“That’s ridiculous, I was just worried about you, Chun Woohyuk.”

Seo Changseop denied as he waved his hands from side to side. Hong Yuri and the rest of their party’s expression was the same.

‘Then let’s get started.’

Woohyuk walked ahead as he loosened up his muscles, casually activating the Hunter’s Totem As he came right up to the Paradise Tree.

‘This should be enough.’

After all he was about to solo the strongest Boss monsters in all of the Forest, so he definitely couldn’t hold back.

‘I should end it as soon as possible.’

Woohyuk dashed forward and began to climb the body of the Queen Star Serpent. He moved so quickly that Hong Yuri even lost sight of him a few times.

Tssss!

Sensing Woohyuk’s body heat upon it, The Queen Star Serpent hissed menacingly as it released countless spheres of light which circled its body.

Woohyuk had to constantly be dodging the attacks as he made his way to the top of the Paradise Tree

‘I’ll have to try this again.’

Woohyuk looked down from the top as he sighed. Back then he had been completely unable to penetrate the scales of the Queen Star Serpent, and had struggled quite a bit to come up with a solution. The only thing that had worked was to repeatedly stab the same area. In fact, he would jump off from the top of the tree and use the downward momentum to increase his damage.

‘My health should be sufficient.’

He also didn’t use The Vampiric dagger when they had hunted as a party in order to not impede the growth of his Spirit stat. 

As long as he didn’t make any big blunders, nothing should go wrong. Woohyuk took a deep breath, before jumping down from the top of the tree. Plunging towards the Queen Star Serpent which had by now left the tree and was down on the ground.

* * * 

‘What a crazy guy.’

Seo Changseop stared at Woohyuk, left speechless.

Dozens of times he repeated the action of dropping from the top of the tree, all the while avoiding any incoming Light spheres from the Serpent as he plunged the Black Machete on to a specific point of the Queen Star Serpent’s head.

A single miscalculation and he’d be falling down to his death, and yet he had fearlessly repeated his actions without any hesitation.

‘Is it the concept of focusing all of one’s strength on a single point.’

It almost felt like he was attacking with an awl.

Although it appeared almost suicidal, it was indeed effective as the Queen Star Serpent’s scales were soon penetrated.

‘Is this even possible?’

He had been planning to escape if Woohyuk were to fail and the large snake retaliated against them. 

Seo Changseop exchanged a glance with his party members. Shortly after the Queen Star Serpent’s corpse hit the ground with a loud thud, causing a cloud of dust to rise up in the area.

Tubuk tubuk

The sound of footsteps rang out, and as a black figure appeared within the cloud of dust, Seo and his party quickly surrounded him.

“Are you wondering why I left you guys alive?”

“...”

“You let us live?”

Hearing Woohyuk speak, everyone stared at him.

"You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die."

It was a famous passage from the book of Genesis.

Seo Changseop raised his Black Machete and exclaimed.

“What did you just do?”

“Look above your heads.”

The party members looked at each other and took a step back in surprise.

There was a red marker floating above each of their heads.

“What is this…?”

“You are all sinners, and you have been marked for the evil deeds you’ve committed.”

Betraying one’s comrades or breaking promises was forbidden within Paradise lost. 

It was the Creator’s way of saying that unconditional survival was the purpose of this game.

Swoosh!

Swooosh!

Woohyuk swiftly swung his Black Machete, severing the heads of those closest to him. Caught off guard, Seo Changseop quickly ordered his party to attack, but due to the heavy cloud of dust, it was difficult to keep track of Woohyuk.

“Shit….”

Seeing the red markers disappear one by one, Seo Changseop felt the fear of death creeping up on him.

‘He must be exhausted.’

Woohyuk must have suffered considerable damage at the hands of the Queen Star Serpent. At the very least his Stamina should have been depleted, leading to an impairment in judgement and dull movements.

And yet, the inconceivable was occurring right before him. In a state of panic, Seo Changseop didn’t even notice Woohyuk sneak up behind him.

Puah!

“kuluk”

He looked down to see a Vampiric dagger penetrate through his stomach, as Seo Changseop puked a large amount of dark red blood. At death’s door, he turned around to meet Woohyuk’s gaze.

“By killing those that have been marked, I can absorb 10% of your stats. In that sense, you guys are pretty good prey.”

He’s the Devil, there was no way the guy was even human. From the very beginning he wasn’t someone that they could deal with.

Seo Changseop closed his eyes for the very last time, as the Vampiric dagger continued to suck his blood.

“Isn’t it about time you come out?”

