Monster in Reality

A moment earlier.

Salana felt that something is odd about the abandoned warehouse, the place exclude an air of eeriness that brings about a bad omen. Thus, she suggested that Blake should use Maura as bait, she wanted him to play safe albeit being invincible in the real world.

Under his newfound strength, even high-level athletes wouldn't be able to beat him.

Thanks to his quickened integration with the Spectral Vampire race, he surpasses human capabilities and can even dodge bullets. Nobody in the whole wide world could even attempt to do what he did.

It's without a doubt that he's invincible in the current real world.

As long as he didn't mess with the military or police department, he should be fine.

Occasionally while he was following Maura from the shadows, he uses his Nocturnal Blood Sight skill to check if there was anyone within range. Surprisingly enough, he saw a couple of figures inside the abandoned warehouse.

Blake wanted to go in to check but Salana stopped him.

Knowing that he was never in a situation such as this before because of his soft world, Salana told him that it would be way better if he could assess the situation as much as possible before making a move.

If Maura is not in trouble, then he shouldn't come out easily.

Listening to Salana who is trying to teach him how to survive, Blake kept a close watch on Maura before eventually, she stumbled across the pile of torn corpses at the corner of the abandoned warehouse.

Right at that moment, Blake was also surprised.

'Cannibal...? Is her organization some kind of cult? Judging from her reaction, she seems to be surprised too so that must not be it' Blake frowns, he was expecting mercenaries to await her, not the sight of piled bodies.

Blake inspects around and finds numerous scars from the slaughter.

The walls were smeared with crimson blood, bloody hand imprints can be seen on the steel fences and factory machines, and there are also rounds of bullet shells scattered around which shows the horror the dead corpses were facing before their ultimate demise.

It got him thinking about whether he was dealing with a psychotic serial killer.

Just then his attention went back again to Maura, she yelped at the sight of a figure with piercing yellow eyes behind her, his body is shrouded in darkness. It might be hard for her to see the figure clearly, but Blake could see the figure without difficulty.

Aside from the figure's glowing yellow eyes, he seems human.

Even though that is the case, Blake can clearly tell that he was not dealing with a human. It shocks him to the core at the sight of this figure, 'H- He's not a human...? I'm confused, this is the real world, how could there be a monster!' he exclaimed inside his head.

Blake came to that conclusion because of the evident proof in front of him.

The figure with glowing yellow eyes has weirdly pointy ears, his skin is graying but doesn't look like it's rotting, and all of his teeth are razor-sharp and thick, almost like a piranha, and they were jutting out of his mouth viciously.

On top of that, the figure also doesn't have any blood inside of him.

Salana told him that the integration would start a month from the game's launching date.

It's already weird enough that he integrated faster than the others.

Due to that Blake couldn't help but think this figure was nothing more than an actual monster. If the figure is a Privileged Player just like him, then he should've seen his Persona. But there was nothing behind this figure.

"Hmmm...? I thought your world only contains humans?" Salana uttered in confusion.

Upon hearing her asking that, Blake also gulps harshly in response as he that is what he believed throughout his entire life. But the figure with glowing yellow eyes proved that that is not the case, there's more than human in this world.

"I also thought that too, there shouldn't be anything but humans. How did this happen...?"

Just then, he realized Maura is in trouble and decided to step in.

Back to the present.

"Sorry, this girl here is mine, she's my food. I can't let you people touch her"

Albeit Blake announced that with such confidence, in truth, he was very shaken right now. Out of the people that surrounded him, the figure with glowing yellow eyes was the only one that doesn't have blood inside of him.

In addition, the other people here don't look like normal people either.

"Hmmm...? Who are you?" the figure asked with a frown.

Blake snapped out of his daze and decided to calm himself down, he needs to use this opportunity to gain more information. It's not what he was looking for, but a man-eating monster is something he needs to know.

Pondering briefly, he then grinned and puts his face close to Maura's neck.

"Can't you see for yourselves?"

Maura wanted to pull away but Blake's arm is wrapping around her neck, she couldn't muster any strength to push him away. In addition, she felt weak with Blake's face so close to her neck, the cold breaths that brushed against her skin were akin to anesthesia being injected into her body.

Even the two punctured wounds caused by Blake were throbbing from this gesture alone.

Blake ignored her reaction and pulled her hair away to expose her delicate neck.

