"Are you afraid?" Serelith challenged. Her smile widened as her opponent kept stepping backward, "After all, you're just an NPC, why should you be scared? Every time you die, you'll just come back to life and bother other players anyway."
But unexpectedly, Serelith's hands were seized by two other men she had ignored earlier. Serelith froze for a moment but still tried to act calm as she gave a mocking smile.
Her gray eyes glanced back and forth at the two men. She had no idea where the strength came from, but suddenly Serelith leapt, spun midair, and kicked both men's faces, forcing them to release her hands.
Both of Serelith's feet landed squarely on the flat cobblestone path. For a moment, she looked down at her own feet, then clicked her tongue in admiration, "Now I understand why this assassin skin looks like this. At least my heel attack just now must have dealt decent damage to them."
The two men fell sprawling to the ground. Serelith turned her body, facing the man who had been speaking with her from the start. She smirked arrogantly, "Did you see that? What do you think? Do you want my heels to land on your face or—"
Her words stopped when her gaze fell to the "middle" part of the Bandit Leader's body in front of her, "—wouldn't it be fun to play with that?"
"Such arrogance! You haven't even seen your own ability yet, but you dare belittle me!" The Bandit Leader's temper finally flared. He drew a long sword from his back and pointed it at Serelith.
Luckily, Serelith swiftly sidestepped. Honestly, even she was surprised by her own reflexes being that fast. She turned her gaze back to the heels she wore, "Ah, I think one of the functions of these heels is to increase movement speed too. I don't know why the system didn't mention it earlier."
The Bandit Leader roared again, pounding his own chest like a sumo wrestler. Then he stared at Serelith with hungry eyes, "You won't be able to escape from here today!"
"Really?" Serelith began drawing two daggers from her waist and took a stance, "Then let's see."
The man charged toward Serelith, swinging his sword as high as he could. Yet Serelith just stood there waiting, her smile never leaving her face.
When only two meters remained between them, Serelith bent slightly—her posture as if preparing to leap high. Then from her lips came the words, "Shadow Step!"
In the blink of an eye, black smoke erupted around the Bandit Leader, blocking his sight. The man coughed and waved his arms, desperately trying to disperse the smoke.
But it was too late. Serelith was already behind him, tapping his shoulder twice. The bandit, still flailing in the smoke, turned without opening his eyes.
And when he finally did, Serelith had already leapt in front of him, swinging both daggers at once and shouting, "Wound Carve!"
Two slashes landed across the man's arms, staggering him until he collapsed. Yet the Bandit Leader was still alive, proven by the groans that spilled from his mouth.
"Oh, geez. Killing him is so hard. Back when I was still a mage, I could kill enemies with just one spell. Too bad my level had to drop this much and I had to start all over again," said Serelith as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
When she opened her eyes again, Serelith could no longer see the two other bandits around. Frowning, she turned her head and scanned the area, searching for them.
"Argh!" Serelith growled once she realized those bandits might have already fled.
"Ah! My hand!" the Bandit Leader screamed. He rolled on the ground as blood began to spill and soak the path.
Seeing that, Serelith suddenly felt hungry. Watching the flowing blood, she saw it like hot chocolate spilling from its cup.
As Serelith unconsciously licked her lips while staring, she quickly shook her head and slapped her cheek lightly, "No, no! Even though I'm now a blood-eater assassin, I can definitely resist it as long as I control myself."
Clenching both fists tightly around her daggers, she closed her eyes. Without further hesitation, she approached and slashed at the man's neck again until his head was severed.
"AAA!!!"
That was the last sound Serelith heard from the Bandit Leader. After silence lingered for a while, she dared to open her eyes. Her throat grew dry as she saw the blood gushing from the man's severed head.
"No, no!" Serelith spun around, "I'd better go after those two damned bandits. Yes, I need to distract myself."
But after only four steps, a floating sphere reappeared right in front of her—blocking her path.
[Why are you leaving? Isn't the food back there still fresh?]
With her emotions in chaos, Serelith glared at the system sharply, "Shut up, damn system!"
She ignored the system and kept walking forward. She tried to disregard its words, tried to ignore the strong desire to drink the Bandit Leader's blood.
[I'm only reminding you, to face the other two bandits, you cannot lose your strength. And to regain strength, you need to eat.]
"I'm human. I'll eat human food."
[Before you finish the mission, you don't have enough coins. No coins means no food.]
