I'm still trapped in what is supposed to be my subconscious... now what? Maybe I should finally check my status now that I have a minute, I was drowning in something like the Glitch Zone after all, this probably left a mark...

A lot of damage. At least the magic gained by the glitch affinity is gone. No more risk of THAT mess creating another Glitch Zone by accident.

But a lot of classes and their related skills are also gone. All my efforts just... undone...

Though if I were to look on the bright side, this seems to also be an opportunity.

I didn't really want Survivor and ironically enough, that class didn't survive. What is the thing that took its place?

Keeping [Trap Lore] is a plus and [Drain Touch] looks nice, a way to recover some resources. Wait, it is a spell, so I'd have to charge the spell for 5 seconds as usual, in touch range... very niche and I need very high stats before it even cuts even... Bah. By the time this is worth the effort of restraining a target for the cast duration, my passive regeneration will most likely be strong enough that I won't need it anymore.

[Undead Resilience]... does that mean any non-magical attack I use now eats into my HP? Not sure I like that. The extra bulk is welcome but... not sure I like how I could cast an SP-based spell like [Blood Burst] more often now or hate how that indirectly kills me. Well, Blood Mage is gone, and [Blood Burst] with it, so I still have the option to just not learn it again.

The garbled sonar skill might be helpful the next time I suspect a trap or ambush. Uh, why was that already in my skill section? Do I already meet this garbled level requirement? No idea but the system says yes, so lucky, I guess.

Well, I wasn't using Survivor's Spear skills anyway, so aside from the raw HP and VIT loss, it is an improvement.

But negative stat growth, four skills and unusual unlock levels, yeah, this is clearly not a legit class.

Next change, what happened to Vampire Noble?

Bye, bye, [Beast Killer], you never triggered anyway. And instead, Fate is just trolling me with [Cure Boost].

I still can't use [Cure Magic], can I?

No, nothing changed there. Only the text was fixed. Why does it feel like the devas just rubbing their contempt for us in my face? Bastards...

For all the good [Cure Boost] does, you could've just as well given me [Gun Training], a certain Alucard got a lot of mileage out of that. Well, at least it is not harmful to just have it.

Speaking of guns, maybe Elly was unto something with her class build idea. At least her proposed Trick Shot base class had [Homing Projectile] which didn't say the projectile has to be non-magical, maybe there are other compatible projectile-modifying skills that combine in a very fun way with my spells. Just imagine a rain spell but all tens of thousands of raindrops home in on the same target, that's a boss killer if I ever thought of one. Well, that's a thought for later. Need to ask Elly and Karen for help with that.

Independent of that, [Embrace's] replacement shouldn't see use anyway, just like the original.

Yeah, certainly not using either version of this. Even if my vampire nature wants me to. Loyal, intelligent followers are more valuable than an army of brain-dead ghouls. Just gotta make sure to never invent social media.

And last but not least of my worries, I had the Wizard class before which is now gone.

So what did change?

Unknown class? Did it glitch so hard that it wrapped around into a mostly valid class?

I don't get what's going on with the third skill, it says I can choose a total of two affinities and even lists that I have two, yet it says I may choose another from... a list that isn't even there.

Sigh

Maybe I'll get a valid selection there once the universe is rebooted.

But more importantly... maybe I shouldn't ever pronounce [%HgVÆ=Gyöæ], otherwise I'll get another visit from Hastur, and he just left.

That I can read the name at all actually worries me. So far I could only read the names of official skills, so... does that mean this skill is available in a regular class and my language just doesn't have a word for the translation? That sounds... unlikely. [Malleable Form] or [Elemental Disguise] could easily work.

Either way... what's the point of it? Cosplay as a fire elemental?

I try to change my hand into water - it actually works. Can still move it like normal despite the lack of any substance behind it.

When I try to fold my regular hand with the watery hand, it just sinks into it. Feels like completely normal water on the normal hand's end but very uncomfortable on the other. Not unlike being stabbed with a dull spear.

I transform my hand back to normal. Or what now seemingly counts as normal... Instead of a real hand, it turned into a burning mess of glitches. Not unlike the mess Jack had become...

Shit, can't have anyone see that. No one needs to know that I have such an eldritch abomination sealed within me.

I focus and turn my hand into its intended form.

There, much better.

So how could I make use of this unpronounceable skill? Regular armor doesn't really protect me, it only provides stats, so blocking attacks by hardening my skin into rock or titanium is out. What a waste.

With water, I could hide in a pond, doubt that would ever come up. Maybe a dark form as nearly perfect assistance for [Stealth] at night or in the shadows?

Light could be fun - if undead weren't barred from that.

I should add wind magic to my shopping list, that could be fun.

'Hey, honey. Beware of the air, it bites', I can barely contain laughter at that mental image.

But then I doubt that I could trick many monsters that way. If I had to guess, only a choice few monstrosities rely on sight to find their enemies, at least [Stealth] had very little effect so far. I think only the minotaur boss was fooled and nothing else.

Well, at least it is not actively detrimental, only passively since it robbed me of [Mana Regeneration] which was leagues more useful, but what can I do...

I read once again over the skill's description to see any use I might have missed, but nothing comes to mind for now. Instead, its name has indeed changed to [Malleable Form]. Did the system listen to me for once?!

Hey, can you allow that skill to also change my exp count?

No? Damn it...

The last change I can see in my status is that World Resident was replaced - and I regained that title again through my bond with Lucia.

