"You monster... You killed them, you--", Before she could end her sentence, I appeared next to her grabbing her by her shoulder.
"But why are you smiling so relieved when looking at their corpses?"
She instantly grabbed her mouth realizing the truth and started laughing, "I see... I myself am a monster too..."
She then fell to her knees making her silk-like golden hair cover her beautiful face and sapphire blue eyes.
I then suddenly started patting her head as I looked at her, trying to comfort her, "You aren't a monster. You're just happy that all the pain will stop now and that you finally free again. If someone is a monster than it is me."
She the raised her head and looked at me.
"No... You just protected yourself."
"Yeah..."
'Let's call it that... Even through I'm sure that I would've killed them anyway to satisfy my hunger.
But she doesn't need to know that.'
"Since when were you here?", I asked her, deciding my next action depending on her answer.
"I just arrived after seeing you standing before the Bosses corpse."
"Hm... I see... Well, I hope you won't tell anybody."
"I-I won't! I promise!"
"I see. Thank you."
The girl suddenly turned her head away, as she hid her face with her hands..
"Is everything okay?
"Y-Yes!"
"Well... Then how about we leave this place?", I said, offering my hand to help her stand up.
"Yeah...", She responded as she grabbed my hand.
As I looked back, one thought traveled through my mind.
'I think I'll avoid killing as much as possible, it somehow leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Or maybe that's just the last bit of my humanity clinging to me.'
With that I escorted the woman out of the Gate arriving back at our home country, Avalon.
"It still feels pretty weird that the Avalon guild has the same name as the country they're in...", I said as I looked at all the posters of the guild.
"Well, they gained the permission to do so after saving the city from a broken Gate."
"Whatever. I think I'll go home for now; I have to go the player facility tomorrow and register myself as Player after all... But what was it name again?"
"Yggdrasil."
"Ah! Thank you.", I responded as I stopped a cab, keeping my eyes closed to not cause a stir.
"Will we really part ways already?", She suddenly asked me as she looked at me.
"Yeah... I'm sorry. But promise me something."
"What is it?"
"Enjoy your life to its fullest and take care of yourself."
The woman suddenly started crying, "I will..."
I then went inside the cab and drove away.
'Hm... I was lucky that its night, the debuff effect of the sun doesn't sound that fun...'
After a short while I finally arrived at my home, a little house at the outer end of the city. It wasn't much, but more than enough. As I walked towards the entrance, I noticed a letter in my mailbox. I grabbed it while taking my keys out, proceeding to open the door, only to stop mid-way as I read the sender's name, Yggdrasil.
I quickly went inside and opened the letter once I sat down.
"Congratulations on becoming a Player!" Stood at the top catching one's attention immediately.
I then lowered my gaze to the words further down. "You have proven yourself worthy to be a Player. Please register yourself within three days at the Yggdrasil facility to begin in your work as Player and change your fate."
I just looked at the letter once I finished reading it. At this moment only two thoughts kept floating in my mind, which's answers I couldn't figure out.
'How did they find out I became a Player this early? And how much do they know?'
At this point I even started considering to don't become a Player. But once I looked to my right, seeing all the debt letters, my goal remained unchanged.
"I guess I have no choice. I have to go All-In and hope for the best."
***
At the next morning I stood in front the Yggdrasil facility, A giant building looking like a tree. The sun kept burning like hell and I felt like being cooked alive, but I had no choice than to endure it.
"Sigh. Let's make this quick and begin my new life as Player.", With that said I walked inside the building and looked around. The building was more modern than most building and was really clean. But what I quickly noticed was that all Players were hunting in groups.
"Hm... A group huh? But first the registration.", I walked towards the receptionist and looked at her but once she turned around to look at me her face turned into a rather confused expression.
"Why are you wearing sunglasses? The sun isn't out right now and most importantly its winter!"
"It's due to some circumstances that happened inside the Gate."
"I see. Then how can I help you?"
"I want to register as Player."
"Ah...", She suddenly turned around for a second and whispered, "Another one of those guys who act cool only to become a novice... Why does it always happen to me... Can't I for once gain a high ranked player and rise to the top receptionists like Camilla...", I could hear anything thanks to my vampiric senses and just smiled.
"So, what do I have to do?"
"Sigh... You will fight against one of our tests puppets to test your strength. But first you must fill out that sheet.", The woman then handed me a sheet and a pen.
I looked at the sheet and already sensed something was wrong about the way they handled these test fights.
"Yggdrasil is not liable for any injuries or deaths during the combat test and dosen't provide any cost coverage or the like in case something should go wrong. By signing you accept our terms and conditions and are aware of being able to die."
'Some things never change huh?'
I signed the sheet and returned it to the woman which looked at the name, "Vlad Tepes, a rather unique name."
"Yeah... I got them from my mother. She's a real fan of that name combination."
"I see, my name is Stella, pleased to meet you." She then stood up and smiled at me, " Please follow me."
***
"So, this is the room?", I said standing inside a large white room with only one big mirror at the right upper corner, while in front of me stood a red puppet which suddenly started moving.
"Yes. Please destroy that puppet as fast as possible. It's currently on Elite rank mode and is already--"
In less than a second, I attack the puppet and pierced its chest with my bare hand ripping its core out.
"...On...", She then finished.
"That was kinda surprising? Could it be that it wasn't on?", I kept talking but noticed that she didn't seem to listen but what I saw was her happy smile as she started writing things down her sheet.
Soon after, she even entered the training room and jumped on top me, suffocating me with her large breast and her long black hair. I then pushed her away and looked into her green eyes, as I could feel my hunger rise a bit once I smelled her nice perfume.
"What rank am I now?", I quickly asked to distract myself.
"Champion!!! Cha.m.pi.on.", She couldn't hold back once again and started hugging me again, "Hah~ How much luck I have. Ah~ I will never let you go to another receptionist, if you do I kill you, her and myself."
Her eyes suddenly took a scary look and her grip tightened as she buried her face in my chest talking about a higher salary and new position. I just accepted my fate and went along with her, after all she seemed rather nice and someone, I would enjoy having around me.
Once we left the room and returned to our original meeting point, she handed me a card," Now you are a real Player. From now on you are allowed to enter Gates of your level and even join guilds if you want to."
"Do I have to be in a group to enter a Gate or can I go in alone?"
"Theoretically you can alone, but this is considered suicide since no one knows what can happen in a Gate. Even we sometimes are unable to determine a Gates true level."
"I see, but it's possible."
She went silent for a moment until she suddenly smiled again, "Yes. But please take care of yourself. Oh! And here.", She handed me a little piece of paper.
"What's that?"
"My number.", She said with a scary look on her face reminding me of her words.
"I-I see... I will only come to you..."
"Good boy, come here."
"Hm?", I got closer to her and to receive a kiss on my cheek once close enough, making me jump back, "What the?!"
"You could call it your gift for your loyalty~"
"D-Do you have a Gate for me to go to?"
"Oh! Already working. Thats how I like it~"
'This woman... She is the first woman to confuse me this much... But... It doesn't feel that bad... Not that I would tell her that.'