Ch.3Charlotte

“Oh…”

I stand there in a daze, absorbing the memories that flood in.

Blood Carnival, the five-year gap during my absence, the treaty with the werewolves, the treatment of ordinary humans, and more.

Countless fragments of memories begin to swirl and seep into my head.

The world changed suddenly and unexpectedly.

Out of 24 hours, 16 hours became a time when the sun didn’t rise, and cracks appeared all over the world.

It didn’t take long for people to realize that the world had changed to become like a game called Blood Carnival.

After all, the users who had been playing that game crossed over into reality.

The past five years were a time of upheaval.

During the first year.

Users tried to change the transformed world.

Werewolves, vampires, and humans gathered without discrimination and fought together, beginning to push back the Fusion Bodies.

But could people who had just been gaming in their rooms fight well?

While they could easily hunt ordinary Fusion Bodies, the situation changed when special entities appeared.

On top of that, the users’ unique circumstances compounded the problem.

According to Blood Carnival’s setting, vampires and werewolves must periodically consume human blood and flesh.

Failure to do so results in decreased stats and, in severe cases, death.

The world changed to be like a game, but it’s not a game.

This means that if you die, you don’t come back.

The fear of death was enough to change the users’ mindset.

When the users who had been fighting against the Fusion Bodies disappeared, ordinary humans quickly collapsed.

As governments dissolved, survivors scattered in all directions.

Conventional wisdom crumbled. In this world, power became the law.

Humans had no choice but to band together, and they began to reject users who had transcended humanity, like vampires and werewolves.

It was a natural choice, given that werewolves and vampires had been preying on humans.

Just as humans formed factions, vampires and werewolves created their own groups.

What started as natural gatherings to hunt humans as prey evolved into something like vampire clans.

As the two factions grew larger, their territories naturally expanded, leading to frequent clashes.

It was inevitable that fights between the two factions would escalate.

An enormous number of vampires and werewolves died, naturally reducing the size of both factions.

The treaty between werewolves and vampires emerged at this time.

Before the damage could worsen, the two factions stopped fighting, dispersed their forces based on designated territories, and began to moderately farm ordinary humans.

That covers the first three years.

During these three years, most level 20 users died off.

I also realized why so many memories rushed in at once.

Blood-drinking between vampires.

The sharing of blood that results.

Vampire blood contains memories.

I now understand that the female vampire who approached me and attempted to drink my blood, Ravina, was merely baring her fangs to use this ability, with no particular intention to harm me.

The moment I recall the nickname [Ravina], information about her cascades into my mind.

Ravina

Level 15

The size of the clan she operated was 5 members.

She was considered quite high-level among the vampires in this area.

I’ve grasped the general situation.

My shadow devouring Ravina was an unexpected accident, but what’s done is done.

I sat in a chair with a serious expression, resting my chin on my hand.

The reason for my serious expression was none other than Ravina.

More precisely, because I recalled his appearance before becoming Ravina.

36 years old.

Jeong Woo-hyun.

An ordinary office worker who had started to develop a belly.

Yes, Ravina was a man.

Having absorbed his memories through blood-drinking, I now know everything about Jeong Woo-hyun and Ravina.

How he normally behaved, even what thoughts he harbored.

The fact that Jeong Woo-hyun became Ravina is undeniable.

However, I couldn’t consider the previous Jeong Woo-hyun and the current Ravina as the same person.

His values had naturally changed.

It was as if the original Jeong Woo-hyun had disappeared and the personality of Ravina had been created.

Jeong Woo-hyun and Ravina herself changed without even realizing it.

Suddenly, I felt a chill.

I lowered my gaze to examine my small palm.

The soft, white-glowing palm moved quite well according to my will.

Could I be any different?

Perhaps the change has already begun at this very moment.

No, it’s certain. I have changed. I am changing.

Sooner or later, I too will transform similarly to Ravina.

Just as other users have.

Knock- Knock-

At that moment, I heard a knocking sound.

My confused mind calmed down, and my troubled heart quieted.

Simultaneously, a fragment of memory surfaced.

Nickname [Abaddon’s Sorcerer]

Level 10

Information about the male vampire who had guided me here came to mind.

“Come in.”

At my naturally flowing permission, the door opened, and Abaddon appeared.

The moment he entered the room, his eyes filled with surprise.

His gaze shook violently.

His eyes turned toward me, then to the blood spilled on the floor.

“Are you Abaddon?”

I ask to confirm, just in case.

Abaddon nodded slightly.

“D-did you… Lady Ravina…”

I frowned and nodded.

Though it was an accident stemming from a misunderstanding, the fact that I made a mistake remained unchanged.

But Abaddon wouldn’t be able to argue.

In this world, power is the law.

