Chapter 1 – My Ordinary Day

Ṛｅa​d‌ &o;n Kａ​tR‌еаdi‍&n;ｇC̀a​f́ê

Using blood armor that covered my limbs as a shield, I blocked the shadow bullets while parrying the light sword with a spear of blood.
“Weak! You don’t seriously think you can stop me with such attacks, do you?! Come on, show me your full strength!”
Flapping my wings forcefully, I launched shattered fragments of my blood armor like bullets while simultaneously striking the struggling magical girl with my tail, sending her flying.
“…No matter how many times I see it, you’re nothing short of a monster.”
“Hah… hah… And you, a freak, dare to call me a monster…!”
Both of them were already exhausted, barely managing to stand as they gasped for breath.

A magical girl radiating pure white light and an eerie being shrouded in shadows.
Originally, they were supposed to be enemies. In fact, had I not appeared, they would have been fighting each other.
Yet now, faced with an overwhelming common foe, they had joined forces.
It was amusing to watch.
After all, this was a classic trope.

“Oh? So you can still make witty remarks. But why is it that you never react to my jokes, I wonder?”
As I regenerated my shattered armor and pointed my spear at them, they immediately lowered their stances, ready to fight once again.

“With all that power, why waste it on something so meaningless?!”
The magical girl simply glared at me in silence, as if the shadowed being had spoken exactly what she was thinking.

Having clashed with them multiple times, I knew this was merely a distraction—an attempt to buy themselves a moment of respite.
So I decided to humor them.
After all, their situation was already hopeless.

“Asking something so obvious as if it’s a mystery… Well, Because it’s fun.”

A battle with almost zero chance of victory—one where mere survival was a struggle.
And yet, their eyes still burned with determination.

—Perfect. Those eyes.
This is exactly why I do this.

Now, I just have to decide what to buy for breakfast tomorrow morning.

 

Awakening

It’s dark. It’s cold. I’m hungry.
Where is this?
I was definitely in bed just a moment ago, so where am I now?

I’m hungry.
I’m so thirsty.
It’s cramped.
I can’t breathe.

Where? Where is this?
Who am I?
Why can’t I see anything?

“Damn it, how long am I supposed to keep looking after this egg? Higher-ups who don’t know a damn thing… Just because there’s some reaction from inside doesn’t mean it’s actually alive.”

I can’t breathe.
I can’t move my body.
I can barely twitch my tail and wings… Wait, tail? Wings? Why do I have those?
That’s impossible.

Is this a dream?
But it feels far too real… too vivid.
Even this disgusting sensation of being submerged in some kind of liquid feels too real.

“Getting fooled for ten years straight and still believing in this crap. If I had known I’d end up working under such idiots, I would’ve studied something other than bioengineering.”

I hear a voice—an irritated, human voice.
Whether this is a dream or reality, I need to get out of here first.
If I move my barely responsive body with force, I hear unsettling sounds—creaks and cracks carried through the liquid.

Fingers. Hands. Wrists. Forearms. Arms.
Toes. Feet. Ankles. Knees. Legs.
I move each part in sequence, and slowly, I start to feel like I can move properly.

“Wh-what the hell? No, no way… It was supposed to be dead for ten years—”

I stretch out the wings and tail that shouldn’t exist, clenching my curled-up body and forcing my way out of whatever is enclosing me.
With a loud, cracking noise, something shatters, and suddenly, I’m met with icy air and blinding light.

I try to take a deep breath, but all I feel is liquid filling my lungs.
“…Bweh!”

I cough violently, expelling the disgusting liquid from my lungs, and after a few more gasps, I can finally breathe properly.

“Haa…”

As I take deep breaths, my hand instinctively moves to my chest—
Only to feel something huge.

Still struggling with my blurred vision, I slowly look down—
And see a pair of large breasts that shouldn’t be there.

“…What the…?”

More than the wings or the tail, the fact that I had breasts was the real shock.

And my voice—
It was higher, softer… more feminine.

Confused, I raise a hand to my head—only to feel a pair of horns.
Wait, horns?!

As I touch them, I glance down at my hands—covered in dark, scale-like plates.
Wait.
Time out.
Why do my hands have scales?!

What the hell happened to my body?!

Nothing makes sense.
The egg-like thing I broke out of, my sudden transformation into something unknown—
It’s all incomprehensible.

“A… Aaah…”

The only silver lining is that there’s a human nearby.
Someone who might have answers.

My legs still feel weak, but I somehow manage to stumble over to the collapsed person, grabbing them by the collar to—

…Ask.

But why—
Why does their neck look so… appetizing?

Just one bite.
Just one sip.

I can feel the hunger, the thirst—building, growing unbearable.
The rhythmic pulsing of their veins, visible beneath their skin, draws me in.

I need it.
I crave it.

Blood.

Just one drop.
Just one taste.

“I-I… Let go… Ke… Kek…”

Before I even realize it, my fangs sink into their neck.
I drink.

“Ah… Someone… help…!”

Without understanding why, my wings wrap around them, hiding us both from view.
I devour their blood.
Greedily, desperately.

By the time I come to my senses, the person in my arms has shriveled into a dried husk.

Did… did I kill them?

But the shock doesn’t hit as hard as it should.
I just killed a human—
And yet, it feels… natural.

What the hell happened to me?
Is this even real?
Am I dreaming?

