I don’t know how long passed before I slowly came to. After a moment of disorientation, my blurry vision gradually cleared. A vast blue sky stretched above me, so beautiful it seemed ready to draw my soul right out of my body. If I remember correctly, not long after the AI rebellion began, Pandora scattered huge quantities of nanoparticles through the stratosphere. They blocked out the sunlight and utterly destroyed the agriculture humanity depended on to survive. From then on, even on the clearest days, the sun couldn’t pierce that layer of black haze.

After fifteen years as a creature of the night, that cloudless blue sky was blinding. I instinctively raised a hand to shield my eyes, but what appeared before me wasn’t the thick, enhanced arm I was used to. It was smooth, delicate, snow-white skin.

Huh? What’s going on?

I sat bolt upright, then nimbly climbed out of the coffin tucked away in the shadows. Before me lay the ruins of a crumbling castle. Its ivy-covered walls and broken ramparts looked as if they’d been abandoned for years. My throat was unbearably dry. I needed… water! The sound of running water came from nearby. Somehow, there was a fountain in the middle of the collapsed hall. I staggered toward it and scooped up the cool water with both hands, gulping it down desperately.

The thirst didn’t seem to ease, but at least my throat didn’t hurt as much. Once I’d calmed down a little, I looked into the fountain. Reflected in the clear water was a beautiful young girl who looked no older than fifteen. She had long, almost translucent silver hair, with pointed ears peeking out from beneath it. Her red eyes gleamed like two gemstones. She was incredibly pretty. But she was wearing nothing but a light lace nightgown, its very short hem revealing a pair of shapely legs. It was a little… racy.

Oh, wow. A beautiful girl!

I stared, entranced, at the beautiful girl reflected in the water, completely forgetting my dry throat. But the girl in the water made the exact same movements as me, then wore the exact same look of shock. Wait, wait, wait. I love anime girls, but I refuse to become one myself! I’m a practical guy, famous for it. This is no joke! Isn’t becoming a harem-protagonist in a world of swords and magic just common sense?

(Display status window.)

A square holographic window suddenly popped open in front of me.

Name: Elsa von Lancelot

Gender: Female

Race: Vampire (True Ancestor)

Level: LV1/LV999.

Skills: Blood Sucking, Blood Weapon, Mist Form, Beast Bloodline, Mecha Master.

Titles: Last Vampire Princess (Innate/Hidden), Otherworld Transmigrator (Hidden).

Status Effects: Loli-fied, Blood Thirst (Severe).

Staring at this bizarre status window, I fell into thought. Could this be some third-rate VRMMORPG? Maybe I was lying in a military hospital’s critical-care pod, and some sadistic doctor had hooked me up to a neural interface and tossed me into a game world.

To make matters worse, the game’s default character was this silver-haired, red-eyed beauty—and she was a vampire!

Let me say it again: I love all kinds of anime girls, but I don’t want to become one!

At least let me use a male character, damn it!

“Log out!” I shouted. “Open the system menu and log me out of the game right now!”

My bell-like voice echoed through the ruins. The usual VR game interface didn’t appear; only the status window bobbed around with my gaze. While I was wondering how I’d beat up the bastard who’d put me in the game once I got out, a crossbow bolt suddenly pierced my chest. The bloodied arrowhead swam before my eyes, and I toppled to the ground in a dizzy spell.

“Did you hit it?”

“Don’t underestimate a veteran crossbowman. When have I ever missed?”

Unfamiliar voices rang out in the ruins. I heard soft footsteps and cautiously watched from the corner of my eye as two oddly dressed men crept toward me. They wore rough cloth clothes beneath leather armor. One of them carried a crossbow. He must’ve been the one who shot me.

What kind of third-rate studio made this game? Is this really how you handle the tutorial?

Still, for an experienced “player” like me, dealing with two starter NPCs would be a piece of cake. First, I checked my status. My arms and legs seemed to work. Next, I tried using a skill. At a thought, the skill window replaced the status window. I had only three active skills: Blood Weapon, Mist Form, and Blood Sucking.

Blood Sucking was a passive skill. I might as well set it to activate automatically, leaving me with only two choices.

The NPCs finally reached my side. When they saw the crossbow bolt in my back, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Heh-heh-heh. Hunting vampires isn’t hard at all. Two gold coins, easy money. We got lucky.”

“But… something’s not right. Aren’t vampires supposed to turn to ash when they die?”

“What are you talking about? It’s not a vampire? Damn it, could this be a kid from one of the nearby villages? We’ve killed someone! What do we do?”

“What do you think? Run!”

Before he’d finished speaking, something went flying. One of the NPCs’ heads rolled away, his dead eyes glaring at me. Wait. I hadn’t even moved! How did someone die?

“Shit, a vampire! Guh—”

Well, the second NPC was dead too! A creature that looked like a bat had grabbed him and sunk its teeth into his neck. Blood sprayed everywhere. But the blood didn’t flow into the creature’s mouth. It curved through the air and rushed straight into my body. So my passive skill, Blood Sucking, had activated. I’d sucked the blood out of both unlucky NPCs.

