Momentarily stunned by my own appearance, I slowly raised a hand to my face, brushing my fingers against my soft pale cheeks, which were currently tinted a noticeable shade of pink.
My attention soon shifted toward my mouth.
Parting my lips slightly, I caught sight of the fangs I had felt earlier. Two pearly white fangs extended past the rest of my teeth, sharp enough to send a chill down my spine.
Hesitantly, I touched one with my finger.
The instant I did, I noticed the same strange ache from earlier—a deep itch that mirrored the dryness in my throat.
Is this… my version of hunger?
Focusing on my appearance helped calm me down somewhat, allowing the panic from before to fade.
After taking a deep breath, I stood back up and glanced around the clearing once more.
"So, System," I began, "what exactly am I supposed to do now? There's still a lot I want to ask, but if what just happened means anything, it's that I need to eat soon."
[ Your current location is several miles away from the nearest town or city. I would recommend exploring and hunting within this forest. ]
[ While you do require blood, it does not specifically need to be human blood. The blood of beasts and monsters will satisfy your hunger as well… though it may be less appetizing. ]
I grimaced slightly.
So I really did have to drink blood…
Honestly, the idea sounded disgusting.
Still, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I couldn't exactly let myself starve to death after reincarnating.
And if I was being completely honest with myself… the thought of human blood sounded far more appealing than it should have.
That realization alone made me uncomfortable.
No. I couldn't hurt innocent people just because of some instinct.
Monster blood it was.
As I thought about it, I remembered seeing a skill earlier that probably had something to do with drinking blood.
"STATUS."
The blue screen instantly reappeared before me. This time, however, my focus immediately landed on one particular skill.
[Vampiric Bite]
The bite of the Progenitor Vampire heals within seconds after the fangs are removed.
The user may subconsciously alter the effect of their bite depending on intent.
Possible effects:
1 — Inflicts overwhelming supernatural pleasure upon the target.
2 — Inflicts unbearable pain surpassing normal physical suffering.
3 — Dominates the target's will, turning them into a servant of the user.
4 — No additional effect beyond a normal bite.
"What the hell is up with the third one?!"
A shiver ran down my spine.
I'm never using that. That's seriously messed up…
Dismissing the screen, I glanced around again.
Yep.
Still just trees.
Not exactly sure what I expected.
With nothing else to do, I picked a random direction and started walking.
After about five minutes of seeing nothing but identical-looking trees, boredom quickly started setting in. That's when another thought crossed my mind.
I still had no idea what this body was truly capable of.
"Alright," I muttered excitedly. "Strength test first. Let's see what these skinny little arms can actually do."
I picked a nearby tree as my target. It wasn't massive, but the trunk was roughly as wide as my waist.
Honestly, I wasn't too worried about hurting myself. With regeneration like mine, what was the worst that could happen?
Clenching my fist, I pulled my arm back and punched forward as hard as I could.
CRACK!
The impact echoed through the forest.
My eyes widened in shock.
My fist had gone completely through the tree trunk.
Half my arm was embedded inside the wood.
"…Oh."
I stared blankly for a second before panic immediately kicked in.
Quickly bracing my other hand against the tree, I tried yanking my arm free. On the second attempt, my hand finally ripped loose, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Looking down, I saw shards of wood sticking all through my hand and wrist.
"Eugh…"
I hurriedly started pulling them out one by one. To my amazement, each wound healed almost instantly the moment the wood was removed.
"…Damn. This regeneration is no joke."
Satisfied with my strength test, I decided to try out my speed next.
I stepped away from the destroyed tree and lowered myself into a sprinting stance.
"Alright… here we go."
I took a deep breath.
"Three… two… one… go!"
The instant the word left my mouth, I exploded forward.
The world around me became a blur of green and brown.
I had no idea how far I ran.
I couldn't tell where I was going or what I was passing.
But for the first time since waking up here, I felt truly free.
The wind rushed against my face while my hair streamed wildly behind me. It felt incredible.
As I continued running, something strange started happening.
The world began slowing down.
Or rather… my eyes were finally catching up to my body.
The blurs gradually sharpened until I could clearly make out every tree, branch, and stone flying past me.
Once my vision stabilized, I considered stopping.
But ultimately, I decided against it.
I still needed food anyway.
A few minutes later, I emerged near the edge of a wide clearing.
Scanning the area, I spotted around a dozen crude tents surrounding several campfires. Most of the tents were fairly small, probably large enough for only one or two people.
They formed a rough circle around a much larger tent positioned in the center. Compared to the others, it was easily four times the size.
As I observed the camp, I remembered something from earlier.
When my thirst had nearly overwhelmed me, my vision had changed.
Everything had gained a crimson tint, and somehow I had been able to see much farther than normal.
If I could control that ability, it could become incredibly useful.
Focusing on the large central tent, I concentrated on my eyes, trying to recreate the strange sensation from before.
Honestly, I had no clue what I was doing.
I was basically just willing it to happen and hoping for the best.
After about a minute, the world slowly shifted.
A faint red hue spread across my vision.
Then my eyes widened.
I could see through the tent walls.
"…What is that?" I whispered.