Ch.2Charlotte

The search party didn’t head toward the downtown area.

Instead, they went to a residential complex slightly removed from the city center.

Like elsewhere, most buildings had collapsed, evidence of some terrible event in the past.

The search party moved with extreme caution.

After arriving, they didn’t move immediately. The person who appeared to be the leader picked up a small stone and began tossing it into the residential area.

Thud-

Clatter-

Thud-

The subtly irritating sound spread widely across the area.

If any Fusion Bodies had been hiding in the residential complex, they would certainly have rushed out upon hearing the noise.

After some time passed, the search party nodded, seemingly confirming there was no danger, and began their operation.

I watched them move and fell into thought.

How could I approach them?

I wished just one of them would separate from the group.

While I was thinking this,

a subtle scent drifted on the wind.

It was similar to the distinctive musky odor of a beast.

Mixed with the smell of blood, it created a very unpleasant sensation.

I sniffed the air and began tracking the source of the smell.

After moving slowly through the darkness for quite some time,

I finally reached the source of the odor.

The one emitting the smell was a well-built man.

Standing clearly in the moonlight, he was watching the search party with a calm gaze.

I knew instinctively.

This man was not an ordinary human.

“What business do you have here?”

A voice that came out like a growl.

I was startled and looked around, crouching down.

“I know you’re hiding. Come out.”

Could he possibly be talking to me?

I cautiously peeked out, just in case.

The man’s head turned sharply, fixing his gaze on me.

“Looks like you’ve already eaten one… Have you forgotten the agreement?”

“Agreement…?”

I tilted my head and fully revealed myself.

I didn’t sense hostility in his gaze. I didn’t think I’d be attacked for showing myself.

The man somehow exuded an air of composure.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make foolish claims about not knowing the agreement.”

Do I have to be called foolish just because I don’t know about some agreement?

I frowned and nodded.

“What agreement?”

“You, how long has it been since you woke from your coffin?”

He knows I woke from a coffin too?

He seemed to possess quite a bit of knowledge.

I tilted my head and opened my mouth.

“About an hour or two?”

Without a watch, I couldn’t know the exact time, but it was probably around that long.

The man, who had seemed uninterested, brightened his eyes at my words and spoke.

“So you haven’t joined a clan either.”

“Clan? Look. I’d appreciate if you explained things in a way I could understand. I just woke up not long ago, you know?”

“I know. You seem to know nothing.”

I nodded.

I woke up to suddenly find myself a vampire, and if that wasn’t enough, the world had changed to resemble the game I used to play.

If everything had changed in an instant, I might have been able to adapt to these changes.

But it seemed that quite a lot of time had passed while I was sleeping in that coffin.

However, the man didn’t resolve my curiosity.

Instead, he asked a question.

“Level?”

“Level?”

“I’m asking what level you were when playing Blood Carnival.”

“20…”

“You were max level? Really?”

The man asked again as if he couldn’t believe it, but I just nodded.

“Nickname?”

Is it now time to ask for my nickname after asking about my level?

I answered with a frown.

“Charlotte.”

“I hope you’re not impersonating.”

“Impersonating? What would I gain from pretending to be someone else’s nickname?”

“Hmm…”

Judging by the man’s reaction, he seemed to know me, or more precisely, my nickname.

I crossed my arms and fell into thought.

Werewolves, vampires, humans.

A vague power structure was forming in my mind.

He specifically asked about my Blood Carnival level and nickname.

If my guess was correct, this body had become a game character.

Specifically, the vampire Charlotte that I had been developing.

It seemed likely.

Short limbs and the appearance of a young girl.

The silver hair was the customization I had set for Charlotte.

I wouldn’t be the only one. Based on the man’s reaction, a significant number, if not all, of the Blood Carnival players must have emerged into this world.

“I’ll guide you to the clan.”

The man said that and turned to start walking.

I watched his back and fell into thought.

Was it right to follow this man now?

The deliberation wasn’t long.

I had only been following the search party to gather information.

If I could get the necessary information elsewhere, there was no need to insist on the search party.

I followed after him.

The man didn’t ask anything else afterward.

I asked various questions while following him.

He began treating me with a strangely friendly attitude.

“How long has the world been like this?”

“I believe about five years have passed.”

“What’s this clan place all about?”

“It’s where vampires like you gather.”

“Are other people similar to me? I mean… strangely calm?”

“Only those who played Blood Carnival.”

“Are there many other players?”

“There were.”

There were?

Does that mean their numbers have greatly decreased now?

After walking for quite some time.

The man walking ahead stopped and spoke.

“Do you know the nickname Mulbitbaram?”

“Mulbit…?”

I crossed my arms and fell into thought at the question.

A memory hazily passing through.

The nickname Mulbitbaram comes to mind.

