‘Isn’t it confusing?’

The reason why Grid decided not to participate in the National Competition was because he needed time. Unable to waste a single minute or second, he moved to the smithy as soon as his conversation with Han Seokbong was over.

‘There are only seven?’

It was a sentence that felt strange. Han Seokbong said that only seven yangbans had been active over the past hundreds of years but the number of people Grid witnessed when he first encountered the yangbans was over 10. There were exactly 13 people. This wasn’t a distortion of his memories. Grid recognized them as having a presence similar to the West Continent legends and clearly remembered his surprise that the number of yangbans was greater than the Western legends. Above all, there were witnesses.

“Braham, didn’t you see 13 people at that time?”

Deep in a secret passage...

Braham frowned as he walked beside Grid in the newly created maze the dwarf Ke had created in the process of expanding the Overgeared Palace. He had taken off his skin mask after a long time and boasted a remarkable beauty that fascinated everyone.

“How many times have you asked me this?” Braham’s soul was awake when Grid first visited the East Continent. At that time, he and Grid weren’t friends. They were in the stage of gradually forming good feelings and Braham had indirectly witnessed and experienced the world through Grid’s eyes. “13 is correct.”

“However, Viscount Han Seokbong said there were only seven.”

“He must be lying. He is a worrisome guy who will hit you in the back sooner or later.”

“That’s not it.”

Grid knew that Han Seokbong wasn’t a man who would deceive or betray him. There was no reason to do so. Braham read the conviction in Grid’s eyes and thought for a moment. “If Han Seokbong isn’t lying then the Easterners might be caught up in a group suggestion.”

“Suggestion?”

“It is a suggestion to not recognize anyone apart from the seven as yangbans.”

“Why would such a suggestion be used?”

“I think they must be conscious of the monitors that the Western gods placed on the East Continent. The Five Seniors and Chiyou might be gods but they were dogs who lost and were driven out. It is normal for them to be wary and afraid of the Western gods. If it is as you think and they are building up their forces for revenge, they might need to hide their power.”

“Ah...”

It seemed very plausible. A god had methods of deceiving millions or tens of millions of people.

“In that sense, the number seven is very valid. There are exactly seven archangels. If the number of yangbans is also seven then the Western gods won’t feel any doubts.”

Braham grabbed Grid’s wrist and placed Grid behind him. The dwarf’s playfulness was triggered and he made a uselessly complex maze. Thus, Braham had to personally lead Grid through the maze.

“Excuse me, Braham.” Grid spoke as he was grabbed by the collar and followed Braham. “If my guess is right, the more deity points the yangbans build up, the stronger they will be. So they should expose themselves to the public as much as possible to be worshipped. Apart from the seven, wouldn’t the remaining six be unable to build up deity because they can’t be recognized, let alone be worshipped?”

“I guess so.”

“This means that with the exception of seven, the other yangbans are weaker than Garam?”

“Correct. Even if there are hundreds or thousands in the Hwan Kingdom, they won’t be as strong as you think.”

“Hah...” Grid sighed with relief. He was worried that all the yangbans would be as strong as Garam but now he could rest assured.

Braham gave a warning. “Don’t be relieved. The moment the Five Seniors and Chiyou shake off the scrutiny of the Western gods, all of the yangbans will appear before humanity and humanity will begin to deify them.”

At that time, Grid who stomped on Garam wouldn’t be safe. This meant that for the sake of his safety and the Overgeared Kingdom, he had to prevent the Hwan Kingdom from becoming a kingdom of gods.

‘The present gods who only committed one sin are better than the Five Seniors and Chiyou, who made the yangban...’

...No, no. He couldn’t jump to rash conclusions. As always, the truth might be different.

"We've arrived.” Braham arrived at the end of the maze while Grid was thinking and stood in front of a thick iron door. The iron door was engraved with a soul engraving, one of the dwarves’ mechanisms. There was only one person who could open this door—Grid using his soul.

Grid raised his hand over the iron door and the thick iron door opened by itself, despite Grid not using any strength. The scenery revealed was the basement of a smithy. There was another stone door with a soul engraving. It was a space that only Grid could cross.

‘This is very good.’

Grid was always swept up in a crowd every time he went back and forth between the castle and the smithy, inevitably wasting his time. Now thanks to Ke ong, the secret passage allowed him to move between the castle and the smithy, saving him time in the future. In the case of an unexpected crisis, it could also be used as an escape route or bunker so he was assured of Irene and Lord’s safety.

‘The dwarves are truly amazing. I now know how to use the skewer flexibly so after going to the East Continent, I will quickly visit Talima.’

It was time to get to work. It happened the moment Grid left the basement and dreamt of an item upgrade.

-G-Grid! It is serious!

“...?”

A message came from Zednos, lord of Reidan.

-You need to visit the vampire city!

“What?”

Grid used Braham’s Mass Teleport and arrived at the entrance of a vampire city.

***

“Your Majesty!”

“Kukukuk, the bunch of losers recognize the Blood King.”

“...Braham, please talk less. I’m worried you will never be able to make friends.”

Grid entered the vampire city and felt dizzy. It was because all the vampires were judged to be people of the Overgeared Kingdom. It was similar to what happened in Noll’s vampire city a long time ago.

Zednos looked perplexed. “The vampires in all cities, not just here, are classified as NPCs, not monsters.”

“They aren’t hostile to the Overgeared members or NPCs?”

