Nighttime in Soltaris. Long after the Tavern had closed its doors and the last drunken patron had stumbled home, the tavern finally fell silent.
"Mila, Elise, you guys go on ahead to the underground base," Sera said, brushing some dust off her maid outfit. She waved her guildmates off. "I'm going to take a little walk and get some fresh air. It's been stuffy in the tavern all day. I'll catch up with you later."
Mila nodded and disappeared into the secret passageway. Once Sera was absolutely sure no one was watching, she hummed a cheerful tune and slipped into a narrow, pitch-black alleyway behind the tavern. From beneath her apron, the vampire girl pulled out a hidden glass bottle. It was filled with fresh pig's blood she had secretly salvaged from a kitchen waste basin.
Sera popped the cork and took a massive gulp.
"Ahhh~..." She let out a highly satisfied hum, her crimson eyes fluttering shut in pure bliss as her small fangs poked past her lips. "Sure, it tastes a bit bland and fishy compared to human blood, but getting to drink something fresh after holding back all day... this is absolute heaven. Pretty spicy, actually."
She happily licked the red stain from the corner of her mouth. But suddenly, her highly sensitive nose twitched.
The scent of iron, mixed with the overwhelmingly sweet and rich aroma of fresh 'human blood', hit her senses so hard she froze. Her vampiric instincts instantly took over. Sera shoved the bottle of pig's blood back into her inventory and dashed into the shadows, following the scent.
Deep inside a moonless crevice of the alley, a young villager lay face down on the wet cobblestones in a rapidly expanding pool of dark blood. His body convulsed violently, his breathing ragged and shallow.
Sera approached quietly. She dropped down into a deep squat next to the body, tilting her head curiously. Hesitantly, she reached out her index finger and poked his shoulder a few times.
"Hey... you still breathing down there?" she whispered. The only response was a wet, painful groan.
When she rolled him over, Sera winced at the sight of a terrifying, deep slash across his chest. "Yikes. A wound that deep? You're a goner if I leave you like this."
The vampire girl quickly opened her inventory UI, pulled out a [Mid-Tier Healing Potion], and poured it into his mouth. A faint magical light glowed around the wound... but it didn't work at all. Fresh blood continued to gush from the gash like a broken dam. Sera frowned and tried a High-Tier potion, but the result was exactly the same. The bleeding wouldn't stop.
"It's not healing... the blood is still pouring out like a waterfall," Sera muttered, her gamer instincts analyzing the situation. "This effect... it's a Curse. An Anti-Heal debuff. By the time I find someone who can cast a high-level cleanse, this guy is going to bleed dry."
The young man, barely clinging to consciousness, forced his eyes open to look at Sera. His trembling, blood-soaked hand reached out, desperately gripping the edge of her maid skirt. In his other hand, he tightly clutched a torn piece of fabric.
"P-Please... help... my little sister..." he choked out, coughing up blood. "That cloaked figure... they appeared in the blink of an eye... they took her... I can't die yet... I have to save her..."
Tears mixed with blood rolled down his pale cheeks. "Please... I'll give you anything... just let me live long enough to save her..."
Sera looked at the dying man. A mix of genuine pity and a gamer's overwhelming 'curiosity' sparked in her mind.
"You'll give me anything, huh? If you want to live that badly, I'll help you," Sera smirked, revealing her sharp fangs. "But let's just consider this a little 'experiment' of mine, okay?"
Sera raised her pale white wrist and bit down hard enough to draw a bead of bright crimson blood. She pressed her bleeding wrist against the young man's lips.
"Drink. Accept the darkness."
The young man swallowed the blood of a Level 100 True Vampire. Instantly, his body seized up in a violent spasm. His eyes shot wide open.
Thump... Thump... Thump... Silence.
His heartbeat accelerated wildly before stopping completely. His breathing ceased. His body temperature plummeted until he was as cold as ice, and his normal skin tone shifted into a sickly, deathly pale color, with dark veins bulging beneath the surface.
