Do-hyun ignored the whispered insults as he walked through the school hallway. The bullying had become as routine as his morning classes, but each barb still stung just as deeply. Today, however, something inside him snapped.
He stopped walking and adjusted his worn glasses—the same pair that had been taped together for months. The frames sat crooked on his face, one lens slightly cracked from yesterday's "accident" in the locker room.
Turning slowly, he met the eyes of his tormentor. "At least I can count how many brain cells you have left," Do-hyun retorted. "It's zero, in case you were wondering."
The larger boy's face flushed red with anger. "You level 1 trash! When will you learn your place?"
He clenched his fists, and a crimson energy began swirling around his hands—the telltale sign of a Bloodline ability user. Do-hyun had nowhere to run as the energy blast shot toward him, lifting him off his feet and slamming him against the lockers.
"Fighting on graduation day?" a student murmured from the growing crowd.
A girl rushed forward to check on the victim, but when the energy dust cleared and she saw Do-hyun's face, she immediately backed away, rejoining her friends who laughed at her mistake.
"I didn't realize it was him," she muttered, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Do-hyun stood up slowly, picking his glasses off the floor. The right temple had snapped completely this time. "Great," he sighed, letting the broken frames dangle from his fingers.
He didn't bother staying for the graduation ceremonies. While other students hugged and cried, promising to keep in touch, Do-hyun slipped away unnoticed. He wasn't part of any circle, nor did he want to be. The "weird orphan" didn't fit into their perfect world of abilities and bloodlines.
His government-assigned apartment was exactly what one would expect for a ward of the state—a single room barely large enough for a bed and desk. A small television mounted on the wall provided the only company he could afford.
On his bed sat a single suitcase containing everything he owned. He walked to the desk and opened the bottom drawer, retrieving a strange, leather-bound book his parents had left him. The cover was dark crimson, embossed with what looked like fangs surrounding a single drop of blood.
"Test 87," Do-hyun murmured, pulling a small lighter from his pocket. "Maybe fire will work today."
He flicked the flame against the book's cover, but as always, nothing happened. No burn marks, no smoke—the book remained utterly untouched.
"Why won't you open?" he whispered, frustration evident in his voice. "What were you thinking, leaving me this thing?"
Eighty-seven different methods he'd tried—acid, blades, extreme pressure, even leaving it submerged in water for weeks. Nothing affected the mysterious book his parents had bequeathed him before they died in the Vampire Wars.
He turned on the television for background noise, the news reporter's voice filling the small room.
"—tensions with the Vampire clans continue to escalate. Officials warn that the peace treaty may not last another year—"
The Vampire Wars had defined his generation. When the ancient creatures revealed themselves thirty years ago, they demanded human submission. Humanity fought back with their newly discovered Bloodline abilities, but the vampires' supernatural powers proved nearly unstoppable.
Do-hyun's parents had been among the first Bloodline users, gifted with rare abilities that made them valuable soldiers. They died when he was ten, leaving him with nothing but this strange book and a monthly government stipend.
"Why is everything so unfair?" he muttered, picking up his broken glasses.
He tried to force the lens back into the frame, his frustration mounting with each failed attempt. "Just... fit!"
The lens suddenly shattered, a sharp piece slicing deep into his thumb. He cried out in pain and anger, kicking the desk leg.
"Why does everything have to be so difficult?"
As he cleaned up the broken glass, he noticed a small shard had landed on the crimson book. When he brushed it away, a drop of blood from his cut thumb fell onto the cover.
The fang emblem began to glow with an eerie red light.
The book rose into the air, hovering at eye level as pages flipped wildly. Do-hyun stumbled backward, his heart pounding. Strange symbols swam before his eyes, yet somehow he could understand them.
The book dissolved into crimson dust that swirled around him before being absorbed through his skin. A wave of weakness washed over him, and his vision began to darken.
Just before losing consciousness, he heard a final message:
Do-hyun's eyes fluttered open. He was still on the floor of his apartment, the dim evening light filtering through the single window. For a moment, he thought it had all been a dream—the glowing book, the strange voice, everything.
Then he saw it.
A transparent, crimson interface hovered before his eyes, displaying information in sleek, modern fonts:
```
[VAMPIRE HUNTER SYSTEM - V1.0]
USER: KIM DO-HYUN
RACE: HUMAN
BLOODLINE: NONE
LEVEL: 1
EXP: 0/100
[STATS]
STRENGTH: 8
AGILITY: 7
ENDURANCE: 6
BLOOD ENERGY: 0/10
[ABILITIES]
VAMPIRE SENSE: UNLOCKED
BLOOD EDGE: LOCKED (REQUIRES LEVEL 3)
NIGHT VISION: LOCKED (REQUIRES LEVEL 5)
```
"Do-hyun stared, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. "This... this can't be real."
The voice echoed in his mind, calm and mechanical. Do-hyun scrambled backward until his back hit the wall. "What are you? Where did you come from?"
"My... parents?" Do-hyun's breath caught in his throat. "They had this system?"
For years, Do-hyun had believed his parents were ordinary soldiers—brave, but ultimately just two more casualties in a endless war. Now this... this system was telling him they'd been something more.
"Why me?" he whispered. "I have no Bloodline, no special abilities. I'm just... normal."
Do-hyun's mind raced. All his life, he'd been the weak one, the ordinary one in a world of superhumans. He'd accepted his place at the bottom of the social ladder, convinced he would never amount to anything.
Now, this system was offering him a chance to become something more.
[Objective: Hunt and eliminate one low-level vampire]
[Reward: 100 EXP, Blood Edge ability unlock]
[Failure: System will seek new host]
"Do-hyun's eyes widened. "Eliminate a vampire? Are you insane? I can't fight a vampire!"
A new notification appeared:
[VAMPIRE SENSE: ACTIVE]
[Range: 100 meters]
[Duration: 10 minutes]
[Cost: 1 Blood Energy]
Do-hyun's hands trembled. This was madness. He was a high school graduate with no combat training, no special abilities—until now.
But then he remembered the years of bullying, the pitying looks from teachers, the knowledge that he would never be anything special in this world of powers and bloodlines.
"Activate it," he said, his voice steadier than he expected.
The world shifted around him. Colors became muted, but he could now see pulsing red auras in the distance. One was particularly close—just a few blocks away.
Do-hyun took a deep breath. This was either the stupidest decision of his life, or the beginning of something new.
He looked at the broken glasses on the floor, then at the system interface still hovering before him.
"Okay," he whispered. "Let's go hunting."