Meeting the Emperor

Chapter 2 :

I put on my formal attire and walked down the long corridor.

As I passed through the flickering hologram text, the doors to the audience chamber opened as if to welcome me.

[…Entering the audience chamber of the neutral city <Midvalen>…]

As expected, the room was pitch black.
The first time I came to the audience chamber, I foolishly used a light skill and almost ended up strung up from the ceiling like a dried fish.
Since then, I’ve gotten used to places without light.

As I took a few more steps, the door slammed shut behind me with a thud.

Two candles floated in the room where not a single ray of light entered.
They were the blood-red eyes characteristic of the Empire.

“…Welcome, Awakener.”

The eyes, sitting on a chair so high it seemed he might be hanging from it, scanned me with a bored expression.

Black bundles hung from the ceiling to the left and right of the man.
They were the Empire’s subordinates, ready to shed their bat forms and come down to reprimand me if I did anything to displease them.

“Lord Baalzeph, may the blood-red blessing be with you today.”

Not wanting to get into trouble again, I quickly offered my greetings.

I placed my right hand on my chest and, with my left hand, lifted the edge of my formal cloak and bowed.

Since I’m human and don’t have membranous wings, I use a cloak instead.
Unlike the first time, when I looked ridiculous like a flying squirrel, it was now a rather stylish Empire-style greeting.

The man, who had been looking down at me with his chin resting on his hand, seemed satisfied and responded at once.

“…May we raise a toast of blood today as well. It is a morning where the coolness of the rain feels pleasant.”

A blue hologram, unbefitting the solemn atmosphere, flickered above the man’s head.

[Baalzeph von Bloddyhen: Lord of the Empire. Ruler of the neutral city <Midvalen>, which receives the blessing of the gods.]

‘Baalzeph.’
The emperor of the vampire race, the Empire.

Pale skin as if dusted with flour.
A sharp nose, and dark eyes that looked as if he were wearing eyeliner.
The suit, buttoned up to his chin, revealing no skin, perfectly suited his ascetic and noble demeanor.

Baalzeph looked surprisingly vivid, exactly the same as he had on the homepage I saw in my dream.

“Awakener.”

Was it because of last night’s dream?
I felt like I had just discovered that the person I saw every day next door was actually a famous celebrity.
As I looked up at him with newfound eyes, the candle-like eyes in the darkness narrowed.

“…Awakener, Shinbi.”

“Yes, y-yes!”

His displeased voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Great Lord. For what reason have you summoned me?”

“Today’s request is expected to be quite difficult, so I called you thinking my blessing might be of help.”

How kind of him.
If he was going to be so kind, it would be nice if he just lowered the quest difficulty.

As I thought this grudgingly, I stared blankly at the flickering information window again.
Empire… Empire.

[Event] Your PICK! Vote for the race you want to see released as a new NPC!
Vampire Race <Empire> NPC Release Confirmed!

Isn’t it ironic?
To think I’m surviving by being a lackey to the very guy I chose with my own hands.

“…You seem to be deep in thought today, Awakener.”

His cutting voice shattered my thoughts once more.

His bright red lips, as if he had devoured something, were curved into a smile, but his eyes were not smiling at all.
From experience, this meant he was not in a good mood.

“Ah, ah! I’m sorry!”

“Would you mind sharing with me what you were thinking so deeply about?”

His voice dropped subtly, and I hastily shook my head.

“No, I think I’m just not fully awake yet. I’m sorry.”

There was nothing to be gained by getting on the wrong side of the man who held the governorship of Midvalen, the only neutral city on the Legacyth continent.

“So, what is today’s que… no, request?”

Instead of answering, Baalzeph stared intently into my awkwardly smiling eyes.
At the same time, with a clear ‘ding,’ elegant script filled my vision.

[A daily quest from the Empire Lord <Baalzeph von Bloddyhen> has arrived.]

What, is this.
The red eyes, watching my face gradually fill with horror, curved like a snake’s.

“I believe you are more than capable, given the skills I have seen from you so far.”

As I stared at Baalzeph, unable to believe the quantity and content, the man grinned.

“You know the rules, don’t you? Returning to Midvalen before completing the request is forbidden.”

“…Y-Yes my Lord.”

“Then, may there be a blood-red toast today as well.”

[The quest from the Empire Lord <Baalzeph von Bloddyhen> is automatically accepted.]

“Isn’t he insane!”

I spat out the words I had been holding back as soon as I left the audience chamber.

Crazy bastard.
F*cking bastard.
Psycho bastard.
Curses, stretching like taffy without a subject, followed at my heels.