“I ate her.”

It was a somewhat strange choice of words, but not exactly wrong.

Ravina, devoured by me, disappeared leaving only her memories behind.

Since waking up, I’ve committed two murders.

But I didn’t feel any particular response.

It was self-defense.

Just an impulsive accident.

That’s why I could remain calm.

I stroked my dry face and smiled slightly.

***

The clan that Ravina had been operating naturally passed to me.

The vampires under Ravina didn’t seem particularly dissatisfied with the change in leadership.

Or rather, even if they were dissatisfied, they couldn’t show it.

The fact that Ravina was eaten without resistance meant that I was much stronger than her.

I had no desire to run a clan, but since I had no immediate plans to leave this place, I accepted the clan leader position without much comment.

About two days have passed since I arrived here.

During that time, I focused on understanding the powers I possessed.

In the game Blood Carnival, there are three main ways to develop a vampire.

A close-range dealer build that maximizes blood control to enhance blood-drinking and health regeneration.

A tank build that maximizes defensive abilities through shadow control.

A ranged dealer build that maximizes psychic abilities such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis.

While there are deeper subdivisions within these builds, broadly speaking, they can be classified into these three categories.

And Charlotte, whom I had been developing, belonged to the tank build with enhanced shadow control.

I frowned as I moved my shadow.

I could move the shadow according to my will.

But that only meant I could move it, not that I could use powerful skills like in the game.

Swoosh-

As I concentrated, shadows surged from beneath my feet and spread out like waves around me.

Pababat!

Sharp spikes rose from the widely spread black shadow, overturning my surroundings.

The range covered by the black spikes was about 5 meters.

If this were the game, the spikes would have risen over 10 meters.

This meant my shadow control wasn’t perfect.

If I, at level 20, was like this, other vampires wouldn’t be different.

Recalling Ravina’s memories, I imagined how other vampires fought.

Lower-level vampires engaged in close combat using their physical abilities rather than using powers.

Only users above level 10 used techniques that could be called skills.

The situation was similar for werewolves.

Those who could use enhancement skills with moonlight were few, and most could only partially transform into beast form.

“Excuse me…”

Just then, an unfamiliar voice reached me.

Wondering what was happening, I turned my head to see a small girl peering at me with her head slightly poked out.

Her fine blonde hair scattered in the gentle breeze.

Her white, sparkling skin and the red eyes characteristic of vampires exuded a strange charm.

And what about her clothes? She wore a gothic lolita-style dress with a good balance of black and white, but it didn’t seem strange at all.

She’s a vampire called Aurel here, level 12.

Aurel’s height is about 150 cm.

I didn’t like that she was slightly taller than my current self.

“Lady Charlotte…”

“What?”

“W-well… today is the regular exchange day with the werewolves…”

I frowned at Aurel’s words.

Regular exchange with werewolves.

Having absorbed Ravina’s memories, I knew what that meant.

The weekly regular exchange was a meeting to calculate the number of remaining humans and discuss how to divide them up for consumption.

I shook my head and replied.

“I’m not going.”

I won’t go. Although I had reluctantly taken the clan leader position, I was planning to leave in a few days anyway.

And above all, I had no intention of accepting the vampires’ way of life.

“W-what…? But you’re the clan leader…”

Aurel responded with a tearful expression.

I looked at her with a serious face.

She too is a user of Blood Carnival.

This means she was once an ordinary person.

Therefore, I felt considerable aversion to Aurel’s behavior.

“Then you be the leader.”

“H-how could I…”

With those final words, I turned away and began to move my shadow.

***

Aurel came again the next day.

“U-um… Lady Charlotte…”

And not alone, but with a werewolf.

The distinctive animal odor was quite unpleasant.

I frowned and rose from my seat.

“So the rumor about a change in leadership was true.”

Roughly grown gray hair.

A scar drawn below the eye.

A considerably large build for a woman.

A very feral-looking beauty was blocking the doorway, looking at me.

Looking beyond the door, I could see other vampires watching with worried expressions.

I tilted my head slightly and looked up at the woman.

[Lena]

I didn’t know her exact level, but it was probably higher than Ravina’s.

That’s why Ravina always tensed up in front of this woman.

Lena was the leader of the werewolves who managed this area along with Ravina.

“If the leader has changed, I think we need to reestablish our existing agreement.”

I nodded at Lena’s words.

Since I was planning to leave this place anyway, I didn’t even think to object.

“Aurel.”

“Y-yes?”

“Come here.”

So I called Aurel and sat her in the seat where I had been sitting.

After all, once I left, Aurel would be the highest level in this clan.

A clan formed to prey on humans is none of my business.

I nodded at the two people who were looking bewildered.

“You two talk.”