Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 63

“Neia.”

『Transferring command authority of surrounding drones. Transfer in progress… transfer complete. Awaiting your orders.』

I’d merely called her name.
Neia, reading my intent perfectly, relinquished command of all the drones to me.
I aimed my weapon at the target.
“Wait—just wait a moment! This isn’t what we agreed on!”
“I apologize. I have my circumstances too. Consider yourself unlucky.”
The thing was, a monster speaking like a person felt somehow wrong in a way I couldn’t quite shake.
“F-fine then! Kill me if you must, but please—I beg you—save my people!”
“I’m not interested in your sob stories.”
I was trying to cut the conversation short before I changed my mind, certain that prolonging this would leave a bad taste.

– Wait, you’re really going to kill her?

The chat erupted in fierce objection.

– But she’s pretty. At least hear her story.
– She might have important information, you know.
– I can read faces, and trust me—she’s got a good heart.

A lookist,
an armchair lawyer,
and a fortune teller.
Taken in by her innocent appearance, they were all pushing me to listen—and my already wavering resolve crumbled completely.
I couldn’t pull the trigger.
“Fine, fine. Let’s hear it then.”
As I spoke, I glanced sideways at Neia to gauge her reaction.

『As you wish, Commander.』

“I thought you’d scold me for not shooting.”

『There appears to be a misunderstanding. I do not wish for you to do anything against your will, Commander. At this moment, your face suggests reluctance.』

She wasn’t wrong.
Truth be told, there was the earlier agreement between us, and because she actually spoke—she didn’t feel like a monster anymore.
‘If Neia says it this way…’
Right. I’ll think of it positively instead.
Besides, I could tell myself I was doing it for the viewers.
“So what help do you need? Spit it out before I change my mind again.”
“Yes, thank you. You’ll be blessed. I’ll pray to Gergan, the Blood God himself, for your blessing.”
A blessing for sure? Not a curse?
In any case, the vampire’s story began to unfold.

* * *

“I am the new Vampire Queen, chosen by Gergan, the Blood God.”
Distilled to its essence, the Vampire Queen’s tale was this:
The previous Queen, who had once ruled the vampires, had become a puppet.
Because of the Queen-turned-puppet, her entire clan was suffering.
“A puppet? To whom?”
How could a vampire—beings who infected others and bound them as thralls—possibly end up as a puppet to someone else? It seemed like karmic justice, yet the question was perfectly natural.
Both thoughts occurred to me simultaneously.
“Do you know the identity of whoever is controlling the Queen?”
“Not at all.”
Something felt off about this, and I’d caught hold of it.
“Then how do you know whether you’re being controlled or not?”
“Because all I could say was that I was hungry—that’s when it started.”
That was a memory from before she was reborn as the new Queen.
Repeated commands that dominated her mind.
“But what if you’re genuinely starving?”
“It’s been five years now. Does that make any sense?”
Right now the vampires were dragging in anything alive and offering it as tribute.
And this had been going on for five years straight.
Yet the hunger never ended.
As if it would last forever.
Hearing that situation, I had to admit something felt wrong too.
As if a ravenous spirit had lodged itself in her belly.
‘Wait—a ravenous spirit?’
Suddenly the word Gluttony flashed through my mind.
Now that I thought about it, ever since we’d entered this floor, the Inventory marker had reacted out of nowhere….
If it was reacting to traces of ‘Gluttony’.
And the Vampire Queen was under the influence of ‘Gluttony’….
That would smooth out the connection with what happened moments ago when she suddenly blazed with light.
In any case, I kept my attention on the conversation with her.
“I too would still be bound, never having tasted true freedom, had I not been reborn as Queen and shed the shackles of the past.”
“Understood. So what exactly do you want me to do?”
“Kill the previous Queen.”
“Kill her? Even so, wasn’t she once your kind’s ruler?”
The vampire answered me firmly.
“She is no queen. Only by severing the chains completely can I grant her true freedom—and bring peace to the Clan. That is my reason for existing. And I believe it is Gergan’s will as well.”
I had no way of knowing by what principle a new Queen was chosen.
But it seemed a natural flow of ritual from the vampires’ perspective, so I didn’t press the point.
‘More importantly, if she really is the Queen, then beyond that light…’
I had a strong intuition that the former Queen, corrupted by ‘Gluttony’, would be waiting there.
I checked the Quest log.

[Eliminate the Vampire Queen who has awakened from deep slumber. 0 / 1]

‘Would it count if I killed the previous Queen instead?’
That would certainly be more convenient in several ways.
It was in that moment, as I was thinking about the Quest, that something happened.

Crackle—crackle—

The Quest window text distorted, and then a new option appeared.

Ding—

[Eliminate the Vampire Queen who has awakened from deep slumber. 0 / 1 or Bring peace to the Vampire Clan. 0 / 1]

I looked at the vampire before me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Was it because I’d heard her story?
A fresh option, as if inviting me to do as I pleased.
It felt good to have that uneasiness lifted….
‘Damn it, I don’t even know anymore.’
With this kind of setup laid before me, there was no reason to hesitate or back away.
The Clear Time would play a large role in an SSS-Rank Clear too.
And from my experience on the 15th Floor, I’d confirmed that some compensation was built in.
As long as I didn’t dawdle too much, it should be fine.
“What’s your name?”
“Celine. I am called Celine.”
“Right.”

