I opened my eyes, found myself lying on the couch again. Sera was sitting right beside me. Good thing that I managed to come back. It could have been very bad if some human caught me while I was unconscious.

“Lucas, you are awake!” Sera looked at me, worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yes dear.” I got up, but my body still felt extremely heavy.. “Thank you, Sera.”

Looking back, what happened was very similar to when vampires consume tainted blood. We called those “Dead man blood.” Basically, any blood coming from an undead creature, like zombies, or decaying corpses, was all undrinkable. Like a poison, It would make us feel extremely tired and groggy, unable to do anything for a period of time and some may even become paralyzed, depending on how much we consumed.

Normally, just a few sip of Dead man blood won’t affect me too much. But as I was in my weakened state, it knocked me out cold like a strong sleeping drug. 

But, what bothered me was the fact that the woman was not even an undead. She was alive and breathing!

There was no way!

So… what happened?

“Sera,” I proceeded to ask.  “I drank some human blood and got sick. She was a young and healthy woman. Do you have any idea why?”

“Ah, yes.” Sera replied, and I noticed a slight sadness on her face. “You flew away before I could warn you about human blood. You know, there is a reason that me and other vampires have become like this…”

Oh! So there was indeed something wrong!

“I’m listening.” I then said.

And so, Sera started to tell her story.

---

Around 100 years ago, in the early 1980s.

The human population was blooming. They made cities everywhere, and their technology made life really easy and convenient. Humans invented trains, cars, even airships, and entered a whole new era or rapid development. Their technological advancement made it possible to explore even the deepest oceans and the tallest mountains. Then there was the Green Evolution. Fertilizer and machineries made it so that food became readily available for every human on the planet. Even the poor could afford to buy fruits and meats and lived the life of abundance. People still died from starvation somewhere though, but it was extremely rare. 

And most importantly, medicine advanced. The germ theory was discovered. Infectious diseases were no longer that much of a threat due to antibiotics. As a result, human life expectancies increased greatly. 

With all of that, their blood also tasted better and better. 

Humans were happy. 

Vampires were happy too.

After all, if there were more fat, tasty preys, then the predator would be extremely happy.

But then… it happened. It was what we, the vampires, called the Great Blood Famine.

Human blood suddenly degraded. At first, there were only a few cases of mostly young people. But then, the condition spreaded quickly like wild forest fires. Their blood started to taste like garbage. Years after years, generation after generation, it got to the point that human blood became un-consumable to vampires.

Thus, the vampires suffered greatly and had to rely on synthetic blood instead. This blood made them lose most of their strength and power. But still, it provided enough nutrients for them to survive.

So…

Was it a virus?

Was it a disease?

Well, no one was able to find out.

Now, in 2080, only less than 1 percent of the total human population had drinkable blood. Without real blood, vampires couldn’t mature. Basically, Sera, as well as many other vampires of her age, had made up a generation of vampires who had never tasted real human blood in their life.

---

After hearing Sera’s story, my head fumed with anger.

You know, blood was life.

Blood was where our source of immense power came from. 

Vampires had so many advantages over humans. Superior strength, agility, much much longer life span in exchange of several minor weaknesses.

But now… if they couldn’t drink a single drop of blood in their life, they became no stronger than typical humans, while all their weakness remained.

Basically speaking…

Vampires had become an inferior race compared to humans. Yes, the human race that we used to look down upon so much!

How unacceptable! How idiculous! To think that even a great vampire myself, the great Shadow Terror had become this helpless.

But… what could I do? I had no idea what caused the Great Blood Famine, so there was no way to solve it yet.

“Urggghh…” I grunted, and sucked the synthetic blood out of one of the blood cartons.

Yeah, I hated it. Tasted horrible, but didn’t look like I had any other choice! After all, they still provided a little bit of nutrition and were at least enough to keep the hunger down. 

My condition then stabilized, albeit slowly.   

And before I realized it, the sun was already up. 

“Oh no, I’m late!” Sera shouted and left in a hurry. I couldn’t even ask her what the heck was she, a vampire, going to do in the morning!?

But well, maybe later.

Honestly, what would a vampire do when the morning came? Obviously, they slept.

So, I looked around the house to find a coffin. The couch was too uncomfortable, since I was used to sleeping in a cramped, closed, isolated space. 

And as a vampire, at least Sera would have a coffin, right?

And oh yes she had.

There was a little coffin in her room. It was made out of metal and looked like a white, giant egg though, but still technically a coffin.

Sera was not here, so I guess I would borrow it until she came home.

So, I boxed myself inside the weird egg coffin, and closed the lid. It was really nice and comfy, and there were even arm rests built in.

But then, my finger touched something.

“Eh? A button?”

I wondered what it would do, so I pressed it.

Some light flashed! 

Some mysterious voice spoke!

<Game start!>

“What!?” I was startled!  "I have to get out now!" I thought.

But Zuuuuuut!

Before I could do anything, some weird magic had transported me into another dimension.