[Warning! Warning! Subject M-147 has awakened! Code Red Alert! All combat personnel, proceed to the containment chamber immediately! Warning! Warning! Subject M-147…]

Even as my mind reels, I absentmindedly lick the remaining blood from my lips.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoes through the chamber—
Something massive has broken through the glass wall.

It looks just like…
The “Monsters” from my favorite web novel, I Picked Up a Magical Girl.

Or maybe not.
Either way, I knew one thing for sure—
It was my enemy.

A giant, cockroach-like creature charges at me with incredible force, fast enough to shatter the tiled floor beneath it.

If I get hit by that, I’ll be obliterated.
I should be terrified.

But I’m not.

In fact—
I feel like I can take it head-on.

And strangely enough—
The monster looks more terrified of me than I am of it.

I take a moment to consider—
And then I realize.

This thing is slow.

Ridiculously slow.

Maybe…
I’m really strong?

If I’ve actually reincarnated into the world of that web novel—
Then everything finally makes sense.

If I were in my original body, I wouldn’t even have time to react before being killed. But now, I could observe its charge, analyze it, and think through my options. That had to mean something.

And if I really have been reincarnated into the world of I Picked Up a Magical Girl, then everything suddenly makes sense.

Why the creature’s charge looks sluggish, why its scream and the emergency alarms sound so slow and distorted—everything.

In the novel, powerful beings could dodge the protagonist’s attacks in the blink of an eye. The author clearly used it to emphasize power differences, though it got overused later on.

Eventually, the protagonist also reached that level, and it became just another trick up their sleeve.

So… maybe that’s what’s happening to me? It’s the only explanation that makes sense with what I know.

As I ran through these thoughts, I had a sudden realization: Couldn’t I just walk out of the way of that charge?

I moved my arms and legs—they felt a little heavier than usual, but still light and responsive.

So, I casually stepped aside.

With time to spare, I even strolled right up to the charging creature.

Up close, it looked disgusting… but also a little cool.

I circled around it, observing closely, until I finally remembered—oh, right. I was in the middle of a fight.

Judging by its nature, talking things out probably wasn’t an option. But fleeing… something about that idea felt wrong.

Logically, running away would be the best move, but… I have to flee from this thing?

From a disgusting little insect like this?

Annoyance welled up inside me. Raising my hand high, I brought it down on the creature’s waist.

The moment my attack landed, time snapped back to normal.

The Monstrosity was cleaved in two, and at the same time, the reinforced glass and containment walls behind it split apart vertically.

Oh.

I didn’t mean to break that too.

I was still reeling from my own absurd strength when more monsters came pouring in through the shattered opening.

But time wasn’t slowing down anymore.

…How the hell does this work?

Even as I stood before an onslaught of enemies, I wasn’t scared.

Just annoyed.

How long is it going to take to kill all these bugs?

“Th-The captain was taken out in a single hit…?”

The other monsters were visibly shaken, staring down at the bisected corpse of the cockroach-like creature.

I was debating whether I needed to go on the offensive when a larger, scorpion-like monster spoke up.

“D-Don’t be afraid! That thing has only just woken up after ten years! Even if she was created using the genes of both the Dragon and Vampiric species, she’s still nothing more than a newborn!!!”

Oh?

I thought it was trying to talk to me, but no—it was giving a pep talk to its terrified comrades.

Still… thanks for the useful info.

The horns, the wings, the tail, the black scales covering my limbs and parts of my body… I had been wondering.

So I really am a dragon.

And a vampire, too? That explains why the blood tasted so good.

But that wasn’t something I needed to figure out right now.

If I couldn’t get an answer immediately, I’d just set the question aside.

For now, my priority was handling the enemies in front of me.

“You’re not coming?”

I grabbed my horn and rolled my neck, cracking it with a pop.

The monsters froze in place.

Guess they’re not coming.

Then I’ll go to them.

I crouched, preparing to leap—and time slowed again.

I really don’t get the conditions for this.

But it doesn’t matter.

I kicked off the ground, shattering the floor with greater force than the cockroach-like creature had.

Despite moving at speeds my old body could never comprehend, I could still clearly see every enemy’s movements.

I knew exactly where and how to strike.

So I did.

With my first leap, I crushed two Monstrosities’ skulls with a single swing.

With my second, I awkwardly swung my leg, slicing several more in half.

I had never been in a real fight before—only online arguments.

Yet moving my body felt completely natural.

I didn’t question it. If it was useful, then it didn’t matter.

One by one, I slaughtered them.

Slashing, crushing, drinking, biting, tearing.

By the time I was done, the ground was drenched in blood.

…Since I’m a vampire, I wonder if I can drink their blood too.

I crouched down to lick a puddle of blood—then stopped.

That would be way too uncivilized.

Somehow, I instinctively reached out my hand and absorbed the blood instead.

As I watched it defy gravity and rush into my palm, I wondered…

Am I still dreaming?

I considered punching myself to check, but if my skull shattered like the monsters, that would be a problem.

Dream or not, it didn’t matter right now.

I had already killed everything coming for me. But there were more out there—I could hear their footsteps.

I glanced toward the hole in the wall.

More enemies were rushing in.

Oh.

That’s convenient.

I wouldn’t have to waste time looking for them.

Grinning, I continued my slaughter.

Bludgeoning, slicing, draining, crushing, devouring.

By the time I finally stood alone, blood dripping from my claws and tail, a single thought crossed my mind.

What the hell am I?

“…M-Monster…”

Well, at least I had someone nearby who could explain it to me.