The Shut-in Vampire Does Business in the Labyrinth - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Korean Vampire and Garlic

TL: DDTL

“Wh, what?”

I stared blankly at the screen before my eyes.

The goblin kept rummaging through its surroundings.

[Goblin has acquired a Wooden Plank!]

The goblin on screen was picking up various items that dropped in the Labyrinth.

All of them useless, of course.

On top of that, the only things you could bring out of the Labyrinth were what you could carry in your hands.

That’s why most Awakeners brought backpacks when entering the Labyrinth.

“Don’t tell me it’s farming on its own and coming back? Without me?”

When I muttered that,

-Grrk!

The goblin nodded as if to say yes.

“What? You can hear my voice?”

-Grk!

“Then start by dropping that plank. What do you even need that for?”

After hearing me, the goblin nodded and immediately tossed the wooden plank it had been cradling.

“This actually works.”

It was definitely exploring the Labyrinth, but I was just watching from my room through a screen.

The reason I never wanted to become an Awakener was because you had to enter the dangerous Labyrinth.

But if all I had to do was watch from a distance, that was fine.

Well, more than fine. It was perfect, wasn’t it?

If the goblin kept going in and farming on my behalf like this, I’d never be in any danger.

Only then did curiosity strike me.

About my abilities as a vampire Awakener.

“Status window.”

———

Name: Park Hyun-gi

Ability: Vampire (EX)

Thralls: 1

Control Power: 10

Skills: Thrall Making (EX), Bloodsucking (SS), Thrall Third-Person View (S)

———

[Vampire EX]

-You are the Progenitor, the first vampire to appear in the modern world.

-Replaces levels with Control Power.

-Sunlight and garlic are mildly unpleasant.

“The first vampire… Control Power… Sunlight and garlic are unpleasant?”

Sunlight and garlic? What a joke.

Says who?

No matter how much I’d spent my days coding in a dark room 24/7 as a shut-in, I was still a Korean, through and through.

“Huh? Garlic is unpleasant?”

What kind of nonsense was that?

I tried to test it, but there was no garlic in the house, so sunlight first!

Swoosh!

I yanked back the blackout curtains covering the window.

Darkness.

“Oh… it’s nighttime, isn’t it?”

I’d look into it later.

I checked my skills again.

[Thrall Making (EX)]

-When using Bloodsucking, you may choose to convert the target into a Thrall.

-This applies equally to Thralls.

[Bloodsucking (SS)]

-Consumes blood.

-Consumed blood can be converted into power.

[Thrall Third-Person View (S)]

-You can observe your Thralls from a third-person perspective.

-You can issue commands to distant Thralls.

Two starting skills and the one I’d just gotten as a Special Reward.

Reading through them, they formed a perfect set.

Use Bloodsucking to make Thralls, then send the Thralls into the Labyrinth.

I stay in my room while the Thralls explore the Labyrinth.

Ding!

[Goblin has acquired Iron Ore.]

Just like that.

Looking at the screen, the goblin was still farming away.

Since it could only hold so many things, it was setting items down in both hands and comparing them.

Whoosh!

The goblin tossed a square piece of iron ore and picked up a hexagonal one instead.

…What difference does that even make?

As expected, its low intelligence meant it couldn’t tell one thing from another.

That would’ve been a problem if left alone, but.

“Go check inside that building over there.”

-Grrk!

The moment it heard my voice, the goblin moved on the double.

Automated farming was out of the question, but hands-on control like this worked just fine.

This was seriously great, wasn’t it?

Watching the goblin farm in my place filled me with hope.

Me, personally entering the Labyrinth?

Absolutely not. Why would I? I was already making enough to eat as it was.

But if my Thrall went into the Labyrinth instead of me?

“Dig around in there and see if there’s anything decent.”

-Grrk!

The goblin on the other side of the screen answered and enthusiastically tore through the abandoned house.

After searching room after room, collapsed drawers, wardrobes, and shelves for a while,

-Grk?

[Goblin has acquired a Sharp Dagger (Normal)!]

“Nice work!”

-Grk!

Compared to junk items like wooden planks and iron ore, this was a far more valuable find.

Weapons were important.

The goblin could use it right away, or I could sell it on the community marketplace.

Weapons were always in short supply, so the more the merrier.

“Use that for now, and keep searching. Find me one more thing like that.”