[[Baalzeph von Bloddyhen’s Daily Quest]
You must obtain ‘Nemean Claws (0/100)’ for Baalzeph, the governor of the neutral city of Midvalen.
Reward: Baalzeph’s Favorability, Maintenance of Midvalen Citizenship]

Nemean.
A lion-type beast-kin whose hair, in place of a mane, burns like fire.

Getting close results in burns, and long-range attacks do no damage because of its silver armor, making it notoriously difficult to hunt.

The drop items, naturally, always trade at high prices.

If I were still a ‘player,’ I would have gone to the unified auction house and bought them with a few clicks.
I have more than enough Legan, after all.

But unfortunately, I was in a position where I was shunned not only by the unified auction house but also by merchant NPCs.

And he wants me to get the claws of an adult Nemean?
Not just one, but a hundred?
He’s basically telling me to just die or go through hell.

“Damn mosquito bastard. A guy who can’t survive a day without a blood transfusion item. I shouldn’t have trusted a vampire bastard….”

Muttering curses at Baalzeph, I passed the outskirts of Midvalen and had just taken three steps towards the forest.

[Abnormal log activity detected.]

Plop, plop, plop.

As if it were raining, black clay-like things fell rapidly from the sky.
Something writhed and crawled up from the sticky puddles that looked like wet dough.

[…<Observer> is being summoned….]

Staggering, they took on human form, tall and wearing fedoras.

At a glance, they looked like they were wearing black suits due to their shadow-like blackness, but their abnormally long arms had rake-like claws that reached their shins.

On their featureless, empty faces, there was only a crooked red smile, as if stitched on.

[Illegal skill user ‘Shinbi (full name: Shinbi-jui)’ has been detected.]

From the bright red mouth that split open like a zipper, surprisingly emotionless words came out.

[This is a highest-grade wanted entity. Immediate disposal will be carried out in accordance with the GM (God Master) related terms and conditions.]

…Those things were the very reason why, even as I cursed Baalzeph so much, I had to stick to the neutral city of Midvalen like a sucker, fetching him artifacts.

“Wait a minute! As I always say, I’m not a hacker!”

As always, my unjust cries were met with silence from the Observers.
They just surrounded me like grim reapers trying to collect a soul.

“I-I only used the skill I was given!”

…If it weren’t for that one incident.

I wiped the sweat from my eyes and recalled the event a year ago that had completely changed my life.

It was one early morning.

Struggling with a long-procrastinated assignment, I logged into the official ‘Legacyth’ cafe to cool my head for a bit.

[Welcome to the Legacyth Chronicle Social Integrated Community.]

Even if I didn’t have time to play the game myself, I wanted to get some vicarious satisfaction by watching other users’ screenshots or videos.

[Title] Do you remember the Varg? The unfortunate race exiled by your greed… [Read More]

Then, one post caught my eye.

Content: At that time, due to the greed of the Awakeners, the Varg were exiled to the remote lands of the Legacyth continent. Do you regret that?
If you could go back to the past, …would your choice change?

Under the post, which was heavily imbued with the scent of dawn sentimentality and a concept-addict, there was, as expected, a mountain of comments.

[1,549 Comments]
▷LordofRebuke: What do you mean exiled because of the Awakeners? The GMs kicked them out because they couldn’t fix the stupid skill bug. Don’t talk if you don’t know the game.
▷TrollKing: This guy is good at getting attention lol What’s with the way you talk?
▷KaitoCut: Wow, Varg! A real blast from the past! I made out like a bandit back then with my pre-nerf Plunderer!
▷DrKnowItAll: What is this Varg thing everyone’s talking about? It’s not in the monster codex?
└TLDRMaster: The Varg race was almost released as an NPC but lost to the Empire in a popularity vote. They were released as a monster. Since they were originally designed as NPCs, they couldn’t fix the skill bug, so they deleted the character.
▷WhiteHeavenDemonLord: There was no one among us Awakeners at the time who did not use that loophole. It is somewhat unreasonable to criticize them blindly.
└ChainOfAgreementChairman: I agree. It was just like an event.
▷ItsALoss: I stayed up all night hunting and raiding back then, afraid the bug would get patched lol The riding bug was really sweet lol
▷NightSkyFurry: They lost unfairly because of the efficiency freaks. If you just look at the character design, Varg wins by a landslide.
└DedicatedBloodPack: What do you mean Varg wins by a landslide; the Empire was popular back then too.

The veteran players were reminiscing, and the new users were asking questions, so the comment section was a mess.

[OP (CantDieWontDie): Just know that because of you guys, countless beings, including the Varg, have been harmed.]

Just as the debate was heating up, the original poster suddenly appeared.