Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Regeneration and Rewards
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Pavarintos was a game, but in some eerie ways, it bore a striking resemblance to reality.
One such aspect was the mechanics of 'recovery' and 'regeneration'.
In other games, regeneration would simply be another form of recovery, just refilling HP. But Pavarintos was different.
The damage a character took in the game was divided into 'wounds' that could be healed and 'defects' that could not.
'Wounds' could heal over time, but 'limb loss' from scars or defects was permanent. Skin wounds might close up, but a severed arm wouldn't grow back.
Defects and scars reduced maximum HP and lowered stats.
This inability to fix defects with normal recovery made gameplay cautious, but if a character had regeneration, things changed.
Regeneration worked like a measure of how quickly the body returned to its pristine state.
It applied to wound recovery, of course, but also fully restored lost limbs and scars.
...Of course, such 'regeneration' wasn't omnipotent.
No matter how advanced the magic, it couldn't perfectly recreate matter.
Regenerated parts were treated as a kind of magical phantasm, with roughly half the durability of normal tissue and slightly inferior stats.
These phantom parts gradually solidified over time through 'recovery'. They filled with real matter, restoring max HP and stats bit by bit.
In other words, restoring lost parts was 'regeneration', while rehabilitating the restored parts was 'recovery'.
Naturally, no character went unscathed forever.
That's why regeneration stats should be highly valuable, but surprisingly, regeneration-focused builds weren't popular.
Regeneration itself was incredibly useful, but the actual numerical value wasn't seen as crucial.
Whether it was 1 or 100, full recovery was the same outcome. Investing 99 points in regeneration was far less efficient than putting them into skill power.
...In that sense, vampires were a pretty attractive race.
Their 'innate traits' had ridiculously high efficiency.
Building the same values manually would be a massive loss, but since they were innate, it was basically free.
Thus, a properly raised vampire, with its blend of regeneration and recovery, became a monster that was damn hard to kill.
...That said, the racial traits guzzled mana, and mana exhaustion meant getting your ass kicked and starving to death. Without proper handling, even an 'immortal' vampire could easily croak from hunger.
'Thought I was a goner...'
Anyway.
The conclusion was that I was lucky.
If I'd been human, that wound would've been fatal, no recovery possible.
But vampires could survive anything as long as the heart stayed intact.
Later on, they could even tank heart shots and live, but at level 1, that was still a pipe dream.
'Wonder if I can move soon...'
Checking my half-healed wounds, I leaned against the wooden wall of the hut and let out a sigh of relief.
"...Hoo."
It wasn't without losses.
For starters, my [Guardian Robe] was shredded.
It wasn't completely torn, and my figure was decent enough that wandering around naked wouldn't be too embarrassing.
But losing my defensive gear was pretty critical.
'What can you do? Consider it an investment.'
No regrets.
Well, honestly, a little regret, but I'd taken down the Butcher.
The wounds would heal, and only one robe was ruined.
Hyun Tae-jin's shield was smashed too, but factoring in the items and gear we'd loot, it wasn't a bad trade.
'Please drop something good. Or at least a ton of cash...'
Praying fervently inside while catching my breath against the wall.
[Thud.]
The already battered door fell off, and Hyun Tae-jin appeared from beyond.
"Urk, urgh, uweeeek-!?!"
"...."
A rather violent entrance.
But I could understand why.
Whether it was the 'storeroom' or the 'slaughterhouse', anyone seeing the hut's interior would react like that.
My case was... ambiguous.
I was so used to it from the game, and the sweet smell made it hard to feel gross enough to puke.
Plus, vampires seemed to have heightened smell for blood alone... It was like the visual horror was drowned out by olfactory bliss.
"...You okay?"
"Urk, urgh...!"
I asked, still leaning against the wall.
Strictly speaking, I was the one who'd nearly been quartered, looking more pathetic, but my wounds were healing.
