The Legendary Vampire
[Title: Conquering Nightmare Floor 5 (Spoiler Warning)] Author: Solo Warrior
…If you’ve somehow made it all the way to the lord after going through that tedious process, congratulations.
You’re now one-third of the way through Chapter 1.
What, there’s still two-thirds left?
Yep, lol.
When you meet the lord, the next quest is to earn his trust.
But this bastard isn’t your average nitpicky noble.
He gives you three trials—like Hercules in Greek and Roman mythology—and only acknowledges you once you clear them.
There are all kinds of trials. This is important too: Nightmare Floors unfold differently for everyone.
The basic framework is the same, but the details differ in specific places, if that makes sense.
For one thing, certain choices create “branch points.”
There are also random elements that can diverge.
Say there’s a culprit you have to catch. In my run, it turned out to be the lord’s cousin, but for someone else it might be a spy from the neighboring territory.
So honestly, Nightmare mode is kind of hard to fully guide from start to finish.
I can only lay out the big picture; the details are up to you guys.
Sorry, I wandered off for a sec. Anyway, the list of trials the lord can give you, based on what I experienced and what I’ve seen on the community, is this:
1. Crush the bandit gang operating in the outer castle
2. Safely deliver a secret letter to the neighboring territory
3. Exterminate the demonic beast lurking in the nearby forest
4. Recover the lord family’s lost heirloom
5. Investigate the source of the plague spreading through the village…
As you can see, they’re clearly pretty brutal missions.
Three of these are assigned at random, so there’s definitely a luck factor.
Still, if you clear the three and come back, you earn the lord’s trust and can finish Chapter 1, so just roll around like a dog and clear it.
For now, I’ll share the info on the trials I got…
***
According to Solo Warrior’s guide, the lord was a total hard-ass who never trusted outsiders easily.
But then.
“Ah, could it truly be that the one from legend has appeared!”
The lord, clasping both hands and looking at me with an overwhelmed expression, was nothing like the man described in the guide.
And besides, “the one from legend”? What was that supposed to mean?
That keyword never came up in Solo Warrior’s guide—or in any of the other posts on Climber Community.
Is there some hidden story route or something?
Come to think of it, the butler had also mentioned something about coming here to keep a “promise.”
Judging by the situation, maybe some vampire made a vow to this family long ago…
Then should I impersonate that vampire?
But that felt impossible, because I didn’t have enough information.
And more than anything, I could feel, with absolute clarity, that I could not bring myself to say the words “I’m going to impersonate another vampire” out loud.
My body was rejecting that idea with complete, unyielding force.
In that case, I should just be honest.
In fact, maybe the best strategy was to act shameless and confident…!
Having made up my mind, I frowned and said, “How offensive.”
“?!”
“To compare this body to some vampire from your humans’ legend. I am a far greater being than that.”
The lord flinched as if shocked.
Now let’s see how he reacts.
“Ahhh!”
Instead, his face became even more moved.
“I-it’s true! Not only the appearance, but even this part is exactly like the legend…! In the legend as well, that one was said to be no ordinary vampire, but an incredibly noble existence…!”
“I said I’m not. Do my words not sound like words to you?”
“N-no, not at all! I would never dream of disregarding Your Grace’s words.”
The lord hastily bowed his head.
“I-I only have one question, if I may. Why have you come to our castle, and how did you find me, the lord…?”
“……”
Because of the Tower quest, obviously.
But I couldn’t say that.
The guide had said I should approach it with something like, “I’ve come to help you.”
I spoke with all the dignity I could muster.
“I have heard that this place is in dire straits.”
“……!”
“I have come to aid it, as a form of amusement.”
“As I thought!”
The lord said, excited like a child.
“The legend said that when Arden Castle faced a great crisis, that one would descend upon us!”
“……”
Legend.
He kept saying that word, and now even I was getting curious.
What kind of story was this, anyway, that he was groveling like this?
“What exactly is this legend?”
At my question, the lord took a moment to steady his breathing.
Then he slowly opened his mouth.
“It is the oldest tale passed down in our family.”
Hundreds of years ago.
Before Arden Castle was even built on this land.
There had supposedly been a tiny, insignificant village here.
On the outskirts of that village, one rainy dawn, the family founder found someone collapsed in the road.
A dying figure, covered head to toe in deep wounds.
With pale white skin, and a cloak wrapped tightly around them.
Everyone in the village turned away, but the founder was different.
He couldn’t ignore someone dying, so he brought them to his home and tended their wounds.
But as it turned out, that person was a vampire.
The founder feared being eaten, but once the vampire recovered, it did no such thing—instead, it remembered the kindness shown to it.
It lent its power to help lay the foundation of the family, and built sturdy walls upon this barren land.
That, apparently, was how the present-day Arden Castle came to be.
“Before leaving, the vampire left one promise for our founder.”
The lord’s voice trembled.
He said that one day, when a great crisis struck Arden Castle, one of their kind would inevitably come to this land.
When the founder asked how they could possibly recognize such a being, the vampire answered as follows:
—Red eyes, pallid skin that rejects the light, and one who never ages.
—Yet that one would not even know their own true nature.
