After leaving the dungeon, Katsuya had gone over to the guild to sell the two boss orbs he had gotten. After doing so, he had received $1,125,000; Then he successfully paid off both of the medical bills for this month.
One week later…
(Home)
Katsuya was cozy, dressed in pajamas while he sat on the couch.
He watched the news channel like always. There were no major events or disasters, there only seemed to be normal news; Such as the weather and how much traffic was in certain areas.
Katsuya reached over to the small coffee table and grabbed his warm cup of tea.
Sip.
Sip.
"Ah….nothing beats relaxing while drinking nice warm tea. Just by thinking of it, I made way too much money last week. It'll be another four years until I have to worry about money again."
Buzz.
He turned his head, only to see it vibrating. A notification showed as the screen was lit up.
{2 new messages from: Beast Slayer Guild}
"Could they be texting me because of the progressive dungeon?"
Katsuya began reading what was sent.
{We have recently received word that you survived falling into the depths of the newest progressive dungeon. That alone was an impressive feat for a D-ranker. We have promoted you to number 1 among our D-rankers. Come in and we will have your rank re-evaluated. And of course, we haven't forgotten about your monthly pay. You will receive it when you show up.
{We hope to see you soon.}
There was no clear way to explain his excitedness. His heart was pounding and he was ready to go right away.
Adventurers above the rank of S were rare and Katsuya knew he would at least be Gold-rank.
He quickly ran to his room and opened up his closet.
"Okay, now what should I wear?"
His eyes stared endlessly at his variety of clothes. But still, he could not decide. He let out a sigh and grabbed a plain black shirt.
"I guess it would be better just to dress normal."
His conclusion was that there was no need to dress all nice. It wasn't like his appearance was going to have an effect on his ranking.
3 hours later….
(Beast Slayer's Guild)
After the female guild worker had scanned Katsuya's overall, he was curious what his new rank would be.
"What rank do you think I'll be in?" He asked.
The guild worker replied "...Your new rank will be Gold. I'm honestly surprised. It's impressive for a boy like you to already be this powerful."
Getting his new ranking was his greatest accomplishment, yet he still felt somewhat empty, knowing his mother and sister were in a coma.
"I guess I better get going now." Katsuya replied.
He walked out of the room and down the hallway. All his goals were mainly complete. Katsuya's life was stable; he didn't have to worry about having no money. Or even worry about paying for the house bills.
His total money savings was $1,120,666. Just at a glance, you would think he was your average norm.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.
The sound of his phone startled him and made him lose his train of thought. The only thing on his mind now was who could be calling. He brought his phone out of his pocket and checked the screen.
{Caller: 864-291-519}
{Answer/Decline}
Just by looking at the number, he wasn't able to tell who it was. So, he decided to answer then spoke.
"Hello?"
"I was glad to hear the news that you were alright, kid." said a familiar voice.
"I'm sorry for asking this but, who are you?" Katsuya asked.
"You really don't remember me? I'm the one who let you come to the B-rank dungeon raid. But then, you ended up falling down a hole."
"Wait, you're George?"
The man on the other end was the one who suggested they break up into teams when they were at the supposed B-rank dungeon.
"Yup, that's me. By the way I found out that you were a D-ranker." said George.
Katsuya let out a sigh, it was true that he used to be a D-ranker but now, he was a Gold-ranker.
"I'm sorry I lied about that." He apologized.
In a calm voice, George replied " It's alright, kid. I'm just glad you're safe. I'll be going on an A-rank dungeon raid next month, you're more than welcome to join me."
That was something Katsuya was not expecting to hear. He was sure that George would've been upset and wouldn't want him on another raid with him; But, he thought wrong.
"Why? Aren't you afraid I'll hold you guys back?" Katsuya asked.
"Of course not, kid. You survive the depths of a progressive dungeon. If anything, we'd be the ones holding you back. So what do you say? You wanna join me?"
"Yeah, I'll go. Text me the details later." said Katsuya.
"Sure thing, kid."
Beep.
The call had ended.
There was only one thing left to do. Go home and relax. Katsuya began his trip home, looking forward to relaxing and enjoying a hot cup of tea.
___________________
Nightfall…
(North side of Pryoras)
Officer Charles and his partner Officer Hayden drove through-out the city, waiting to get a call.
So far, it has been a peaceful night and there hasn't really been any reports of violence; except for earlier when they were called toa scene where a group of teenagers were vandalizing a house. But other than that, there were no calls.
"It's a boring night." said Hayden.