It gives a clear way for the figure to see the two punctured wounds, and at the sight of this, the figure's expression quickly darkens, "A Vampire...? I thought we already settled this feud recently, do you want another fight, Vampire? If not then you're doing a big mistake here"

"South and east are our hunting turf, yours are west and north. Trespassing and killing our newborns are offensive acts we do not take lightly..." the figure added with a threatening tone.

In an instant, the air around the figure's body turns hostile toward Blake.

On the other hand, Blake was in a state of disbelief.

Listening to what the figure said made his eyes widen and widen even more, he has never expected that there was a secret world that he and most of the public do not know, 'Hunting turf...? What is he talking about? This can't be real, I must be dreaming!" Blake exclaimed inside his head.

Despite not expecting much, learning this was akin to a bombshell exploding in his head.

Now he realized that there are actual monsters in his world.

Blake's mind was in a mess right now, but he doesn't have any time to idle around when the two people that he killed before slowly stands up once again. It makes his eyes bulge, these two were supposed to be dead, 'I broke their necks, how could they stand?!'

It was then, Maura suddenly whispered, "What are we going to do...?"

"I don't think we could avoid this fight. When it starts, I want you to run away" Blake replied whisperingly, he then pauses for a second before he forces Maura to look into his glowing red eyes, "But you can only go back to the apartment"

Fearing that Maura would try to run away, he decided to compel her just in case.

Out of nowhere, Blake sensed something approaching him quickly from the front. Turning his head, he finds the figure with glowing yellow eyes already lunging towards him, pulling his arm back for a swipe.

"Run! Now!" Blake pushed Maura to the side before crossing his arms in front of him.

Bam!

Surprisingly, Blake got flung away from blocking that attack and he could also hear a boney sound coming from his right arm, followed by a sharp sting. Crashing onto the wall, he gasped as the force behind the attack was out of his expectations.

Taking a look at his arm, he finds four blood claw marks on it.

In addition, he also felt the bone in his right arm cracked. Now he was slapped with reality, turns out he was not invisible in the real world. The figure with glowing yellow eyes was stronger than him.

Glancing to Maura who was running away, the figure squinted his eyes.

"Catch her and bring her to me. This is our turf and she's our prey, not this Vampire's prey"

Upon hearing the command, the other people ran after Maura.

Blake recovered from the attack and straighten his back again. Since the figure doesn't have any blood inside of him, he couldn't use the Nocturnal Blood Sight skill to predict his attack which is quite troublesome.

"I think he's a Ghoul, there's no doubt about it" Salana uttered from the side.

Although he was already expecting that the figure is not a human, he still feels surreal when he heard what Salana said. After all, this is the real world, and yet there's a Ghoul on the loose that is eating humans.

Glancing at Blake, Salana could tell what he was thinking.

"Focus, don't be distracted by the pain and the fear of dying. I believe you can use the Shadow Step and Blood Lance skill if you're focused enough, fighting this Ghoul wouldn't be a problem" Salana reprimanded, finding that he was panicking.

However, it's natural, this is not inside the game but in the real world.

Despite he has never experienced death inside the game world, he knows that if he did then he would be respawned shortly after. But in this situation, if he dies, then he would die for real and wouldn't be respawned.

Just knowing that alone shrinks his courage, he was fearing for his life.

Realizing that Blake was entranced in fear, not listening to what she was saying, Salana slapped him hard across the face. Grabbing his collar, she then shouted sternly, "Fear is not necessarily a bad thing, it can be used in many ways including to preserve your life. It's only a bad thing if it makes you panic like this!"

Feeling the burn on his cheek, Blake blinks his eyes a couple of times.

Blake then reaches to his burning cheek before he snapped out of his daze, his pupils then dilated as he regained back his focus, "I- I'm sorry, I was only surprised. I'm calmer now thanks to you"

After saying that, he then went into his battle stance.

"How old are you, Vampire...? I can smell your young blood from the way you react, and that's not good" the figure with glowing yellow eyes taunted, he tilts his head to the side a little menacingly.

Upon hearing this, Blake takes a deep breath to calm his nerve.

Looking back at the figure with sharp eyes and a wide grin, he then replied, "Now, now... don't start talking shit to me, it's going to be very embarrassing for you and your people if you lost to a young Vampire like me"

"Especially when as you said it yourself, this is your hunting turf..." he added gravelly.