It was winter, but the indoor flower garden of the royal palace was filled with flowers in full bloom.

Tepes was currently basking in the warm sun. After a while, he said, Paradox is dead.

Yes, I went there and saw it myself! I thought Paradox was just fooling around as usual, but he actually died, replied True Vampire Stigma. He was currently in the form of a child.

True Vampire Stigma chewed on a raisin cookie and asked, Why did you call us?

Tepes replied, I called you all here to announce the start of the plan I had mentioned long ago.

True Vampire Ghost snorted at Tepes words. The start of that plan? If my memory is serving me correctly, what you mentioned before was just a suggestion rather than a plan.

Well, Paradox was still alive back then.

The immortal Paradox was dead, so Tepes could finally do whatever he wanted.

True Vampire Ghost stared at Tepes back and said, So you really want to execute that ridiculous plan of yours?

Tepes turned around and asked. My plan is ridiculous?

True Vampire Ghost didnt shy away from Tepes gaze as he said, Killing all living thing beings aside from the True Vampires to overcome the thirst. That is the funniest plan Ive ever heard in my life.

There is plenty of blood to drink, so we depend on blood. If our food disappears, we will evolve. We will lose our thirst.

That is a dangerous hypothesis. What if we fail to evolve? What are you going to do?

Then, we will have to acknowledge our limits.

True Vampire Ghost shook his head and said, Youre crazy

Well, the True Vampires were somewhat messed up, but True Vampire Ghost had never seen someone as crazy as Tepes.

I am not crazy, Ghost. Tepes expression turned grim. Why cant you understand? Cant you hear this voice? The gods have given us a test. If we managed to overcome this burning thirst, we can become one of the gods!

What Im trying to say is

Why should the rest of us go along with your crazy pseudotheory?

However, True Vampire Ghost abruptly closed his mouth.

He knew that it would be meaningless to question Tepes.

Paradox is dead, so theres no way that we can dissuade him from doing what he wants. Tsk.

True Vampire Ghost and True Vampire Paradox had always been opposed to Tepes ideas. Tepes plan was so absurd because it involved practically destroying the world.

True Vampire Paradox loved the world, so he had always been opposed to Tepes plan, while True Vampire Ghost was somewhat satisfied with the worlds status quo.

Theres no way this crazed cult leader will listen to me... True Vampire Ghost looked at True Vampire Stigma with a gaze filled with hope. If this punk changes his mind and opposes Tepes plan with me, then maybe

I agree! I totally agree! True Vampire Stigma raised his hands and smiled brightly. I want to evolve and become one of the gods!

Have you been listening to me? If the plan fails, were all going to die.

So what? I dont care. Im not the only one whos going to die, anyway.

...

This punk! True Vampire Ghost closed his eyes. I guess I dont have a choice.

Unlike True Vampire Paradox, True Vampire Ghost didnt want to protect this world by turning his back on True Vampire Tepes and True Vampire Stigma.

Do as you please.

You have made a smart choicehm. Tepes frowned out of the blue. Stigma.

Yeah? What is it?

There's a rat in the basement. Take care of it.

***

The library in the royal palaces basement was Tepes private office. The library was filled with books containing Tepes thoughts, future plans, and even entries of his daily life.

Im glad I mastered the language here, the man muttered in a low voice as he quickly scanned the books. The man had long forgotten how many weeks he had to spend just to sneak into this library.

Lets ignore the stories that are too old. The story of his life on a different continent isnt important either. I just have to find the entries that were written when the vampires started invading Trium.

The man found a diary with entries written thirteen years ago.

[February 2nd, 1842]

We finally arrived at the place called Trium. I have heard a lot about this city, but it turned out to be an interesting place. Its more interesting than I expected. The entire city stinks, which is not interesting at all.

[February 5th, 1842]

We have identified the source of the stink. The unpleasant smell came from the werewolves. They are lurking in the city and can transform into wolves using the power of the moon. We need to find a way to survive.

[May 23rd, 1842]

Those who refer to themselves as demons visited us. They gave us blood sweeter than anything else I have ever tasted, and I emptied my glass as if I were possessed.

[June 3rd, 1842]

Our power is finally on par with the werewolves, and it is all because the power of the apostles we create has become dramatically stronger than before. But its still not enough. Lets think of something something to suffocate them.

[June 12th, 1842]

We have decided to steal the moon from the werewolves.

Steal the moon? muttered the man before eventually nodding. He was reminded of the red fog that would always envelop the city upon nightfall. The man continued reading, and this time, he decided to read the entries faster.

[September 4th, 1842]

We have finally driven all the wolves out of the city. I thought I would finally achieve my will, but an unexpected variable got in my way. Paradox is against my plan. This is really difficult because I cant kill him.

The mans eyes upon reading the entry.

Wait, what does he mean he cant kill Paradox Isnt Paradox the True Vampire who died recently? Was he actually acting as Tepes suppressor all this time?

The man felt a sense of foreboding as he flipped the pages until he arrived at the most recent diary entry.

[December 18th, 1853]

Paradox is dead. I can finally start my plan to exterminate humans.

Exterminate the humans?