“Ah… Mulbit… the one who switched to the werewolf side?”

It was quite some time ago. A person who had been developing a character in the vampire faction but switched to the werewolf side, someone I had been quite friendly with.

But why was he asking about this?

“You know Mulbit?”

This guy couldn’t be Mulbitbaram. For one thing, his character was female.

Not a large, intimidating male character like this.

“It seems certain…”

“What’s certain? Are you still doubting me?”

I frowned at the man’s answer.

Isn’t there some function to view character information?

If possible, I wanted to show my character information to erase his doubts.

But it seems there’s no such function.

The man didn’t answer my question and started walking again.

After walking for quite some time from the residential area, the man stopped in front of a hotel.

The broken windows and half-fallen sign gave it a desolate atmosphere, and being built in the middle of a highway made it look even darker.

“This is the place.”

As soon as the man’s voice ended,

black bats began to fly in from the sky.

Flutter flutter-

The gathering bats began to cluster in front of the man and formed the shape of a man.

Black hair and red eyes.

His overall impression was sharp.

The clothes he wore were also very neat, unlike others I had encountered so far, and a subtle light flowed from his snow-white skin.

There was a slight disgust in his sharply shining gaze.

The truly fortunate thing was that the emotion wasn’t directed at me.

“What business do you have here?”

The man who had guided me here stepped slightly to the side.

As if trying to show me to the vampire man.

Only then did the vampire man’s gaze turn to me.

Interest and admiration. A gaze mixed with two emotions scans my body.

When I frowned slightly at the unpleasant feeling, the vampire man smiled and withdrew his gaze.

“You’ve brought a fellow vampire?”

“I want the reward you promised.”

I took a step back while watching the conversation between the two.

The vampire man took out a small pouch from inside his clothes with a satisfied smile and handed it to the man who had guided me here.

The man turned and started walking as if his business was done.

I muttered blankly watching him.

“What? You’re just leaving?”

“My business is done. The rest will be explained by those people.”

Is it really okay to trust them?

I looked up at the vampire man who was looking down at me with crossed arms.

I didn’t like the situation itself, but I had arrived here by my own choice.

In the end, I followed the vampire man into the hotel, leaving the departing man behind.

The vampire man asked me a simple question.

“Level and nickname?”

“Charlotte. Level 20.”

“Ho…”

He made a slightly surprised expression at my answer.

Slightly raised eyebrows and subtly twisted corners of his mouth.

This guy didn’t seem to believe my words.

“Charlotte…”

“Don’t believe me?”

“I believe you. If I don’t trust a fellow vampire, who would I trust?”

“Hmm…”

Though he said that, he still didn’t seem to believe me.

The vampire man guided me to the top floor of the hotel.

“What business do we have here?”

“There’s someone you need to meet.”

With those words, the vampire man carefully knocked.

Knock- Knock-

The sound echoed hollowly.

Right after, a small voice was heard from inside the room.

[Come in.]

When permission was granted, the vampire man opened the door.

He gestured for me to enter.

I entered the room following his gesture.

The interior of the room was generally clean.

A glass on the table.

Red liquid filled to the brim.

And at the head of the table sat a woman.

Provocative clothing that revealed her figure.

Bright red hair that didn’t seem like that of an ordinary person.

Skin that glowed subtly.

This woman was also a vampire.

“Level and nickname?”

The same question again.

I answered with a frown.

“Charlotte. Level 20.”

“Level 20…?”

“Don’t believe me?”

A similar reaction this time too.

At that moment, the door that had been open behind me quietly closed.

Click-

I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed.

Why were they reacting like this?

If Blood Carnival was a game where reaching max level was difficult, their reaction would be understandable.

But Blood Carnival was a game where you could reach max level in just two weeks by playing only two hours a day, as leveling up was easy.

In the midst of this subtle silence,

the woman sitting in her seat began to move.

She slowly stood up and began approaching me.

“I think I need to check something… You need to stay still, okay?”

I looked up at the woman with a skewed gaze.

What was she trying to do, moving like that?

After blankly watching for quite some time.

The woman who had come close suddenly opened her mouth wide, revealing her sharp fangs.

At that moment, I felt hostility as sharp as her fangs.

After waking up in this body,

the first thing I realized was that my shadow reacted very sensitively to hostility directed at me.

This time was no different.

Crunch-!

Just like I did to the man who had stabbed an iron skewer into my neck.

The body of the female vampire who was trying to sink her fangs into me was devoured by a massive beast.

The sharp teeth of the shadow beast chewed up the vampire who had become a lump of meat as if tearing it apart.

Crunch- Crack-

After the eerie sound of bones breaking and meat being ground up,

what had been a vampire disappeared, leaving only a handful of blood.

At that moment, countless memories rushed in like a wave.