The Shut-in Vampire Does Business in the Labyrinth - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Arrival of a Supernova (2)

TL: DDTL

Ring ring ring ring.

─ Hello, Dduddoo Pork Belly speaking.

“Hi, I’m the one who, uh, last time…”

─ Yes! The garlic allergy! Haha. I remember. You’re a regular, after all.

“Yep. Then two servings of pork belly and a doenjang-jjigae without minced garlic, please.”

─ You got it! It’ll be about 40 minutes!

“Sounds good.”

After hanging up, I let out a deep sigh and took a sip of coffee.

Ordering food with the garlic issue was anything but convenient.

Minced garlic, lurking in every sauce known to man.

Who would have guessed that even yangnyeom chicken sauce had minced garlic in it?

I hadn’t wanted to learn that particular fact, but I’d discovered it the hard way, tears and snot streaming down my face.

Thanks to that, I had to call every restaurant before ordering.

Excuse me, does this have minced garlic in it?

“Ugh! There’s literally nowhere that doesn’t use garlic!!!”

In the end, I’d given up on ordering through delivery apps entirely.

Unless I was going to cook it myself, I had to call and personally ask them to leave out the garlic.

I slouched back in my chair and activated Thrall Third-Person View.

[A goblin has acquired Ruin Wire.]

[A goblin has acquired Heavy Iron Boots (Magic).]

[A goblin has acquired Steel Greatbow (Magic).]

“Oh, nice, a greatbow.”

Forty-nine Warrior Goblins were sweeping through the Labyrinth, farming every item in sight.

The outskirts only dropped Normal-grade items, but once they pushed into the center of Layer 1, Magic-grade gear started appearing too.

Of course, most of it was junk, with the occasional useful piece here and there.

“The warehouse is going to burst. I need to convert all that to cash soon.”

If each of the forty-nine picked up one decent item, that was forty-nine items.

I was operating on a completely different level from other people who explored the Labyrinth solo.

“But seriously, why won’t the frying pans and cushions drop?”

The reason I was hunting for frying pans and cushions was outpost upgrades.

[Outpost Lodging Unlock]

-Ruin Plank (200/200)

-Ruin Scrap Iron (150/150)

-Rusty Spring (100/100)

-Burst Plush Cushion (3/10)

[Outpost Mess Hall Unlock]

-Ruin Plank (200/200)

-Ruin Scrap Iron (150/150)

-Burst Gas Canister (20/20)

-Dented Frying Pan (5/10)

To unlock both facilities, I needed to bring materials from Layer 1 and deposit them in the supply crate at the center of the outpost.

But the cushions and frying pans just refused to drop.

It had already been two days and I still couldn’t scrape together a measly ten of each.

What kind of junk item is this hard to find?

Still, figuring they’d come eventually, I switched the third-person view over to Gob.

─ Kyaaaahk!

Gob was sprinting at tremendous speed.

His targets were two wild Goblin Warriors up ahead.

─ Kieehk!

One Goblin Warrior swung its sword, but Gob ducked under it with ease.

Then a single stab to the ribs with his dagger.

─ Kyaaahk!

Next, he slashed across the thigh of the other Goblin Warrior charging from the side, spun behind it, and drove the dagger into its neck to finish it off.

The moment the Warrior Goblin crumpled, Gob sank his teeth into the neck of the remaining one clutching its side on the ground.

Crunch! Slurp slurp.

“Damn, Gob’s a monster in a fight.”

[Gob LV 9]

-Class: Warrior Goblin

-STR: 13

-AGI: 18

-INT: 15

Gob had already reached level 9.

Considering wild Goblin Warriors averaged around level 5 or 6, it was no surprise they didn’t stand a chance.

On top of that, Gob was decked out in Magic-grade gear from the Labyrinth.

[Ring of Strength (Magic)]

-STR+1

-ATK+2

[Boots of Agility (Rare)]

-AGI+2

-Move Speed+10%

[Sharpness Dagger (Magic)]

-ATK 16

-DEF Penetration 10%

I’d been funneling him all the best gear to give my firstborn the edge, and now he was turning into a monster.

“…At this rate, he could take the Layer 1 boss.”

The center of Labyrinth Layer 1.

The gatekeeper guarding the passage to Layer 2, the boss monster of Layer 1.

Couldn’t Gob solo it at this point?

“Should I try?”

Once that thing was dead, nothing on Layer 1 could stop us anymore.

My Warrior Goblins were already steamrolling the wild ones as it was.

***

“Krrk.”

Sensing his master’s gaze, Gob tossed aside the Warrior Goblin he’d been draining and dashed into a nearby building.

Sniff sniff.

He took a quick whiff and began rummaging through drawers and crates at breakneck speed.

