Alfred jolted upright, trying to force his eyelids open. However, it felt like grains of sand were pulling them shut.

While squinting, he turned his head and realized that he was in a small room lit by a single candle. The room was furnished with only a bed and a round table with a chair tucked underneath. A sliver of light shone along the dark wooden floor from under the closed door.

‘What the f***? Where am I?’

Alfred spun around and his horrified gaze fell upon the lifeless body of a morbidly obese, bald man whose throat had been viciously slit. The air still held the iron tang of blood, and Alfred's legs gave out beneath him as he stumbled back in disbelief.

The boy’s face became motionless as confusion appeared in his eyes, he realized something was off—his gaze wasn't as high as it should be. He looked down to investigate and saw a set of short, thin legs that were almost childlike in size.

‘What the hell is going on? Am I dreaming or am I dead?’

[Downloading blood memories: 0%]

A message popped up in front of Alfred’s eyes, written in some unknown text that he could strangely understand. The language was foreign yet familiar.

[Download: 3%…]

[Download: 8%…]

The download increased at a rate of 3% every second. He felt his face muscles tense and the edges of his eyebrows draw together as they creased into a frown. His lip twitched slightly, betraying his uncertainty.

“What the f*** is all this s***?!”

That time he spoke aloud and noticed he sounded like a pre-pubescent boy. Whatever language he spoke was not German; his mother tongue.

[Download complete.]

“Arghh!”

The boy felt a sharp pain in his subconscious, it was as though he could finally sense his inner self.
'Is this what my soul feels like?'

He was on the brink of uncovering something extraordinary, and the scientist in him was ecstatic.

A flood of information filled Alfred’s mind as foreign memories flashed before his eyes. The pain subsided gradually, and he slowly realized his situation. His mouth dropped wide open, utterly dumbfounded.

‘How can I accept that my former life was nothing but a lie and an illusion when I know for certain that this is real? On the other hand, how can I be sure that what I'm going through now isn't just a dream? How can I choose between the two?’

Two sets of memories fought for a place in the boy’s mind, his eyes darted left and right as his lower lip trembled. Alfred desperately tried to come to terms with his predicament as he reviewed the memories in his brain.

The memories of the boy whose body he was in were very tragic, it was a story that could make a grown man cry.

The boy was an orphan or perhaps just discarded, there was no way Alfred could know. His earliest memory was when the boy was about 4, scavenging for food with the stray dogs in the neighborhood.

This boy had spent all his life in the slums and never knew what love was, nobody showed him care or even attempted to help him. He mostly lived with stray animals and cuddled with flea-ridden dogs at night to stay warm.

He remembered being part of a pack of 4, including himself. The poor boy genuinely thought of himself as a dog, Alfred felt some feelings of sorrow as these memories washed over him.

It had been a long time since Alfred felt any humane emotions, and was truly surprised by his newfound compassion.

He remembered playing with the dogs and how they had spots they liked to scavenge for food. They would guard their territory at the corner of two alleyways, defending it fiercely as a pack.

The boy lived a savage but simple life, Alfred was enlightened when he felt the child's emotions of happiness.
'How could he be happy? He had nothing, he didn't even regard himself as human.'

Any normal child would have died. However, this boy strangely had a strong body for an infant, more durable than most adults. He would stay without food for extended periods and heal quite rapidly from injuries that weren’t too severe.

Alfred wondered why no one helped, then he remembered his past life. Would he have helped?

It wasn't that the people in the slums lacked empathy, but everyone was fighting to survive. With little enough for themselves, there wasn't much kindness to spare another person, especially when food was so scarce.

The land behind the settlements was dotted with mass graves, each marking the bodies of those who had perished during the harsh winter. As more and more relatives were buried in the soil, the villagers' hearts grew heavier and colder.

Alfred quivered with rage as he recalled the events that led him to this unknown hut. His fists clenched, his brows furrowed under a tapestry of shadows, and his teeth gritted as he gnawed on his bottom lip like a rabid animal.

Not long before, the portly deceased man had offered some stale bread to the young lad and gestured for the boy to follow him. The boy didn't comprehend what had been said, but he decided to accept his kind gesture as the dead man had offered sustenance.

