Chapter 2:

[Classes don't unlock until you reach Level 1…]

'Fantastic.' I thought sarcastically. Here I was barely an hour into my brand new life, and I was already going to have to fight for it. This was not how I thought things would be going.

Especially considering I have to fight without any Gamer abilities!

What did the system think I was supposed to do, summon my Sephiroth Graal and chuck it at their heads!?

[I'm sorry, but it wasn't up to me. It's been hardwired into my programming. All new Gamers have to go through surprise trials like this to prove that they're worthy of their Systems. Luckily for you, these people only have guns. My last Host started in a more Supernatural world, and he had to go up against magic wielding demons at level zero!]

I'm pretty sure that Harry Potter counts as a Supernatural world too. I just happened to luck out and not have to fight a bunch of evil wizards right now.

I'm thankful for that at least. Guns are incredibly dangerous, but one guy with a gun could never be as dangerous as a trained wizard with a wand could be. A single fiendfyre spell can burn down an entire city if no other wizards stop it in time!

The two gang members crossed the street and stood directly in front of me. My new body wasn't very tall, only about 5 and a half feet, so they both intimidatingly towered over me.

It was very dark out, and there weren't any working street lights, yet I could make these two out perfectly. It seemed that I had perfect night vision as a Dhampir.

"What do you think you're doing in T-bone's territory?" The one on the right spat at me. He was the taller of the two and also had a lot more muscle. No doubt he could break me in half with my current pitiful stats.

"You some kind of a narc? You wearing a wire? We heard you talking to someone a second ago!" The paranoid one on the left reached into his waistband and pulled out a glock! He pointed it directly at my forehead. "I say we waist this dumb bitch here and now!"

"Please don't…" I practically whispered.

Was I afraid? Of course I was afraid! I had never had a gun to my head before.

I could feel tears start to form in my eyes, but as soon as they did, they vanished along with any fear that I was feeling. No emotions seem to remain except for calm logic.

{Gamers Mind Activated! It is set to activate in all combat encounters by default.}

I felt unnaturally calm. Normally, I would be freaking out over my emotions being blatantly manipulated, but at this moment all I could be was thankful. I was preparing to reach into my inventory and pull out my knife. I wasn't going down without a fight!

Thankfully, the fight didn't start just yet.

The man on the right placed his hand on his friend's gun, and lowered it away from my face.

I sighed in relief.

"Now, now, Marco. No need to get so jumpy. It's dark but I can tell that this bitch has a pretty good figure. It would be a shame to do her in like that and waste a fun opportunity. I'll tell you what, girly. Why don't you have some fun with my friend and I, and then we'll let you go? What do you say?" He asked me while licking his lips.

I was disgusted by his offer and obviously knew what kind of fun he was talking about. I begrudgingly had to lie, and agree, to get the other guy to put his gun away.

"Heh, good idea! We've been standing guard out here all night, and I think we deserve a little reward." The other one said to his friend before also giving me a lewd look and placing his pistol back in his waistband. He pointed off to the side. "There's a nice alley right there, follow us bitch, and don't try to run!" He demanded and started walking over there.

I was thankful that it was so dark out and neither of them could see my face very well. Otherwise, with my beauty, these disgusting creeps might have pounced on me right then and there…

Unlike them, I could see perfectly though. That was my best advantage over them. That pitch black alley he was leading us to was even better for me!

I calmly did as I was told and followed the two men. I had to bide my time till they were completely defenseless. I only had one Iron Knife in my inventory and I had to pick the perfect time to strike both of them with it!

These disgusting dregs thought they were going to touch me…they were in for a very rude awakening!

…

I followed them off the dark streets to an even darker back alley. Why would they lead me back here? I could tell they couldn't even see a few feet in front of their own faces.

"So which of us is going to go first, Marco?" The trigger happy one asked.

"I need to go first!" The one named Marco replied. "My bitch of an ex thought she could break up with me last week and I'm on a dry spell! I showed her what happened to anyone who dares to leave me! No bitch is allowed to dump me! Her body ended up in a dumpster like the trash she was. Just like that last one that thought she was too good for me!" He hatefully spat out.

"Damn straight!" The other one enthusiastically added.

If I wasn't already planning on stabbing this pig, I would have done so just for that comment! He literally just admitted to murdering at least his last two girlfriends…

The other guy laughed menacingly. "Heheh! It seems like Marco is really pent up, girly. I hope he doesn't break you before I get a turn!"

I didn't comment anything back no matter how much I wanted to. That would have put them on guard and been stupid. It was better for me to pretend to be a meek little victim at this point. "Please don't hurt…" I said as meekly as I could.

They both laughed so I figured my acting was believable enough. Marco led me further into the dark alley, while the other guy went back towards the street to give us some "alone time."