The last sentence made Serelith halt, causing the floating system to bump into her back since she stopped so suddenly.
[Ouch.]
The system spoke flatly, yet rubbed its head with one hand and shook slowly.
"You're right," Serelith muttered.
She turned back toward the dripping blood, her thirst growing stronger. Swallowing hard several times, she rushed back to where the body lay.
Without another thought, she grabbed the Bandit Leader's head and held her mouth open, catching every drop of blood that poured straight into it.
And somehow, after finishing the blood, Serelith felt full. Even the thirst from moments ago faded away.
"Hahh!" Serelith exhaled deeply and sat beside the corpse.
Seeing the system float toward her, Serelith asked, "Hey, system, do you have a mirror?"
[For what?]
"Just give it to me if you have one."
Instead of handing her a mirror, the system closed its eyes, glowing faintly bluish-white. Soon its whole yellow body transformed into a round mirror, dropping onto Serelith's lap.
When she saw her reflection, Serelith screamed, "AAA!!!"
The mirror was flung, but luckily it reverted back into the system before touching the ground.
[Strange human. If I had hit the street, my body would've been damaged.]
After saying that, the system disappeared who knows where, leaving Serelith still in shock. Her eyes and mouth remained wide open.
With both hands, she rubbed her lips, trying to wipe away any bloodstains. Seeing her hands turn red as well, she rubbed even harder.
"How could a cute and charming girl like me turn into a terrifying vampiric assassin?"
---
Early in the morning, Serelith was already walking along the roadside with her head lowered, surrounded by bustling people passing by. No, not because of the blood that might still linger on her lips. But for some reason, her mood had suddenly soured.
She sighed over and over, though she had fully dressed again. Yet she refused to lift her head. Until finally, her forehead bumped into something firm.
No, not a wall or barrier of some kind. It felt hard, but slightly soft at the same time. Like—a human back?
"Holy Princess! I finally found you!"
That was the only voice she heard before someone suddenly hugged her tightly. Serelith had no idea what was happening, even when a stranger embraced her out of nowhere.
Once the hug was released, the young man immediately inspected her body—making sure she wasn't hurt.
"Hey, wait!" Serelith shouted, backing away slowly. She frowned at the young man, "Who are you?"
"Princess, don't you recognize me anymore? It's me—Samael."
"Samael?" Serelith muttered. She then called the system in her mind, "System, who is this young man? Do I know him?"
[He was your right-hand man when you were still the Holy Princess of the Assassin Guild.]
"When I was still a Princess? So I was a Princess before? Then where is the Assassin Guild now?"
[Sorry, Miss. I cannot explain that much, because I also don't know what truly happened. I only know he was your right-hand man when you were still the Holy Princess.]
Serelith almost punched the air where the floating system had been. But before she could, the system vanished, leaving Samael staring strangely at her.
"Princess, are you alright? Did something happen?" Samael asked with concern.
Serelith answered with her brightest smile, "Of course. Isn't it nice to meet an old acquaintance?"
Instead of being happy, Samael only grew more worried. His face turned pale, and then he shouted, "Heavens! Princess, we must get you examined at once!"
He grabbed Serelith's hand and pulled her along. But at the next corner, Serelith stopped, forcing Samael to stop too.
Seeing this, Samael turned back with a panicked look, "First, I still have unfinished business here. Second, how did you end up here? And third, can you please stop calling me Princess? It makes me uncomfortable."
This time, Samael couldn't help lowering his head with a sorrowful face. That alone nearly frustrated Serelith. She took a deep breath and asked, "What is it now? What's wrong with you?"
"It seems—that trial really did erase all of your memories." The young man looked up at her again, still with his sorrowful expression, "But I didn't expect you would lose your identity because of it."
"Lose my identity?"
Samael nodded, taking a deep breath. His face grew serious this time. Wearing black-and-white clothes similar to Serelith and carrying two swords on his back, he gave a faint smile, "I'll tell you everything. But first, we must save the Assassin Guild."
"Save?" Serelith was even more confused. Her head felt like it would explode.
She had entered a game she didn't even know the name of, became a new character, received a terrifying first mission, and now—was she supposed to accept that she suddenly had a Guild that wasn't even full of mages?
The young man didn't reply, but pulled Serelith's hand again. This time slowly, so she could keep up with his pace.
They reached an arched bridge, beneath which a bustling market stretched. Yet Samael stayed silent for a while, breathing deeply several times.
"So, Samael. Tell me what's really going on."