The two continued on their long, grueling journey through the demon mountains. To pass the time, Yuki babbled on endlessly about random things he found pretty, constantly nagging the System to explain what they were.
The System, however, was not at all fond of its master’s mindless trivia questions and opted to ignore him entirely. Eventually, Yuki got the message and finally shut up, leaving only the soft sound of crunching snow between them.
After a few hours of navigating the frozen wasteland, Yuki suddenly stopped. He sniffed the air, his sharp vampire senses picking up something distinct. "I smell humans... and a wood fire."
"A camp? All the way out here?" Yuki muttered, his eyes narrowing. "System, are they hostile?"
"Most likely."
"How did they even get this far into demon territory? I thought you said the nearest human settlement was four months away!"
"It is four months of walking away," the System corrected dryly. "A carriage is much faster."
"I know that," Yuki said, annoyed. "But why are they specifically here?"
"Hunting for monsters and demi-humans. Like you. So, it is best to stay as far away from them as possible—"
".....Yuki?"
The System paused, wondering why Yuki hadn’t responded with his usual stupid questions or complaints.
"Yuki?" the System called out again, but it received nothing but silence.
The floating entity spun around, its digital light flashing frantically as it scanned the empty snow. "Where the hell did that idiot wander off to?! I looked away from him for one second and he’s just gone! Yuki?!"
Meanwhile, far into the distance, Yuki was gliding through the dense snow at blinding speed, heading directly toward the human camp. He didn’t know why, but a strange, overpowering command in his mind was telling him to go there, and his body was blindly obeying.
He dashed through the forest, his emerald eyes starting to water as a sudden, violent wave of nausea washed over him.
Yuki stopped himself abruptly just outside the perimeter of the camp, his chest heaving. ’What is happening to me? Why am I so hungry?’
He leaned heavily against a nearby tree to steady himself. His instincts flared up, and his fingernails, now sharpened into lethal claws, dug deep into the rough bark. He could feel his body temperature rising rapidly. He wasn’t sick, that simply wasn’t possible, especially since he had just arrived in this world with maxed-out survivability stats. This was something else entirely.
Breathing heavily, Yuki felt his mind begin to blank out. The delicious, suffocating scent of human blood from the camp was overwhelming his senses.
"System..." he gasped out, his voice trembling. "Where are you? What’s happening to me...?"
He gripped his head as a sharp pain pierced his skull. "Why does everything hurt so... much? Please, make it stop..."
But no answer came. Before Yuki could understand what his body was demanding of him, his knees buckled. His head hit the cold, unforgiving snow, and the world went completely black.
"Ugh, my head... what was that?"
"Fucking demon! You’re a dead bitch, you hear me? A dead bitch!"
"Huh?"
Yuki blinked, completely confused as to who this angry person in front of him was, and why he was currently being yelled at.
"I don’t know what the fuck you are, but mark my words," the man chuckled darkly, unsheathing his blade with a sharp schwing. "You are dead."
"Eep! Wow, hey, let’s calm down and put the sword away!" Yuki said, raising his hands in a panic.
"Oh, so you can talk? That’s good to know," the man sneered, stepping closer. "I like it when my prey begs for mercy."
"Wa—huh? Excuse me? When your what?"
"What a lucky find you are, sweetheart," the man laughed, his eyes scanning Yuki’s flawless frame. "Such soft, smooth, pale skin... Ha! You’ll fetch a massive fortune in the market."
"The market?" Yuki asked, horrified. "You’re planning on kidnapping and selling me?!"
"Of course," the man said. "But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you first." He eyed Yuki from head to toe, licking his lips disreputably. "I just hope the others won’t mind if I test out the product a bit beforehand."
"Test... test me out?!" Yuki stammered, taking a step back. "Stay the hell back, or else!"
"Or else what?" the man mocked, letting out a loud guffaw. "You going to hit me with that tail? It’s better off as a handle than a weapon!"
Yuki’s jaw dropped. "Huh?! What kind of sick thoughts are you having?!" he screamed angrily. "Listen, I don’t want to fight you. So you stay over there, and I’ll just leave, okay?"
"Okay? Okay?! You think I’m just going to let you walk away after you attacked me?!"
"I did?" Yuki blinked innocently, entirely unaware of what his vampire hunger had just done. "Well... I’m really sorry about that." He lowered his head, bowing apologetically.
The man stood completely baffled. Who the hell apologizes to someone trying to kidnap them?
But before the man could open his mouth to speak, Yuki’s ears suddenly twitched. He sharply snapped his head to the left, staring intently into the dense, snow-covered forest. Something was coming.
"What are you blabbering about now—"
CRACK.
A loud, splintering sound rang through the trees. Then another. Then another. Something massive was tearing through the forest, headed straight for them.
"Shit!" the man panicked, his face draining of color. "You’re lucky this time, demon!" he spat angrily, before spinning on his heel and sprinting away.
"What the hell is happening?!" Yuki didn’t wait around to find out what was making the noise. He turned and bolted in the opposite direction. ’No wonder this world doesn’t have a Demon King! This place is pure chaos, and nobody explains anything to me!’
As he ran, Yuki glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he noticed a sleek, slender tail trailing behind him. ’Wait... why do I have a tail if I’m a Vampire?" Yuki said just realizing he had a extra appendage.
"That doesn’t make any sense! And where the hell is the System?!’
Meanwhile, a short distance away, the System was frantically flying through the trees. ’Yuki! Yuki! Man, how fast is this guy?!’ Suddenly, the System’s internal tracker pinged. Yuki’s signal was rapidly approaching its position. ’Oh, he’s coming back!’
A few seconds later, Yuki burst through the thick brush, gasping desperately for air.
"Yuki! There you are!" the System said condescendingly. "Why did you run off alone? It’s very dangerous, you know—"
"Huff... huff... no time to talk!" Yuki panted. "Something is coming, and it’s big!"
"Something big? Oh, it’s probably just a Snow Drake," the System said casually.
"A what?"
"A big lizard."
"I know what a drake is!" Yuki shouted, thoroughly annoyed.
"Then why did you—"
"Just be quiet!" Yuki snapped, cutting the System off. "Why the hell did you send me here of all places?! And why am I losing control of my body and passing out?!"
"..."
"Talk now!" Yuki demanded.
"But you just said ’be quiet’..."
ROAR! The deafening sound echoed closer.
"Shit, right, the drake!" Yuki glared at the floating entity. "This conversation is not over!"
Without waiting another second, Yuki snatched the floating "sea bunny" out of the air, tucked it under his arm, and continued running for his life.