"What kind of world is this?" Ethan muttered, looking out over Night City.
Ten minutes earlier…
Inside Ethan's mansion, he stood silently, staring at Joseph Crackstone's staff. This had always been the objective—the real prize.
"Let's see if I can squeeze more blood points out of this," Ethan muttered as he selected the staff and initiated the recycle process.
[Joseph Crackstone's Staff detected]
[Would you like to recycle?]
"Yes."
[Analyzing…]
[Hidden attribute detected]
[Telekinetic energy found]
[Trait upgraded: Telekinesis increased]
Ethan blinked. "There's telekinetic power inside this staff?"
He hadn't expected that. A rare trait upgrade—exactly the kind of thing that could tip the scales in his favor.
[17,000 Blood Points earned]
"Wow… 17k," Ethan murmured. "Not bad at all. Seems this staff really did carry some serious magic."
With a slow exhale, he pulled up his interface and glanced at his current stats.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Ethan Corvin
Age: 18
Race: Pure-blood Vampire (Evolution Possible)
Physical Parameters:
— Punch Force: ~60 tons
— Speed: ~300 km/h
— Durability: Skin resistant to small-caliber bullets
— Stamina: Unmatched
— Telekinesis: 10 tons -> 30 tons
Abilities:
— Bat Transformation
— Blood Lightning
Regeneration:
— Minor injuries: Instant recovery
— Major injuries: Accelerated healing
— Partial immortality: Cannot die as long as the body remains intact
Weaknesses: None
Blood Points: 24200
---
He had to admit it—his stats had improved by a noticeable margin, and his attention was now fully drawn to the glowing Dimensional Travel button. The urge to press it was almost irresistible.
He briefly considered inviting Wednesday. Enid too. Turning it into some kind of twisted summer trip.
But he had no idea what the other worlds were like, or what dangers waited on the other side.
So he decided to go alone.
At least for now.
Honestly, he'd been curious about what the other worlds looked like for a while.
It felt like handing a luxury sports car to someone who lived for speed—and telling them not to drive it. Just admire it.
Naturally, he pressed the button—and that was how he ended up here.
Going back wasn't complicated. The same feature would return him home. The only catch was the cooldown—one full month before he could use it again.
So until then, this world was it.
Now the real question was simple.
Was this world special—
or just normal?
Ethan glanced down at the streets far below, rain streaking past him. Hard to tell from up here.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Guess I'll find out."
And without another second of hesitation—
he stepped off the edge.
Wind tore past him as he fell, coat snapping hard, rain blurring into streaks of light. The ground rushed up fast—too fast—concrete, neon reflections, headlights flaring beneath him.
For a split second, gravity tightened its grip.
Then—
everything stopped.
He hung there in midair, suspended like the world had forgotten what it was supposed to do. Rain froze around him, drops hovering inches from his coat and hair.
A heartbeat passed.
Then he dropped the last few feet and landed lightly on the street below, boots splashing into a shallow puddle instead of shattering bone.
No crater. No impact.
Just a calm, controlled landing.
Ethan straightened, rain resuming its steady fall as if nothing unusual had occurred.
"Telekinesis really is useful," he muttered.
The stunt had been simple—forcing the momentum around him to halt for a heartbeat, then letting gravity take over again on his terms. Clean. Efficient.
"Let's see what this place has to offer," Ethan said, walking out into the street.
***
After about twenty minutes of wandering, he pieced a few things together.
A street sign. A map on a bus stop. A newspaper left on a bench, its pages damp from the rain.
Budapest. Hungary.
He skimmed the headlines—politics, traffic accidents, rising prices, celebrity gossip. The usual mix. No monsters. No cults. No warnings about ancient evils returning.
Nothing interesting.
"It seems this is normal," Ethan thought, folding the paper and dropping it back onto the bench.
But the thought didn't quite settle.
Worlds were rarely that simple. If this place really was ordinary, the system wouldn't have sent him here. Not without a reason.
Maybe, he thought, whatever makes this world special just hasn't shown itself yet.
And if it was hiding—
He'd find it.
Then it hit him. His nose caught a familiar scent—sharp, wild, unmistakable.
Wolf.
He frowned slightly. It was similar to what he knew at Nevermore… but heavier. Rougher. Less restrained.
"Huh," he thought. "That's stronger than usual."
He turned toward the source.
Across the street, a group of men were heading down into a subway entrance. Ordinary at first glance—hoods up, hands in pockets, blending into the night—but the scent clung to them, overlapping, unmistakable now that he focused on it.
"Yeah," Ethan muttered. "Those guys are definitely werewolves."
So much for a normal world.
A slow smile spread across his face as the last of them disappeared down the steps.
"Well," he said, stepping after them, "looks like things just got interesting."
He followed them into the subway.
The moment he stepped down onto the platform, the feeling hit him—hard. The train sat waiting, doors open, people moving in practiced indifference. Commuters. Suits. Coats. Noise echoing off concrete.
Ethan slowed.
He felt like he had seen this scene somewhere before—definitely on a screen.
'Is this some movie or web series I saw?' Thought Ethan as he looked around, searching the crowd, trying to find a face he could recognize.
And then he saw her.
Leather coat. Pale skin. Black hair. Eyes cold, alert, predatory. She stood apart from the crowd, like she didn't belong among them.
"That's Selene," he thought. There was no mistaking it. No one could fail to recognize such an alluring vampire Death Dealer.
Now he understood what world he was in.
Underworld.
That also meant this was that scene—
"Bloods!"
The word cracked through the station like a gunshot.
Everything that followed happened fast.
One of the men he'd followed moved first—too fast for human eyes. His coat flared open and two automatic weapons came up in his hands. No hesitation. No warning.
RATATATAT—
Gunfire tore through the platform.
Glass shattered. People screamed. Bodies dropped. Panic exploded outward as commuters surged toward the exits, trampling, slipping, dying without ever knowing why.
Ethan didn't flinch.
"Yep," he said calmly, stepping aside as bullets ripped past where his head had been a second ago. "This is that part."
Across the platform, Selene was already moving—guns out, coat snapping as she dove into cover, eyes locked on the attackers.
The station descended into chaos.
*****
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated to Chapter 111, so if you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join my Patreon
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