In that exact second, the blood gushing from his chest stopped as if a faucet had been turned off. The gaping wound was still there, but it was no longer bleeding. Sera stayed in her squatting position, hugging her knees as she eagerly watched her handiwork. After a few minutes, the miracle of the undead bloodline kicked in. The muscle and tissue around the fatal wound slowly began to knit and weave themselves back together until the gash completely closed, leaving only a faint scar.
The young man sat up, panting heavily. Even though his heart was no longer beating, his consciousness was perfectly intact. He looked down at his pale hands, the newly elongated nails, and felt the sharp fangs resting against his bottom lip.
"I'm not dead... the pain is completely gone," he whispered, his voice now raspy and chilling. He could feel an immense, unnatural physical power surging through his dead veins.
He looked up at Sera with absolute reverence and dropped to his knees on the wet stones. "My savior... I... I feel like I've been reborn. Please... grant me a new name for the new life you've given me."
Sera stood up, placing her hands on her hips in deep thought. "Hmmm... your skin is so pale that it's reflecting the moonlight like a shade of blue. Alright, I'll name you 'Azul'!"
Azul clenched his fists, bowing his head to accept his new name. "Thank you, Lady Sera. I will use this power... to hunt down that hooded demon and bring my sister back!"
"Whoa, slow your roll, newbie vampire. You can't fight anyone right now. You don't have any mana, and you don't have a combat class like a swordsman or a mage. You just have raw physical strength, health regeneration, and some sharp claws," Sera said, easily hoisting Azul up by his collar. "Let's go to my base first. A psychotic murderer kidnapping girls? My guild might actually be interested in that."
The Underground Sanctuary.
"Holy shit!! This is so cool!!"
Silas, the young Necromancer, screamed in pure joy, his voice echoing through the underground ruins. He ran up and tackled a very confused Azul into a massive hug. "Finally!! I finally have an undead buddy who can actually talk back! I don't have to play poker with stupid skeletons anymore!"
The rest of the guild gathered around to inspect Sera's latest masterpiece.
Talia pushed her glasses up her nose, analyzing the information Azul had provided. "A mysterious hooded figure, speed so fast the eye can't track it, and an anti-heal curse applied on the strike... This isn't a random NPC bandit. This is the work of an Assassin or Rogue-class Player."
"And a total sicko who specifically targets and kidnaps young village girls," Mila added, her face twisting in utter disgust as she gripped the handle of her chef's knife. "Players who use their power to abuse NPC women... we absolutely cannot let that slide."
"We don't know who they are or where they're hiding yet. We'll mark this as a secondary objective for now," Talia concluded, turning to the excitedly bouncing Necromancer. "Silas, I'm leaving Azul with you. Test his basic combat capabilities."
"You got it, Boss!" Silas grinned widely, slapping Azul's stiff shoulder. "I'll summon a squad of my skeleton minions for you to beat up. I want to see if your level actually goes up just by scratching them to death using your raw vampire stats!"
Silas narrowed his eyes, his tone dropping into a deadly serious whisper. "But don't forget the golden rule, Azul. From the moment your heart stopped beating, the sun became your poison. You are never to show your face above ground during the day. For the rest of your life. Understand?"
Azul nodded slowly, his dull eyes burning with determination in the dark. He didn't care if he had to live in the shadows forever, as long as he had the power to take back his only family.
The Grand Hot Springs (The Relaxation Zone).
Deep within the residential sector of the underground base, a massive communal bathhouse had been constructed. It was a luxurious Japanese-style hot spring, born from a combination of Elise's earth-molding magic and the advanced heating plumbing installed by Nina and Lars. Thick, white steam rolled over the water, carrying the soothing scent of herbal bath salts.
The massive pool was divided exactly in half by a towering, impenetrable stone wall that reached all the way to the ceiling, strictly separating the men and women per Talia's absolute orders.
On the women's side, the sounds of splashing water and relaxed laughter filled the air.