‘Find it. Sparkly thing. Master likes it.’

Gob’s farming speed was leagues beyond any of the other goblins.

What’s more, he had started distinguishing what was valuable from what wasn’t.

‘This, trash. That, trash. This one, keep.’

Rifling through items at speed, Gob stuffed a completely mangled frying pan into his pack and stepped outside.

─ Good job, Gob!

“Krrk!!”

Master was pleased, as expected.

Gob was quite satisfied with himself these days.

Before, he had moved on instinct alone, but after being bitten on the shoulder, Gob’s world had changed.

Strength surged through him, and his mind had cleared.

This was the grace of his master.

From the moment he gained the ability to think, a single desire had taken root in Gob.

He wanted to grow stronger.

He wanted to become smarter.

To do that, he had to be useful to his master.

Earn recognition, receive power.

That was why Gob always gave it everything he had, slaughtering goblins that were once his kin, tearing through buildings as fast as he could.

While other goblins searched one building, Gob covered three times as many on his own.

That was when, inside one building, he spotted a faint, faint white glow leaking from a crate.

“Krrrrk!”

That’s it! The sparkly thing master loves!

Gob sprinted full tilt, smashed through the glass, tumbled once across the floor inside, leapt to his feet, and wrenched open the glowing crate.

A tiny white orb.

The same thing he’d found last time, the one that had made master jump up and down with joy.

Sure enough, the instant he picked it up.

─ R-Run! Gob!! Get out of there and come back right now!!!

“Krrk!!”

Just as he thought. Forget everything else, this white orb was what master prized above all.

***

“YESSS!! Gob, you’re the best, seriously!!”

Watching Gob race toward the exit through Third-Person View, I threw my hands up in triumph.

I’d honestly expected the second ether to take a few more days, but it had only been two days since Monday’s reset.

I’d been praising him left and right, and now Gob was performing like an absolute beast.

“I swear I’ll raise you to the very end, Gob!”

One ether was worth a minimum of 10 billion won, and he’d already brought in 20 billion by himself.

I immediately got up and headed into the outpost.

Once the outpost was established, goblins were automatically teleported to its center upon exiting.

I rushed out barefoot to greet our hero, and right on cue, Gob appeared at the center of the outpost in a flash of light.

[Incredible Achievement!]

[You have escaped with an ether!]

[You have been registered in the rankings!]

Apparently the system counted returning to the outpost as an escape, because the notification windows popped up.

I checked and found myself registered at 2nd place in the National Weekly Ranking, which had just reset.

“Krrrrk!”

“There’s my boy! Good job!”

“K-Krrk?”

Gob was the one looking flustered, caught off guard by how excited I was.

What did that matter? Right now, Gob was just so adorabl…

“Hmm…”

Adorable wasn’t the right word. A goblin was still a goblin.

Still, my favorite goblin was and always would be Gob.

Watching me, Gob tilted his head in confusion, handed over the ether, grabbed his pack, and headed for the warehouse.

He really did know exactly what I wanted.

“So what do I do with this…”

At some point, I’d have to sell the ether to the Association.

“No, not yet.”

It was tempting to cash in 10 billion immediately, move somewhere better, and set up the infrastructure to sell off the scrap and junk items. But it was still too soon.

Gob was exceptional, sure, but this was the result of fifty-some goblins combing Layer 1 like they were hunting rats.

What if the goblin count grew even further?

If I wanted the Association to come to me hat in hand, I needed to play it cool a bit longer.

I’d already decided what to use the ether for.

Boosting my abilities first, as always.

This time, rather than hoping for some special ability like before, I’d specify exactly what to enhance.

“Use ether.”

[Please state your desired use.]

“Enhance Control Power.”

[Enhancing Control Power by 1 ether’s worth.]

[Calculating values.]

Control Power naturally rose in proportion to thrall levels over time.

But who had the patience to wait for that?

Pumping out workers like crazy in the early game was the foundation for growth.

Food, logistics, whatever else… I’d deal with all that later.

Time to get the snowball rolling.

And that decision turned out to be the right one.

This wasn’t some ordinary level-up. This was a Control Power enhancement using an ether, of all things.

[Control Power is increasing!]

[Control Power 50 > 550]

Light burst from my body in a single wave.

Power flooded through every inch of me.

Did Control Power enhance not just thrall capacity but my physical abilities too?

“Whew… Haah.”

I took a deep breath, and the world felt different.

Grinning, I turned to the goblins and said,

“Listen up.”

“Krrrrk?”

“Krrk?”

“Get out there and bite everything!”

“KYAAAAAAHK!”

“KIEEEEEHK!!!”

The blood-starved Vampiric Goblins tore out of the outpost.

