Dan P.O.V
Dan woke up from his Cryogenic Chamber and immediately noticed several crewmates already awake, while some were still slowly making their way back to their own chambers. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and made his way toward the Bridge. There, he saw Captain, Lag, and Reed deep in conversation. Quietly, Dan approached.
Dan: Hmm, this is odd. I figured the Captain would be on the Bridge alone—not with Mr. Conspirator and his brother hanging around.
Lag: Could you shut your fucking mouth for a second, Dan? Out of everyone here, you're the only one ruining this for me.
Reed: Let him feel that burn, brother!
Captain: Damn... looks like a savage morning.
Dan: Wow... sorry, Lag. Didn't realize you had your period today.
Reed and the Captain burst into laughter. Reed even reached to record the moment—until Lag's foot crashed into him and sent him flying straight toward Dan, who barely dodged.
Lag: Fuck you too, Dan. And next time you joke, don't. It only ends up hurting yourself. And seriously, who in the entire Human Federation still uses those tired old jokes? What year is this? Have you been living under a rock?
Dan: Honestly? Still funny.
Captain: Okay, okay... enough bickering. We're on a mission, remember?
Dan & Lag: Fuck off, you living fossil.
Captain: (O_O;) Uhhhhhh.
Without warning, Dan and Lag exchanged a glance and simultaneously kicked the Captain's body toward Reed, who was just getting up.
Reed: Oh, come on... I just—
The Captain slammed into Reed hard, sending both tumbling across the Bridge before they hit the metal wall behind them.
Dan: Alright, serious question. What made you so angry? I was just trying to—
Before he finished, Lag kicked Dan right in the balls. Dan collapsed onto the floor.
Dan: (〒︿〒) FUCK, Lag... my balls!
As Dan hunched over, massaging himself, he looked up just in time to see a shoe flying at his face.
Dan: (⊙_☉) Mommy—
Dan flew backward and crashed right into the spot where Captain and Reed were watching the chaos.
Captain: Oh, come on...
Reed laughed, oblivious to the danger, until Dan's backside nearly bumped his face.
Reed: (ﾟДﾟ;) Fuc—!
The two tumbled down hard, hitting the wall.
Dan: Damn, Lag, that hurt... bitch. Wait... why does it feel like I'm sitting on a cushion?
Reed: Get the fuck off me, you heavy-ass moron! How much did you eat yesterday? You're crushing my bones!
Dan: Thanks, Reed. Glad to help cushion the fall.
Reed: Fuck off, Dan! Get off my back, idiot. Why'd you even crash into me?
Dan: Blame your brother. He kicked my balls hard!
Reed: Just get off me before I break.
Dan quickly scrambled off and helped Reed up.
Dan: Seriously though, what's got everyone so grumpy this morning?
Reed: Don't ask me. What do I know?
Dan: Come on, Mr. Conspirator. You must have an idea why your brother's in a bad mood.
Reed: Nah... I just woke up not long ago, same as you.
Dan: Wait, you're not with your brother? That's rare.
Reed: Well, this ship needs more than one captain. We've been on this mission a long time, and Captain needs to rest for a year or so. Right, Captain?
Suddenly, the Captain smacked Dan on the back of the head.
Dan: (＠﹏＠)💫 What the hell, Cap? Sneak attack's cheap.
Captain: That's for calling me an old fossil, you buffoon. Seriously though, we've been on this mission for over seven years. Lag and I rotate command—when he rests, I lead; when I rest, he does.
Dan: Makes sense. But what about this morning's mood swing?
Captain: Not sure. According to our schedule, I should still be asleep in cryo. Lag woke me up. Knowing his personality, something's wrong, and I need to act.
Lag: Hurry up, you old fossil! Bring the big buffoon and my sissy-ass brother over here!
Reed: (╬ಠ益ಠ) I'm not sissy, you ass-grubbing slut!
Dan: And I'm not a buffoon, asshole!
Lag: Yeah, yeah. Move it.
All three gathered around Lag, who held reports and documents.
Dan: So, what's the news?
Lag: Emergency report from Jansson.
Captain: What is it?
Lag: The main army holding the Ashura Clan at bay is starting to retreat.
Captain: Fuck.
Reed: Are you serious?
Lag: Absolutely. I even bought black market intel—confirmed by multiple sources.
Captain: What about official channels?
Lag: Silent. No word.
Reed: Internal guild channels?
Lag: The vice president already quit this quest. Top guilds started leaving this galaxy cluster.
Captain: We're in deep shit.
Dan strained to catch it all but heard only buzzwords.