As I asked comfortingly, Hyun Tae-jin nodded.
"Hoo... Yeah, urk... probably... uweeeek-!!"
"...."
...At this rate, delivery service was out.
I'd hoped to ask him to fetch some blood from the slaughterhouse vats. But looking at him, no dice.
My throat was getting parched, and hunger gnawing...
Guess I'd have to go myself.
'Can I stand yet...?'
I tried rising carefully.
Thankfully, the healing wounds didn't reopen, but through the gaps in my sliced robe, pale skin peeked out.
A fashion exposing cleavage and a snow-white belly. Blood-soaked now, but after washing... it might look kinda risqué.
'Underwear's sliced too.'
Typical goblin, I guess.
That last strike had cut through my bra as well.
So I felt a refreshing liberation up top alongside the pull of gravity on my flesh.
...Time to get up and scrounge some clothes from inside.
"Nngh-"
"Whoa? Do-hwa-ssi, moving already..?"
"I'm fine. It's half-healed, and my throat's getting dry."
"Throat... Oh, there was a water bowl inside. Want me to grab it?"
"Th... thanks, but right now I need something red, not clear."
".......Ah."
His face paled at my reply.
Probably recalling the hut's interior.
No reason to be shocked by my blood-drinking now.
Hyun Tae-jin wore a complicated expression, glancing inside the hut.
"...Do-hwa-ssi. Those... they're people, right?"
"Who knows. Could be pigs or geese."
"...Doesn't look goose-sized."
"Whatever it is, better than drinking from the living. That's how I'm coping."
No choice.
The goblin Butcher was charred to a crisp.
And draining Hyun Tae-jin or the other women from the storeroom? That'd look bad.
"Got it. I'll... head in a bit."
"Sure. Take your time."
"Oh, the women tied up inside..."
"Free 'em later, Tae-jin-ssi. Girls love a knight in shining armor."
I had no desire to play hero.
They'd ignored me twice already; rescuing now felt awkward, and I wasn't into bonding with baggage.
Right now... I just wanted to guzzle blood.
.
.
.
.
Stepping into the hut, voices rang out again.
"Uh..."
"Um, excuse me...?"
"...."
I ignored them, of course.
Once is hard, twice is easy, three times is habit.
...No need to dwell on how it wasn't hard from the start.
No rush anyway.
The women would wait; Hyun Tae-jin would free them eventually.
Scouts wouldn't arrive for a while, so delaying wasn't a big issue.
Passing the still-open prison door, I entered the open 'slaughterhouse'.
[Creak-]
"...Wow."
This... was pretty shocking.
What hit my eyes was a gruesome scene.
The storeroom was bad enough, but this was worse.
Fresh male corpses scattered brutally...
...Yeah. Now I got why Hyun Tae-jin reacted like that.
Even if I'd seen it in-game, the real-world impact hit hard. If not for the sweet blood scent wafting now, I'd struggle not to hurl too.
...That would've been hilarious.
Vampires only drink blood.
Seeing blood and puking it? Kinda weird, right?
That's why it doesn't happen.
'Ah, found it.'
Finding the blood vat was easy.
Heading to the thickest blood scent, I spotted blood in a small vat.
"...."
Still fresh.
Whose? Better not think about it. Too obvious.
Drawn by the intoxicating aroma like a moth to flame, my hand reached out unconsciously.
[Gulp-]
Saliva swallowed on reflex, throat rumbling.
I gripped the vat carefully and gulped down the blood inside.
I knew it was human, but resisting the surging instinct was tough.
[Glug-]
As I chugged, the deep thirst and hunger eased.
Like filling an empty tank.
And the mouth-filling, sweet, luscious flavor.
"...Haa..."
No revulsion.
Just satisfaction.
Of course, once thirst subsided and I surveyed the gruesome slaughterhouse, a bitter pang hit...
'Can't be helped.'
For now, this was survival.
Far from self-producing blood.
.