“Yes, it is like the vampires of Noll’s city. I tried attacking as an experience and received the crime of causing injury, activating the PK system in accordance to the nation’s laws.”

This meant that hunting in the vampire cities was impossible. It was a painful loss of a hunting ground for the mid-level Overgeared members, who weren’t strong enough to go to the Galgunos Temple. Grid confirmed the city’s information.

[Vampire’s Underground City (6)]

[Rating: B (Temporarily Downgraded)

Lord: None

Population: 5,987

Members: Vampire familiars, low-grade vampires, intermediate vampires, true blood vampires.

The dungeon has been rebuilt under the control of the Blood King.

Due to the absence of a permanent lord, the estate isn’t managed at all.

* There are no products or specialties.

* You can't expect any revenue from the estate.

* Low-grade and intermediate vampires have a low probability of producing familiars.

* You can appoint a true blood vampire or a direct descendant vampire as the lord.

* If a true blood vampire becomes the lord, they will hunt intruders and gradually increase the number of vampires.

* If a direct descendant vampire becomes the lord, they will hunt intruders and quickly increase the number of vampires. There is a very slim chance of producing additional true blood vampires.

★ Food assistance is urgently needed to maintain the current population.]

“Um...”

“First of all, we asked Noll to provide us with blood potatoes. However, there are 12 cities and the supply of blood potatoes isn’t enough. These vampires will starve to death.”

Grid murmured, “I’ll have to ask Piaro to travel to each city and establish a farming field.”

“Why not release the vampires into the desert every night?”

“Do you want to release the vampires?”

“The vampires can fill their hunger by ingesting the blood of monsters as well as humans. NPCs can grow, unlike monsters. The more hunting experience they gain, the higher the level of the vampires. This will increase the population and they will develop into an army. At that point, we can encourage intruders to enter and then generate revenue from the loot the vampires will acquire from the intruders.”

“That’s a good idea but...”

The reason why the vampires were stuck in their cities was the Curse of Sloth. Noll had overcome the curse by spending a long time with Grid and Tiramet had been freed from the curse thanks to be liberated by Blood King Grid. However, the other vampires were still suffering from the curse. The almost 6,000 vampires in front of Grid would return to their coffins again a short time after Grid left.

“I think it would be possible if I make a nightly trip to the cities and temporarily weaken the curse...”

Realistically, it was hard. The damage to Grid would be too great if he had to spend hours on the vampires every night.

Zednos hurriedly waved his hands. “No, cancel the words I just said. The vampires’ eyes are so bright that I forgot they are suffering from a curse.”

“I understand.”

Grid looked around at the vampires. The red eyes of the vampires were all shining enthusiastically as they stared at Grid. What was the Curse of Sloth?

“For the time being, move the army to feed the vampires. Have them capture monsters and feed them to the cities.”

“I understand.” Zednos nodded and immediately followed the command.

“......”

Braham exited the city with Grid and stared into the distance. It was toward the city where Marie Rose was asleep.

Grid felt something ominous and urged, “Let’s go to the smithy as soon as possible.”

There were the remaining breaths of the sacred creatures. Grid planned to create new items before heading to the East Continent.

***

“No. Next.”

The Behen Archipelago, the Kelenian Underwater Cave, the Crumbling Tower, etc. The number of players visiting the East Continent increased significantly as more methods of continental travel. On the East Continent, the players were no longer strangers.

“No. Next.”

Pangea—the beginner city of the East Continent welcomed the players who came with high expectations, helping them achieve their dreams. The once lively place now had a bleak atmosphere. It was the overbearing soldiers, not the friendly residents, who welcomed the anxiously lining up players.

“No. Next.”

The soldiers guided the nervous players to a fat and hunchbacked person. His waist was completely bent over and his fat belly touched the ground like a pig. The hunchback man closely examined the players’ faces. He peered up their nose and into their pores like he had OCD and then shook his head.

“No. Next.”

Every time he shook his head, one player regained their freedom.

“You are free now that the inspection is over.”

The soldiers undid the handcuffs of the stunned players and indicated to the plains outside the checkpoint with their chins. The players who previously passed the checkpoint were fighting with jiangshi.

“E-Excuse me. I am a doctor. I don’t know how to fight and will be eaten by the jiangshi out there. Is there any safer route?”

The player called Hera revealed her class with a pitiful expression. Doctors were unable to perform miracles such as instant healing through magic but they were able to heal very large wounds through processes such as sutures or surgery. It was a highly prized class on the West Continent and she believed it would be the same here, but there was no change in the soldier’s apathetic attitude.

“To move to another area, you have to unconditionally go through those plains. You can decide if you want to work with other foreigners to break through the plains or go back to the West Continent.”

The soldiers, no, the East Continent itself, didn’t welcome the foreigners. Why? Hera questioned the treatment that was different from what she expected and asked in a somewhat resentful voice, “Why do you reject us?”

“Why?”

A soldier snorted as he pulled out a piece of paper and threw it at Hera. It was a wanted poster. Blasphemy, kidnapping a death row prisoner, attempting to overthrow the state, kidnapping Pangea’s residents, etc. The figure on the wanted poster was charged with strange crimes. In particular, the kidnapping of tens of thousands of people was an absurd charge that wouldn’t appear in sci-fi movies.

‘Do they think of people as dogs or pigs? No one would believe this.’