Chapter 82. Under the Two Moons (5)
"MT aren"t all that special!" That was what I felt. I just listened to some bored professors talk and the 400 or so people were split into 20 groups. These groups were called cla.s.ses, and it seemed these cla.s.ses were formed at the freshman opening party.
"Did you know about this?"
"No."
d.a.m.n, to think a community like this was formed from the start of school… Watching the people separate into their cla.s.ses, we looked pitiful. Of course, we weren"t the only ones who didn"t go to the freshman opening party, so with the help of our sunbaes, we were able to join a cla.s.s. Of the twenty cla.s.ses, Su Ye-Eun and I were in the same cla.s.s.
"… Hehe, we"re in the same cla.s.s."
"Ah, Kang Shin is in this cla.s.s."
"s.h.i.t."
"… Su Ye-Eun followed him even here."
We then grilled some meat and watched the talent show that others in our cla.s.s prepared. I, of course, kept circulating Peruta Circuit, and realized that I wasn"t fit for the campus life. Twenty people fiddling around with just two grills irritated me, and watching the people"s amateurish dances made me want to trip them with my feet.
After that, people went to the rooms a.s.signed to their cla.s.ses for drinks. People from other rooms sometimes barged in for drinking games, but I got tired of it all in exactly 17 minutes. I didn"t understand why they needed to play a game to drink alcohol. If they wanted to chug it that badly, that should just drink it by the bottle!
As expected, college social life didn"t really fit me. Although there must be more to it than just this, I had a strong feeling that whatever I was missing out on wasn"t right for me anyways.
"Next time, I won"t come."
"Why!? Let"s go to an MT with just our cla.s.s. It"ll be fun!"
A girl drinking nearby a.s.serted as she approached me. Cla.s.s MT? I looked around at the 18 people besides Su Ye-Eun and me. There were two Chinese international students. Both were male, and were talking to girls with rather obvious intentions. Su Ye-Eun then screamed and hid behind my back, making them glare at me.
Other than them, there was a male and female student who looked awkward around each other as if they just broke up, group of guys that were planning on going to other rooms to pick up girls, and girls that strangely liked to give me more drinks. Wondering if they knew my ident.i.ty and were trying to threaten me, I became nervous. Going to another MT with these people? I would rather die.
After losing a few rounds of the drink games and drinking the special penalty drink, Su Ye-Eun stuck herself on my back with a frown. Of course, I had to take more guys" glares because of it. Even though Su Ye-Eun covered herself with her hoody, it seemed people had found out how pretty she was.
"Hey, Shin."
"Uh, yeah… Ina."
Barely remembering the name of the girl that called out to me, we exchanged drinks. After Su Ye-Eun became too intoxicated to continue, the drinking game stopped, and everyone sat in a large circle and began talking about interesting things that had happened over the semester, like general gossip or stories with famous Guardian or Freedom Wing members.
Young and good-looking Guardian and Freedom Wing members became famous through appearances on TV networks, regardless of their abilities. It was the governments" attempt to make the citizens feel familiar toward the Awakened. I suspected that the government would eventually have TV shows where Awakened hunted monsters.
"Are you really not going out with Ye-Eun?"
The girl pointed at Su Ye-Eun stuck to my back. Like a sloth, she had her arms on my back and was dozing off. She really didn"t know shame.
"I"m not. We"re just friends."
"But Ye-Eun likes you."
"She just doesn"t have the courage to make friends other than me."
"It"s definitely not just that …"
The girl sighed and looked at Su Ye-Eun with a look of pity. The girl, who I only knew as Ina, then asked.
"S-So… you don"t have a girlfriend?"
"Oooh!"
"She"s doing it!"
"Go, go!"
The girls around me got louder. Peika and Ruyue, who each sat on my shoulder, made growling noises. Thinking that this drinking party would continue for a while, I unsummoned them. Then, I answered her.
"I don"t."
"Oooooh!"
"He says he doesn"t!"