When he was far enough away, a menacing grin appeared on my face. My blood was pumping as I reached into my inventory and grasped the handle of my iron knife.

I heard the sound of a fly unzipping and pants falling to the ground. Marco was now defenseless! The idiot had also set his gun down on the ground next to his pants!

"Alright, bitch! Get on your knees and gaaah!" His words were cut off brutally!

I thrust the iron knife directly into his throat as hard as my current strength would allow me! Thankfully for me, it was soft tissue, and no matter how much muscle this guy had, he couldn't make his throat any tougher.

I yanked it back out just as quickly! Blood splattered my form as Marco stumbled backwards clutching at his throat.

There was so much blood oozing out, that I knew he was already dead. He did as well, judging by the horrified look he had in his eyes.

"Marco are you ok!? What's going on?" The other guy panicked at the gurgling noise and called out. He came rushing back, gun drawn, when he heard the noise.

I quickly hid behind a dumpster in case he started randomly shooting.

"Marco? This isn't funny, man! It's too dark to see! Make some noise or something? Marco!" He was stumbling forward pointing his gun around in every direction. Thankfully, he hadn't fired yet.

He walked directly towards his friend's body, but he couldn't see it. He ended up stumbling over the corpse and falling directly on top of it. As he did so, his gun fell out of his hand and clattered on the ground.

"Fuck!" He cursed. "What the hell did I trip on?" He tried to reach for the weapon he dropped, but he couldn't see where it fell.

He would never get to find out.

He lost his gun and that was all I needed! I leapt out of my hiding spot and sprinted at him!

He spun around quickly when he heard my loud footsteps, but it was too dark and he was too late. I thrust my Iron Knife forwards and stabbed him directly in the same spot as I had Marco!

I had just killed another man…

More blood was now splattered across my form as I once again yanked my knife out of another body. My white shirt was completely stained red at this point.

"Holy fuck! I actually did it!" I exclaimed in pure relief…and excitement!?

Why was I feeling so happy about killing them? I thought I would be more horrified with what I had just done, but I felt nothing for them!

All I felt was pure elation! "Killing those two was easy! I can't wait to rip all the other gang bangers apart like the juicy meat sacks that they ar–"

[Whoa! Calm down Valerie! Take some deep breaths to calm down before you accidentally go into a blood frenzy! Take some deep breaths to calm down before you accidentally go into a blood frenzy! Even Gamer's Mind can't protect you from that!]

I followed the System's advice and took some calming breaths. A let out a long sigh as I calmed down. "What the hell was that? I was ready to storm that building with no hesitation just now!" That would have ended very badly for me!

[You're a Dhampir currently covered in the blood of your enemies for the first time in your life. All that blood splattered on you got you a bit worked up is all. You should be alright now that you know that bloodlust you felt is just your Vampire instincts kicking in.]

"Thanks for snapping me out of that, System."

Still though, I could hardly believe that I was afraid of these two men earlier. Killing them…had been easy. Not so much physically, but mentally. Was I some kind of heartless monster now?

[...You're half a monster at least.]

"Well, that's reassuring…" I said sarcastically. I didn't know how to feel about becoming a monster so suddenly. I had felt pretty normal, in my new body, until now.

[Don't forget, you're still half human. Just don't lose that part of yourself. I believe in you! Also, don't feel bad about killing scum like these two. They don't deserve pity.]

"Thanks, System! And you're right. Fuck these guys!" I kicked Marco's corpse in the balls just to be extra spiteful! At least I had avenged his past girlfriends if nothing else. "Do I get any XP for killing these two?" I asked.

[Here you go!]

{You have slain: random gang member x2. You have gained 20 XP!}

…Seriously?

All I get for risking my life there is a measly 20 XP? That's crap! I'd have to take out 10 guys total just to get to level 1!?

[Yeah, we System's can't give too much XP for killing low level enemies anymore. Past Gamer's abused it and went on city wide killing sprees to 'Level Up' faster.]

I let out a noise of complaint as I stood up and tried my best to psych myself up to go and kill some more gang members! "Fuck it! Let's do this! I'm a Gamer and I'm not going to give up against some two bit street gang!"

I walked over to the corpses and picked up both of their guns. I didn't know more than the basics on how to use one though.

[Point it at the person you don't like, and pull the trigger?]

Yep. That was about all I knew as well!

I stashed the guns in my inventory for now. I would switch to them only if I had to since I didn't really know how to use them.

No matter how much I wanted to, I wasn't going to storm the building, guns blazing, like Selene from Underworld. I wasn't that kind of Vampire…yet.

