Chapter 192

0.

“Haaaah!”

Team Leader Baek Jiwoo let out a sharp exhale.

She had sent out the world-wide announcement and posted the event notice.

The long-awaited event was finally set for the next day.

Thanks to the player Seonghyun, she had just barely managed to pull it together.

Though Seonghyun was also the one who had messed up the previous plan, it wasn't as if he was at fault.

Thanks to him, she was saved.

‘I’m getting off work right on time today!’

Team Leader Baek Jiwoo looked genuinely thrilled.

However, she could not have known the future that awaited her.

What skills Seonghyun had obtained after his 3rd Class Advancement, and how the event would unfold as a result of them.

She was just the person who made the event, after all.

And so, after packing her things, she waited for the end of the workday.

It wasn't quite the official closing time yet, so she had to wait a little longer.

As she waited in boredom, a thought occurred to her.

‘Should I check the reactions?’

Team Leader Baek Jiwoo suddenly became curious about the response online.

After all, while she couldn't play E-World, she could still browse the community forums.

Seeing the users chatter and get excited about the event always lifted her spirits.

The community she opened was, as expected, buzzing with excitement.

Even more so than she had anticipated.

[Title: A massive appearance of vampires?!]

[Title: Doesn't this mean another hidden race will be unlocked?]

[Title: Wow, the foreshadowing for this event is insane too!]

She felt satisfied just by scanning the titles without even clicking on the posts.

Team Leader Baek Jiwoo smiled and clicked on a few threads.

[Title: The hidden race is for real?]

[Author: TankWithoutHeals]

『They say the Vampire race is super OP, does this mean the hidden race is actually being unlocked?

I really, really want to become a vampire…….

Please…….』

[U_A_Real_Tank? : Yeah, probably? They said there were vampires before, so seeing that the dormant blood-kin are awakening makes it seem possible, right?]

└[TankWithoutHeals (Author) : thx thx thx really appreciate it.]

[Gimme_HP : It’ll probably be possible, but you’ll have to stack a ton of infamy?]

└[TankWithoutHeals (Author) : lol I’m already prepared for that.]

└[Gimme_HP : Wait, this dude was a villain? Busted.]

The user's desperate reaction.

Watching it, Team Leader Baek Jiwoo smiled with satisfaction.

Their predictions were correct.

Since the existing Blood Monarch had been sealed, the number of vampires had been low.

For this event, she had collaborated with the NPC Management Team and the Race Management Team to increase their numbers.

Both of those departments had responded positively and agreed to the collaboration.

The number of existing vampires was incredibly low.

So it was only natural.

The user reactions were also quite positive.

It could be called a very successful side effect.

‘So, what are some of the other reactions?’

[Title: Aren't the vampires going to be insanely difficult?]

[Author: DiedWhileMobbing]

『Vampires themselves have high racial stats.

They’ll probably be on a completely different level from the labyrinth mobs?

If you think about it, each and every one of them will probably be like a semi-raid boss.

The stronger vampires will likely be at a raid boss level.

To prepare for this, it might be a good idea for guilds to tackle this together?』

[BoxOfPotions : Oh??? Thx thx, I guess I should prepare a bit before I go.]

[GoldBeggar : Dropping an upvote.]

[100thEnhancementAttempt : This seems right? I think the number of them will be smaller than the Legion of Ruin that appeared in the Dune Wild Trail, but it’s best to assume each one is a boss. The person in 1st place will probably only have a kill count in the double digits at most.]

‘Oh, they’re pretty good at guessing.’

Team Leader Baek Jiwoo looked at the post and nodded, thinking that the users were quite sharp.

The prediction was truly astute.

With such a large user base, it was inevitable that there would be many players like this.

With that in mind, Team Leader Baek Jiwoo looked at one last post.

[Title: Isn't the Demon King gonna get 1st place anyway?]

[Author: DitchedDungeon]

『lololol The Demon King is gonna win anyway.

He might be a low-level, but you all saw his control over the labyrinths~

Honestly, I doubt there’s a guild that can beat him.

And it’s not like vampires are mobs you can just farm to give someone a lead.』

[DiedWhileStealthed : lololol it’s a sure thing.]

[BadAtMoving : lololol he’s super strong for sure, but there are other players who run around all the different cities, so you never know.]

Reading the post, Team Leader Baek Jiwoo was lost in thought.

‘Demon King… they must mean the player Seonghyun, right?’

She thought for a moment, then let out a smirk.

Well, whoever won was no longer her concern.

‘Why should I care?’

Whether they received a hefty reward or not.

Now, the only thing on Team Leader Baek Jiwoo's mind was going home.

As soon as the clock struck 6 PM, she immediately stood up and spoke to her colleagues.

“I’m heading out first!”

“Me too.”

“Good work today, Team Leader.”

Receiving her team members’ farewells, Team Leader Baek Jiwoo left, her spirits bright.

1.

Time flew by like an arrow.