While others were talking excitedly, I suddenly smelled something strange. Something foul. I put my nose to the drink in my hand. It was a perfectly normal whiskey. Then where was the smell coming from? It smelled a bit like iron. I was definitely familiar with it. This was…
The smell of blood.
I slowly stood up. The others looked at me, but I didn"t care. Su Ye-Eun, who also got up, rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Hm, what"s wrong, Shin? Am I home?"
"Why would I be in your home? If you"re awake, go wash your face."
As Su Ye-Eun didn"t want to separate from me, I carried her on my back as I walked toward the windows and opened one. The outside was silent and still. No, the silence was immediately broken by the smell of chemicals as a small firework went up into the sky. It seemed people from other cla.s.ses were setting fireworks. Regardless, I knew that a monster had not appeared outside. Was I mistaken?
Then, the door opened. When I turned around, there was someone completely unexpected standing there. It was the French international student and a few of the male students that followed her around.
"Huk, it"s Chloe."
"It"s Chloe Blanc."
The guys that had been planning to go to other rooms stopped and quietly sat back down. The girl called Chloe Blanc then walked into the room with a smile.
"The guys in my room already pa.s.sed out. Do you guys mind if I join you?"
Her Korean was extremely fluent. Of course, no one declined and Chloe Blanc naturally joined us.
At the same time, Su Ye-Eun began to shake and whispered in my ear.
"I, I don"t like her."
"How rude. We haven"t even met before. Besides, you shouldn"t say that while you"re hogging such a hot guy."
She sure had good hearing. Su Ye-Eun was startled and stuck even closer to me. The guys started to complain and Blanc shrugged her shoulder.
"I"m Chloe Blanc. What are your names?"
The people in the room took turns introducing themselves. After waiting for them to finish, Blanc gave me a glance. I answered her shortly.
"Kang Shin."
"Shin! What a cool name. It matches your handsome face."
"I can say the same about you."
"Empty words, but I"ll gladly take them."
Drinks went back and forth again. Just her presence seemed to be sweetening up the atmosphere. The guys that were eyeing Su Ye-Eun changed their attentions to Chloe Blanc, making it easier for me. However, because her gaze was fixed on me, I felt a bit uncomfortable. The other girls also found it irritating.
"She has tons of other guys. Why…?"
"Argh, annoying."
It seemed word had gone around that she was in this room as a few more guys came in. Because there was a limit to how many people we could fit, we had to turn them down. Although they brought up wanting to change members, no one accepted. I, on the other hand, wanted to get some fresh air. When I got up, Chloe Blanc suddenly stopped me.
"Where are you going, Shin? Take me with you. I want to talk to you more."
I sat back down. The gazes from the other students became more hostile. What did this French international student want from me? As I wondered, Su Ye-Eun"s shaking got worse. After a few more drinks were exchanged, I finally asked her boldly.
"Chloe Blanc, what"s your objective?"
She hesitated slightly, then looked around the room. Following her eyes, I also looked around the room. Most of the students were lying on the floor, or had hazy eyes. Almost as if they were zombies. Almost as if someone made them like that.
She honestly replied.
"I want to kill you and take your vital energy, Shin."
She closed her eyes then opened them again. Vertical pupils that appeared were showing that she wasn"t human.
s.h.i.t! I knew she had been planning something, but I didn"t think she was a monster! Su Ye-Eun pulled on me stronger. Realizing what was in front of her was a monster, Su Ye-Eun had activated her super vibration mode.
"You can"t run. Do you think I was just drinking here for fun? I already captured everyone in this room."
With that, Chloe Blanc gracefully raised her hand. One of the girls looking hazy naturally brought a cup to her hand. She did it respectfully, with both her hands.
"It"s too late for you too, Shin."
She smiled charmingly. I heard the sound of clothes ripping as a pair of black wings shot out from her back. They looked like enlarged bat wings. She then opened her mouth as she let out golden light from her eyes.
"I"ll introduce myself again. My name isn"t Chloe Blanc, though I did come from the country you humans call France. I"m "Blood Succubus," the owner of the dungeon that appeared in France.
