The Land of Vampires, Beltane (3)
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<Do Jae-hyun Official Fan Cafe>.
This fan cafe, true to its name, uniquely operates on a paid membership system.
Monthly regular dues are collected from members, and only those who pay these dues are granted full membership status.
Originally, it was a free cafe where anyone could join and share photos and news about Do Jae-hyun, but recently, such barriers have emerged, drastically changing its nature.
The reason was simple.
-Do Jae-hyun became too famous!
He was already famous in the early days when he was rising as the most promising talent in the academy and domestically, but after founding the <Evil Hunter> clan as a clan master, his fame spread nationwide.
Friendly clan agreements with the top 3 domestic clans.
The greatest achievement in the conquest of <Room of Deserters>.
Friendly clan agreement with the <Wings of Freedom> clan....
As big issues that were hard to handle kept breaking out one after another, interest in him surged.
Among them, the biggest issue was, of course, his ‘S-grade Holder promotion’.
By taking the title of the world’s youngest S-grade Holder, Do Jae-hyun’s popularity reached a global level.
A Holder as handsome as a celebrity with top-tier skills.
He couldn’t help but become an object of admiration.
-This can’t go on.
Thus, an enormous number of people flocked to the fan cafe.
There were incomparably more membership requests than before.
And consequently, it became difficult to operate the cafe normally.
There were those who sought attention by stirring up all sorts of trouble, and it was common for Do Jae-hyun’s anti-fans to sneak in and disparage him.
So the management team made a decision.
Monetization of fan cafe membership.
They changed the system so that those who wish to join the fan cafe must pay certain dues to register as members.
Moreover, instead of collecting annual fees like ordinary celebrities, they decided on a monthly fee structure.
They judged that no ordinary amount would be enough to deter the malicious individuals flooding into the fan cafe.
“This seems like a really good move”
Yoo Eun-seol, the most esteemed member of <Do Jae-hyun Official Fan Cafe>, nodded in agreement with this drastic decision.
It seemed like the best possible choice the management team, whoever they were, could have made.
Of course, there would be passionate members who might find it difficult to pay, but countermeasures were put in place for such individuals to receive support for their dues if they consistently remained active as associate members.
In any case, through these changes, the fan cafe has recently regained some stability.
And after some time had passed.
Suddenly, this opinion was proposed within the fan cafe:
-Shouldn’t we hold a fan meeting?
Fan meeting!
A meeting with fans that any celebrity with a large fan cafe and core fandom would hold at least once.
For celebrities, it was an opportunity to express gratitude to their fans, and for fans, it was a festival where they could meet the celebrity in person and enjoy related events.
The ones who proposed this idea were the so-called ‘Jeiten faction’.
A group that claims Jeiten is the most suitable contractor for Do Jae-hyun to ride in battle.
They are a fandom that rapidly grew in power after the establishment of the <Evil Hunter> clan, a new force demanding radical fan cafe policies such as providing gifts and letters, meetings with fans, and events for Do Jae-hyun’s birthday.
Naturally, hosting this fan meeting was also a perplexing demand for the conservative <Do Jae-hyun Official Fan Cafe>.
And to this demand, the ‘Bond faction’, classified as the old fandom, showed an unfavorable attitude.
[Jae-hyun’sfirstkiss/Top] ...Is there really a need to do this?
[GrapeFlavourPudding/Top] Hmm, I also feel like, is it necessary? A fan meeting is something that both fans and the celebrity need to agree on and actively participate in, but Jae-hyun rarely even comes to the fan cafe. Hehe.
[BonOwner/Top] Anyway, those Jeiten faction people always say incomprehensible things. First of all, about the contractor, huh? Isn’t it obviously Bon rather than Jeiten? He’s the very first contractor, and the time they’ve fought together-.
Here, ‘Top’ refers to the most esteemed members.
It’s a veteran rank that only 5 people, including the cafe president, have.
“You, you always clear your throat when you’re at a disadvantage.”
“It’s because it’s my first time seeing a vampire castle too. If I had seen your castle first, I wouldn’t have said that.”
“Hmph. You can look forward to it. Once you see my castle, everything here will look trivial.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Agreeing with Ripley’s boast, we entered the castle.
Creeak-
The old gate between the massive stone walls slowly opens.
As we could guess from the exterior we saw outside, Caroline’s castle had a circular staircase stretching up from the entrance.
A complex structure like a maze of stairs.
The iron decorations hung at intervals and the old structures maximized the eerie atmosphere inside the castle.
“Ripley, is this part of the labyrinth too?”
“Well, if we’re being picky. But it’s so low level, honestly, it’s a waste to even call it a labyrinth.”
Ripley snorted and pointed ahead with her chin.
“There are five magic traps right there. Hmph. Who would fall for such traps.”
“......”
...That would be me.
I almost fell for it.
I wasn’t particularly using the [Descendant of the Barbarian King] rune, so the lower-level search rune [Prey Search] wasn’t activated, making it difficult to detect traps.
If Ripley hadn’t told me, I probably would have fallen into the trap.
Of course, then I could have just smashed the trap with my holy sword, so it wouldn’t have mattered much.
Detecting traps wasn’t the end of it.
Ripley also played a significant role as a guide when distinguishing rooms.
“Not that room. I can’t feel Caroline’s energy at all.”
“Not this room either. There’s no smell of blood at all.”
“There are minions in here. Go in if you want to hunt.”
Thanks to Ripley, we could figure out what was inside the rooms we saw on the way up without having to open the doors.
And so we arrived at the top floor of the castle.
This time, instead of an old door, there was a door made of expensive metal.
Even without Ripley’s explanation, I could tell this was Caroline’s room.
Clack, clackclack-.
It’s firmly locked, but I open it easily by infusing magic.
The room, befitting the top floor of the castle, boasted a considerably spacious area.
A desk and bed made of high-quality old wood, and parchments fluttering here and there caught my eye.
Perhaps because a vampire lived here, although it was clearly a room, it felt completely devoid of life.
“Do Jae-hyun, over there.”
Suddenly, Ripley points to one side with her finger.
My gaze follows it.
There was a wardrobe there.
An old wardrobe that seemed to bear very old traces.
Also, a familiar yet ominous energy surrounding it.
-Kelbilid, you who have forsaken your kin. Why are you here?
And inside that wardrobe.
A man in full armor was looking at us with red eyes.
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