A day passed quickly, and when the long-awaited 18:00 arrived, a message and a quest appeared for all users who could enter the labyrinth regions.

[A large-scale event quest has been generated!]

『The Awakened Blood-kin』

→《Large-Scale Event》

→From now on, 『The Awakened Blood-kin』 will appear in the labyrinths.

The 『Blood-kin』, who were in a long slumber, have awakened.

『The Awakened Blood-kin』 are vampires with human appearances, but they are unequivocally evil beings.

Your contribution points will increase as you defeat 『The Awakened Blood-kin』.

The contribution rankings can be checked in real-time by looking at the sky in any 『Labyrinth Region』.

Stop 『The Awakened Blood-kin』 from escaping the labyrinths!

The count for 『The Awakened Blood-kin』 defeated by a party will be grouped and displayed by party in the rankings.

→Rewards: Experience for defeating 『The Awakened Blood-kin』, tiered rewards based on contribution points, 1st Place - Three Legendary-rank rewards, 2nd Place - One Legendary-rank and two Unique-rank rewards, 3rd Place - Two Unique-rank rewards.

A quest window that appeared suddenly.

However, as if they had all been waiting for it, the users located in the labyrinths erupted in cheers.

The event had finally begun!

Parties confident in their skills began to move quickly to deal with the vampires appearing throughout the labyrinths.

One such party that had mobilized spotted a vampire and charged.

There, a handsome vampire dressed in old-fashioned clothes was watching the party with a mocking smile.

Provoked by his expression, the party members were about to rush in when the vampire looked at them and asked.

“Where is our Monarch?”

“What?”

“Is this part of the story?”

“It can talk?”

As the surprised party members spoke amongst themselves, the vampire shrugged as if it didn't matter and spoke again.

“Then again, I suppose the likes of you wouldn't know.”

The vampire shouted and charged forward.

Seeing the sudden attack, the party didn't let their guard down. They held their formation as the tank stepped forward first.

He raised his shield to block the vampire's outstretched nails.

KWWAAAAANG---!!!

“Keoheok! Wh-what kind of nails are…”

A sound like an exploding cannonball erupted against the shield.

The tank holding the shield was pushed back endlessly.

This wasn't a weak tank.

On the contrary, the party members knew he was highly skilled, which made their eyes tremble violently.

Just how strong was this thing to cause a reaction like that?

This was a tank who wouldn't even flinch against most raid bosses.

But there was no time for idle thoughts.

They frantically rushed at the vampire.

The vampire saw them coming and reacted swiftly.

It blocked the charging swordsman with its long nails.

It retreated from the mage’s attack.

And against the cleric’s attack, it quickly transformed into mist, dispersing its body to evade the damage.

It dodged all of their attacks, while every single one of its own attacks was so powerful that the tank was pushed back again and again.

They could feel it with certainty.

“Insane!?”

“This thing is on the level of a strong raid boss!?”

“I-Is this for real?”

“B-Block it!!!”

“I-I am blocking it!!!”

“Heal!!!”

It was pandemonium.

The tank charged in, but the precarious situation dragged on.

It didn't take long for the tank to fall.

And once the tank was down, the entire party had no choice but to be wiped out.

It wasn't just this party, either.

Most of the vampires possessed great power, and even the weakest among them was on the level of a raid boss.

Some of the stronger ones displayed power that surpassed even raid bosses, leading to many difficult situations.

The only fortunate thing was that there weren't too many of those vampires.

The number of vampires that appeared in a single labyrinth was about ten.

After dealing with them all, they would pop out again as if they had respawned.

Because of that, parties could just hold their ground even after clearing the vampires in one labyrinth.

But defeating them was no easy task.

“Dammit, block it!!!”

“Wow, it takes this long to kill just one of these?”

“And we’re a pretty elite party… it took us 10 minutes….”

Everyone was utterly astonished.

The vast majority of parties, even skilled ones, took over 10 minutes to barely defeat one.

And that was the time it took to kill one of the weakest vampires, not even a particularly strong one.

And so, 20 minutes after the event began, it was natural for even the best parties to have killed two at most.

But then, some people noticed something unusual.

The ranking board, visible when they looked up at the labyrinth’s sky.

Only 20 minutes had passed, and yet…

“…Does that even make sense!?”

“Th-The Demon King, already!?”

“I-Is that number even possible?”

[Contribution Ranking]

[1st Place 『Seonghyun』 - 7 Kills]

[2nd Place 『Evora Party』 - 3 Kills]

...

While 2nd place had 3 kills, Seonghyun’s record was more than double that, all by himself.

It was a record that was simply demoralizing.

Seeing it, some wondered how he could already have that many when he had only just entered the labyrinths, but even they had no choice but to admit it.

“The Demon King is truly on another level.”

“It wouldn’t be strange if he joined the official rankers soon.”

“He’s insane.”

“They said the Demon King would win anyway…”

“It was true.”

Exclamations of awe erupted from all over.

In the meantime.