When he remembered the perverted look on the fat man’s face, Alfred was infuriated, how could the kid be so gullible? Evidently, this man was a sick individual who couldn’t hide his intentions.

Fortunately for the boy, some men followed him to the house. they saw that the fat man had been offering him bread in an attempt to manipulate and seduce him.

The moment the man stepped foot inside his home, he did not even give the child a chance to ask for more food. He sprinted to his tiny bed and plopped down, hastily unbuckling his belt and slipping off his trousers.

Alfred raged with fury, his whole body shaking uncontrollably as the memory came flooding back. He felt weak and helpless, and this feeling burned inside him like an unquenchable fire.

That’s when the bandits charged in, screaming wildly and brandishing their weapons. The man stood tall, unfazed by the mob of men surrounding him. He swung his fists powerfully, but he was outnumbered and eventually knocked to the ground.

The bandits surrounded him, rough hands pushing him down onto the ground. He screamed in panic as one of them pulled a knife from their belt, the blade glinting in the moonlight. His cries were silenced abruptly as the blade slashed across his throat. As he lay dying, the four bandits moved in unison, searching every nook and cranny for food or anything else they can find.

The boy was given a pass, or maybe just forgotten about since he hadn't done anything to prevent the situation. Apparently, nourishment was on par with someone's life in this realm.

Alfred felt deeply connected to the new body he inhabited, so he was livid with the fat man. He walked menacingly towards the corpse and began pummeling its half-severed neck with his foot.

*Stomp stomp stomp*

Blood splashed back on his face and body.

[Tier F- blood detected]

[Does the user wish to consume?]

[Yes/No]

The weird notification was back again this time with a different message.

“What the F*** is this crap, am I hallucinating?”

More out-of-character vulgarities came out of Alfred's mouth.

[Low energy detected.]

[Beginning blood transfer.]

FWOOSH!

All the blood on the floor and whatever was left inside the man rushed into Alfred's mouth in less than a minute.

“Yuck!”

*Cough cough*

The young lad tried to vomit but was unable to, all he could do was gag as he bent over and spat at the ground. However, instead of a foul taste, he noticed a sweet taste in his mouth and a warm feeling in his stomach.

‘Why did I just enjoy that?’

Alfred had lived a life less than angelic, but he had his limits. He may have done some bad things, but consuming human flesh and drinking blood were never part of the equation. Torture was where he drew the line.

[Strength +1]

[Downloading blood memories: 2%]

[Downloading blood memories: 14%]

[Downloading blood memories: 22%]

Multiple notifications had popped up in front of Alfred’s eyes. At this point, he was fully aware of what was going on. He just didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t believe it.

Huber Industries had put money into many businesses, including the ones Alfred used to play in his early twenties. It was as if he had been transported to an alternate reality where everything was like one of those games. The whole situation seemed surreal to him.

[Download complete.]

“Arghh!”

Alfred felt a sharp pain in his mind, this happened the first time as well, and was not impressed.

‘This better not happen every time. Wait. Why have I come to terms with this already?’

Another flood of memories flashed before Alfred's eyes. However, it didn't last as long, the transfer was faster this time; it was a year's worth of memories.

*BLERGH*

Alfred felt sick to his stomach as memories of the fat man's cruel deeds returned to him. It dawned on him that these awful recollections contained remnants of the victims' prior feelings, ideas, and behavior.

He felt uncomfortable, ‘what would happen if this was a continued theme? Would I have to continue draining people's blood?’

Alfred contemplated the latest recollections in his mind and discovered that the plump man's name was Henri Monet. Despite residing in comparable impoverished conditions, he earned a living shoveling excrement in the urban center. The waste management organization compensated him with food.

Most of his time was spent either shoveling feces or coercing little boys in the slums to come to his hut with him. It truly was a life full of s***, to call him a sick individual would be an understatement. The horrors of his existence were beyond comprehension.

Using threats of violence, he forced people in the slums to build his house in exchange for scraps of food. Eventually, his actions led to his downfall.

Alfred's eyes bulged as he processed the latest revelation, his teeth gnashing together as his jaw dropped open in disbelief. A chill crept up his spine and goosebumps rose on his skin as fear coursed through him like ice water.

 

“I’m a vampire!”