Elise, the petite, doll-faced girl, stretched her arms, revealing her flawless, pale skin as she soaked next to Mila, the chef whose voluptuous, mature figure was impossible to ignore. Nearby, Talia leaned elegantly against a smooth boulder, her proportions so perfect she looked like a supermodel pulled straight from a magazine cover.
It was almost comical how little awkwardness remained among them. Back in their original world, every single member of the 18 Undercovers had been a man. Yet, after being trapped in this game for so long, those who had chosen female avatars had completely and utterly adapted to their new physical forms. In fact, they were now casually teasing each other about their ridiculous 'Level 100' proportions without batting an eye.
"Damn, Mila... you were hiding all that?" Elise teased, splashing water at the Mila. "Under that apron, I thought you'd be a bit more modest!"
"Oh, shut up!" Mila giggled, splashing her back. "Look at yourself! You're tiny, but your proportions are completely insane! Did you max out your beauty stat or something?"
As for Nina, she just sat there quietly watching them.
While the girls were enjoying their carefree life, a chorus of loud, whining complaints echoed from the other side of the stone wall.
"Dammit! This is so unfair!!" Thom's voice yelled, followed by the sound of him banging his fist against the stone. "We're in the same guild! We've been through life and death together! We have no secrets! Why am I staring at a rock wall?! Let me see those Level 100 stats, come on!"
"Yeah! Tear down the wall!" Dane cheered, laughing loudly.
"I have to admit, as a man of culture, it is a tragedy to be deprived of such a view," chimed in Lucian, the incredibly handsome Adventurer Guild Instructor.
On the girls' side, Elise's cute smile instantly vanished. Her eyes glowed with a terrifying blue magical aura.
"If I hear one more peep about peeking from you degenerates," Elise called out, her voice dripping with absolute menace, "I will cast Absolute Zero on the water and turn every single one of you into frozen popsicles. Try me."
The boys' side instantly fell dead silent. A collective, terrified gulp echoed over the wall. Silas, thankfully, had dodged this death threat entirely, as he was currently in the training yard playing with his new undead toy, Azul.
As the comedic atmosphere faded, Talia wiped a droplet of water from her flawless face and turned her gaze toward Sera, who was sitting quietly with her knees pulled to her chest.
"Sera," Talia began, her tone shifting entirely back to that of the ruthless Guild Master. "Regarding 'Azul'. You do realize that bringing an NPC with free will and a functioning mind into our absolute top-secret base is a catastrophic security risk. If our location or our true identities leak, the 18 of us are dead."
Sera let out a long sigh, sinking lower into the water until bubbles rose to the surface. "I know... I know it wasn't the smartest move, Talia. But if I didn't turn him, he would have died right there without ever getting to save his sister. It was... pathetic. So I made a choice."
The vampire girl looked up, her crimson eyes locking onto Talia. "But you don't need to worry. Azul is a newborn. His level is practically zero compared to us. If he shows even a hint of betrayal or tries to sell our secrets... we can just 'erase' him. It wouldn't even be difficult."
Talia nodded calmly. She didn't scold Sera. In this world, mistakes could be rectified with sheer ruthlessness.
"We will test him," Talia declared smoothly. "We will use his thirst for revenge. We will see exactly how far he can be manipulated as a pawn for this guild before we fully trust him..."
Talia paused. She turned her head slightly toward the stone wall and spoke just loud enough for the men on the other side to hear.
"And if he fails that test... Lucian, did you hear me?"
The sound of shifting water echoed from the boys' side, followed by a low, chilling chuckle from the swordsman.
"Loud and clear, Boss," Lucian replied. His voice carried none of the playful banter from earlier; it was the voice of an executioner. "My class is built to shred undead and vampires in heartbeats. I don't care how tough he is, or if Sera tries to protect him... If you give the order, I will take his head and burn his body to ash before he even has time to blink."
"Good," Talia smirked, leaning back against the warm stone. "Now... enough shop talk. Let's enjoy the bath."
Through the thick steam of the hot springs, Azul had absolutely no idea that his newfound immortal life was hanging by the thinnest of threads