Chapter 2
Kimchi Jjigae, Jeyuk Bokkeum, Yangnyeom Chicken…
I’m sorry; I miss you!
Tears threatened to fall as the worldly flavors I loved flashed through my mind.
Sob, sob. I should have treated you better when I had you.
“Give me back my Soul Food - !”
But there was nowhere I could go to complain.
Who could I even tell that just yesterday I was a 22-year-old job seeker, but woke up as a silver-haired little kid who couldn’t even eat a single piece of garlic?
I couldn’t really feel the EX-Rank Class yet, but becoming a girl and not being able to eat garlic hit me right away.
I was wallowing in despair for a moment before I suddenly raised my head.
Come to think of it, a Vampire has other weaknesses.
Famous ones besides garlic.
Crosses and Sunlight.
Crosses… well, there aren’t any around me right now, so let’s set that aside.
Let’s look at my Home Base right now.
I had already drawn the Blackout Curtains as a basic requirement for a Home Base gamer, but a single ray of light was leaking in through a gap in the curtains, perhaps because it was morning.
Gasp?!
If that touches me, won’t I burn up and turn into a handful of dust?
I reflexively ran as far away from the light as possible.
Then I covered my body with a blanket to protect myself as much as possible and… heave-ho.
With trembling hands, I managed to close the curtains completely.
However, a very tiny gap remained at the edge of the old curtains, letting a sliver of light fall through.
“Ugh, this is scary.”
I gulped.
A moment later.
A sudden sense of curiosity and wonder came over me.
“…Should I still test it out?”
It would be hard to live my whole life without ever touching Sunlight.
The garlic from earlier only tasted like garbage and didn’t actually cause any physical abnormalities, so there probably wouldn’t be any massive damage.
…Right?
I hesitated before carefully approaching the floor where the light was falling.
And then I lightly brought just my pinky finger to it.
“…”
Fortunately, I didn’t turn into dust like I had worried.
My flesh didn’t burn, nor did my skin melt away.
Instead.
“Mmm…”
My head churned with unpleasant nausea.
It felt like the hangover from earlier was suddenly rising back up.
My stomach felt sick, and my head spun. It was that kind of feeling.
‘Ah. So it’s roughly this kind of feeling.’
I understood exactly.
It wasn’t so incredibly fatal that I would die.
It wasn’t like my body suffered any burns or deformations either.
But it gave me a very unpleasant and sickening feeling.
I shuddered and pulled my finger back.
“Ugh. Garlic tastes like food waste, and touching Sunlight gives me motion sickness…!”
It was a relief that I wouldn’t burn to death, but going outside feeling like this was absolutely impossible.
If I went out during the day, I’d have no choice but to groan like someone suffering from seasickness.
Just then, a rumbling sound echoed from my stomach once again.
‘I’ve checked the light. I’ll check crosses later and just eat again for now.’
I have to eat first.
First, I tossed the raw garlic, the roasted garlic, and the ssamjang containing minced garlic straight down the sink drain without any lingering regrets.
Ah - .
You guys are [Discards].
All that remained were a few pieces of beef growing cold in the frying pan, and half a pack of raw Hanwoo beef.
I called up the status window again.
[Blood Power: 2/100]
A little time had passed, so it seemed to have gone up by 1.
I had to fill this gauge up to 50 to use the Class Unique Skill, [Summon Retainer].
‘Let’s see. The Cooldown for Summon Retainer was 30 days, right?’
My play-to-earn gamer instincts squirmed.
What was the golden rule in this Field?
For skills with long cooldowns, it’s always beneficial to start the Cooldown timer first unconditionally.
Saving a 30-day Skill and not using it now?
No way, absolutely not. There is nothing more inefficient than that.
Besides, look at my current state.
The body of a beautiful, tiny, silver-haired girl.
If I were toddling around alone without a guardian in this body, who knows what kind of trouble I’d run into in such a harsh era.
Or I might get dragged off to a missing children’s shelter.
Whatever the case, I absolutely needed a lackey.
The conclusion was set.
I had to quickly fill my Blood Power to 50 and roll the gacha.
Hmm, anyway.
My gaze turned toward the bright red raw meat sitting alone on the dining table.
“This. Why is my mouth watering?”
It wasn’t even beef tartare, but a thick sirloin meant for grilling.
It was obviously a cut that couldn’t be eaten raw.
But for some reason, every time I looked at it earlier, it looked incredibly delicious.
At first, I thought it was just because I was hungry and wanted to grill and eat it quickly, but that wasn’t it.
