Leveling with the Regressor in Apocalypse

Chapter 22: 22: City of Death

Kim Seojin and Lee Taehyung passed through the threshold of the city, taking their first step inside.

The sight that greeted them on the other side was nothing short of astonishing. The City was filled with towering skyscrapers that looked straight out of a utopian novel.

The streets were filled with hover cars zooming past, holographic advertisements illuminating the skyline, and robots seamlessly assisting the citizens with their tasks.

'This is a backwater city for them?'

Seojin found it hard to believe. Everywhere he looked, he was more and more astonished. Was this supposed to be the world after the apocalypse? Why was it even more prosperous instead?

As they made their way through the bustling city, Seojin couldn't help but notice the strange looks they were receiving from the people around them.

It was as if they were being closely observed, their every move scrutinised.

Another strange thing he noticed was that the humans here looked a little strange.

They were all wearing clothes that protected them from sunlight. Only their faces were revealed. The rest of their bodies were covered in multiple layers of clothes.

Even their heads were protected from potential sunlight thanks to their hoods.

Their faces looked completely pale, as if they lacked the blood. Their eyes were also different. All of them had red eyes.

"If I don't know better, I would have thought that they are vampires. But that would be-"

"Correct."

Before Seojin could even say the word 'absurd', Lee Taehyung confirmed it.

"The City is filled with Vampires. That's why ordinary humans rarely come here."

Kim Seojin's mouth remained open for quite some time as he was at a loss of words.

They were in the city of Vampires? At this point, he knew that nothing was impossible. Even Gods and talking hamsters were really, so what wrong could be with Vampires? But still it was surprising.

"I assume our Trial has something to do with these Vampires? Do we need to kill them?" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seojin observed the vampires as they walked inside the City.

Many of those Vampires were looking at them with eyes filled with greed and thirst, but none of them was attacking them, which he found strange. Was something stopping these Vampires?

"Do you think you can kill them all?"

"I should be able to kill a few, but there should be thousands of them in the city. It's impossible to wipe them out."

"You're wrong."

"You mean it's possible to wipe them out?" Kim Seojin frowned, wondering why the Regressor was so confident.

Even if the Regressor had been to this city many times, he was still back to the past. His stats were limited, and so was his stamina.

Just based on his experience, it didn't look feasible to kill all of them.

"I meant you are wrong about there being thousands. There are hundreds of thousands of them in this city."

Kim Seojin went silent again. The City was certainly big, and it could easily keep so many Vampires, so he didn't doubt these words.

"How does this city feed so many Vampires?"

"They have a human farm. They keep around a million humans there, and every day, they draw out some blood from them to keep up the consumption."

"Why does no one help them? We aren't strong enough, but shouldn't the other top rank streamers be powerful enough? It should have made for good content for their streams as well. So why?"

He didn't understand why this city was allowed to keep existing, just to slowly kill the humans. Why were humans allowing these monsters to exist? A lot of things about this city did not make sense.

Lee Taehyung glanced at Seojin, who was like a child, hearing these things for the first time.

"There are some things that are best left unknown."

Most people in this era would never care about others. The realm humans didn't target this city were many, but the most important one was that they just didn't care.

Seojin still didn't seem to understand what kind of world this place was. He was naive, and it was a little refreshing for Lee Taehyung.

From Seojin's response, he could see that this man wasn't evil. He wasn't tainted by the darkness of this world.

Instead of asking about a way to clear this stage, his first thought was about the humans that were kept here.

"You wanted to know a way to clear this Stage? I will tell you."

"Huh? Why suddenly have a change of heart?"

"Do you want to hear or not?"

"Of course I want to know!"

"The answer is, that there isn't just one method to clear this stage. There are many methods. It depends on you, which method you want to take."

"The only criteria of success is to show them that you are worth their time."

"By them, you mean..."

"Correct. The people that will be watching us the moment this stage officially starts after every player enters the City."

"If you can show them that you are worth it, you will clear the stage. You can use any method for that, as long as it entertains the judges."

"You can kill the Vampires here, without reason or rhyme. You can destroy the buildings, or do anything you find fit. As long as they are satisfied and entertained, you will pass. And you will be scored accordingly."

"I see. So it's similar to an open world setting. There is more than one way to clear this place. As long as it is satisfying."

"Which method do you want to use?"

"Usually, I don't allow anyone to team up, so I will do a favour for you since you showed me something interesting. I will let you team up with me. We will go on a killing spree."

"So your method is killing the Vampires."

"Not just mine. The other Players will also use the same method. The only difference is, how many can you kill, compared to them."

"I see. If everyone uses the same method, then the score should depend on the kill count."

Kim Seojin understood what Lee Taehyung was saying. It was indeed the safest way to maintain their ranks. Even if they just killed the same number as the others, they would still maintain their ranks.

Despite that, he felt emptiness in his heart. There was an unease deep within him, that was telling him that it wasn't the right way.

"I think I want to try doing something else."

That feeling kept getting stronger, until he finally decided against his own will.

His mind was telling him to go with Taehyung, but his heart was telling him that he had something else to do. There was something he could not let go.