I exited the pitch black alley and made my way towards the gang building. It was a run down apartment building covered in graffiti. I noticed that there were lights on in some of the windows. Unlike every other building on this street, this one seemed to be getting power.

That gave me an idea!

I put my finger to my chin in thought. The only reason I was able to take down those two was because they couldn't see in the dark like I could as a Dhampir. Who's to say I couldn't use that same advantage here? It was still night time after all.

I would just need to find the breaker box on the side of the apartment building and kill the power. Once the whole building is plunged into darkness, I can move in and start picking people inside off!

[Great plan!]

I walked over towards the side of the gang building. I was glad that the two guys I killed hadn't made nearly enough noise to alert the people inside. On top of that, I could also hear some loud music blaring loudly inside.

I didn't find anything on the left, so I circled around to the right side.

"Bingo!" I said with a grin. There on the side of the building was a breaker box that wasn't even covered or locked. That just made it easier for me.

The switches were labeled and I put my hand on the one labeled "main." I pulled down and shut off the building's power.

Every single window immediately went dark and the music echoing went silent. I did it!

"What the hell?"

"The fucking power went out. What do I bribe those big city idiots for!?"

"Miguel! Get off your ass and go check the breaker."

"Shouldn't Marco and Rick do that? They're already guarding outside."

"Those retards couldn't screw in a light bulb correctly if you showed them how! Why do you think I only let them guard the door!? Now move your ass!"

"Ok…Ok, I'm going, T-bone!"

I could make out multiple voices coming from inside the building. The guy giving the orders was obviously T-bone, the gang leader. His voice sounded like it was coming from the third floor. He was my main target, of course, but I had to get to him first.

From their conversation, I knew that another guy was coming down to check the breaker. I decided to wait in ambush for him. There was no reason to alert everyone and start shooting immediately if I could quietly pick another guy off quietly.

The gang member, who I assumed was Miguel, stepped out of the building front door. He had a flashlight in his hand and was waving it around. "Marco? Rick? Where the fuck are you idiots? Why are you not guarding the door!?" He pointed his flashlight up and down the street but there was obviously no sign of them. "Fuck…T-Bone is gonna be pissed at those two idiots when he finds they slacked off again." He mumbled to himself as he walked around to the side of the building.

I was hiding behind a pile of discarded waste near the breaker. Thankfully, Miguel didn't shine his light in my direction and was focused solely on the breaker in front of him. Marco and Rick apparently had a habit of slacking off and that was beneficial for me.

I crept out of my hiding spot and snuck up behind him quietly. I was surprised at how quiet I could creep along actually when I was trying to be silent. That must have been another vampire thing…

"What the hell? Who flicked the main breaker off!?" Miguel asked out loud while inspecting it with his flashlight.

He was so engrossed, that he didn't notice someone was standing directly behind him…

I stood on my toes and leaned forward. "I did…" I whispered in his ear.

"Fuck!" He jumped in fright, but it was too late for him. My knife reached around and slashed him directly across the throat! I was getting pretty good with this knife!

He tried to let out a scream, but all that came out were strained gurgles as he started stumbling around the alley we were in while clutching his throat. Blood leaked down his front in a steady stream as he eventually fell to his knees. The last thing he did was look at me in shock before he collapsed lifeless to the ground.

{+10XP}

I reached into his waistband and grabbed another pistol off of the corpse. That brought my makeshift gun collection up to three!

I hurried to the front door. I figured I didn't have a lot of time before anyone else in the dark building realized something was wrong since Miguel didn't reset the breaker. I opened the door quietly and snuck into the main lobby. The interior was rank. It was filled with garbage, used needles, and old fast food wrappers.

I made sure not to step on anything pointy as I crept towards the stairwell.

"What the fuck is taking Miguel so long…"

"I don't know man, it's dark as shit and Miguel had our only flashlight. "

Two gang members were standing in the stairwell, between the first and second floor. Neither of them could see me even though I was only a few meters away from them.

"I wish our boss wasn't so paranoid and let us bring our phones with us. It's too damn dark and this place is creepy without lights!"

"Shhhh! Don't let T-Bone hear you saying that! He's super paranoid, and he thinks cell phones are the devil! He doesn't trust anything that's been designed by Stark or Richards!"

They were having a very enlightening conversation that had me very curious, but I couldn't waste anymore time listening in. I needed to make my move now

Even though it was dark, the two of them were still too close together for me to take them down with a knife one at a time. The stairwell was narrow and they could easily grab me even if they couldn't see.

I didn't want to take that risk.

I let out an internal sigh. It looked like I was going to be imitating Selene afterall…

I reached into my inventory and pulled out one of the handguns. I made sure the safety was switched to off before pointing it at the two of them. This was going to be very loud from here on out.

I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger!

XXX

Bang!