Chapter 187 – Her Circumstances

“Ughhhh…”

Theodore woke up from his sleep with a foggy mind.

As he was getting up without any thought.

“Aaaaargh!”

He suddenly crumpled his face like a piece of paper due to the pain that washed over him.

From head to toe, there wasn’t a spot that didn’t hurt.

Min Do-jun approached him with an apologetic expression.

“Are you awake?”

“Owww… Hunter Min Do-jun? W-what happened?”

“Don’t you remember?”

Theodore nodded.

As if he had expected this, Min Do-jun explained what had happened just moments ago.

“I-I was possessed by a named boss… But how did you know it was a named boss?”

“I asked who it was when I noticed something was wrong, and it told me. Said it was Blood Witch Bathory.”

In reality, Min Do-jun had first identified it through his weakness detection, but Theodore had no way of knowing that.

Theodore’s interest was actually elsewhere.

“Y-you had a conversation with a monster?”

“Yes. It even spoke English, so I think it can read the memories of whoever it possesses.”

“Wow…!”

Theodore knew that named bosses could speak like NPCs in games, but the fact that actual communication was possible was news even to him.

“I think it was possible because of the nature of possession.”

“S-so? What did you talk about?”

“Nothing special. But what’s certain is that it was responsible for eating people in the Russian dungeon and turning the party members into that state. Though I was the one who knocked them out…”

Min Do-jun pointed to where the unconscious party members were lying.

He must have hit them a bit too hard, as they still showed no signs of waking up, but there was a change.

‘They’ve changed back from being recognized as monsters to people.’

The party members who had consistently been recognized as monsters returned to being recognized as humans right after Bathory disappeared.

The same was true for Theodore.

‘That’s why we can have this conversation so comfortably now.’

Min Do-jun explained everything that happened afterward as well… how he had fought fiercely with the possessed Theodore, and as a result, Bathory had fled.

“Ah… I was wondering why my body hurt so much… It wasn’t because I slept wrong.”

“I tried to hit you as gently as possible to minimize the damage… I’m sorry.”

“N-no need to apologize! Hunter Min Do-jun. It was necessary to drive out the named boss. These bruises will heal quickly with a healer’s treatment.”

In truth, Min Do-jun could have healed Theodore while he was sleeping.

But he had to leave the wounds to explain the situation.

Theodore bowed deeply.

“I should be thanking you instead. For saving me from possession.”

Min Do-jun responded to his sincere gratitude with a smile.

‘He’s not hurt in his pride even though I said I tried to hit him gently.’

This was probably because he had witnessed just how strong Min Do-jun was.

‘With this, I don’t need to worry about the Overlord Guild.’

He wasn’t sure if he had demonstrated a value worth 400 billion, but he had certainly proven he was far from ordinary.

Looking at Theodore, who appeared somewhat relieved, Min Do-jun said:

“It’s not over yet.”

“Pardon?”

“The boss is still alive. We need to kill it to prevent more victims.”

“But didn’t you say it escaped into the sky? How can we find such a creature…”

“Fortunately, I saw where it went.”

Min Do-jun’s gaze turned toward the old castle visible through the trees.

“It went into the castle.”

Of course, he hadn’t actually seen where it went.

It was a lie fabricated to help Theodore understand the situation.

But saying it went to the castle was true.

‘Because that’s where its true body is.’

Min Do-jun was certain Bathory was in the castle.

“Then shall we go to the castle together now…”

“No. Theodore, you stay here and watch over the party members until they wake up. The field isn’t necessarily safe.”

“Ah, so Hunter Min Do-jun will go alone…?”

“Yes. I’ll go in alone.”

Theodore nodded without protest… If it had been someone else, he might have tried to stop them, but with Min Do-jun, he wasn’t worried even if he went in alone.

“Then I’ll be off.”

After saying goodbye, Min Do-jun took his first step.

The old castle was waiting to welcome him.

* * *

[You have entered the sub-dungeon ‘Old Castle’.]

Min Do-jun, who had entered through the portal at the castle gate, immediately frowned at the musty smell.