A flood of knowledge rushed into my mind along with the blood. Was this part of the tutorial too?

In an instant, I read all the memories carried in the blood. I learned that I was in the ruins of a place called Silvermoon City, and that the two “mercenaries” had recently taken a vampire-hunting job from the mercenary guild in Nagu Town. The rest of the information covered local customs, geography, and a bunch of other odds and ends.

The vampire dropped the corpse, now pale from blood loss, and stared in confusion at me, lying on the ground and pretending to be dead. Then it suddenly seemed to realize something. With a deafening roar, it lunged at me. At the last possible moment, I activated Mist Form and instantly dissolved into a cloud of gray mist. Strangely, even though my body had turned to mist, I could still see—and move around inside it. The vampire swung its head around in the mist, confusion written all over its ugly face. I seized this once-in-a-lifetime chance and activated my second active skill: Blood Weapon! The blood swirling through the air gathered in my palm, forming a red dagger. Without hesitation, I plunged it into the vampire’s back. It let out a piercing shriek, writhing in pain as it stumbled forward. Then it slipped, and the two of us tumbled out of the castle window, landing in the bright sunlight outside. The moment the sunlight touched it, the vampire burst into flames like burning charcoal and quickly crumbled into a pile of white ash. I stared in shock as it turned to ash beneath the sun. Then I remembered that I was a vampire too—but… I didn’t seem to be having any trouble in the sunlight.

(System Notice: Defeated Vampire (Lowest Rank). EXP penalty applied for using a natural condition (sunlight). Gained EXP 50. Level increased.)

The vampire got roasted by the sun, and it doesn’t even count as my kill?

Name: Elsa von Lancelot

Gender: Female

Race: Vampire (True Ancestor)

Level: LV2/LV999.

Skills: Blood Sucking, Blood Weapon, Mist Form, Beast Bloodline, Mecha Master, Herbalism (Beginner), Potion Making (Beginner), Sniper’s Eye (Beginner), Swordsmanship (Beginner), Swift Run (Intermediate).

Titles: Last Vampire Princess (Innate/Hidden), Otherworld Transmigrator (Hidden), Vampire Slayer.

Status Effects: Loli-fied.

I’d gained several new skills, and my status effects were down to just one: “**-ification.” The blood thirst was gone, and I’d leveled up to LV2. All in all, it looked like a pretty good result. So that was the tutorial, huh? I might’ve spent fifteen years serving in the Human United Army’s mecha division, but before the war began, I was an old otaku who’d been obsessed with VR games! Everything before me brought back fond memories of my youth. Back then, I was just a guy hopelessly hooked on VR games. AI still served humanity faithfully, and Cyber City’s latest technological breakthroughs made the news every day. Human civilization was flourishing. Neon lights of every color glittered in the night, proclaiming an age of prosperity that would never fade.

“This game actually seems pretty good,” I said, looking at my pale hands. “But I should probably change out of this flimsy nightgown, right?”

With that thought, I turned toward the two NPCs’ corpses. Time to loot some gear.

After searching the bodies, I managed to put together a passable set of “starter gear.” Sturdy trousers and deerskin boots would let me travel long distances through the forest, while the slightly battered shirt and leather armor offered decent protection. The archer NPC’s tricorne hat would keep the sun off me, too. Finally, I took their crossbow and one-handed sword, then stowed their camping gear and other odds and ends in my “item box.”

My old gaming instincts were gradually coming back. Until my body was healed, I might as well make up for all the anime I’d missed and enjoy some VR gaming for the first time in ages. With that thought, I turned and walked out of the ivy-covered, ruined castle, heading downhill toward Nagu Town. That had to be the starter village. I hoped the NPCs would give me a few beginner quests and help me get some decent gear.

I was young once, too, hahaha~~

I activated Swift Run and sped along the mountain path. A blue bar appeared on the right side of my vision. Was that the legendary MP bar? Looks like it only showed up when I was using MP. Pretty convenient. I remembered that Swift Run cost five MP per second, but the blue bar wasn’t going down at all. Was it bugged? Whatever. I liked running!

I ran all the way into the forest at the foot of the mountain, then stopped on the overgrown road and looked back at the ruins on the hillside. The distance-judging skills I’d picked up piloting mechs let me estimate how far away things were with ease. It wasn’t nearly as accurate as a laser rangefinder, but it came in handy when the fire-control system was damaged. The castle was at least fifteen kilometers from where I stood. I’d run that far and didn’t even feel tired. This game’s settings weren’t very realistic.

Just then, the blazing sun emerged from behind a cloud drifting in the wind. Bright sunlight fell across me, and sharp pains immediately flared up in my pale skin. A wave of exhaustion followed. Was sunlight really that dangerous to me? I dragged my tired body beneath the shade of a tree. The moment I escaped the direct sunlight, I felt much better. I opened my status window and saw a new status effect: “Photophobia.” This debuff lowered all my stats by 20 percent. Pretty serious.

So vampires really do fear sunlight. Looks like I’ll have to buy an umbrella in the starter village.