Chapter 2 : Charlotte – III

The scouting party did not head towards the city center.

They went to a residential area slightly away from the city center.

Most of the buildings were in ruins, indicating something terrible had happened in the past.

The scouting party moved with great caution.

Upon arrival, they didn’t move immediately. The person who seemed to be the leader of the party picked up a small stone and began tossing it inside the residential area.

Tuk-

Tuduk-

Tuk-

The subtly irritating sound spread wide.

If a hybrid was hiding inside the residential area, it would have surely come out upon hearing the sound.

After some time had passed, the scouting party nodded as if confirming there was no danger and began to move.

I watched the scouting party move and fell into thought.

How could I approach them?

I wished for at least one person to fall out of the group.

While I was thinking that,

a faint scent carried by the wind reached me.

It was similar to the characteristic stench of a beast.

Mixed with the smell of blood, it was very unpleasant.

I sniffed the air and began to follow the source of the smell.

After moving slowly through the darkness for a while,

I finally reached the source of the smell.

The source was a man with a sturdy build.

Standing proudly in the moonlight, he was calmly watching the scouting party.

I instinctively knew.

That man was not an ordinary human.

“What business do you have here?”

A growling voice emerged.

I was startled, looking around and crouching.

“I know you’re hiding. Come out.”

Could he be talking to me?

I peeked out slightly, just in case.

The man’s head snapped towards me, fixing his gaze on me.

“It looks like you’ve already eaten one… Have you forgotten the pact?”

“The pact…?”

I tilted my head and fully revealed myself.

I didn’t sense any hostility from his gaze. It didn’t seem like I would be attacked just for showing myself. The other seemed inexplicably confident.

“I’d prefer you not say such foolish things as not knowing the pact.”

Do I have to be called foolish just for not knowing the pact?

I frowned and nodded.

“What is the pact?”

“How long has it been since you woke up from the coffin?”

He even knows I woke up from a coffin? He seemed to possess a lot of knowledge.

I tilted my head and opened my mouth.

“One or two hours maybe ?”

I didn’t have a watch, so I couldn’t tell the exact time, but it was probably around that.

The man, who seemed uninterested before, suddenly looked intrigued and spoke.

“So you haven’t joined a clan yet.”

“A clan? No, wait. Could you explain in a way I can understand? I haven’t been awake for long.”

“I know. It seems you know nothing.”

I nodded.

When I opened my eyes, not only had I suddenly become a vampire, but the world had also turned into something like the game I used to play.

If everything had changed in an instant, I could have adapted to the change.

But it seemed a considerable amount of time had passed while I was asleep in the coffin.

But the man didn’t solve my curiosity.

Instead, he asked a question.

“What’s your level?”

“Level?”

“I’m asking what your level was while playing Blood Carnival.”

“20…?”

“You were at max level? Really?”

The man asked incredulously, but I just nodded.

“Nickname?”

Since he asked about my level, I guess it’s now time to ask about my nickname?

I frowned as I answered.

“Charlotte.”

“I hope you’re not impersonating.”

“Impersonating? Why would I go around impersonating a nickname?”

“Hmm…”

From his reaction, it seemed he knew me, or more precisely, my nickname.

I crossed my arms and fell into thought.

Werewolves, vampires, humans.

A blurry power structure came into view.

He asked not just about my level but my Blood Carnival level and nickname.

If my guess is correct, this body has become my game character.

That would mean I’ve become the vampire Charlotte I raised.

It seemed likely.

Short limbs and the appearance of a young girl.

The silver hair was the customization I set for Charlotte.

I wasn’t alone. Judging by his reaction, a significant number, if not all, of the Blood Carnival players might have been thrown into this world.

“I will guide you to the clan.”

The man said that and turned around to start walking.

I watched his back and fell into thought.

Was it right to follow this man now?

The decision didn’t take long.

I was only following the scouting party to gather information anyway.

If I could get the needed information elsewhere, there was no need to stick with the scouting party.

I decided to follow him.

The man didn’t ask anything else after that.

As I followed him, I asked various questions.

He started treating me with a strangely kind attitude.

“How long has it been since the world turned out like this?”

“I believe it’s been about five years.”

“What is this place called a clan?”

“It’s where vampires like you gather.”

“Are the others similar to me? ”

“Only the users who played Blood Carnival are like that.”

“Are there many other users?”

“There were many.”

Were many?

So does that mean the number has significantly decreased now?

As we walked for a long time,

the man walking ahead stopped and spoke.

“Do you know the nickname Mulbit?”

“Mulbit…?”

I crossed my arms and fell into thought at that question.