‘The smell is terrible, probably because it’s an abandoned castle.’

In particular, the smell of decaying corpses was vibrating from everywhere.

The cause of the smell appeared not long after walking down the dim corridor.

It was a person, no, a vampire.

The vampire, who had been standing proudly, revealed its teeth when it spotted Min Do-jun.

Siiik-

Two sharp fangs proved it wasn’t human.

‘If you get bitten by a vampire, there’s no way out.’

Just like with the vampire hounds, you would be paralyzed and have your blood sucked.

But unlike the hounds, these creatures replenished their own health through blood-sucking.

‘If they suck blood when their health is full, they become stronger and even more agile.’

That’s why when facing vampires, you need to make sure to finish them off completely.

KWAAAK!

Just like this.

Seoguk-!

He beheaded the vampire that charged like a beast with a single strike.

[Experience +186,000] (100% contribution)

‘Vampires are easier than werewolves as long as you’re careful about paralysis.’

With lower health than werewolves but giving more experience, there’s no better prey if you’re confident you won’t get bitten.

‘Some hunters are reluctant to kill them because they occasionally look human, but…’

Seoguk-!

[Experience +186,000] (100% contribution)

For Min Do-jun, who had already committed mass murder, a human-like appearance was no obstacle at all.

‘Was it this way? The boss room?’

Min Do-jun traced his memories from before his regression to find the boss room.

Bathory would undoubtedly be resting there.

KYAAAOOO!

KRRRRRNG!

Vampires and vampire hounds appeared to interfere as he searched for the boss room, but to Min Do-jun, they were just good sources of experience… With his Battle Avatar at full stack, there was nothing that could stand in his way.

‘Found it!’

Min Do-jun, who had been walking through what seemed like a secret passage, stopped.

‘This is the boss room. But…’

Standing in front of a stone door with bizarre patterns, Min Do-jun fell into brief contemplation.

‘If I go in like this, won’t she just run away again?’

There was a possibility that Bathory might flee out of fear.

‘Even if she does, she has nowhere to go, but it wouldn’t hurt to prepare for any situation.’

Sruruuk-

Min Do-jun’s face began to transform into someone familiar.

* * *

Blood Witch Bathory.

As a spirit entity, she doesn’t know how she was born.

She just opened her eyes and found herself in this place teeming with vampires, recognizing them as her kin.

She instinctively awakened to her name and abilities.

‘My name is Bathory. My ability is possession.’

She could possess any living being, befitting her reputation as a named boss.

No, she had to possess.

The spirit state couldn’t be maintained for long.

‘Should I try possessing that one?’

The first target she possessed was a black wolf.

Normally weak, but on full moon nights, it could transform into a powerful werewolf.

But.

“Don’t panic and take them down one by one!”

Ten humans suddenly appeared, and she was in danger of being killed.

‘I barely escaped by releasing the possession just before death!’

As a spirit entity, if she died while possessing someone, she would be annihilated.

That’s why she needed a stronger body to survive.

The second target she possessed was a vampire hound.

This too was far too weak compared to humans.

‘The vampires in the castle are the same.’

All of them were bodies that lost their lives meaninglessly to human blades.

‘I need a much stronger body.’

After searching around the castle with this thought, she was able to find a strong opponent.

It was an ancient vampire in the boss room.

‘This body will be sufficient.’

But being unable to leave the boss room, she gradually became hungry… Occasionally, some humans would wander in by mistake and she would feast on them, but that was rare.

Such lucky days couldn’t be repeated every time.

‘I might starve to death at this rate.’

Feeling her strength gradually weakening, she finally decided to hunt directly.

The method was simple.

In her spirit form, she would leave the castle to find humans.

Then, using her possession ability, she would bring a human to the boss room, return to her original body, and devour them.

Since humans wouldn’t come to her, she had to bring them out herself.

Fortunately, even when possessing a human, the other monsters seemed to recognize her as one of their own, allowing her to walk safely without being attacked.

‘It works! With this method, I can eat humans regularly!’