[An Event Raid has broken out! B-rank 20-man Raid, "Blood Succubus." Because you were at the location of the raid boss, you will be forced to partic.i.p.ate.]
[You hold the priority for the Event Raid. Unless you want to reveal its existence, other dungeon explorers will not be notified until 1 hour later!]
I gritted my teeth. For some reason, she looked incredibly charming. Succubus. A monster said to appear in men"s dreams and devour their vital energy. The succubus in front of me had the terrifying ability to charm both men and women in reality.
Although she was only a B-rank 20-man raid boss, her special ability was undoubtedly frightening. I was trapped in her status effect. Before it was too late, I had to use Orc Lord"s Warcry…!
"Kuk, I already used it…!"
I had already used Orc Lord"s Warcry in my battle against Dullahan this morning. Not only that, but I had also used Dark Thunder Explosion, Dragon Skin, and Diehard! If I couldn"t solve my status effect, I could really die!
I had to escape. That was the only way I could live! I tried to activate Return, but it didn"t work. My instincts were refusing to let me leave. I did not want to separate from her. I did not want to be far away from her. Even though I knew I would die! With the same reasoning, I could not let the other explorers know. Return, Elemental Summoning, Deific Manifestation, and even going into the dungeon, her charm was strong enough to prevent me from doing anything.
Gritting my teeth, I asked while I could still talk freely.
"France"s Gate should have disappeared!"
"That"s right, but I wonder why? When I woke up, I was in Paris. Unfortunately, a scary oldie named Mich.e.l.le kept chasing me, so I had to run. I managed to reach Charles De Gaulle Airport and sneaked onto a plane. It turned out that it was going to Seoul. Then, when I was wandering aimlessly, I met Chloe. She gave me her knowledge, body, and even her existence. She was such a good kid."
Increased chance of an Event Raid happening where Event Dungeons disappeared. I finally understood what it meant.
Currently, the world was full of bosses that had escaped their dungeons when Event Dungeons disappeared! It was just that their characteristics determined whether Event Raids broke out immediately or they hid themselves among humans, like the Blood Succubus I was looking at.
"I didn"t know you were a monster!"
"What do you mean, monster, how rude. Look at me, aren"t I beautiful? Which part of me looks like a monster?"
"The part… kuk… where you killed humans. You already killed today too, right?"
"Oh? But humans kill other humans too. You shouldn"t call me a monster because of it. What a mannerless man. But you aren"t wrong. You see, I already took care of five rooms. After all, today will be my last day at this college. I wanted to consume as much vital energy as possible tonight. In truth, you"re tonight"s main dish."
She stood up. Throwing the gla.s.s cup and shattering it, she slowly walked towards me. Her long, slit pupils shined with evil and charm.
"The pure and boundless mana you have, it"s too tempting. Did you know, I"m the one who planned this MT."
When my eyes met hers, I could not move at all. Without Orc Lord"s Warcry, I was powerless against status effects. I should have realized it sooner, so that I could have planned for it! I had relied too much on the Floor Master skills, and this was the result. I was too ashamed of myself.
It was then that I realized Su Ye-Eun"s trembling had stopped. She was now murmuring to herself.
"I"m s-scared… but…"
"You stay still. I"ll eat you too, after I"m done with Shin."
"I-If I don"t do it… I"ll die… Shin will… die…"
To protect Su Ye-Eun, I frantically tried to think of a solution. How could I escape this charm? If I could snap out of it for just a moment, I could rip that woman to shreds!
However, white noise kept jamming my head. An irresistible attraction to her enveloped me. Any methods that I could use to separate from her, I myself was rejecting it.
Right, she was my everything. Separating from her would have little meaning. If she wanted, I could even give my life, so why should I resist?
I smiled. Blood Succubus also smiled. Her eyes opened wide as they let out a radiant golden light. I felt like forgetting myself and sinking into them.
At that moment, Su Ye-Eun stepped in front of me and raised her trembling hands. She even took off her hoody, which I had never seen her without. Her long, beautiful, night-black hair fluttered like water.
Then, the Blood Succubus"s left eye was ripped out.