Resurrection Chapter 122 - I Don’t Know If He’s Alive

Go Jaeyi launched into a tirade, complaining about how busy he was because of the Grand Temple incident. As Kim Piljoong let the words go in one ear and out the other, a message arrived on his phone.

After checking the message, Kim Piljoong let out a sigh that could have cracked the earth and heaved his heavy body up from the hospital bed. At this, Go Jaeyi spoke with a look of utter bewilderment.

“Huh? What is it? Don’t tell me my nagging actually worked?”

“As if. It’s a summons from the Great Shaman.”

At the words “summons from the Great Shaman,” Go Jaeyi’s expression changed completely. Kim Piljoong’s expression wasn’t very bright either. There was only one reason the Great Shaman Tae Young-woo would summon him. Knowing that a monster break was about to happen, Kim Piljoong flung off his patient gown.

“I can’t even slack off if I wanted to. I’m just going to change and be right back, so have the team leaders on standby.”

Go Jaeyi immediately snapped into a salute.

“Yes, sir!”

👑

Min Gongchan frowned at the coppery smell of blood lingering in his mouth.

It was strange for a vampire to detest the smell of blood, but it was true. Human blood, especially the vibrant blood of Kim Yitae, had been as sweet as nectar, but the blood now trickling down his throat was utterly nauseating. It felt like he was really gulping down raw blood, which was extremely disgusting, but he couldn’t stop drinking. It wasn’t as if he was drinking it with the expectation of it tasting good anyway.

Min Gongchan bit down harder on the bluish neck, trying to finish drinking the blood quickly. There was a crunch as muscle tore, a blood vessel burst, and bone was pierced.

Blood gushed out like a fountain, but it didn’t last long. Whether it had been starving for a while or something, the vampire that had become his prey didn’t have much blood in its body. The blood ran out quickly, and Min Gongchan tossed the vampire’s shriveled, mummy-like corpse to the floor. Then he raised a hand to wipe his blood-soaked mouth.

It was an unconscious action, but the back of his hand was scratched by his elongated fangs. Like a water bag, blood beaded up from the minor wound. Feeling it was a waste, Min Gongchan brought the back of his hand to his mouth and licked it.

The blood, a mix of all sorts of vampire blood, tasted bizarre. By the time he took his lips off the back of his hand, the wound had already healed without a trace.

By then, he was surrounded by several vampires. There were five of them. There should have been six, but one had just died, so there were five.

They were the Noble Vampires, the heads of the six vampire guilds.

It was a fact not well known to ordinary people, but vampires could drink more than just the blood of humans or beasts. Vampires could eat other vampires. The blood of a fellow vampire tasted bad, but its effect was undeniable.

Just a moment ago, by devouring the guild master of Unknown, his vampire authority had expanded. Since Min Gongchan didn’t have the Awakened system, he didn’t know exactly what ability he had acquired, but as far as he knew, the guild master of Unknown had the ability of invisibility. That ability must have been transferred to him.

Min Gongchan looked around at the assembled Noble Vampires. Three were women and two were men, all A-rank Awakened. Among them, one woman and one man were already what you would rightly call S-rank. Having surpassed Lv. 60 and being Nobles, they had to be considered S-rank regardless of official records.

Min Gongchan considered himself fortunate to have finished drinking the blood before they arrived. No matter how much of a Royal he was, his body was fundamentally that of an ordinary person, so it would be impossible for him to face not just one, but several S-rank-equivalent monsters at once. In fact, even now, victory was not guaranteed.

It would have been nice to take them down one by one, but the vampires’ information network wasn’t that lax. The fact that he had spent time at Unknown’s headquarters inside the dungeon was also a factor.

Although Min Gongchan was armed with the authority of a Royal Vampire and all sorts of items, he was alone, so it took some time to crush the guild and reach its master. It was also because he had been diligently drinking the blood of the vampires he killed to build up his strength, making sure none of it went to waste.

In conclusion, he had succeeded in eliminating the guild master of Unknown, but he couldn’t stop the remaining Noble Vampires from gathering. They were staring at Min Gongchan with full preparations made, emanating a palpable killing intent.

In their eyes, Min Gongchan was no different from a well-prepared feast. If they defeated Min Gongchan and drank his blood, they could gain even greater power. It might even be a chance to revive the declining vampire society.

Min Gongchan knew this well. Therefore, he had no intention of hoping for an uncertain victory. He wanted to become the vampire lord, but that was not the goal, only a means to an end.

Min Gongchan spoke to the guild masters, whose eyes dripped with a bluish glow.

“You must covet my blood.”