Dan: Could you explain that slowly? I still don't get it.
Lag: (－_－)ゞ Fine. In your language—top powerful teams and guilds have fled.
Dan: Isn't that good? Less competition?
Captain: Not this time. That means huge trouble.
Dan: Why?
Captain: No more main army holding back the Ashura Clan. Rumor has it they destroy any Federation ship with zero remains.
Dan: Damn... Why don't we just leave, Captain?
Captain: Thought about it, but we can't.
Dan: Why not?
Lag: Less than 10 years in mission. We've spent resources. Leaving now means no reimbursement or big rewards.
Dan: Wait, why?
Lag: Mission's rules: first reimbursements only after 10 years, then 20, etc.
Dan: So, we're trapped by the Federation?
Lag: Exactly. Can't get out.
Dan: Why would they do that?
Reed: Probably budget. Federation's funding is tight; rumors of corruption exist. They can't reimburse everyone.
Captain: So their solution—quiet retreat. Big guilds retreat first, happy with partial rewards. We small-timers? Nightmare: sunk costs, zero return.
Dan: So this retreat is temporary? The main army will come back, right?
Captain: Not sure. Could be a tactic to clear out small guilds for a free workforce to search over their sectors, but the risk is huge.
Dan: Damn it. What do we do?
Captain: I say we call it quits. Does everyone want to push forward? Risks have skyrocketed.
Lag: How about we wait? We're far from the main army. Ashura Clan targets retreating enemies. For now, we're safe.
Reed: I agree.
Captain: Fine, one more year. But if anything happens, we're out.
Lag: Sure thing.
Dan: Can I give my opinion?
Captain: No. Everyone here wants the riches from that crashed ship.
Dan: True. What are the odds we find it?
Captain: Like a random loot box.
Dan: Well... I just hope we fin—
Suddenly, a red siren flashed as alarms blared across the Bridge.
[Criteria Found] [Criteria Found]
Dan: What the hell? Did we find it?
Captain: Rando, status?
Rando: Drone found a large crash site and metal remains on the planet.
Captain: The ship?
Rando: Still searching.
Captain: Find it now.
Minutes passed.
Rando: Ship found underground. Soil collapsed beneath it from weight.
Captain: How sure?
Rando: About 85%. Model matches, and vegetation growth indicates long-term abandonment.
Captain: Can the drone look inside?
Rando: Jamming detected. Drone can't close in.
Captain: We need to land. Check oxygen, radiation, and if masks are needed.
Rando: Oxygen fine, but harmful radiation is high. Likely fuel leak from crash caused contamination.
Captain: Fuck. Lag, how many anti-radiation suits?
Lag: Exactly 10.
Captain: Great. Who volunteers to go? Hands up. Cryo chambers stay put.
Lag, Reed, Dan raised hands. Jansson, unaware, also raised his. Five others joined—just cannon fodder.
Captain: Let's move. We're lucky today. Search fast, confirm conditions, no deep inspection. Find survivors, check ship. I hope the main control is intact.
Crew: Yes, Captain!
Captain: Lag, prep everyone. We'll take the Fenix Class Light Cruiser.
Lag: Roger that. Move it!
The team suited up: standard exoskeletons, plasma rifles, light swords, backpacks. Some had custom weapons.
The Light Cruiser entered the atmosphere; Rando piloted.
Rando: T-minus 5 minutes.
Captain: Listen up. Strong electromagnetic interference will disrupt comms. Free-fire mode if necessary.
Dan: What about survivors? Fire away and we might shoot them.
Captain: Hope not. Unknown planet, unknown threats.
Lag: Don't be so pessimistic. Crash was 7 years ago. No communication since—maybe no survivors.
Captain: We do our duty.
Rando: T-minus 3. No landing zone. We'll drop you and hover. Use comms to call; we'll pick you up.
The ship hovered, ropes dropped.
Rando: Go! Go! Go!
Captain: Move out!
The descent team rappelled down. After landing:
Captain: Descent team to Fenix, safe descent.
Rando: Affirmative. Fenix out.
Dan: Don't forget to pick us up, Rando, or I haunt you.
Rando: Haha, got it. Fenix out.
Captain: Use Channel 1 for comms.
Descent Team: Yes, Captain!
They explored deep into the caves and saw the enormous crashed ship—still gleaming silver after 7 years, overgrown with vines yet majestic.
Dan: Damn, so big!
Reed: Is this it? No logos, no numbers.
Captain: Lag, Reed, set up camp here. The rest of us check the outside for signs.
