.
Sure, my True Ancestor cred holds up name-wise.
Still, being here made me shrink a bit.
Visitor Mode has ended.
To continue using, set a nickname!
Perfect. Might as well lurk since it's a reward.
Get tangled with these folks, snag Floor 5 info naturally.
Please set your nickname.
Going for something bland—
"This one's name is True Ancestor, so it shall be."
….
Ah.
Right.
Nickname set to 'TrueAncestor'.
Nickname set itself again. Forgot…! Aish, this damn trait! Nape of my neck throbbed.
But the real headache was just beginning.
TrueAncestor has newly joined the community. Everyone, give a warm welcome!
What?!
An auto-join greeting posted at the top of the board.
Comments exploded like wildfire within seconds.
W-Wait…!
Cold sweat as I stared at the screen.
Notifications flooding uncontrollably.
All S-rank heavyweights…!
Overwhelming pressure.
Everyone, chill for a sec!
The moment I wished they'd quiet down—
My mouth moved on its own, blurting my thoughts raw.
In the haughtiest tone Noble Bearing could muster.
And—
Voice comment function activated!
Uploaded to the S-rank world gathering—with my voice.
Ah.
Mega aggro pulled.