Seizing the King (1)
The young girl in front of him trembled with fear. She wore coarse linen clothes, and her flaxen hair looked dry and brittle from malnutrition. Her small, palm-sized face quivered as her wide eyes blinked desperately: “Sir… please don’t drink my blood. I can serve you as a maid instead.”
Chen Li paused for a moment: [System, this game is abusing minors.]
The girl in front of him looked no older than sixteen; judging by her small, skinny frame, she seemed more like fourteen.
System 001 sounded indifferent: [She’s just a background NPC.]
The system’s occasional inhuman coldness always rubbed Chen Li the wrong way. And when he was annoyed, he showed it by simply ignoring it.
So instead of replying, Chen Li reached out a hand to the girl, intending to help her up from the filthy, cluttered floor.
But Wendy misunderstood the gesture. Thinking he was about to devour her, she burst into terrified sobs. Tears streaked down her dirty little face, leaving clean lines on her cheeks as she begged for mercy through her choked cries.
Chen Li froze for a moment, his outstretched hand trembling before he pulled it back. Remembering what she’d said earlier, he tried to control his expression: “I’m not going to drink your blood.”
Wendy blinked in surprise, looking up at him blankly: “Really?”
Her face was still a mess of tears and snot—utterly pitiful.
Chen Li quickly opened his mission panel and skimmed his character profile. A few unpleasant words immediately jumped out at him:
Evil, Arrogant, Troublemaker.
Judging by those first impressions, Chen Li forced a sneer, putting on a deliberately wicked tone: “A scrawny little thing like you? I wouldn’t touch you even if I was starving.”
He tilted his head slightly, looking down at her with what was supposed to be disdain—but his round, almond-shaped eyes softened the expression. Instead of intimidating, he looked more like a cat reluctantly whining.
Wendy blushed a little: “Th-thank you. You’re a good person.”
Caught off guard by the sudden “a good person” card, Chen Li: “…”
System 001 couldn’t take it anymore: [Just take her with you.]
That was the only way to somewhat stay in character.
Chen Li kept a calm, inscrutable face on the outside, but inwardly panicked: [How am I supposed to take her with me?]
[Knock her out and carry her!] System 001 snapped. [What, do you want to gift-wrap her and carry her home in a box?!]
After a brief scramble, Chen Li reluctantly used a hand chop to knock the girl out, muttering “Sorry” under his breath while carrying her over to a hard wooden bed in the room.
Only then did he have time to look around and take in his surroundings—and it was a complete disaster.
The space felt suffocating. A grown man standing up straight would probably hit his head on the ceiling.
Most of the wooden furniture had been destroyed, now lying in pieces on the floor. The window was shattered, letting cold wind constantly pour in. Judging from the scene, it was likely the original host’s handiwork.
What, is my character some murderous burglar now?
But then he remembered—the girl had mentioned something about blood…
The mission panel popped up again in front of him. And sure enough, in this Horror Game, the roles never just stopped at “bad”—only “worse.”
{Role: Vampire Prince}
{Personality: Sullen, Evil, Arrogant, Troublemaker, Vindictive}
{Backstory: This world contains seven major races—Featherfolk, Humans, Elves,Werewolves, Dwarves, Undead, and Vampires.}
{Your mission is to instigate conflict among players of different races by assigning them quests to become their race’s king.}
Chen Li: [I sound like such a villain.}
System 001: [The more villainous, the better for collecting points! Let’s go all-in for performance bonus!]
Ignoring the overexcited system, Chen Li picked up Wendy and decided to take her back to his own territory.
He felt a little guilty toward the innocent girl. After all, the original host really had planned to drain her dry.
Not to turn her into a fledgling vampire, just to enjoy her virgin blood as a feast.
But even though Chen Li now knew he was playing a vampire, he couldn’t bring himself to actually drink blood. So he changed the script—he’d just pretend to take her as a slave instead.
The girl worked at a bakery, lived in a cramped attic, wore patched-up clothes, and survived on the cheapest black bread. Someone like her could go missing without causing much of a stir.
No wonder the original host was so arrogant.
Back on his turf, Chen Li threw the person into an empty room and quickly ran off. His stomach was protesting the missed meal so loudly that even Wendy’s thin neck was starting to look a little appetizing.
The thought was terrifying—just lingering in his mind for a few seconds was enough to scare him.
As he walked toward his room, Chen Li couldn’t help but worry: [System, has my body really turned into a vampire’s?]
In the previous two game instances, he’d clearly used his own real body.
System 001 responded irritably: [Well, that’s because you needed a player disguise. If you’re registered as a player, your body changes to match your in-game identity.]
Chen Li’s eyes widened—he looked like he’d just been frightened by his new identity.
System 001 was about to calm him down when Chen Li tilted his head in confusion and asked: [So… am I basically a bat now?]
System 001: […Technically, yes.]
For a moment, it was hard to tell if his priorities were just odd or if he was simply too chill about it all.
He didn’t dwell on the topic further. The corridor around him was unlit, and only the dim night light offered any visibility, making the atmosphere eerily creepy. Unconsciously, Chen Li quickened his pace. When he finally reached his room and opened the door, he was so startled he immediately slammed it shut.
If he were a small animal, his fur would have puffed up in fright.