-Grruk!

The goblin heard me and swung the dagger around in the air with wild enthusiasm.

Was it happy to have a weapon?

Watching through the screen like this, it was kind of cu… no, it wasn’t.

Thrall or not, there was no way a goblin could be cute.

A goblin was a goblin.

Green skin, a long pointy nose, droopy ears, a mouth split wide across its face, hunched back, and patchy tufts of hair.

Still, this thing was farming the Labyrinth on my behalf. Who cared what it looked like?

What mattered were the items it would bring back.

Find items in the Labyrinth, sell them on the Awakener community market, and that was money.

The main things to look for were equipment like weapons and armor, accessories that granted special powers, and crafting materials used by specialized classes to make gear.

Beyond that, there were also buff potions useful for Labyrinth exploration and their ingredients, plus quest items needed for personal ability unlock quests.

Thinking about all of it at once could make your head spin, but you only needed to remember one thing.

It was basically dumpster diving to build a fortune.

Pick up anything worth money, bring it out, sell it.

On the surface, Labyrinth exploration sounded like a great way to make money, but the problem was the danger that came with it.

-Grrk?

My Thrall goblin on screen ran into another goblin while walking around.

Where there was treasure, there were those who guarded it.

The Labyrinth was full of monsters like the one on screen, hunting intruders.

The wild goblin spotted my Thrall and tilted its head in confusion.

If I had been standing there instead, it wouldn’t have hesitated. It would’ve charged straight at me.

Being the same species must have thrown it off.

“Hey, could you take that thing in a fight?”

-Grrk!

At my words, the goblin raised the dagger it was holding.

Only then did the wild goblin shriek and charge.

-SCREEEE!

-SHRIIIEEK!!

A goblin brawl on Labyrinth Layer 1.

Of course, even between two ordinary Level 1 goblins, the advantage was on our side.

How could a bare-handed goblin beat one with a dagger?

-SCREEEE!

As the wild goblin staggered back from a dagger slash, my Thrall goblin lunged in.

Was it going to finish this?!

A nail-biting battle to the death.

But contrary to my expectations, the Thrall goblin that had closed the distance opened its mouth wide and,

Chomp!

-KEEEENG!

“Huh?”

Sank its teeth into the wild goblin’s neck with gusto.

And then a system window appeared.

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Would you like to proceed with Thrall Making?]

“I don’t even have to be the one who bites?!”

Only then did I remember the details of the Thrall Making skill.

Thrall Making available upon Bloodsucking. Applies equally to Thralls.

As long as I had Control Power to spare, any goblin that bit another could make a new Thrall.

And my current Control Power was,

[Control Power: 1/10]

One per goblin, maximum Control Power of 10.

The more workers, the better.

“Obviously, yes!”

The moment I willed the Thrall Making to proceed, the bitten goblin began to change.

It trembled for a moment, then sharp fangs jutted out just like the first Thrall goblin’s.

[Goblin has been converted to a Thrall.]

[Control Power: 2/10]

Once the conversion was complete, the first goblin opened its mouth.

Smack.

It licked its lips.

The vibe was clear: annoyed that its meal got taken away.

But what had been prey a moment ago was now an ally.

-Grrk.

-Grk.

“Farming is important, but first…”

My priorities shifted.

Two goblins farming would obviously be slower than ten.

“Go bite ’em, boys!”

-SCREEEE!

-SHRIIIEEK!!

The goblins charged forward like their lives depended on it.

***

Abandoning all farming, the goblins sprinted around like mad.

Fights were inevitable since they needed to use Bloodsucking, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Would you like to proceed with Thrall Making?]

“Yeah!”

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Would you like to proceed with Thrall Making?]

“Do it!”

They didn’t need to fight to the death. Just a good bite was enough.

It didn’t even have to be the neck.

Arms, legs, hands, feet.

Anywhere that bled was fair game.

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

Vampire goblins running around biting their own kind, one after another.

-Grruk.

-Grkgrk.

-SCREEEE!

-SHRIIIEEK!

Thanks to all that, I got a little busy myself.

Even when the goblins split up and wandered separately, Thrall Third-Person View activated without a hitch.

It felt like commanding multiple squads at once in a real-time strategy game.

Of course, they had enough self-awareness to farm on their own to some extent, but.

“Drop that flimsy iron plate.”

-Grrk!

