Ch.6Equipment Items

While the shadow was gnawing on the human user’s corpse, my heightened senses detected an unusual movement.

The heat of battle had not yet cooled down.

The small vampire girl’s body responded sensitively.

I raised the blade of the Matte Katana in my hand and pointed it behind me.

The shadow also responded to my movement.

It rose from beneath my feet, wrapped around my body to form a natural defensive wall, then extended in a straight line along the blade of the katana.

“Gasp…”

In the dim darkness.

Red mist rippled and formed the figure of a girl.

The source of the strange movement I had been sensing was Aurel.

I wondered where she had disappeared to, but it seemed she had been circling around me using her transformation skill.

I sensed no hostility.

I sighed and lowered the katana blade.

Shhhhk-

As I sheathed the katana, the shadow faded away.

It felt like watching a faithful dog.

“A-are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

I frowned at Aurel’s question.

If she was so worried, shouldn’t she have revealed herself and helped me when the battle started?

Of course, how much help would a level 12 vampire be…

“I told you not to follow me, didn’t I?”

My voice had an edge to it as I was still on high alert.

Aurel gave an awkward laugh and took a step back.

The reason I could sense Aurel’s movement was because she had approached too closely.

If she had maintained a certain distance while following me like before, I wouldn’t have noticed that she was still following me.

My regret about not having the transformation skill grew stronger.

“Ah, is that perhaps a Matte Katana?”

Aurel’s gaze turned to the katana in my hand.

As a Blood Carnival user, she recognized this katana.

A natural attempt to change the subject.

But it wasn’t going to work.

I hid the katana behind my back and said:

“How long do you plan to follow me?”

“Well, of course…”

Aurel trailed off and smiled cutely.

She seemed determined to follow me to the end.

I looked down at the Matte Katana and fell into thought.

A shop-exclusive equipment item that hadn’t appeared for years had shown up.

Everything happens for a reason.

There must be a reason why this item appeared.

I frowned and opened my mouth.

“You can follow me.”

This was simply an unavoidable choice for survival.

It absolutely wasn’t because I was charmed by Aurel’s appearance.

There was another reason I allowed Aurel to accompany me.

Since opening my eyes in this world, hers was the only friendly gaze I had received.

Of course, there were still things I needed to observe…

At least I didn’t think Aurel would stab me in the back.

“Wh-what…?”

Aurel opened her eyes wide in surprise at my answer.

Her soft-looking cheeks also turned red.

Why was she so happy just because I allowed her to come along?

I took a step back and quickly added one condition.

“But. Don’t come too close.”

“Ah…”

Aurel’s expression became dejected.

Well, that solved the Aurel problem.

I looked at the Matte Katana and fell into thought.

Shop-exclusive Matte Katana.

An item that can only be obtained from the shop.

This means it will never drop in regular fields.

Not a good sign.

I hardened my expression and looked up at the stairs.

“We need to get out of here.”

I started climbing the stairs with Aurel, passing through the ticket gate.

Blood Carnival is a game where reaching max level is easy.

This means that character growth primarily happens through equipment.

In other words, it’s a game where gear matters a lot.

Cheap shop items.

If this were just a game, I wouldn’t have given them a second glance.

But now I couldn’t ignore them.

The difference in specs between a naked character and one wearing even those cheap shop items was substantial.

To survive in this dangerous world, I needed to quickly get my hands on the equipment items that had appeared.

If there was a god who made this world like this, I wanted to ask:

What happened to the equipment my Charlotte was wearing?

I let out a hollow laugh at my own foolish thoughts.

“Um, Charlotte…?”

“What?”

“The sun has risen outside…”

I raised my head at Aurel’s words.

At the top of the stairs.

Bright light was coming in through the exit.

As Aurel said, the sun had risen outside.

Was it because I had become Charlotte?

A natural aversion filled my gaze as I looked at the sunlight.

I instinctively had to take a step back.

“Aren’t you okay in sunlight, Charlotte?”

“Me? Don’t be ridiculous.”

I’m a vampire too.

If I were to be exposed to direct sunlight, naturally I would turn to ash.

But Aurel tilted her head in genuine confusion and asked:

“What? But level 20 vampires can put points into the [Day Walker] skill, right?”

“…”

I kept my mouth shut at Aurel’s question.

Day Walker.

A skill that only vampires who reached level 20 could learn, allowing them to be active even when the sun was out.

