Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...
This was the sound of blood dripping from the air. In a pitch-black room where all the windows were covered, a young woman was hanging upside down from a beam.
Her neck, pale from excessive blood loss, had a small wound from which thick, almost coagulated blood was slowly dripping, landing in a clean paint bucket below.
Her expression was full of fear, her face showing a mix of helplessness and terror, a truly pitiful sight.
A tall, skinny man in a white lab coat, with a neurotic smile on his lips, stood next to her, holding a slightly trembling oxhorn knife in his hand.
Of course, he didn't have Parkinson's; he was just a little excited.
"Please, let me go, I beg you," the woman pleaded weakly.
"You still have the strength to talk. That's not good; it's too dangerous," the man said as he stabbed the woman in the stomach, causing her to roll her eyes back in pain.
The woman's expression turned venomous, and four sharp fangs protruded from her mouth. She struggled violently, like a salted fish hung out to dry.
"I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you! I'll s*ck you dry! Not just you, but your family, and everyone you know—I won't spare any of them!"
It turned out that the woman being bound was actually the monster—a vampire, the kind often found in fantasy works. And the tall, skinny man with the villainous demeanor? His name was Wen Wen, a 'normal' person.
At least biologically, he was a normal human...
Wen Wen shivered, startled by the female vampire, and quickly pulled out a spray bottle, dousing her with holy water...
The holy water sizzled as it hit her body, releasing a burst of white steam. It weakened her further but didn't cause any substantial harm.
"Hmm, that should be safe enough. After all, I'm quite fragile," Wen Wen sighed in relief. Even for him, capturing a vampire was too nerve-wracking.
"You... you're a monster," the female vampire said weakly, drained of her strength by the holy water.
"No, I'm not the monster. You are," Wen Wen corrected her seriously.
After confirming that the female vampire was powerless, Wen Wen rolled up the sleeve of his right arm and closed his eyes. A black, mud-like substance began seeping out of the pores on his arm, forming a pitch-black glove.
The glove extended all the way to his elbow, resembling a woman's glove, with five golden rings on the fingers and a larger golden band around the wrist.
"You're a superhuman?" The female vampire's eyes widened as she stared at the black glove.
Wen Wen shook his head, then nodded and said, "Maybe."
"Then you're pathetic. As a superhuman, you still resort to such despicable methods to deal with a low-level vampire like me," the female vampire sneered.
"You've got a point," Wen Wen nodded in agreement, then grinned and stuffed a garlic bulb into the female vampire's mouth...
A month ago, Wen Wen began to feel that something was wrong with his mind. On a recommendation, he sought help from a well-regarded private psychiatric hospital.
The treatment went smoothly until one session of hypnotherapy.
When he awoke from the hypnosis, Wen Wen found that the entire hospital had been abandoned, leaving only him behind. And somehow, he had formed a connection with a mysterious space.
That space was a vast prison called the Asylum of Calamities.
Wen Wen's consciousness could enter this space and wander around the first level, but there wasn't much to see because it was empty. To make the space useful, at least one prisoner needed to be locked inside.
Hmm... Wen Wen didn't know how he knew this, but he just did.
He tried imprisoning rabid dogs, brawling drunks, and even murderers in prison, but the Asylum of Calamities showed no interest in them.
Clearly, only supernatural beings could trigger a reaction from this space.
Fortunately, Wen Wen wasn't entirely an ordinary person. Because of his job, he had encountered such things before and knew that the world wasn't as simple as it seemed on the surface.
In the past, he would have avoided such matters, but now he had to actively hunt these creatures.
And his first target was the female vampire in front of him.
Capturing a vampire wasn't easy, but it wasn't as difficult as Wen Wen had imagined. Even though he was just a human without superpowers, as long as he found the right method, there were ways to deal with these monsters.
He went to a church, stole a few barrels of holy water, and some blessed crosses, and prepared a few items that folklore claimed were effective against vampires.
Then he set traps in a place rumored to have vampire activity, staking out for several days until he finally captured this vampire.
After capturing the vampire, Wen Wen didn't let his guard down. He continuously drained her blood and used holy water to weaken her.
Even if drained of blood, a vampire wouldn't die, but blood was their source of power. As long as he kept draining her, she would have no strength to resist.
Wen Wen had to be cautious. After all, even an extremely weakened vampire could easily kill him!
Now that he had completely subdued the vampire, it was time to lock her in the Asylum of Calamities.
Wen Wen aimed the glove at the female vampire, attempting to channel the power of the Asylum.
The Asylum of Calamities didn't come with an instruction manual, but controlling it wasn't difficult. Wen Wen just tried extending its power outward, and a force began to spread from the glove, enveloping the vampire.
It seemed to be scanning her, confirming that she had no ability to resist. Then, the change occurred.
Black chains emerged from the glove, moving at an excruciatingly slow pace as they wrapped around the vampire, dragging her towards Wen Wen's palm. The vampire's body twisted unnaturally as she was absorbed into Wen Wen's hand.
But midway through, it got stuck!
When Wen Wen had tied up the vampire earlier, the rope hung from the beam was taut. This rope was preventing the vampire from being fully absorbed!
Wen Wen was speechless. "...It can't even handle a rope? How useless. If I hadn't weakened her, trying to absorb her recklessly could've been disastrous."
With a heavy sigh, Wen Wen struggled to cut the rope, holding up the vampire's buttocks and long legs. Finally, he managed to completely absorb the vampire.
"Now, let's see what changes this Asylum of Calamities has in store."
Before Wen Wen could wipe the sweat from his brow, a cold, emotionless electronic voice echoed in his mind, and then he vanished from the spot.
'Prisoner detected: Low-level vampire...
Imprisoned in Calamity-0001 cell...
Calamity Zone of the Asylum of Calamities has been activated,
Trainee Warden Wen Wen granted access to the Asylum,
Position 'Calamity Warden' obtained,
Please report to the Calamity Zone central hub to collect your ID and standard equipment...' The Vampire Hunter