That's unbelievably lucky. If this was available as a regular title, I would've taken that in a heartbeat, well, metaphorically speaking. Being bound to concentration is a weakness that once already almost backfired on me.

But really, two improvements to [Disguise]? That's clearly not just random chance. Something is going on here and I have no clue what.

Looking over what I already gained and which opportunities I now have, I got off quite lucky, way too lucky. I lost a few classes but thanks to Lucia's [Unholy Matrimony] skill I can regain them for free or replace them with something better if I so choose.

Did I even lose anything? [Beast Killer] was never notable, and [Spear Training] was a waste of space. I think the only big loss is [Mana Regeneration], and even that can be regained when I fill in the missing classes. The same goes for the other lost skills unless I decide that they don't matter to me in the slightest.

Try as I might, I can't see any true loss here, just gains.

...I hate it.

It is just like with the Lost One title. I didn't do anything to deserve this kind of unique power. I caused a disaster, possibly created a new Glitch Zone and whatever consequences that might hold. I shouldn't be rewarded for that.

...is that the glitches' way of saying 'thanks for doing us a big favor'? Fuck them.

I don't want to use their 'presents'.

I don't want such a hollow victory if it is even still possible.

I want to win through my own efforts.

But in the end... I must swallow my pride. If I want to survive... I'll have to use them. This time without regrets.

...

Hmmm... I have "NaN" exp. Going by my... or rather someone else's experience with poorly programmed games and MY experience with this crappy system there is a 50/50 chance that it is equal to infinite because it doesn't parse to a number.

I feel like trying it, let's start with boosting Silver Wizard to 16.

Yeah, that worked! But now exp is reset back to 0. Sorry, I meant 2, it just jumped up after that experience.

...

So what to do with the 3 EMPTY slots... I could fill them with what I had before but... looking at it realistically, the... whatever class is loading in the divine category, could make them redundant or even disable them. What I got from this accident so far just screams calm before the storm... I mustn't squander this opportunity...

Not to mention that I got Blood Mage just by accident and I'm not too attached to it. [Blood Burst] was nice as an option to turn SP into ranged damage but the glitched second skill can go to hell. I doubt that it pulled its worth as an elite class of which I can only have so many. Maybe if I knew what the third skill would've been... but then, being a vampire spellcaster without blood magic just seems thematically wrong... Maybe there are alternate versions of that theme?

Hmm... when I started checking my status, the loading of that class was at 17%, but now it is already 19%, won't take too long, I guess. I'll better wait for what the strange class offers before I commit to any other choice for the 3 EMPTY spots.

...

While waiting for that load to finish - or to finally wake up, I'd take that as well - I should think about how I should deal with this situation. If I don't want to 'die' and become a glitched-up monstrosity, I need to find a way to reinforce the seal holding the mess inside of me back. But... do I have a better idea than just making new memories and hoping that does the trick? ...I'm afraid not.

Hmm, maybe taking Lucia up on the offer of building a small harem might be worth it after all. The ensuing chaos should produce more unique memories than repeating peacefulness.

...I'd rather not. I haven't even come to terms with my questionable relationship with Lucia, add another girl or two under the influence of that shady title and I'd never find out the truth about my feelings...

...

That problem aside, what did I even find out today? And did I really arrive at the right conclusion?

Let me think about it once more.

The devas messed with my being before sending me here, injected me with a glitch-like substance, wrapped everything up in possibly stolen memories and set me up for this suicide adventure. That much is certain. Can't think of another way to interpret it unless that memory is also someone else's, but it is the only past-life memory that felt like it truly belonged to me so far.

Really, they put up a lot of pressure to get me to agree with this madness; guilt-tripping galore, agreeing to unreasonable requests, whatever was needed to get the job done...

By the point they brought up this stupid Lost One title and its penalties, I should've noped out. That wasn't just a red flag but a whole red parade. I really shouldn't have been so arrogant to believe I can make a change but here we are...

But what was the point of putting up a show in the first place, why pretend I would have a choice whether I go here or not? Just plausible deniability? Against who? Don't the devas already effectively rule the universe? Or is there anyone else they have to answer to?

I might be missing a critical piece of information, but currently, it looks like the devas are the genocidal maniacs here, not some nebulous 'demons' no one has ever even seen. For real, the only 'demons' so far are Lucia and me, and that just by a title, nothing else is different about us.

Sorry Elly, but with this revelation, I don't think I can keep my promise to you. Your cousin was at the forefront of this crime against me... 

...

With nothing better to do while waiting for the class to finish loading, I begin researching my options in the class menu.

I said with nothing better to do!!

Stupid system and its broken messages... If you want to tell me something do so with a proper message and not this garbage dump!!

Sigh

Denying one's nature is hard...

3QGN73

My original version for [%HgVÆ=Gyöæ] would've allowed him to apply up to 3 spell shapes to every spell. But as usual, the "rain" spell modifier was poorly thought out on my end. As we learned in ch. 72, the system is quite generous in what counts as a spell, e.g. his claws and summon skill count as well. Apply rain to Spirit Summons and you get 120,000 cost-free Lydias. Or on the simpler end, apply rain to any area-affect spell, and we might need to redraw the map. Yeah... had to drop that idea.

In other news, Jared will get his divine class in 5 chapters, so if you want to ruin my plans and give me new ideas, comment away. Going by the poll from ch. 13, it will be more on the overpowered side.

Also, am I alone in thinking it weird that one of the lessons I want to teach Jared is that it is okay to accept outside help? We're talking about a vampire here, a creature not known for its sociability.