The sentence was so ominous that the man felt a shiver down his spine. He flipped through more documents to find more details about Tepes plan, but he didnt find any diary entry related to Tepes plan.

In the end, the man decided to take a look at the older diary entries from hundreds of years ago.

[February 26th, 1689]

I laid waste to a city I disliked, and the humans started calling me a god. I asked them what a god was, and they said that it was an omnipotent being. I suddenly became curious.

Am I a god?

[March 2nd, 1689]

My long agony is over. In conclusion, I dont think Im a god or whatever they think I am. I never managed to overcome my thirst for blood. My power wanes without consuming human blood. If a god was an omnipotent being, then they should be able to easily overcome this thirst.

[July 3rd, 1689]

While I was wandering the world to find a way to become a god, I stumbled upon a book written by a biologist. It was said that life is capable of evolving depending on its environment. My mind cleared up as soon as I read that sentence. Lets get rid of all the human beings in the world. If their blood doesnt exist, then Ill eventually evolve to the point that I will not need human blood anymore.

[April 5th, 1702]

This isnt the first time I felt this way while killing human beings, but this method is too inefficient. I have to find a way to kill all humans on this continent at once.

[May 13th, 1702]

I have a good idea. What if I turn all the humans on the continent into vampires?

Theyll disappear on their own if I turn them all into vampires and expose them to sunlight.

[September 2nd, 1702]

It was a huge success. I managed to annihilate every human on this continent. Now, its time I move on to another continent.

The man trembled and unknowingly dropped the diary.

Hes crazy hes totally messed up!

The man had always found it suspicious how the True Vampires came to Trium at the same time, even though they came from different continents.

So this is why...

It turned out that there were no more living humans outside Trium. True Vampires had to periodically drink human blood to survive, so they had no choice but to come to Trium.

We have to stop him, the man gulped.

The man wasnt a denizen of this world, but this city still had a precious human population of 7.2 million. He had to save them before Tepes became even stronger.

Otherwise, they would never be able to clear this Floor.

I need to go back down to Earth.

A few elite Players werent enough to defeat Tepes.

He had to bring in an army of Players to face Tepes.

The man made a decision and stored the book that he was holding in his Inventory.

Crack!

A strange sound made the man freeze.

What? He said its a rat, so why is it a human?

The man turned around and saw a boy chewing on a cookie

My name is Stigma. Who are you, bro?

...

Im too weak to even imagine fighting that boy

The man unsheathed a dagger instead of answering.

He could feel that he was no match for the boy.

The boy giggled at the sight, and his excited giggle filled the library.

So you want to play with me? Stigmas eyes bent like crescent moons.

However, the sight looked unsettling rather than cute because no emotion could be seen in the boys eyes.

All right! Lets play, bro.

Who would want to play with a monster like you?!

The man hurled a smoke bomb and left the library as fast as he could. The man had perfectly memorized the path leading up to the library, but when he exited the building, the boy was already waiting for him outside.

It has been ten seconds, but youve only gotten this far? asked the boy. He pointed a finger gun at the man and smiled. Bang.

Bang!

The mans head exploded.

Stigmas smile brightened at the sight, but he suddenly froze and turned to look somewhere else. Huh? This is getting interesting.

***

Haaa! Haaa A woman was breathing roughly while lying on a bed. She touched her own trembling cheeks without realizing it. W-what a monster...

Of course, she knew that True Vampires were strong, but she didnt expect them to be so strong that she almost failed to escape just now.

The woman shook her head and checked her Inventory.

Its okay. I got all the necessary documents...

The woman[1]was Yuri Alekseyevthe Eighth Heaven.

Yuri had always loved to move independently, and she had also decided to operate independently on the 6th Floor. Naturally, she had a reason to move on her own, and it was all because of her skill Golden Trophy (S).

Yuri could copy a maximum of five abilities from the opponents she had killed with her own hands, so Golden Trophy (S) was a perfect skill for infiltration and espionage.

Theres no way I can fight a true vampire with my current slot configuration

Yuris skill slots were currently filled up with utility skills such as Messenger (B) and A Thousand Faces (A).

Lets go downstairs

The advance party was created to collect information on the 6th Floor. Yuri was sure that she had gathered more information about the 6th Floor than anyone else, so she decided to pack up after completing her mission.

Huh? Yuri frowned. She accidentally saw herself in the mirror just as she was about to leave.

What is this?

There was a strange symbol on her forehead. Yuri thought that it was related to the System, but the symbol didnt disappear no matter how many Player commands she typed in the Community terminal.

This is ominous.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

Yuri instinctively hid her presence and slowly walked over to the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

If the other party was a staffer of the inn, then they should leave after knocking on the door a few more times.

Yuri breathed a sigh of relief when the knocking eventually stopped.

Wait, are they leaving? Why arent there any footsteps?

Yuris eyes abruptly widened.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The other party frantically knocked on the door.

Yuri retreated reflexively and bit her lips tightly.

That monster

- Sis, arent we going to play? Why wont you open the door?

True Vampire Stigmas voice rang ominously from behind the door.

1. Apparently, Yuri was a woman all along. We have edited the s to reflect the changes.