As Woohyuk finished speaking, Hong Yuri stepped out from behind a tree.

She had no red marker above her head.

“Woo, Woohyuk, I….”

Hong Yuri stammered as she tried to come up with an excuse, but considering the situation it wasn’t something that was easily resolved.

“I will ask you just a single question.”

Woohyuk continued as he walked towards her.

“Why is it that I should spare you?”

Her face became extremely pale.

“Well...you will become marked if you kill me.”

“That’s nothing, the mark will disappear as soon as I leave this place.”

“If you take me with you, I will definitely be of use to you. I can use some magic, and know how to cook a little. If you get lonely, you can use me for some fun. From this moment I am all yours be it my mind or body, so please spare me, please ....”

Hong Yuri grabbed onto Woohyuk’s leg as she pleaded for her life while weeping.

Woohyuk looked down as he spoke.

“Does that mean you are willing to do anything for me?”

“That’s right, I abandoned Seo Changseop because of you. Please trust me, I can quickly pick up anything I focus on.”

She had good intuition. She knew that Seo Changseop had no chance of besting him, so deliberately hid herself as the battle began.

Woohyuk nodded back and helped her to her feet.

“Follow me, I have something to show you.”

“Okay…”

Taking Woohyuk’s hand, she used her remaining free hand to wipe her tears. Her heart kept beating rapidly as she had yet to calm down.

“Would you consider becoming a vampire?”

“Va... vampire!?”

Hong Yuri’s voice trembled in response.

In her mind appeared an image of a fair skinned blonde man.

“Your stats would suffer a 30% debuff during the daytime, but during the night they would be increased by 30% instead. There isn’t much of a downside because you are still able to go out into the sunlight, but you would be weak to Holy magic.

“Would I develop fangs? Transform into a bat?”

“There wouldn’t be any major changes to your appearance. The fangs are a matter of course, whereas any transformation would become possible depending on your growth.”

Woohyuk tapped a engraved rune upon the Paradise tree and a passage to a hidden room appeared. He walked inside and then returned holding a bronze cup.

[Lilith’s Unholy Chalice]

It was a perfect fit for a woman who employed a honey trap to ensnare the hearts of men.

“The official title is that of Blood Queen. It is a hidden class and is also unique. It is only available to women as they can raise their own army of vampires and stand as their ruler.

“The Blood Queen….”

“Of course I’m not forcing this on you, and this is only a suggestion.”

Hong Yuri still had her misgivings. Of course the debuff during daytime was a big minus, but overall the Blood Queen class was still very attractive. She could even develop her own forces and no longer be ruled by men.

“Will I be able to be of use to you with this power?”

“You would be required to enter a master/slave contract with me. You must henceforth serve me as your Lord, and be ready to answer my call if need be.”

It wasn’t a bad deal. Woohyuk obviously had a bright future and she was basically destitute right now. Of course the immortality of a vampire was also a very attractive point.

“Fine, I accept.”

“Don’t worry too much, there are still ways to regain your humanity later on, but of course it won’t be easy.”

Woohyuk handed her the Chalice. As Hong Yuri injected her magic into it, it became full of crimson blood.

“Make sure to drink it all without spilling, until the very last drop.”

“...”

Hong Yuri closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then proceeded to down the contents of the Chalice. Although it was rather nauseating and more than a little salty, she steeled her heart as she thought of her future. 

It wasn’t long before she managed to empty the bronze cup.

“How are you feeling?”

“Strange, I can sense everything much more clearly now.”

Still dazed, Hong Yuri dropped the Chalice on the ground. Having lost its previous luster, the bronze cup turned to dust as it hit the floor scattering into the wind.

“Then let’s begin the ceremony.”

Woohyuk pulled out a Bloodstone as he placed his arm on Hong Yuri to support her.

He cut his finger and  then Hong Yuri’s, dropping a drop of blood from each of them onto the Bloodstone.

“As your Lord, I command your absolute obedience. My blood shall enslave you, and your blood shall serve me.”

“O..okay, I’m yours”

The Bloodstone absorbed both drops of blood and then wound itself around Woohyuk’s left index finger. Shortly after a ring with a large red jewel appeared.

[Blood Pact]

It was an item that allowed him to keep a vampire as a slave. Of course it would only be effective so long as the Lord was stronger than his servant, but Woohyuk never even considered being surpassed by Hong Yuri.

‘That’s one less to worry about.’

[Blood Queen Alice]

She had been part of the alliance that had invaded his territory in the Central plains, along with Dragon Lord Ivanov and the Necromancer Logan.