“No, I told you not to pick up wooden planks! Why do you keep grabbing those?”

-Gaak?!

“Hey! Where’d you put that weapon you found earlier?! Why are you walking around with iron ore?!”

-Grkgrk?

The goblins were so stupid that the second I looked away, they caused problems.

Was this what it would feel like if game units developed minds of their own?

Just then, one of the vamp-goblins ran into another wild goblin.

“Go bite it!”

-SCREEEE!

The vamp-goblin on screen dropped what it was holding and charged forward.

Wait, what it had been holding was the dagger. Why would you put that down…

“Haah… long way to go.”

Still, the vamp-goblin faithfully carried out my one command: go bite.

Chomp!

[Goblin has used Bloodsucking.]

[Would you like to proceed with Thrall Making?]

“Proceed.”

I felt something unknowable within me connect to the goblin, and just like that, the tenth vamp-goblin was born.

Control Power, maxed out.

Did this mean I couldn’t make any more minions?

“Tch. Feels like something’s missing.”

Just then, a system window appeared.

[You have converted 10 goblins into Thralls.]

[A Special Reward will be granted.]

“Special Reward?”

[Goblin job classes have been unlocked.]

-Goblin

-Warrior Goblin (new)

“I can set their jobs too?”

Warrior Goblins were monsters twice as strong as regular goblins, and they only appeared in the central area of Labyrinth Layer 1.

The fact that converting 10 unlocked this meant…

“So I need to keep taking in more goblins? But my Control Power is maxed out. How do I level up?”

Normally, levels went up by killing monsters in the Labyrinth.

But thanks to my ability’s effect, levels had been replaced with Control Power.

This Control Power needed to increase so I could convert even more goblins into Thralls.

I checked the Control Power entry on my status window.

[Control Power]

-A unique stat that determines the number and quality of a vampire’s Thralls.

-Replaces levels with Control Power.

-As Thralls grow stronger, the Progenitor grows stronger as well.

For me to grow, my Thralls needed to grow stronger.

In other words, the goblins had to get tougher.

Once they escaped and came back, the first order of business would be switching their jobs to Warrior.

Grrrrumble.

“Oh, right, I ordered pork belly.”

I remembered placing a delivery order just before getting dragged into the tutorial.

I checked my phone. Already delivered to the front door.

Time had really flown by while I was watching the goblins.

Sending goblins into the Labyrinth and controlling them through Thrall Third-Person View was more addictive than most games could ever dream of being.

“Pork belly~ pork belly~.”

I left the goblins to their farming and stepped outside to grab the delivered pork belly before coming back in.

It had already gone cold, but this stuff was delicious even just microwaved.

Beep beep.

I set the microwave running and tore open the side dishes that came with the order.

Sniff sniff.

“What the? Did it go bad?”

It had just been delivered. Could it really have gone bad that fast?

I tilted my head at the pungent, stinging aroma I’d never experienced before in my life.

“There’s no way, right? Look how fresh this is. Lettuce wraps, peppers, kimchi, roasted garlic… roasted garlic? Garlic?”

No way. Right?

Goosebumps crawled up my skin.

That couldn’t be it. This was a joke, right?

Gulp.

I swallowed once and picked up a piece of roasted garlic with my wooden chopsticks.

The closer it got, the stronger the stinging smell pierced my nose, but I refused to accept it.

“No. No way. That’s not possible.”

I tossed the garlic into my mouth and chewed.

Tears streamed down my face.

Not from sadness. Reflexive tears.

Like having a mild allergy that wouldn’t kill you, but still made your nose sting and your eyes water.

“No, don’t you lie to me!”

I frantically tore open the container of doenjang-jjigae I’d set aside to heat up after the meat. [TL Note: Korean fermented soybean paste stew]

“Roasted garlic… sure, those were whole cloves, so maybe..!”

I took a mouthful of the doenjang-jjigae.

More tears.

That unmistakable pungent taste cutting through the stew.

A taste I should never have been able to notice, and yet…

That’s right. Korea’s beloved soul food, the jjigae, was made with minced garlic.

“DON’T LIE TO ME!!!!”

A bite of kimchi.

More tears.

Kimchi was made with minced garlic too.

“NO… YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!! I’M KOREAN!!! I’M KOREAN!!!!!!”

If I can’t eat garlic, what the fuck am I supposed to eat?!!!!