Lag and Reed set up a temporary base.
Then Dan screamed.
Dan: Captain! Everyone! Come quick, I found something!
They hurried to Dan, who held a notebook from a corpse.
Captain: What is it?
Dan: A diary with info on the ship and its cargo.
They read burnt pages that survived fires from the crash.
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Diary Entries
09/04 New Federation Calendar
Today is the first time. The New Hope, in its very first mission. I am a new crew member. I try to socialize with the others. Well, I hop— {Page burned}
15/04
First mission. Nervous seeing a big general congratulate me. Even though I don't know the mission, I'll do my best.
01/05
After 15 days or more in space, we finally arrived. {Page burned}
13/08
Diary update. Hard job, hopping planets. Engineer work is hard lately. Parts break mysteriously without fights. Feels like time is slipping. Hmm... just a hunch.
02/12
Is it just me, or is crew disappearing? Cooking crew was 100, now 95? Am I tripping?
03/03
Not crazy. Every planet hop, one crew is missing. Told friend, he scoffed, thinks I'm hallucinating.
10/03
Mission supposedly diplomatic. But outside permission weirdly limited. Stranger after some return from outside, we all can leave. Some say security, but this is something else.
09/04
Tried getting out secretly, failed at first, succeeded today with a secret entrance I made.
15/05
Went out three times since. The environment is the same each time. Secret entrance shows no people; normal entrance leads to cities. Uncanny. Feels like an unusual city.
18/06
I see the truth. Illusion tech fooling us. People and aliens are AI bots masking the planet. Did we ever leave this planet? I'll make marks to check.
10/07
Markers gone. I put them, but they disappear as if never there. Weird.
19/12
Something different. Saw Captain outside ship. Tried to follow but stopped by security. Weird.
01/05
After hearing the truth, I was stumped. First entry in years after stopping 2 years ago. Hope this is worth it.
26/09
Traveling slowly. Ship's condition horrendous, not surprising. Soon at Way Gate. Maybe glorious future.
02/03
Fuck... Is this fate the Captain told me? Why? Just a bit more to Way Gate. Traitors sensed this ship? Months fighting, resources low. Now or never.
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After finishing the diary, Lag broke the tense silence.
Lag: Your thoughts, Cap?
Captain: Missing crew... a mysterious mission... whispers of "Truth" and "Fate." There's no doubt—this is the New Hope.
Dan swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the captain.
Dan: So... what do we do now?
Captain: Rest for a moment. Then we go inside. Face whatever's left behind.
They stepped into the cold, shadowed interior. From the gloom, a pale figure appeared—a naked, fragile-looking teenage boy, his skin almost translucent, an eerie glow radiating from him. He moved slowly, as if weighed down by centuries of silence.
Captain (steady voice): Hold! Identify yourself!
Suddenly, a team member—shaken by the unnatural cold—fired a reflex shot. The boy's scream split the air: a primal, guttural shriek, utterly inhuman, filled with raw pain and rage. Freeze-framed in terror, the team unleashed a hailstorm of bullets until he collapsed, twitching on the cold floor.
Captain (urgent): Hold fire!
Captain stepped forward cautiously, scanning the body.
Lag: What do you see?
Captain (grim): Fifty-two percent human... but the rest is something else—something unknown.
Dan: Not completely human…
Captain: Maybe some primitive. No sign of life now. He's truly dead.
Dan: What's next?
Captain: We split up. Lag and I take the South Wing. Reed and two others the North. Jansson take one goes to East Wing. Dan, with the rest, explore the West Wing.
Dan, flanked by two mercenaries, slowly pushed through the dark, cracked corridors tangled with blackened, writhing vines that seemed almost alive—like the ship's own veins pulsing slowly with decay.
Dan (whispering): This place... it's like walking inside a dead whale's drowned corpse.
Merc #1 (uneasy): Big door ahead.
Before them stood a massive metal door, scarred deeply by ragged claw marks. The faded plaque read:
[Containment Room X-001]
Dan spotted a narrow slit beside the door—only small enough for a child or something smaller to wriggle through.
They forced the door open with effort. Inside: dust-coated floors, broken restraints, shattered glass tubes—yet no cargo, no bodies, only stale emptiness.
Merc #2: Nothing here. No logs, no supplies, not even a corpse.
Dan (frustrated): Dead end. Mark it. Regroup at the Captain's location.
On the way back, Dan's comm crackled as he keyed the channel.
Dan: Captain, West Wing calling. We found Containment Room X-001, but—
Suddenly, the words stuck in his throat.
