Name: Moonless (can be changed)

Race: Human

Age: 17

Class: Priest

Affiliation: Ten Rings

Strength: B+

Constitution: SSS+

Endurance: SSS+

Mana: SSS+

Spirit: SSS+

Agility: S+

The status screen now was completely different from the old game UI. No more numbers—everything showed up as grades. As a priest, his constitution, endurance, mana, and spirit were all top-tier, even higher than most elite mages. His agility and strength weren’t low either. For a priest, in TEW’s terms, having stats like this basically made him a walking fortress—he could tank, heal, and deal damage.

“Even if my stats are busted, what’s the point? Most of my skills are priest skills, and I’ve only got a few low-level mage spells. If I’d known I’d get isekai’d, I should’ve gone to the Mage Association and learned every last spell. I’m so mad right now!”

“Ten Rings… just wait and see! I’m gonna make our guild’s name ring out in this world!”

“I wonder if this world follows the same settings as in the game? Logically it should. Or maybe this is the story after the main plot.”

“Alright, let’s go! From now on I’m Moonless from the game, not Yue Wu from reality.”

“Time to dip, time to dip.”

There was no map function anymore, but having gear and skills was enough. Priest skills still did damage to dungeon mobs and bosses, because this dungeon belonged to the European Continent, where most monsters were vampires and werewolves. For max-level priest Moonless, everything here was trivial. With just two simple skills—Purification and Holy Light Orb—he could basically steamroll the place.

“Human, wait.”

Just as Moonless was about to rise from the throne and leave, a deep voice came from behind it.

“Who?”

Moonless stopped and paused the idea of leaving. He walked around the throne to check things out before heading off. But when he saw the source of the voice, he froze.

“Hu–human, to see this king and not bow… how–how dare you.”

Behind the throne was a rather dark corner. Standing there was a disheveled little loli— a tiny girl with demon horns, looking only six or seven years old. The moment she met Moonless’s eyes, she sensed the massive mana rolling off him, along with the pressure from his stats. Her voice started trembling as she spoke.

“King? Demon King horns, crimson beast-like eyes, unhealthy pale skin… yeah, that does match the Demon King’s setting. But isn’t the Demon King here supposed to be a male demon? And that guy was already killed off ages ago. How could you be the Demon King? Stop messing around, brat, shoo shoo.”

Moonless looked her over for a while and finally made his judgment. She did look pretty close to the Demon King, but he’d seen the dungeon’s Demon King boss on the official game site. The devs had released all the info about him. On top of that, Moonless didn’t feel any real danger from her, so he decisively rejected her claim.

He had completely forgotten he was currently max level. In other words, right now he was the strongest being in this world. Even if the dungeon’s Demon King really did resurrect and stood in front of him, Moonless could crush him in minutes.

“I’m done talking with you, little loli. Did you get lost? Need me to take you home?”

“Human, how do you know this k—my name?”

“Your name? Your name’s Little Loli?”

“Lori is my name.”

“Soga! Then I’ll take you home, Lori.”

With that, Moonless didn’t care whether she agreed or not. He scooped her up. She struggled in his arms for a bit but couldn’t break free of his grip, and finally gave up.

“Lori, which way do you think leads out?”

The real reason Moonless insisted on carrying her was because he had no map and couldn’t find his way out of the dungeon. As a native, Lori was the perfect living GPS.

“Human, don’t get too full of yourself. Even if thou art strong, thou can’t bully this king like this!”

Lori kept fighting back against Moonless’s “authority.”

“Who says I’m bullying you? I’m sending you home. It’s dangerous here, seriously. Trust me on this one.”

Moonless joked shamelessly.

“...”

Lori didn’t believe a single word, or rather, didn’t even bother listening.

“Human.”

She finally stopped resisting and started guiding him. After a long while, Lori spoke again.

“What is it, Lori?”

Moonless held Lori with his left arm. With his right, he waved his staff, casting Purification and Holy Light Orb to wipe out vampire bats, low-level vampires, and low-level werewolves. He handled it all effortlessly.

“Why can I sense an unimaginably evil aura from thee?”

All along the way, Lori had been curious about why this suddenly-appeared human carried such an evil presence. It was even more terrifying, more despair-inducing, than the supreme beings of the demon realm.

“Oh, you mean the sigil on me?”

Moonless didn’t even have to think before answering.

“Sigil? I can sense a thick, evil aura from thee.”

Lori had never heard of the “sigil” he mentioned. She shook her head and voiced her confusion.

“That’s the Evil of the World. It’s my sigil.”

“May I see it?”

“You wanna see? There’s nothing good to look at. It’s ugly.”

“Let me see it!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll show you, I’ll show you. Don’t get so worked up.”

Faced with Lori’s “mischief,” Moonless finally agreed to show her the sigil on his back—the Evil of the World.

He set Lori down, turned his back to her, and took off his shirt, revealing his back. A sigil covered almost the entire surface. The lines twisted in every direction with no discernible pattern. In one word: chaos. The sigil’s lines were a mess, but that didn’t weaken the intensity of the evil aura even a bit.

“Th–this is… what kind of curse! Even we supreme beings couldn’t produce something like this.”

Lori was visibly shocked at the sight of Moonless’s back.

“This is a world-class sigil. Impressive, right? Back then, there were ten of us, and they all let me have it.”