Of course I hadn’t learned it.

No, generally vampire users didn’t learn that skill.

Sun resistance could be sufficiently acquired through equipment items.

Learning Day Walker was a waste of skill points.

“I didn’t learn it…”

“Oh no…”

There was no choice now.

I climbed the stairs carefully with a deeply furrowed brow.

“Ch-Charlotte…?”

“Be quiet.”

You never know.

As a level 20 vampire.

I might be able to withstand this sunlight.

I took a deep breath and cautiously extended my pinky finger toward the sunlight.

At that moment-

Sizzle-!

“Argh!”

Pain that I hadn’t felt even when my throat was pierced spread throughout my body from my pinky finger.

It felt like tiny bugs were biting all over my body.

I fell down the stairs in shock.

“Charlotte!”

I checked the condition of my pinky finger while catching my breath.

The blackened skin was bubbling.

Though my body was regenerating with vampire powers, damage from sunlight wasn’t easily recovered.

I bit my lip and sat down on the stairs.

“Oh no! Your finger…!”

“Don’t come close…”

I pushed Aurel away with a frown.

I could see her trying to sneakily place her hand on my shoulder under the pretense of concern.

Aurel backed away with an awkward smile at my rebuke.

Just in case, I took out a small glass bottle I had picked up earlier.

The red liquid sloshed into view.

It was a [Minor Healing Potion], the most basic item available in Blood Carnival.

It could be used regardless of race and restored 50 health when used.

I opened the bottle cap and poured the potion over my pinky finger.

“Phew…”

Fortunately, the healing potion that fell on my pinky finger took effect.

The blackened skin quickly recovered.

I frowned as I looked at the sunlight coming through the exit.

If just briefly exposing my pinky finger did this much damage, my entire body exposed to sunlight would surely turn to ash.

There was no choice.

I had to wait until the sun went down.

The fortunate thing was that the sun was only up for 6 hours a day.

I went down the stairs and looked around the station.

“What are you looking for?”

“A decent place to rest.”

But there was no decent place to rest.

Most of the facilities here were destroyed.

“I-if you don’t mind, would you like to sit on my lap…?”

“…”

A question not worth answering.

I glanced at Aurel’s thighs and then turned away.

There was nowhere comfortable to rest.

In the end, Aurel and I leaned against a wall that wasn’t consumed by mold and let time pass.

We could have sat on the stairs below the exit, but instinctive aversion kept me away from anywhere close to sunlight.

“Um…”

“What?”

“Do you like chicken…?”

Aurel occasionally threw out light questions like this.

Her attitude showed not the slightest hint of tension.

But the same was true for me.

“I like it.”

“Oh…!”

“Not you, chicken.”

“Oh…”

Something in my head must have broken when I became a vampire, or rather, when I took on the information of a game character.

Aurel’s questions continued until the sun went down.

Light and meaningless questions.

And meaningless answers.

“What’s your favorite color?”

Just as I was about to answer lightly.

Aurel’s blonde hair caught my eye.

And then came my unconscious answer.

“Gold.”

“Oh…!”

No, this was a mistake.

I scowled and walked toward the exit.

“The sun has set.”

“Ah, wait! Charlotte! Let’s go together!”

I carefully looked around after exiting.

Abandoned vehicles and overturned roads.

Vines growing from the ground covered the entire world.

“Hmm…”

The first thing I checked after leaving the subway station was the minimap imprinted in my mind.

In Blood Carnival, NPCs that provide functions like shops or storage are usually marked on the map.

I checked just in case, but there were no such markers in this area.

“You’re looking for shop NPCs, right?”

I nodded at Aurel’s question.

Having discovered this Matte Katana, I couldn’t just ignore it.

I headed toward a nearby city with Aurel.

I surveyed the surroundings while walking along the quiet road where not a hint of human presence could be felt.

Aurel was also carefully examining the surroundings while maintaining a constant distance from me.

“Charlotte…!”

Then came Aurel’s voice.

When I turned my head slightly, Aurel was pointing at a spot some distance away.

A tin can on the ground.

The contents were already empty, but the faint traces of broth left small marks on the road.

This meant someone had eaten and discarded it not long ago.

I gripped the Matte Katana.

We weren’t the only ones who had found this city.

“Aurel.”

“Yes…!”

“If you notice anything strange, tell me right away.”

“Understood!”