"...?"
The six survivors just stared at me with blank expressions. They looked completely lost, as if I were speaking a language they didn’t understand.
"Help us? In what, exactly?"
The young man who had been acting as the group’s leader asked me that. He looked at me with a mix of suspicion and a tiny bit of curiosity.
I looked at them all directly. I didn’t see any point in beating around the bush or sugarcoating the truth. They needed to hear how bad things really were.
"As you guys already know, you all suffered permanent damage from fighting the forces at your village. Let alone getting revenge— you guys wouldn’t even be able to live normally from now on."
I told them that, my voice flat and honest.
The young man standing right in front of me had a massive, jagged cut wound on his left arm. I had been watching him for a while, and I noticed that he was barely moving it at all. It was hanging limp at his side, likely because the muscles or nerves had been severed.
Two of the others had one of their eyes squeezed shut ever since I met them; those eyes weren’t just swollen— they were gone. All of them had been walking with heavy limps, their movements stiff and pained, as if their legs simply couldn’t gather enough strength to support the weight of their own bodies anymore.
And then there was the unconscious guy, Tatum. Even from where I stood, I could see that his hands were a mess. He was missing most of his fingers.
"..."
The group went completely silent at my words. They didn’t try to argue with me or claim they were fine. They knew their own bodies better than anyone, and they could feel the permanent brokenness inside them.
"Also, the main force of the kingdom will notice sooner or later that the knights and soldiers they left behind were wiped out. They will realize there were survivors, and they will set out to hunt you all down again."
I added that, making sure they were fully aware of their dire situation.
Even if they managed to crawl away from this forest, they were marked for death. The kingdom wouldn’t stop until every last one of them was dealt with. They were living on borrowed time, and that time was running out fast.
"Then, what do you suggest we do? How can you help us, exactly?"
The girl who had been taking care of Tatum the most asked that. She stepped forward, her animal ears pinned back against her head. The young man leader was about to reach out and stop her, probably wanting to be the one to ask the questions, but he hesitated.
He saw the sheer determination and the burning rage flickering in the girl’s eyes, and he slowly lowered his hand.
"..."
Instead, the young man turned back to me with a resolute look on his face. The other four members of the group shifted their weight, following his lead and deciding to actually listen to what I had to say.
"..."
I nodded my head slowly and leaned down to put Onyx on the grass. The little guy let out a soft huff but stayed put. I stood up straight after that, looking over the group of broken hunters.
"I’m not a hundred percent sure, but it’s highly possible..."
I mumbled that under my breath. I took a short pause, letting the sound of the crackling fire fill the gap.
"I think I can heal all of the damages your bodies have sustained."
I declared that calmly.
"?!"
The group’s eyes widened in unison. Their faces were a map of disbelief. They looked at me like I was a madman making impossible promises— but behind that disbelief, I could see a tiny, flickering spark of hope forming in the depths of their eyes.
When you have nothing left, even a lie feels like something to hold onto.
"Are you a great healer, sir?"
The girl asked me, her voice trembling with hope instead of doubt. The others leaned in, holding their breath as they waited for my confirmation.
But too bad for them— I simply shook my head.
"I’m not a healer."
I said. Their faces immediately went dark, and the spark of hope I had just seen started to fade away. They probably thought I was playing some kind of sick joke on them.
I ignored their disappointed looks and opened my mouth again.
"Ah, let me introduce myself properly first."
I stated that.
"My name is Verc."
SWOOOSH~
A sudden, cold breeze passed through our camp right as I said my name. It rustled the leaves above us and made the fire flicker wildly. The surrounding forest seemed to fall into a state of total silence, as if even the insects were listening.
The group’s entire focus was locked onto me. Then with my lips parting—
"I’m a vampire."
I declared that, simple and no hesitation.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The forest stayed perfectly still. Even the sound of the rustling bushes in the background seemed to have vanished.
The six survivors just looked at me with blank, hollow looks on their faces. It was as if their brains had hit a wall and were struggling to process the words I had just uttered.
But after a few seconds of frozen silence—
"!!!"
The reality finally dawned on them. All of them froze and instinctively took quick steps back, putting distance between us. The way they looked at me changed in an instant... They looked terrified, confused...