After a moment to mentally prepare himself, he slowly pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside. There was no way to deceive himself anymore.
[System, why is there a coffin in my room?!]
System 001: [Where else would a vampire sleep, if not in a coffin?]
Chen Li: “…”
He couldn’t refute it.
Reluctantly, he inched his way into the room, staring at the black coffin with a look of deep suffering and despair.
The coffin was custom-made—tall and spacious, with a dark red cushion inside that actually looked quite soft.
But that didn’t change the fact that it was still a coffin.
Seeing his strong aversion, System 001 finally offered a somewhat comforting thought: [Vampires don’t need to sleep every day.]
Just as Chen Li was about to feel relieved, System 001 poured cold water over him again: [A vampire is coming.]
[Who?] Chen Li blinked nervously.
System 001: [One of your subordinates. Don’t forget—you’re a vampire prince.]
To confirm its words, a knock came from outside the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Three times—no more, no less.
Chen Li: “Come in.”
He stood before the coffin, the warm orange glow of the lamp casting a soft light over his face. Despite his deliberately stern expression, he didn’t look the least bit intimidating.
The person who entered kept their head lowered the entire time, not daring to look up: “Your Highness, I’ve completed the tasks you assigned. Al of the dwarves will meet with you at three in the afternoon, the featherfolk at four, the human at sunset, and the undead will arrive at nightfall.”
Chen Li felt himself going numb: [System, I’m so busy.]
System 001: [They’re all players. None of them have met each other yet, so Gu Fu still doesn’t know your identity.]
Chen Li flinched: [Then what’s his identity?]
[Featherfolk.]
The vampire before him, receiving no response, assumed he’d made some mistake. Voice trembling, he said: “Forgive me, Your Highness. We cannot approach the Elven Forest. As for the Werewolves… we’ve been at odds with them for over a thousand years…”
They were the vampires’ only true nemesis.
Physically and in combat ability, they surpassed the vampires. They had beast-like instincts and were immune to the vampire’s allure or corruption.
Werewolves disdained the vampires’ dark and shadowy ways. Though both were children of the moon, the wolves sought to claim it for themselves.
Vampires, in turn, arrogantly believed beasts had no right to bask in moonlight. And so, their relationship had only worsened over time.
This man was terrified of him—or rather, terrified of his identity.
Chen Li felt that if he didn’t say something soon, the man might pass out. But something happened even faster than he could react. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a sudden flash of red appeared before his eyes.
A few cold drops of blood splattered across his cheek—crimson and pale skin mingling in an almost seductive contrast.
Chen Li’s pupils involuntarily turned red, and his small fangs emerged—startled into appearing.
He—he had actually plunged his hand into his chest and started stirring it around!
Sharp claws tore through flesh, and the sickening squelch of blood and muscle moving filled the air. Yet the blood that spilled, instead of smelling metallic and foul, carried a strangely sweet scent.
The vampire still didn’t dare to look up and didn’t notice anything unusual about the prince. In his fear, he inflicted this serious injury on himself, hoping it would spare him from punishment.
Even a wound straight to the heart was nothing to a vampire’s terrifying regenerative ability—but it would be a different story in the hands of the prince.
He stood above all other vampires, the last pure-blood prince among them.
He would tear him in half without hesitation!!
Meanwhile, the Vampire Prince was utterly stunned.
Blood flowed everywhere, and the vampire before him continued to mutilate his own heart in a desperate, masochistic display.
The longer Chen Li stayed silent, the more unbearable the pressure became for the vampire. Finally, just as he was about to fall into utter despair, he heard the prince speak.
“Get lost. You’ve dirtied my room.”
The vampire’s eyes flared with a desperate will to live, and without hesitation, he turned and ran.
After he left, a few small bats flew in and quickly cleaned up the bloodstains in the room. Then, with a flutter of wings, they vanished just as swiftly.
Only after making sure no more non-human creatures would enter did Chen Li’s legs give out, and he collapsed onto the coffin.
The system was just about to say something when it saw its deflated host suddenly let out a soft plop—and shrink.
System 001: ???
Where’s my host? My big, full-sized host I left right here??
Terrified, it stared at the tiny host now completely swallowed up in his own clothes. Then it suddenly realized—he’d been so scared, he’d reverted to his original form.
Good thing he waited until the subordinates had all left before changing—otherwise, the persona would’ve completely fallen apart.
Chen Li had no idea what just happened. One moment everything went dark, and he found himself trapped in fabric.
Panicking, he started flailing, trying to fight off the evil clothes.
In the end, System 001 couldn’t bear to watch anymore. It stepped in and guided him, barely managing to prevent him from becoming the first—and only—NPC to suffocate under his own clothes.
System 001 was just about to mock him, but when it saw its host’s true form, it was too stunned to speak.
Wasn’t he supposed to be a pitch-black bat? What was this fluffy little white creature!?
Chen Li finally sensed something was off. Tilting his head innocently, he let out a soft: “Baa?”
Author’s note:
As for why the vampire is a bat, but Li Bao is a little lamb…
Because the author has a twisted sense of humor because it’s adorable, of course!!
Woah… a vampire sheep.
Lmao so cute 🤣
Thank you for the chapters! I just binged them all; its very cute! I think you may have uploaded 42.2 before 42.1 :))