"It really is. Last week was more exciting when we got called over to a monster sighting. I'm not complaining though, it's a beautiful night." Charles replied.
Their city lights were all shining bright and colorful. The Beast Slayer Guild's business building in particular had calming blue lights shining from it. This was one of the great things about living in the city of Pryoras, the nightly view.
The mood inside the car was calm until…..
The dispatcher called into their radio.
"Charles, Hayden, I need you to check out a location. Banam Ave, house number thirty-seven. There's a break-in in progress."
Charles quickly grabbed the radio, replying "We're on it, we'll be there shortly."
The light on top of the police car lit up and started flashing blue and red followed by a siren.
The car sped down the road at an amazing speed.
"Looks like there actually will be action tonight." said Hayden.
As the car quickly turned down a road, Charles replied "You're damn right."
(Street: Banam Ave | House: 37)
They arrived and stopped at the curb. Both Charles and Hayden opened their doors and got out, all while pulling out their guns.
The outside of the house was white and the door brown. As far as they could tell, no lights were on.
The both of them approached the door; Hayden grabbed the handle and attempted to twist it but it was locked.
He let out a sigh and took a couple steps back.
"Here we go."
With all his might, he slammed the bottom on his foot into the door-handle.
Clink.
Crack.
Swoosh.
The door flew wide open and the two officers walked their way inside, cautiously stepping. It was almost pitch-black and dead silence filled the air.
"Looks like we'll be needing our lights for this one." said Hayden.
They both reached to their side and pulled out their flash-lights, powering them on.
Click.
Click.
Before they knew it, the hallway that they stood in lit up with bright lights that shone from the objects in their hands. They continued walking forward as the floor creaked from their steps.
They arrived at the door to one of the bed-rooms. Behind it, was something that neither of them were expecting.
Charles grabbed the handle and twisted it; to his surprise, it wasn't locked. The door opened and their flash-lights shined into the room.
Puddles of dark-red blood were on the floor along with three headless corpses. Hayden quickly turned around in disgust, being a rookie cop, this was his first time seeing dead bodies. Charles on the other hand, he had seen plenty of lifeless body in his long 15 years of working as a cop.
"Oh my god. What kind of sick bastard would do this?" said Hayden as he held his hand on his mouth, trying not to vomit.
Minutes ago, they were both enjoying a peaceful night.
Now, both of them wished it would've stayed that way.
With a serious look on his face, Charles spoke.
"Stay here, I'll go call for back-up."
"Got it." Hayden replied.
Charles then ran his way back to his police car. He opened the door then threw himself into the seat and grabbed his radio.
"This is Charles to Dispatch. We checked out the location, send back-up. Three corpses were found. Suspects may still be around."
"On it, Charles." the dispatcher replied.
With haste, Charles got out of the car and began running back to the house.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He felt his body jump as multiple gunshots came from inside.
"Shit! Was the suspect still inside?" Charles asked himself.
He drew his gun and ran inside, checking the corners as he made his way back to the room.
Outside of the room, lies the body of Hayden. His lifeless body laid in a puddle of blood and his head was completely missing.
"What did this?!"
A creepy voice sent chills down his spine as it spoke.
"...Nice night...isn't it?"
Charles turned around as fast as he could and pointed his gun.
Standing there was a tall man with long white hair and a long shadow black coat. His skin was pale-white and his eye shined yellow.
Charles wasn't the type to be easily scared but, just looking into the man's eyes told him that death was around the corner. He did the only thing there was left to do, he rapidly squeezed the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
After firing off many shots, his gun began clicking as a sign that there were no more bullets inside.
Click. Click. Click.
The tall man with white hair was nowhere to be seen as Charles panicked over having no more bullets.
"Damn! I'm out!."
The same dark chilling voice came from directly behind.
"Looks like...it's over."
"What!? How did y-" before Charles could even finish his sentence, his head was suddenly removed from his body. Blood began squirting out from where his head once was.
The pale-faced man grinned at the gory scene.
"Magnificent."
Thump.
The headless officer's body fell down to the floor.
With ease, the White haired man kneeled down and touched the officers shoulder.
"Devour."
A dark fog appeared, covering the officers body then completely swallowing it. The fog then vanished as fast as it appeared.
The man stood back-up with a great big grin on his face while his yellow eyes flickered in the darkness.
"Each life I take and devour will add to my strength. Soon….everyone shall fear my power. The power of the ancient vamp. Haaaaa."
With slow and fearless steps, he began walking off. His boots left behind bloody prints.