.
.
After draining the vat,
I dragged my improved body back to the main room, spotting Hyun Tae-jin entering the prison.
"...Hey, everyone okay in there?"
"Sob, waaaaaah-!!"
"Whoa?"
A booming wail echoed from the room.
...They were dealing with their own mess.
Now, time for business.
'There should be an Item Chest somewhere...'
Rewards weren't just chests, of course.
Weapons on the racks, clothes in the wardrobe—all loot. Rummaging would yield gems or mana stones too.
But.
In Pavarintos, only Item Chests dropped player-designed 'items' and 'Scrolls of Records'.
Surprisingly, many items and skills came from users.
Forum and database details were complex, so skip for now—focus on finding chests.
'Where...'
Goblins couldn't open chests.
Not just goblins—territory residents couldn't open boxes in their domains.
Yet 'unopenable chests' held allure for them.
They displayed labyrinth-spawned chests as decorations everywhere.
A strong goblin like the Butcher would have one somewhere...
"Ah."
As expected.
In the Butcher's bedroom stood an 「Item Chest」 on display.
Three of them.
Various sizes.
One tiny, two normal.
No disappointment needed.
Smaller size meant lower chance of junk.
[Creak-]
No hesitation—I opened them, starting smallest.
Alone for all three felt greedy, but curiosity won.
"Oh."
Inside, predictably, a 「Scroll of Records」.
Skills were available in Labyrinth City anyway, but snagging one felt good.
'One martial art, one spell, the last... divine art.'
Nice balance.
Maybe to prevent raid infighting.
Each parchment bore different runes.
One combined familiar element symbols.
Another mimicked a human body with dots and lines.
The last resembled a tree.
Complex tree with a single fruit.
'Fruit there... maybe?'
Priest-exclusive divine art, .
In-game, stabilized mental stats.
Not flashy, but low mental stats caused occasional breakdowns, so useful.
...In reality, maybe even better.
'Martial art... skin hardening passive. Not rock or wood.'
Dunno this one.
Looked like a defensive passive from the tough skin series, but not official dev version.
Arts side was fuzzy—dropped it ages ago—but this felt off.
Was there a variant like this?
'No way... does it read unimplemented data too?'
A hunch hit.
The Forum database.
Devs 'approved' but unimplemented skills/items—a vampire vault of sorts.
User-mods with official potential.
Basically, lore play.
Devs released creation tools letting users design skills/items per lore; approved user designs hit the database.
'Your creation fits the world'—official nod.
Some even updated in-game.
Peak autism bait, but insanely fun if hooked.
'Just in case, check the rest first.'
'Spell.... crap.'
This spell I knew.
Element combo screamed 100% [Water Ball].
Water Ball. No real damage, but soured enemy mood on hit.
Seemed trash, but surprisingly common.
Reduced filth on contact, and combo fodder.
Freeze sharp with , mix with <lightning> for Leiden, etc.
'But... mana hog...'
Won't quench thirst, though.
Magic blood—drinking does zilch.
'Then this is a bust.'
Last chest: gems.
Tiny processed gemstones, unknown type.
No magic, just expensive.
Maybe the real powerful magic.
"No defensive skills...?"
Bust overall.
Hoped from the small one, but zero usable spells in three scrolls.
As I folded them regretfully, a black book on the floor caught my eye.
Blended with the floor at first.
'...A book?'
What’s this.
Chest books usually meant 'classes'.
Not dev official, obviously.
Likely approved forum user-made.
Lifting carefully, the title jumped out—familiar as hell.
「Heavenly Demon Divine Art」
"...Oh, for fuck's sake."
This crap again.
Didn't know hanja well, but recognized it.
User-made class with tons of in-game implementations.
Impossible not to know.
「Heavenly Demon Divine Art」.
Pavarintos's most common class build.
...Simple reason.
Tons of edgelords named their builds 'Heavenly Demon Divine Art'.