I Have Obtained My Personal Weapon

A single short voice post I left on the community drew an absolutely insane flood of donations.

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand... Is this for real...?

Even staring at the number ten million in my gold balance, it still didn’t quite feel real.

I knew people had been excited for my first post, sure, but ten million gold for one throwaway line with no real substance?

I supposed the timing had played a big part. It was right after I’d cleared Chapter 1 of Nightmare Floor 5 with a completely absurd score, so public interest in me had to be at its peak.

Still, there was one thing I didn’t get.

No, seriously. I used a dismissive, condescending tone, so why do they like it?

Honestly, because of Noble Bearing, arrogant-sounding lines kept slipping out, so I’d figured the donations would be smaller.

But apparently, some people were into that.

I stared at a few of the donation messages with cold, dead eyes.

The fact that world-famous S-class hunters were panting in chat and begging me to trample them barefoot was deeply concerning.

I was suddenly very worried about Earth’s future.

That aside.

Hngh. If donations are going to pop off this hard, maybe I should get a little more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠active on the community?

For a moment, the temptation of capitalism whispered sweetly in my ear.

But then I shook my head.

No. If I overdo it, the mystery might wear off instead.

One of the reasons I was treated like such a rare, high-value being was simple.

I only showed up once in a while, like some unknown existence appearing out of nowhere.

If I started logging into the community every day, posting and chatting with people, I might make money in the short term—but in the end, the name value of Jinjo would inevitably drop.

That meant the stance I should take was obvious.

I should just drop in once in a while when I’ve got some kind of result to show, then collect my money and leave.

Avoid excessive interaction, and only appear when I needed to stamp my presence on people’s minds.

Long-term, that was way more profitable.

Having reached that conclusion, I skimmed through the donation list again.

Then my eyes stopped on one particular username.

Artist.

That was one of the fixed-name users listed under the people to watch in Solo Warrior’s guide post.

The other regulars had all left messages that reflected their personalities, but this person had donated two hundred thousand gold and sent nothing but a single period.

...Okay, that’s creepy.

I had no idea what they meant by it, but I had a feeling nothing good would come from getting involved.

Still, thanks for the gold, I guess?

Psychopath villain or not, donation money was donation money.

Then again, the more I thought about it, the more it felt wrong to accept this much money and just say nothing at all.

And besides, if I gave at least some kind of reaction, wouldn’t donors feel even more inclined to throw money at me?

Of course, it wasn’t like I could politely say, “Wow! Thank you so much, everyone!”

Maybe I should just leave one more voice comment or something.

I opened my mouth, aiming for something vaguely appreciative.

“Hm. Well, this is not unpleasant. Continue offering tribute in the future as well.”

Ah.

Rather than a thank-you, that had come out sounding like a debt collector pressing for more payments.

I wondered if that had been a little too shameless, but then—

No, why are you donating again?

I ended up receiving another hundred thousand gold or so on top of that.

Honestly, this was even creepier than Artist’s donation.

Still, money was money, and I had made more of it, so I closed the community window.

Now then, with the funding problem completely solved, it was time to accomplish my original goal.

Purchase.

Just moments ago, that would’ve felt like an impossible amount of money, but now I had ten million gold, didn’t I?

I paid in one lump sum without hesitation.

At that moment, a wavering dark crimson portal appeared in the corner of my room.

“Ho.”

With my familiars in tow, I immediately stepped through.

Beyond the portal lay a pure white space with no visible end.

Floor, ceiling—every direction was blank and white, like the emptiness of a void.

Then a system window rose before my eyes.

Target?

After checking the help text, I let out a small gasp of admiration.

Wow, this is totally busted.

True to the name Special Training Ground, this was a simulation space where I could recreate any opponent I wanted.

There was only one condition: it had to be someone I had personally seen, whether through my own eyes or through a familiar’s.

That meant things I’d only seen through videos or photos were out. Only enemies I had actually encountered could be summoned. And naturally, their combat power and patterns would probably only be recreated up to the level I had personally observed.