A vague, fleeting memory.

The nickname Mulbit came to mind.

“Ah… Mulbit… the one who switched to the werewolf side?”

It was quite a while ago. A guy who was raising a character on the vampire side and then switched to the werewolf side. He was quite close to me.

But why is he asking about that?

“Are you Mulbit ?”

This guy couldn’t be Mulbit. After all, his character was a female character.

He wasn’t this bulky and creepy male character.

“It seems certain…”

“Certain about what? Are you still doubting me?”

I frowned at the man’s reply.

Is there no feature to check character information?

If possible, I wanted to show my character’s information to dispel his doubts.

But it seemed there was no such function.

The man didn’t answer my question and started walking again.

After walking for a while through the residential area, the man stopped in front of a hotel.

The broken windows and the half-fallen sign gave off a gloomy atmosphere, and being built in the middle of the highway made it look even darker.

“This is the place.”

As soon as his voice ended,black bats began to fly down from the sky.

Flap….. Flap…… Flap……..

The gathering bats started to form a man in front of him.

Black hair and red eyes.

A sharp overall impression.

His clothes were very clean, unlike those I had encountered so far, and his pale skin had a faint glow.

His sharp gaze contained a slight hint of disgust.

Thankfully, that emotion wasn’t directed at me.

“What business do you have here?”

The man who guided me here stepped aside slightly.

As if to show me to the vampire man.

Finally, the vampire man’s gaze turned to me.

His eyes scanned my body, filled with interest and admiration.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I frowned, and the vampire man smiled and averted his gaze.

“You brought a fellow kin?”

“I want the promised reward.”

Watching their conversation, I took a step back.

The vampire man, with a satisfied smile, took out a small pouch from his inside pocket and handed it to the man who had guided me here.

The man turned and started walking away, as if his business here was done.

I mumbled absentmindedly as I watched him go.

“What’s this? You’re just leaving?”

“My business is done. The others here will explain the rest.”

Can I really trust all of this going on ?

I looked up at the vampire man who was looking down at me with my arms crossed.

I didn’t like the situation, but I had arrived here by my choice.

In the end, I left the departing man behind and followed the vampire man into the hotel.

The vampire man asked me a simple question.

“Level and nickname?”

“Charlotte. Level 20.”

“Oh…”

He looked slightly surprised at my answer.

Raised eyebrows and a subtly twisted mouth.

This guy didn’t seem to believe me.

“Charlotte, huh…”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I believe. If we can’t trust our own kin, who can we trust?”

“Mm…”

Despite his words, he still didn’t seem convinced.

The vampire man led me to the top floor of the hotel.

“What business do we have here?”

“There’s someone you need to meet.”

The vampire man knocked carefully as he said that.

Knock-knock.

The sound echoed around.

Shortly after, a small voice was heard from inside the room.

[Come in.]

As soon as permission was granted, the vampire man opened the door.

He opened the door and gestured for me to enter.

Following his gesture, I stepped inside the room.

The room was overall quite tidy.

There were glass cups on the table.

Filled with a red liquid.

And a woman sat at the head of the table.

Dressed provocatively, revealing her entire figure.

With bright red hair that didn’t seem human.

And skin that softly glowed.

She was also a vampire.

“What’s your level and nickname?”

The same question again.

I frowned and answered.

“Charlotte. Level 20.”

“Level 20…?”

“You don’t believe me?”

The same reaction again.

At that moment, the door that had been open behind me quietly closed.

I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed.

Why were they reacting like this?

If Blood Carnival was a game where reaching the max level was difficult, their reactions would be understandable.

But Blood Carnival was an easy game where you could reach the max level in just two weeks, even with playing only two hours a day.

As a subtle silence settled,the woman who had been sitting began to move.

She slowly stood up and started approaching me.

“I need to check something… Stay still, okay?”

I looked up at her with a crooked gaze.

What was she planning to do, moving like that?

I watched in a daze for a while.

As she got closer, she suddenly opened her mouth wide, revealing her sharp fangs.

At that moment, I felt hostility as sharp as her fangs.

Since waking up in this body,

the first thing I realized was that shadows react very sensitively to hostility directed at me.

This time was no different.

Crash-!

Just like with the man who had stabbed my neck with a metal skewer,

the female vampire who tried to sink her fangs into me was swallowed by a giant beast.

The beast made of shadows chewed the vampire, tearing her apart like a piece of meat with its sharp teeth.

Crunch-crunch-crack-

The sound of bones breaking and flesh being ground echoed chillingly for a while.

The vampire disappeared, leaving only a handful of blood.

At that moment, a flood of memories surged like a wave.