In return for that promise, the family vowed never to oppose vampires, and to treat them with proper respect if they ever met.
“This is one thing our family has never forgotten. It has been passed down through every generation.”
The lord’s shoulders shook slightly.
“B-but I never imagined that the day of that promise would come while I was still alive… Hngh!”
In the end, he couldn’t hold it in and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.
Hmm…
What was I even looking at?
With a mustached middle-aged guy tearing up like that, how could I not think he was being genuine?
This was the realization of his family’s oldest legend in his own lifetime. From his perspective, this had to be one of the biggest events of his life.
When I said nothing and simply listened, the lord cautiously spoke again.
“There is one more matter I must report.”
“Go on.”
“It is merely a formality, but there is one more thing the vampire left with the promise. A method to determine whether that person is genuine.”
“A method to determine whether I’m genuine?”
“Yes. There is a stone tablet in the underground chamber—”
“How dare you.”
Then.
Katarina, who had been standing quietly behind me, cut the lord off in a sinister voice.
A terrifying killing intent surged from her body.
“Determine whether she’s genuine? How dare anyone presume to test who?”
“Hiiiek?!”
The lord shot to his feet and frantically waved both hands.
“N-no! Absolutely not! That is not my intention at all! It’s just that, according to the records, similar vampires have visited this family before, but in some cases they were not the one from the promise…!”
“……”
“O-of course, from all appearances there’s no reason for doubt… But the founder left another teaching that the verification must still be performed…!”
The lord’s face was drenched in cold sweat.
Uh oh. He might actually collapse at this rate.
“That will do, Katarina.”
I raised a hand lightly to stop Katarina.
“At once.”
Katarina looked dissatisfied, but immediately withdrew her killing intent.
“Haa, haa. Thank you for your understanding…”
The lord thanked me with the face of a man who had just been dragged back from death.
But the truth was, the moment I heard him mention the stone tablet, I already knew what this was.
Because.
Right in front of me—
Objective: Earn the lord’s trust.
That quest window had already appeared.
Normally, the lord would assign three random missions, and only after clearing all three would the trust quest be completed.
But in my case, I guess this is the trial for earning the lord’s trust.
The guide had said the story unfolds differently for each person.
In the normal route, the picky lord gives you three trials, but in my route, it seems one verification is enough.
That’s actually way easier, isn’t it?
“Hmm. Having heard the matter, I find it somewhat interesting. Very well, let us proceed.”
As I answered, the lord’s face lit up.
“Th-thank you! I shall guide you at once!”
***
And so, under the lord’s guidance, we descended into the castle basement.
“It is slippery, so please be careful.”
Ugh. It feels damp in here.
Since it was underground, everything felt dark and clammy.
After walking for quite a while, a small stone chamber finally came into view.
And at its center.
There stood a single stone tablet.
It was about as tall as an adult and made of dark gray stone.
At a glance, it had the unmistakable aura of some ancient relic.
“This is it.”
The lord pointed at the stone tablet with a trembling voice.
“You may place your hand upon it.”
“Oh?”
“Nothing happens when an ordinary human touches it, but when a vampire does, it gradually turns red. And the more fitting they are to the prophecy, the more vivid that color becomes.”
The lord swallowed hard.
“And if you are truly the one from legend, the tablet will ‘show blood,’ as the prophecy says. In other words, it will turn as red as blood itself.”
Ah, I see.
So it judged by how deeply the color changed.
But there was one thing that worried me.
I’m not the vampire from the legend—I’m just some lame vampire. Is this really going to be okay?
I had no idea whether it would even react properly.
Level 27, Strength 3, Agility 4, Stamina 3.
Embarrassing stats, honestly.
In fact, the strongest one here was Katarina, so maybe it’d be better to have her do it and see if it turns a deeper red.
Still, I should try first.
If it doesn’t work, I can always have Katarina do it.
Haaah. I mean, I’m a vampire too, so there’s no way it won’t change color at all… right?
And if it didn’t, I was already prepared to yank my hand back and go on the offensive first.
With that resolve, I stretched out my hand and placed my palm on the tablet.
The cold, rough texture of stone met my skin.
Then.
Swish…
A faint red hue began to spread across the tablet.
Oh?!
It’s reacting to me!
I didn’t pull my hand away and kept watching.
At first, it was a pale pink.
Then it deepened little by little.
From scarlet to a rich crimson.
Before long, the entire tablet was stained a perfect, dark blood-red.
Success!
So maybe this really was the EX-rank Blood Lord after all.
I felt oddly proud.
“Ooh!”
The lord was overcome with emotion again.
“So you really are the one from legend…!”
But before he could finish speaking—
Crack!
Cracks began to run through the tablet.
Like an egg shell breaking, thin fractures etched themselves across the surface.
And then.
Crack, snap!
The tablet split open completely, and from within it a single stream of blood shot upward in a gush.
The blood gathered in the air, forming a sphere.
Then it shrank smaller and smaller, until at last it condensed into a tiny bead.
That small bead slowly drifted toward me.
As if telling me to take it.
On reflex, I opened my hand, and the little blood-red bead softly settled into my palm.
“……!!!”
The lord, watching from the side, dropped his jaw in stunned silence.