The corpse—the pale boy they had just shot—was gone.
Dan (panicked): Captain! The corpse... it's missing!
Then, with a deafening CRACK, three enormous crimson spikes tore through the ceiling, hurtling down and impaling all three men simultaneously.
Merc #1 & #2: 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔!!
Dan (shouting): How the hell did the thermal scans miss this?!
Their bodies seized painfully as their blood seemed to slow, breaths turning shallow. Lungs gripped by cold fire, limbs betrayed them. Dan struggled to breathe, gasping frantically into the comm.
Dan (desperate): Captain... h-help... emergency...
Darkness crept at the edges of his vision as both mercenaries collapsed into unconsciousness. Dan's head spun dizzily as his strength fled.
Suddenly, the bullet-riddled corpse dropped from above, limbs twisted grotesquely, yet with unnatural willpower bent toward Canon Fodder #1.
Dan's heart seized in horror.
The creature's mouth gaped wide, revealing rows of jagged fangs dripping with dried blood. It lunged, eyes glowing with savage hunger, for the merc's neck—but crimson spikes barred the way.
The creature roared, a terrible guttural sound, clawing at the spikes viciously. With a violent jab, one spike pierced its hand—severing it clean off—sending the creature into a maddened scream that echoed through the halls like a banshee's wail.
Dan (*inner voice*): It... it controls those spikes. But why can't it fully command them?
Its eyes flared with burning red sigils, ancient and malignant. It snarled and sunk teeth ruthlessly into its victim's neck, silently draining warmth and life—like a predator feeding on misery itself.
The creature slithered toward the second mercenary. The barrier rose anew; with a flick of its bloody stump, the spikes withdrew. It pressed its fangs greedily into fresh flesh, feasting anew—quiet as death.
Dan (frantic): It's… learning... controlling the spikes better... Why does this feel so——familiar!? Think! THINK NOW!!
As the second mercenary's hollow, drained husk dropped to the floor, Dan cursed the Captain's absence bitterly.
Unknown to them, Captain and the remaining crew were rushing forward—but the signal interference here was dense, severing all comms in the West Wing like a suffocating fog.
The creature turned its red-glowing eyes to Dan, watching as the severed hand dissolved into a pool of coagulated blood, then reformed—whole and pulsing anew. Then, in a voice thick with rough curiosity and simmering menace, it spoke—almost fluently:
The Amalgamation: (pointing at Dan) Human... I... (pointing at itself) Not human... (pointing again) Human prey... food... delicious.
The crimson spikes retracted smoothly. Without needing to gesture, a new set burst forth suddenly—piercing Dan's hand and leg in brutal hooks, suspending him like some grotesque trophy.
The creature's teeth sank deep into Dan's neck, a slow, deliberate bite that drew hot, precious life from his veins.
A flood of memories washed over Dan like ink swirling in water—the story of his life, the mythic legends from that old 21st-century Earth book he once read—whispers of darkness and immortality: vampires.
Dan (weak, fading): You… are… a… vam… pire…
His body stiffened, beginning to mummify as his mind blackened. Death embraced him fully, frozen in agony on the crimson hooks.
The creature paused and pressed a finger to its temple, its voice slow and reverent:
The Amalgamation: Vampire... yes... I am The Vampire... I am Vampire.
Digesting Dan's memories, its mind sharpened—no longer a mindless beast, but something more.
The Vampire: Thank you, Dan. Your memory... it is the key. You showed me what I am. I am a new race—the first vampire.
Dan's memories made it clear: no true vampires had existed before. This creature was the beginning.
The Vampire: Dan, through your life, I've found myself. I will grant your final wish—to carve your name across the stars. From this moment on, I am Vlad... Vlad Handerfor. (◣_◢)
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Word count =3069
Thank you all for reading the chapter 3 this should come out at Friday last weak but i forgot to upload it well a little bit of polishing and revise and he it is the name protagonist name is Vlad Handerfor the reason is
Vlad = in Dan memory of the book Vlad is the name of the most famous vampire myth {ps. the original name that i want is Vorrath Draven but i pass on it and choose more generic Vlad}
{if you all don't like the name maybe could vote or just tell me in comment so i could change it but this only happen until 2 maybe 1 chapter after this as name is very important and it will be a hard job to change the mc name when the story begun}
Handerfor = this is dan last name as his name was Daniel Handerfor and yeah if anyone asking every character have a last name and actually i have the notes of every character but i still not know how to upload it as it will take times to update my notes over and over again each chapter and updated it again to the web novel
Well for now thanks for reading and have a good day