Although he had managed to kill her by staking her with a silver cross through the heart, she had been truly troublesome.

“Well done, here is your reward.”

Woohyuk placed his wounded finger before her and allowed Hong Yuri to sink her fangs into it.

Her expression was one of embarrassment however as she looked up at Woohyuk.

“When you return to camp, go ahead and secretly start turning your own vampires. Do be careful and avoid healers as much as possible as well as relics like a cross.”

“Can’t I simply follow you?”

“It’s too early for that.”

After taking back his finger, Woohyuk pulled out a shiny gold key from his pocket.

It was an item he had obtained from killing the Queen Star Serpent, and would allow him to unlock the treasure chest located in this hidden room.

‘I wasn’t able to obtain this last time around.’

Items would automatically be assigned according to the level of contribution in the hunt. Of course if they remained unclaimed for 10 minutes time then they would become fair game, but this hardly ever happened in Boss raids.

‘There were too many competitors back then.’

In the past, several groups had participated in the raid, all with significant strength so he could only receive a small slice of the pie. This time around the group had been marked as sinners, so Woohyuk was able to kill them all and monopolize everything. 

Click

The treasure chest snapped open, and a mysterious potion appeared.

[Paradise Elixir]

Category: Consumable

Effect: Enables you to wield two additional classes, all stats +5 and can control animals captured within the Primordial Forest.

‘Good thing I didn’t miss out on it this time.’

It was a unique existence and would disappear upon consumption. Woohyuk then went on to examine the other items after downing the contents of the Elixir.

[Ghost Queen Star Serpent]

Category: Jewel (Growth)Grade: D (0%)

Durability: 2300

Effect: Intelligence +5. Absorbs hostile Magic spells, and then fires them back upon the assailant.  Transforms MP into an invisible shield able to block physical attacks.

[Calm Sea’s Silence]

Category: Jewel (Growth)Grade: D (0%)

Durability: 2300

Effect: Spirit +5, increases MP recovery by 20%. Silences enemies within a 5 meter radius.

[Judgement Sword - Grandia]

Category: Weapon (Growth)Grade: D (0%)

Durability: 5600

Effect: Strength +10. Reveals the sinner’s mark upon guilty targets for a duration of 1 hour. (Invisible to others), After bringing them to justice, absorbs up to 10% of an enemy’s vitality and stats (dependent on the gravity of their sin).

‘They are quite useful.’

Growth type items absorb some of the player’s experience, allowing it to increase its Grade and gain new abilities. Naturally the drawback was that it would restrict the player’s own growth, so equipping too many could be detrimental instead.

In the past it was Alice and her companions that had reached the secret room, and he hadn’t been able to obtain any of these crucial items.

Back then he had already been strong, but he didn’t have any way to deal with a Mage’s magic, which had always held him back.

“Could I have some as well? I’ll have to be by myself for a while and except for my stats increasing a bit, my overall power hasn’t increased much.”

“Sure, take these.”

Woohyuk passed her some items which wouldn’t have been useful to him anyways.

[Carmilla’s Temptation]

Category: Jewel (Growth)Grade: D (0%)

Durability: 2800

Effect: Dexterity + 15 , Causes creatures within a 15 meter radius to fall in an illusion.

[Red Crescent Moon]

Category: Jewel (Growth)Grade: D (0%)

Durability: 2800

Effect: Vitality +15, Use 5% of one’s blood to summon up to 100 Vampires or hide within a shadow for a duration of 1 hour.

[Cursed Princess’s Song]

Category: Jewel (Growth)Grade: D (0%)

Durability: 2800

Effect: Intelligence +15. Sacrifice 10% of your blood in order to create a blood vortex, or cast a Rage buff with a radius of 100 meters for a duration of 1 hour. 

These were only for the Blood Queen. When normal people tried to grasp those items, a black aura would reject them, but since Woohyuk was her Lord, that didn’t occur.

“How come I didn’t get a weapon?”

“Choose from one of those.”

Woohyuk pointed to the various kinds of weapons sitting on the altar.

Hong Yuri took her time examining her options, before settling a rapier while providing a bonus to agility.

“Have you used a sword before?”

“Uhm… no.”

“Then I’ll teach you.”

“Truly? Thank you”

Hong Yuri attempted a weak strike, but Woohyuk easily slapped it away with Grandia

Chaang

“Ouch!”

“You need to fix that posture. We don’t have much time so try to focus.”

And so ensured a strict fencing class. Wiping away a tear, Hong Yuri picked up her rapier from the ground.

Instead of a Queen, she was feeling much more like a maid.