"Haaaa..."
I let out a long sigh, already having expected this exact reaction.
It was the same reaction I got from the pursuit team back in the labyrinth. Anyway, before they could start screaming or trying to run away into the dark—
"Relax. I’m not going to hurt you guys. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have wasted my time helping your group in the first place. I could have just let you starve in the ruins."
I said that calmly, my voice steady.
"..."
At my words, they all stopped moving. They stood there in the shadows of the trees, thinking through what I had said.
And after a while... They realized that I was telling the truth. If I were a mindless monster, I wouldn’t have brought them food or given them bandages. I could’ve killed them on the spot when I first met them.
So slowly and awkwardly... They all crept back toward the fire and sat down on the ground in front of me again.
They didn’t look me in the eye.
"..."
I just looked down at them. Every single one of them looked incredibly guilty now.
"What?"
I asked them, noticing the shift in their mood. They looked at each other briefly before the young man spoke up.
"Sorry. You helped us and saved our lives... but we reacted so rudely to what you told us. Especially after you heard about us being beastmen and took it so calmly."
The young man said that, his voice full of shame. After he finished, the others started mulling over apologies as well, bowing their heads toward the dirt.
’These guys are really hard on themselves, huh.’
I thought to myself, listening to their repeated apologies. They were so used to being treated like trash that they couldn’t handle the idea of being the ones who were rude.
... ... ...
*****
After everyone had finally calmed down and the tension had settled—
"So, how is you being a vampire going to help us with our injuries?"
The young girl asked me. She had introduced herself as Ashley. She had the animal features of a black panther; it was obvious in the way her dark, furry ears twitched and the way her sleek tail moved behind her.
Anyway—
"I will turn you all into vampires as well."
I wasted no time. I told them directly how I planned to "help" them.
And the entire group looked completely shocked after hearing that.
They stared at me with wide eyes, probably imagining themselves as the monsters from the stories mothers tell their children to make them behave.
Ignoring that—
"Vampires have incredibly strong regeneration abilities. They can heal almost any wound as long as their heart remains intact and they have an ample amount of blood to consume."
I followed up immediately, explaining that to them.
"If you accept my offer, you will be able to heal even the permanent damages done to your bodies. It can even regrow the body parts you all have lost."
I added, glancing back at the struggling, fingerless Tatum who was still lying near the tent.
But after I said that, I let my face turn serious. I needed them to understand the price of this "gift."
"Though, in exchange for your lives and your health— all of you will become the eternal enemies of the churches, the Arcanis... and the gods themselves."
I stated that firmly.
"All of you will be hunted nonstop. Everyone you meet will treat you like monsters. You wouldn’t be able to communicate with the other races ever again. And once this is done, there is no going back... There is no cure for what I am."
My voice was calm as I spoke, but inside my head, memories of my own experiences since coming to this world flashed by. The loneliness, the hiding. None of it was good.
"..."
The six of them remained silent. They didn’t say a word. They didn’t even look at each other for guidance this time.
They were all deep in their own thoughts, weighing the chance to be whole again against the certainty of being hated by the world.
I just waited. I leaned back and let them decide their own fates.
Seconds passed and turned into a minute. Then two, then three. The only sound was the crackling of the wood in the fire.
Still, there was no answer.
’Hmm. It wouldn’t surprise me if they decline. I just asked out of an impulse. I won’t mind whatever they decide on.’
I thought to myself, feeling indifferent. If they wanted to die as beastmen, that was their choice.
Then, after that long silence— they all turned to look up at me again. They all opened their mouths, about to give me their collective answer.
But before any of them could speak...
"I’m fine with it."
A raspy, cracked voice was heard from behind them.
"...?"
We all turned our heads toward the source of the voice.
And there, leaning against the opening of the tent, was the Tatum kid. He was shaking, but he was standing on his own two feet.
"It’s not like our current situation is any different, anyway. We’re already hunted. We’re already hated."
Tatum was looking at me with a burning, intense passion in his eyes. It wasn’t just hope; it was a desire for power. Then with a look of absolute resolution on his blood-streaked face—
"Make me a vampire."
He declared that, his voice dripping with anger and pure hate for the people who had destroyed his home.