To be exact, this raw meat itself was whetting my appetite.
Come to think of it, it might be obvious.
I’m a Vampire, after all.
What is a Vampire’s staple food? Blood.
So eating it raw rather than grilled might actually be better for my body.
And to fill my Blood Power, that is, the power of blood, wouldn’t it help to Consume raw meat that contains blood?
“Should I try eating it…?”
Gathering my courage, I brought the chunk of raw meat dripping with red juices to my mouth.
Chew, chew.
A fishy smell spread out along with the squishy texture.
“This is really driving me crazy. The sense of shame is overwhelming…”
I felt pathetic tearing into raw meat in the middle of my Studio Apartment, like some primitive caveman from the Paleolithic era.
However,
“Huh?”
The fishy smell filling my mouth felt unbelievably sweet.
Raw meat has this kind of umami and flavor?
It had the best taste out of all the food I had ever eaten in my life.
Nom nom, smack smack.
Without realizing it, I frantically began to chew and swallow the raw meat.
Crazy. Why is this so delicious?
Is it because my sense of taste really changed into a Vampire’s?
Or is it because it’s 1++ grade Hanwoo beef?
Gulp!
Whatever the case, the raw meat vanished without a trace in an instant.
“Phew-.”
I let out a refreshing, satisfied sigh.
The thirst that had been bothering me earlier completely disappeared, and my stomach was full.
The area around my lips was entirely smeared with bright red stains.
I couldn’t tell since I couldn’t see myself in the mirror, but I surely looked like a little demon from a horror movie.
But none of that mattered.
[Blood Power: 50/100]
‘It’s a success!’
I had reached the target value.
Drinking blood really did fill up my Blood Power.
Eating it raw really is delicious.
Even though it feels a little uncomfortable.
I wiped the bloodstains around my mouth with the back of my hand and looked for wet wipes.
After I neatly wiped my mouth clean with a wet wipe.
“They definitely said on Heon-gael… that you just have to do this to use a Skill.”
I took a deep breath and shouted inwardly.
“Summon Retainer!”
It was at that moment.
Psssh-!
“…?!”
A stream of bright red blood pierced through the skin around my right wrist and surged into the air.
I didn’t even have time to scream in surprise.
It didn’t hurt, but I was still so startled that my heart pounded.
The blood that escaped my body began to clump together into a massive lump in midair.
Squish, squelch.
The mass of blood twisted with strange sounds, gradually taking on the shape of a person.
Arms formed, legs stretched out, and long, voluminous hair cascaded down like a waterfall.
“Wait, when it said mold… it meant literally molding it out of my blood?!”
This is really kind of gross.
As my face scrunched up, the blood floating in the air finally cleared, and a woman touched down lightly on the floor.
“…”
Under the fluorescent lights of the Studio Apartment, her appearance was clearly revealed.
A two-tone ponytail of black hair tinged with pink, tied up high and refreshing.
Slightly pointed, elf-like ears.
A tight-fitting black Maid-style uniform that boasted an impressive sense of volume.
And Blood-red Eyes just like mine.
She slowly raised her head and looked at me.
The emotionless gaze was so sharp it felt like I would be cut just by meeting it.
Her presence made my breath catch in my throat.
‘Wow… she’s incredibly pretty! No, more than that, she looks strong!!’
My Dark Gamer intuition was telling me.
That woman was absolutely no ordinary lackey.
This was definitely an SSR-rank lackey.
At the very least, it felt like she could easily fold a tiny kid like me in half.
The problem was.
“But why is she staring at me so scarily?!”
The fact that she was staring at me so intently without saying a word was clear.
I slowly backed away.
Just then, she took a slow step toward me.
Still wordless, with a murderous glare!
Under that Intimidation, I had no choice but to freeze up like a herbivore standing before a carnivore.
“Ugh, my short 22-year life. Am I going to be beaten to death on the very first day I gender-bent into a girl by the Retainer I pulled with my own Skill…?”
I was so scared that I squeezed my eyes shut.
But at that moment.
Thud.
The sound of something heavy hitting the floor rang out.
I cautiously opened one eye.
And I couldn’t help but be startled.
“…?”
The beautiful girl with the ponytail had a gaze so cold it seemed like she was going to slice me up just a moment ago.
She was now kneeling at my feet like a Knight making a vow, her head bowed deeply.
“Great One.”
She spoke in a trembling voice, as if she were extremely nervous.
“Are you my Creator…!”
Huh?
Wait, the atmosphere here is a bit different from what I expected.