“Alright. Brakes off. Let’s go.”

***

Ever since the Labyrinth appeared, the system-administered ether rankings had been the world’s number one obsession.

People were saying it was killing professional sports, it had gotten that big.

Every time the ether rankings shifted, countless people cheered or wept.

─ Yo wtf why does Kim Chan still only have 3! It’s about time he brought back 4 a month!

ㄴ lmaooo Labyrinth Toto bet?

ㄴ OP: Ugh, I would’ve hit if Kim Chan had just moved up to 2nd in the monthly ranking!

ㄴ Yeah Han Seol-ah does it every month so you think 4 a month is easy?

ㄴ OP: ffs this country’s in this state BECAUSE that’s all they can bring back.

─ Smh Choi Gang-hyeok step it up already. How long are you gonna let Japan and China walk all over us.

ㄴ Yeah China’s 10th ranker alone brings back 10.

ㄴ This guy, show me your passport.

ㄴ Sigh if it weren’t for the Labyrinth our country wouldn’t be falling behind this badly.

ㄴ Yeah things weren’t exactly great before ether existed either lol

ㄴ Try playing Hao Ran you dumbass bitch

ㄴ lol come back after you beat Japan first

ㄴ I said try playing Hao Ran.

─ Seol-ah noona please go for 5 this time ㅜㅜ!

ㄴ Nope, 4.

ㄴ Always 4.

ㄴ 4 till she dies.

ㄴ 4 for life.

ㄴ Where do you people live?

ㄴ Ms. Han Seol-ah please stop browsing forums and go do the Labyrinth.

In this era, ether count was national power.

Case in point: the United States, China, and India had used their overwhelming populations and economic might to feed ten thousand ether into creating SS-grade Awakeners.

The wealth those Awakeners generated rivaled the GDP of entire nations.

So of course people couldn’t help but obsess over the ether rankings.

One or two top-ranked Awakeners could flip a country’s GDP ranking on its head.

─ Yo but who’s the one that hit 2nd in the weekly ranking?

Then one day, someone appeared in the rankings out of nowhere.

ㄴ ShutInVampLord? Probably beginner’s luck. With just 1 they’ll drop off soon.

ㄴ Actually no? They’re 10th in the monthly ranking?

ㄴ Huh? Two already? I’ve never seen this username before?

ShutInVampLord, appearing in the rankings without warning.

If it had just been the weekly ranking, people would have chalked it up to luck. But he’d already farmed two ether that month and climbed into the monthly ranking as well.

ㄴ Probably just got lucky lol

ㄴ Two ether and you call that luck? That’s beyond luck.

ㄴ What is this, a new player on the scene?

The community was split between belief and doubt.

But the following week.

─ Yo holy shit ShutInVampLord brought back another ether this week?

ㄴ For real? So that’s 3 total???

ㄴ Insane, 5th in the monthly ranking?

ㄴ What? Out of nowhere? And no real name disclosed, so they haven’t even signed with the Association?

ㄴ Is 3 even possible through luck?

ㄴ Even if you saved a whole country in a past life, 3 is impossible.

ㄴ I’m an Awakener and 3 is genuinely impossible.

ㄴ Could just be lucky.

ㄴ If someone dropped a marble somewhere in Seoul and told you to find it, could you do it alone?

ㄴ Why not? It glows, doesn’t it?

ㄴ Sigh forget it.

The username “ShutInVampLord”, rocketing up from the very bottom out of nowhere.

The moment he emerged with his third ether, the community was flooded with nothing but talk about him.

─ Wow looks like we got a real one. 3 ether right out the gate lmaooo.

ㄴ Is he gonna overtake Choi Gang-hyeok? Are we finally beating Japan???

ㄴ ffs calm down, he barely brought back 3.

ㄴ But 3 right off the bat is worth getting hyped about, no?

Three ether in Korea put someone in the top five. Instant stardom.

But his ascent didn’t stop there.

***

Another week later.

Awakener Association, Korea Branch.

SLAM!

In the main auditorium where every Association employee had gathered, Kim Min-woo slammed the podium and jabbed irritably at the screen projected behind him.

“What are you all doing?! Mobilize the police, the cyber investigation unit, everyone!! Find this person no matter what!!”

The central beam projector in the auditorium displayed the ether monthly ranking board.

He aimed his laser pointer at 3rd place.

[National Monthly Ranking]

1st: Choi Gang-hyeok – 8

2nd: Han Seol-ah – 4

3rd: ShutInVampLord – 4

“Scour the internet, magic stone shops, the black market, I don’t care!! Turn over every last rock!!”

A massive new talent had burst onto the Korean Labyrinth scene like a comet.