The guild masters did not answer. They simply revealed their sharp, claw-like fangs from beneath their lips. The Blood Lines they began to unfold checked each other, spitting out sparks like wildfire. A suffocating killing intent dominated the area, but Min Gongchan keenly read the psychology behind their bared teeth.

As outstanding Awakened and reigning Noble Vampires, it had been a long time since they had fought a fierce life-or-death battle. Not just vampires, but S-rank-equivalent Awakened were practically semi-immortal even without Kim Yitae’s Resurrection. They did not age or get sick, so as long as they didn’t have to fight monsters, they would not die.

The lifespan of Awakened was said to be shorter than that of ordinary people, but that was merely a statistical fallacy. A-rank or higher Awakened live longer than anyone, enjoying wealth and glory.

Seeing the guild master of Unknown dead and shriveled like a mummy must be a shocking sight for them. Seeing death, which they had only thought of as something that happened to others, right before their eyes, they were fighting against their fear.

Min Gongchan, on the other hand, was not afraid of dying. Even if he died, he would only return to where he started. Returning to the endlessly tiresome, repeating starting point was not scary, but rather exasperating.

There was only one thing he feared.

Having to watch Kim Yitae die forever.

If he could just stop that, there was nothing Min Gongchan wouldn’t do. He could even endure being torn apart and eaten alive by vampires. Thinking of himself as a dish to be served on a table, Min Gongchan opened his mouth.

“I have no intention of finishing off the few Noble Vampires that are left. But if you oppose the exercise of my rights, I’ll have no choice but to treat you like the dead bastard lying here.”

Min Gongchan gave the corpse at his feet a light kick. With just that, the body of the Unknown guild master, which had at some point corroded like a charcoal briquette, crumbled with a thud. Seeing the gruesome sight, the faces of the guild masters twisted. The one who appeared the oldest among them spoke.

“Your rights?”

Min Gongchan nodded.

“Yes, my rights. The rights I have as the one and only Royal Vampire.”

“Are you trying to become the lord? A mere commoner who isn’t even an Awakened!”

At the shout, Min Gongchan let out a soft, “Hmm.”

“It seems you’ve looked into me already. That’s right. To you lot, I may be a kid who isn’t an Awakened and just got lucky with a successful Trans. But the Royal blood flowing in my veins does not lie. If you enthrone me as your lord, I will share my blood with you and share my authority.”

Perhaps because it was an unexpected proposal, the old veteran who had been speaking paused. All the guild masters stared at Min Gongchan with suspicious expressions. Min Gongchan chose his words carefully to leave no room for misinterpretation and explained.

“I too am a vampire, so I will not ostracize you. If we increase our servants by accepting my blood, we can revive the vampire society that is stagnating and dying out without a sound. Is there a need to waste blood in a pointless fight in that process? I think not.”

The youngest-looking among the guild masters, who looked like a young girl, spoke up.

“The world doesn’t welcome us increasing our numbers. We are already under many restrictions, and the number of vampires is decreasing by the day. Your blood might bring us prosperity, but there’s no way the IAC will just stand by and watch.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. The IAC won’t be able to pay any attention to us vampires anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Because the time will soon come when they’ll have to worry about the survival of humanity.”

At Min Gongchan’s deliberately light words, the old veteran muttered.

“A time when we have to worry about the survival of humanity?”

“Within a month from now.”

Min Gongchan declared and lightly bit his wrist with his fangs. The skin broke, and purplish droplets of blood, looking more bluish than red, welled up. The coppery smell that arose from it had no particular effect on Min Gongchan himself, but it would feel different to other vampires.

Smelling his blood, the expressions of the guild masters changed. They wore expressions like humans being fed upon. To vampires, the blood of a Royal Vampire is a delicacy beyond compare. Realizing this, the Noble Vampires, without anyone starting first, began to drool from below their bared fangs.

Min Gongchan extended his bleeding wrist to the vampires drooling at him and finished his words.

“Within a month, the worst monster break will begin. Monsters will start pouring out of the dungeons, and in a year at the earliest, three years at the latest, the world will end.”

He mentioned the end of the world, but the guild masters were no longer listening. With faces twisted by hunger, they pounced on Min Gongchan like beasts.

Min Gongchan did not refuse the fangs sinking into his limbs. Even as he was pushed down to the floor by them, he calmly looked up at the sky.

The headquarters of the Unknown guild, like those of many assault squads, was hidden inside a dungeon. The sky of a dungeon, which was strictly speaking another dimension, was dark, but no moon or stars could be seen. The faintly dark sky felt unreal, and Min Gongchan felt as if he were dreaming, even as he was being practically eaten by vampires. For him, who lived a repeating life, what was real was not what could be seen or touched.

It was his own will to save Kim Yitae.