But not all humans could be possessed.

There was a failure rate.

If the target was above level 3,500, the failure rate increased significantly.

Also, if her form was detected before possession, it would invariably fail.

Even as a spirit entity, her form was faintly visible.

In cases where possession failed, that human would temporarily lose their intelligence.

They would even attack other humans as if they had become monsters themselves.

Still, she would always successfully possess at least one out of ten.

If not, she couldn’t have survived in this Russian dungeon for a year.

Sruruuk-

Returning to the boss room, Bathory entered the body of the ancient vampire.

“Phew…”

She sighed through the mouth of the possessed vampire.

‘I’ve eaten so many humans over time.’

She had become so experienced that she knew when and where teams of humans would appear.

‘But I’ve never seen a human like today’s before.’

Bathory briefly recalled what had happened today.

As always, she headed to the place where humans appeared to eat them.

She was quite hungry, having not seen humans for a week.

Was that why?

She emitted killing intent as soon as she saw the humans, not knowing it would be her downfall.

[You have been detected by the enemy.]

[The probability of possession failure has greatly increased.]… Startled, Bathory immediately withdrew her killing intent.

One human was looking in her direction.

She hurriedly left the spot and caught her breath, despite being a spirit entity.

‘What? Who is that human? How did they detect me right away?’

After thinking deeply, it seemed that being detected was due to emitting killing intent so blatantly instead of approaching cautiously.

‘That’s a dangerous human. It would be better to avoid possessing that one.’

Was her wish granted?

Conveniently, that dangerous human separated from the group.

‘Perfect!’

Another one followed shortly after, but there were still eight prey left.

‘Now if I follow these humans and attempt possession at the right time…’

But ultimately, Bathory’s possession attempts failed.

All eight of them had levels exceeding 3,500, resulting in consecutive failures.

‘Damn it. My luck is bad today.’

It was a difficult situation.

She couldn’t attempt possession again on a human she had already failed with.

Seeing eight humans who had lost their intelligence, she felt dejected.

‘It’s been a while since I had prey… Sigh, what should I do now?’

That’s when the two humans who had separated came to Bathory’s mind.

‘Right! Those two are still left!’

Seeing an opportunity, Bathory followed the eight humans from a distance rather than searching for the two.

‘They’re companions, so they’ll find each other eventually.’

Sure enough, as she predicted, the two humans encountered their companions.

And she seized the opportunity to attempt possession.

‘First, that dangerous human…!’

[Your possession attempt was blocked by powerful mental protection magic.]

[The possession has been nullified.]

‘What? Nullified?’

It was the first time in her life that a possession was not just failed but completely nullified.

Startled, Bathory quickly regained her composure and attempted to possess the other human.

This time she was fortunately successful, but.

“Sigh.”

She didn’t expect to be driven to the brink of death after fighting that dangerous human.

‘It can’t be helped. I’ll have to give up on this hunt.’… After finishing her recollection, she lay comfortably in the coffin.

Even if she was hungry, it seemed better to give up on this team of humans and target the next one.

That’s when it happened.

[Warning. An intruder has appeared in the boss room.]

[Number of intruders: 1]

Bathory, who was about to rest in the vampire’s body, opened her eyes wide.

‘An intruder has entered the boss room?’

The intruder referred to a human.

Only humans could enter the boss room.

‘Those eight humans whose possession failed should still be unconscious?’

That meant the remaining humans were two.

‘C-could it be that dangerous human who entered…!’

It was dangerous.

She needed to abandon the boss’s body immediately and hide in another body, be it a hound or anything else.

Just as she was hurriedly opening the coffin to escape.

‘Ah!’

As soon as she saw the intruder’s face, she felt there was no need to run.

‘Isn’t that the human I was possessing just now?’

Theodore Townsend, was it?

Seeing the human holding a hammer, she felt relieved.

‘What a stroke of luck! Hohohoho!’

To think prey would roll in on its own.

“Hohohohoho!”

She burst into laughter.

Not knowing that it was Min Do-jun disguised as Theodore.