Moonless remembered the scene when he’d obtained the Evil of the World. If the game hadn’t limited each person to equipping only two sigils, and if they weren’t bound and non-removable, he might not have gotten it. In-game, the Evil of the World was insanely strong for him: immunity to all dark-attribute attacks and all debuffs. Not only that, it boosted the power of his own debuffs. That was how Moonless, a mid-tier player, had climbed into the upper ranks.

“Humans really are ugly. Sacrificing one person like that.”

Lori suddenly felt sorry for him. A world-class curse like this wasn’t something just anyone could endure. Not even gods.

“What did you say?”

Moonless didn’t catch her words.

“Nothing, human.”

“Hm?”

“Wouldst thou consider abandoning humanity and becoming demonkin?”

“Why?”

“Because humans are a selfish and treacherous race. Countless of our demonkin have been slaughtered by humans. Yet humans go around claiming we’re the most evil race in the world, that we want to conquer everything. If thou returnest to the human side now and the strong ones there find out thou bearest this evil aura, they’ll execute thee. So why not join demonkind? We’re not like the other races say. We’ve always wanted peace—it’s just that the others won’t allow it.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine~ It’ll be okay.”

Watching Lori get more and more worked up, Moonless put his shirt back on, turned around, and placed his hand on her head.

Feels so nice to touch~

That was Moonless’s honest impression as he petted her hair.

“Hmph! I don’t care what happens to you. If humans kill you later, I won’t save you!”

Lori slapped his hand away and turned her head aside.

“You’re such a tsundere.”

Moonless smiled. He was really starting to like this stubborn, willful little loli. Without thinking about it, he’d already started treating her like a little sister. The thought of parting once he left the dungeon did make him feel a bit regretful.

“Tsundere? What is that?”

Lori didn’t know the word. She turned back, looking at him curiously.

“Tsundere is tsundere. Yup. Tsundere is just… tsundere.”

Moonless explained shamelessly, having no idea what he was actually saying.

“Humans really are evil!”

Lori puffed up and turned away again, ignoring him.

“This is for you. Think of it as a welcome gift from me.”

Moonless reached into the space of King’s Treasury and took something out.

“What is it?”

Lori turned back. When she saw what was in his hand, she froze.

“This is called the Heart of the True Ancestor. It’ll help you a lot. I’m giving it to you.”

What he took out was a necklace— a saint-tier piece of gear he’d gotten as a boss drop before he was transported. He’d checked the effects back then; it was completely useless for him. But for a little loli with vampire blood, it would be huge. So he directly put it around her neck.

“I won’t be swayed just because you gave me something! And even if humans really do come to hunt you down, I won’t go save you, hmph!”

At his action, Lori’s face went bright red. She lowered her head, not daring to look at him.

“Let’s keep moving. Which way now?”

Moonless didn’t notice her change at all. He simply picked her up again and continued on.

“That way.”

Stammering, Lori pointed in a direction.

“Can you tell me your name?”

When they were only a few dozen meters from the dungeon exit, Lori lifted her head, her cheeks slightly flushed, and asked.

“Moonless. Just call me Moonless.”

“I’m Lori. Lori Dark Zscheuter.”

Moonless glanced at her and found she was telling the truth—her name really was Lori, basically the same as “loli.” Floating above her head was a faint virtual bar showing her name and her race.

Vampire.

Lori was a pureblood vampire.

“How old are you?”

Maybe Moonless was just curious after realizing she was a vampire and casually asked. But that one line made Lori’s face go even redder.

Wh–what do I do! Is–is he going to swear himself to me?

Sh–should I accept him?

But he’s human, and humans have such short lifespans…

What do I do, I think… I think I like him.

Maybe I can just turn him into a vampire later.

Yes. Let’s do that.

Moonless’s question left Lori completely frozen as she spun in circles inside her head, trying to decide what to do next.

“Alright, we’re at the exit. I’m heading out. Let’s say our goodbyes here.”

Moonless still had no idea why Lori kept blushing whenever she looked at him. In his eyes, Lori was just a little girl. Maybe, he thought, for the women of this world, being held in a guy’s arms like that was a bit embarrassing. So once they reached the exit, he gently set her down and said goodbye.

“Ah! So soon? It’s right here! I could take you to live in the demon realm. It’s not any worse than life among humans.”

Freed from his arms, Lori stared at him, reluctant. She truly hoped Moonless could stay with her, live by her side, and not go back to humans who might discover the curse he bore.

“Thanks. If I really can’t survive over there, I’ll come find you.”

Moonless was truly grateful that Lori had invited him to the Demon Realm, but he really wanted to experience adventure in this world. He’d finally crossed over; how could he just live quietly? He had to cherish this chance—roaming the world and exploring everywhere, that was a man’s romance.

“Alright then, I’ll wait for you to come find me in the Demon Realm.”

That’s what Lori said, but who knew what she was really thinking. One of her hands kept tightly holding the gift Moonless had given her.

“I’m heading out. And make sure you really use what I gave you. See you, little loli.”

Before leaving, Moonless reached out and gently patted Lori on the head, smiling as he said goodbye.

“As expected of the one I chose. I’ll treasure this token forever. Forever!”

Standing by the exit, Lori watched the figure in front of her grow smaller and smaller. A blissful smile slowly appeared on her face, as if she were completely lost in the moment.