Even so, this feature was more than worth three million gold.

Seeing once was better than hearing a hundred times. I should try it out right away.

Maybe I should summon the strongest thing I’d seen so far?

Back at the Seollim-dong Gate, Katarina had absolutely carved him apart—but even so, he had still been a powerful enemy strong enough to give even the S-class Ice Emperor a hard time.

Jiiiiing—!

Red particles gathered in the center of the white space, and then a male vampire with an arrogant face materialized.

“That man is...?!”

“An enemy raid?!”

“Wah?!”

At the vampire’s sudden appearance, Katarina and Siyeon reflexively dropped into combat stances, while Lili jumped in alarm.

“Calm yourselves. It is but an illusion for training.”

When I raised a hand and stopped them in a calm voice, my familiars finally relaxed.

Sure enough, since I hadn’t given any orders, the summoned Lachesis simply stood there motionless.

Katarina studied the illusion of Lachesis standing before her, then spoke in admiration.

“I did battle with that one personally, yet even I find his aura identical enough to send chills down my spine. To think Your Grace can create an illusion this lifelike... truly, where does your power even end...?”

“Indeed. It may not be perfectly identical, but it shall be more than sufficient for training.”

Now it was time to work the girls properly.

Training wouldn’t grant experience or levels the way hunting monsters did.

But it was excellent for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sharpening real combat instincts and improving skill application, which was why actual hunters supposedly trained hard whenever they weren’t climbing the Tower or entering Gates.

I summoned opponents suited to each familiar’s level.

For Lili, I recreated packs of monsters I had seen in C-class Gates—goblins, giant wolves, and the like.

For Siyeon, I summoned two copies of the parasitic demonic beast I’d fought before: Dark Oculus.

And for Katarina, I set her against the Lachesis I had just recreated.

“Now then. Test the limits of your strength, all of you.”

“By your command!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Okay, Master!!”

The instant the order fell, fierce battles broke out in three places at once.

Boom! Craaash!

The training ground echoed with thunderous noise.

As I quietly watched my familiars fighting hard...

...I’m bored.

Naturally, I didn’t really have anything to do.

My role ended once I had set up the training ground.

Honestly, among everything I’d seen in my life so far, was there even anything current me could actually beat?

Maybe a bug or something?

...Hm. Even that might be difficult.

Anyway, bored out of my mind, I opened my inventory.

The mysterious S-class item I had obtained on the fifth floor.

A red sphere appeared in the palm of my hand.

Can I... eat this?

To be honest, that thought had been circling my head ever since earlier.

Its soft, springy texture and the faintly sweet scent brushing my nose...

Like a child secretly hiding jelly or candy in their pocket, I couldn’t stop being aware of this thing sitting in my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inventory.

So far, my vampire instincts have never been wrong when it comes to food.

Sure, it had come out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of an ancient stone tablet, but blood was blood, wasn’t it?

From blood sausage to monster blood—

everything my body had craved so far had always ended up helping me.

In that case—

Ah, whatever.

I’d trust my instincts.

“Aaah.”

I opened my mouth wide and popped the whole sphere in at once.

The moment I bit down—

Whoa...!

My eyes flew open.

This was exactly like those eyeball jellies that used to be popular ages ago.

The outside was soft and chewy, and inside it burst with something like rich, sweet syrup.

It tasted like the perfect junk food—sweet, fruity, and amazing.

This is insanely good...!

Ever since awakening, I’d tried Korean beef blood, human blood, all kinds of blood—but this was by far the best thing I’d ever had.

Munch munch. I chewed it up thoroughly, then gulped it down.

And the moment it slid down my throat, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

What? Supreme Blood?

When I’d drunk the blood of the pureblood vampire Lachesis before, the notification had said High-Grade Blood.

But this sphere I found on Floor 5 was ranked even higher than the blood of an S-class monster?

And that wasn’t even the end of it.

?! I think I just got a ridiculously awesome weapon.