Chapter 1
1243 Words
That day was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for him.
Dimas Kurniawan, had recently quit his job as a barista at a coffee shop and decided to visit a shopping mall in the heart of the capital city to try the world's first virtual reality game: Glory.
Dimas had always been a gamer, or more accurately, someone who loved games and enjoyed trying every new title that appeared on the market.
People said the game was incredibly realistic.
Unfortunately, bad luck never appears on a calendar.
The moment Dimas entered the VR booth, the machine malfunctioned. An electrical leak occurred, and somehow, out of everyone there, he happened to be the unlucky one who got caught in it.
Instead of enjoying the most advanced game ever created, he felt as if he had been electrocuted.
It was not enough to kill him, but it was certainly enough to make him swear never to touch the machine again.
His head felt heavy and painfully full, as though something had been forcefully crammed into his mind. The pain was unbearable.
“Ugh... how long was I unconscious? This day is seriously the worst...” he muttered while holding his aching head.
After receiving compensation of two hundred thousand rupiah from the mall management, Dimas left without causing any trouble. By the time he reached home, his headache still had not gone away.
He lay down on his bed, hoping the pain would eventually fade.
He wanted to sleep.
However, the moment he closed his eyes, the pain returned.
This time, it was far worse.
His mind felt as though it had been forced to contain thousands of memories that did not belong to him. Strange images flashed through his thoughts..bizarre creatures, unfamiliar worlds, and impossible things that should not exist.
And eventually...
He lost consciousness.
The surroundings changed.
Dimas slowly opened his eyes in confusion. It felt as though he were dreaming. He found himself standing in a strange and unfamiliar land covered by thin layers of mist.
He blinked several times and stood frozen, his mouth hanging open.
He was standing atop a castle tower.
It resembled the wizard towers from classic fantasy films and fairy tales. The tower rose twenty-five stories high and was constructed from crimson alchemical materials. From the outside, it appeared magnificent, though it was still overshadowed by the three enormous towers behind it, each reaching nearly fifty stories.
Dimas cautiously stepped inside and explored the old, weathered structure.
On the third floor, he discovered a spacious study.
Rows of oak bookshelves filled the room, packed with valuable volumes such as General History of the Empire, Fundamentals of Alchemy, Magic Formations, Divine Light, and numerous books concerning magic.
In the corner of the room, beneath a stack of thick books, stood a large oval mirror.
Dimas approached it.
The moment he saw his reflection, he froze in shock.
The person staring back at him was a young man dressed in black velvet robes, resembling a handsome young wizard.
His skin was deathly pale, as though he had never once seen sunlight. His lips were slightly parted, revealing two sharp fangs. His face was undeniably attractive, yet there was something unsettling about him—an eerie charm that sent chills down the spine.
Anyone who saw him would immediately shout:
“Vampire!”
A creature that drank human blood, a being often regarded as the embodiment of evil itself. If discovered, the priests would undoubtedly dispatch holy knights to hunt him down without mercy.
Yet ironically, Dimas had appeared inside a Wizard Tower, the very symbol of magical authority and orthodoxy.
A vampire's body itself was considered a treasure.
Their blood could be used in magical formations, their ashes served as ingredients for alchemical traps, and even their fangs possessed tremendous value.
Even powerful archmages hunted vampires for these materials.
And now, there was a vampire trapped within the tower, dressed in the official robes of the Wizard Association.
That vampire was himself.
Some time later, Dimas regained consciousness.
He rubbed his eyes slowly. His vision remained blurry, but the pain in his head had begun to fade.
“Thank goodness... it doesn't seem too serious. Maybe I should go to the hospital later.”
He attempted to stand.
Suddenly
“Ugh!!” The pain returned.
This time it was even worse.
It felt as though thousands of ants were biting his brain every second. Dimas clutched his head tightly, gritting his teeth as he endured the agony.
At the same time, foreign memories flooded into his mind.
Like scenes from a movie. Elves, Giants, Wizards, knights, empires, Nobles. The Wizard Association. And...VAMPIRES.
Everything merged together.
Dimas had no choice but to accept them.
Half an hour later, the pain finally subsided.
He sat silently, his face pale. Yet instead of panicking or screaming, he simply looked confused.
“Did I... enter the game Glory?”
And that was not the only problem. He was now a vampire. This body did not belong to him. The original owner was gone, and Dimas had inherited the body.
His new identity was:
-Vlad Dracula.
-A Level 10 Wizard.
-A member of the Green City Wizard Association.
-A noble bearing the title of Baron.
But even that was not the most shocking part. His true identity was far more terrifying. He was the Ancestor of the Blood Clan.
The owner of a castle hidden within the remote mountains. The ruler of more than two hundred vampires.
By combining these newly acquired memories with his knowledge of Glory, Dimas finally became certain.
He had truly entered the game.
A game that had not even been released yet.
A world of magic filled with countless races, gods, dragons, elves, demons, and humans.
And now he was living inside it.
“So... am I an NPC? Or is this actually a real world?” He could not tell.
However, one question troubled him more than anything else.
“Can I go back?”
Earth was still his home.
No matter what happened, he refused to remain trapped here forever.
Suddenly, Dimas opened his eyes.
Everything had changed. The dark library filled with books had vanished.
He was back inside his bedroom.
His laptop remained turned on, still playing a television program.
Dimas immediately jumped to his feet, his eyes widening with joy.
“I came back?! Seriously? It's not a one-way trip?!”
Before he could process what had happened, darkness suddenly engulfed him once more.
And he returned to the Wizard Tower. Several moments later, Dimas burst into laughter.
“This is insane...”
He began experimenting.
In.
Out.
In again.
Eventually, he reached a conclusion.
He could freely travel between the real world and the world of Glory whenever he wished.
His original body would fall asleep whenever he entered the game world.
However, there was a limitation.
Traveling back and forth too frequently caused unbearable headaches.
Then, a holographic panel suddenly appeared before his eyes, just like a game interface.
Name: Vlad Dracula
Race: Vampire Ancestor
Level: Wizard Lv.10 / Warrior Lv.5
Mana: 652
Abilities:
*Transform into a bat
*Recover by drinking blood
*Superhuman physical strength
Magic:
Fireball, Lightning, Teleportation, and many others.
Dimas stared at the panel in amazement. Then his eyes stopped at the final line. His entire body froze.
'1,095 days remain before the players descend upon this world...'
He swallowed hard. “Players...?”
- Writer