* * *

After finishing my conversation with Celine, I gave Neia her orders.
“Neia.”

‘Yes.’

“Keep watch on these drones for me.”

‘Understood.’

I left Celine’s surveillance to Neia.

“Whew…”
The makeshift command post beside the combat frame that had just returned.
The moment I arrived there and planted myself on a rock, something caught my attention.
‘What’s happened?’
The screen showed Krail waiting at the entrance to the Crimson Forest.
The ground around him bore the marks of a fairly recent battle—bloodstains, torn earth, all of it.
“What’s the situation?”

‘You’ve returned, sir?’

“Yeah. Give me a full report.”

‘It appears to be traces of Vampires. We’ve found multiple similar marks in the surrounding area, and I suspected we’d encounter them if we pressed forward, so I’ve been awaiting your orders.’

So I’d arrived in time after all, then.
I issued Krail new orders for further reconnaissance.
“Same directive as before—find out what lies at the end where the light points. If there’s anything in the way, you’re free to kill it. And Krail.”

‘Yes.’

“Be careful. I have a feeling this might be connected to Gluttony.”
The moment I gave Krail those orders, a voice came from the voice chat beside me.
Baek Jin-seong’s seat. The viewers’ voices.

– What’s Gluttony?
– The way he’s talking about it, sounds pretty dangerous?
– Gluttony? Could it be the same thing from Peronta?

I deliberately ignored the viewers asking for more details.
I was about to focus on Krail’s screen when a pleading voice reached me from somewhere behind.
It was Celine’s voice.
“They’re merely being exploited! Please show mercy!”
I turned to Krail with a weary expression.
“Subdue them if possible. Only kill if it’s unavoidable.”

‘…Understood.’

Krail responded tersely and resumed his advance.

Walking through forest paths bathed entirely in crimson light.
And soon, encountering a presence.
‘Vampires…’
Tall, all of them—lean, beautiful figures. Both male and female.
The viewers reacted in real time.

– Ooh… these are like elf-tier, aren’t they?
– Well, that’s certainly pleasant to look at.
– Though their eyes seem to have rolled completely back, don’t they?

『Shriek—』
『Shriek—』

As expected.
The moment Krail was spotted, the vampires lunged forward with raw aggression bared.
Krail attacked exactly as instructed, careful to avoid vital points.
The Hunter Drone’s beam lanced through the vampire ranks.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
For their level, the vampires were fast and formidable, but they were no match for Krail and the drone together.
‘Though they’re more persistent than I expected.’
As though reason itself had been paralyzed within them.
Even as limbs severed and holes gaped in their abdomens, they threw themselves forward.

Whoosh.

“Finally quieted down a bit.”
There was only one way to stop them.
Render both legs completely immobile.
Even accounting for vampire regeneration, time was running short.
Krail punctured their thighs and pressed forward.

『Shriek—』

The aggression remained, but they couldn’t charge anymore.
They clawed along the ground trying to follow, though it was hopeless.
“Good. Keep moving like this, Krail.”

『Understood.』

Krail picked up the pace of his advance.

Whoosh. Whisper.

Having mastered the rhythm of subduing vampires, the tedious process streamlined itself.
“But how far does this passage extend?”
He’d immobilized and passed dozens of vampires, yet the light ahead showed no end.
Still the passage revealed no terminus.
Around the time I was beginning to feel the weight of monotony myself.
The viewers spoke up.

– Ohhh…
– Finally, we’re arriving! That’s the cave!
– I nearly died of boredom!

I spoke to Krail, who stood on the threshold of the cave entrance.
“Krail, don’t lower your guard. We can’t afford carelessness.”

『Understood.』

Krail entered with grim resolve etched across his face.
Setting aside the red glow cast by the marker, the interior felt surprisingly bright for a cave.
Upon closer inspection, objects that gleamed with a pale blue light—Night Pearls, it seemed—were embedded throughout the walls and recesses.

– Is there no way to collect those?
– Even selling a few would be a fortune.

I was distracted along with the viewers, attention caught by those luminous stones.
Krail’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
The reason was clear—he had reached the end of the cave.
Fortunately, it wasn’t particularly deep.
Krail’s gaze fixed on the passage ahead.
Save for the dimness that came with being inside a cave, the chamber looked surprisingly well-appointed.
A red glow traced a path toward the bed.
The source of that light pushed through the curtains draped across the bed.

— So it was Gluttony all along!
— Then why the hell is it here…
— Neia!

I wasn’t particularly startled—I’d sensed as much.
‘At least it’s not enormous.’
Gluttony was only about two meters across.
It retained that distinctive rounded form of clay-like monstrosity.
It looked exactly as it had when I’d seen it before.
I knew this was its smallest, most primordial state.
I called out the order with confidence.
“Krail, we strike first!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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