Chapter 1: The Art of the Twink Strats
Yuki opened his eyes in the new world, genuinely thrilled to just be breathing. Unfortunately, his system wasn’t sharing the enthusiasm. In fact, it was currently hovering in front of him, vibrating with pure rage.
"Why are you so mad?" Yuki asked, blinking innocently.
"What do you ’think’?!" the System shrieked, its glowing form tinting an angry shade of blue. "I am supposed to turn you into the next Demon King! How the hell am I supposed to do that when you put every single one of your points into survivability?!"
Yuki scoffed, crossing his arms. "Well, I can’t exactly become the Demon King if I’m dead, can I? The plan is simple: I stay alive, and I slowly get stronger."
"Slowly? ’How’ slowly?!" the System cried, practically weeping. "You are a damn twink! Look at you! You have zero combat abilities, and your only active skill is ’Blood Contract’!"
"Relax before you pop like a balloon," Yuki said smoothly, entirely unbothered by his new, delicate frame, long flowing hair, and pointed ears.
The System let out a heavy, digitized sigh. "Why did I get stuck with you of all people...?"
"Well, that’s just rude. It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing."
"Do you?" the System asked skeptically, floating directly in front of Yuki’s face.
"Duh."
"Then please, oh wise master, explain to me what your grand plan is."
"Simple," Yuki said, puffing out his chest. "We infiltrate a human settlement and gain followers."
The System stared at him. "....And what makes you think they won’t just kill you on sight?"
"Listen, you little ball of fluff," Yuki smirked, gesturing to his new yet familiar, striking appearance. "What do you think a human is going to say when they see me?"
The System paused, scanning his flawless pale skin, emerald eyes, and elegant dress. "That... you look like a beautiful girl?"
"Exactly! I’m cute. Women will think I’m harmless and want to dote on me, and the guys won’t see me as a threat."
"Because you ’aren’t’ a threat!" the System screamed, its digital voice cracking. "You are supposed to be a creature of the dark! You are a vampire, for chaos’ sake! But all you do is sleep, eat, and flirt with women!"
"Yes, yes," Yuki nodded, a peaceful, radiant smile on his face. "It’s all part of the master plan. Now, enough chit-chat. We need to find employment."
With that, Yuki cheerfully started humming a tune, skipping his way down the dirt path toward the nearest human town.
The System trailed behind him, letting out another long, defeated sigh. Out of all the legendary Demon heroes it could have been assigned to, it got Yuki—a blissfully relaxed gamer who chose to conquer the world through the power of weaponized prettiness.
Yuki and his System continued to trek through the thick, punishing snow of the demon mountains, hoping to stumble across a cave or some kind of shelter before nightfall.
As they walked, the System couldn’t help but stare at its master. Yuki was casually strolling along, humming a tune, but his steps were eerily quiet. In fact, he barely left a single footprint in the deep snow.
’Oh, Chaos...’ the System prayed deeply to its creators. ’This guy could literally be killed by a strong gust of wind.’ It desperately hoped its idiot master wouldn’t run into any actual danger, or they were both incredibly dead.
"Hey, System," Yuki said, breaking the floating entity out of its silent panic.
"Yes?"
"How long until we reach the closest village or town?"
"The human ones, or the demon ones?" the System asked.
"The human ones."
"Four months."
"..."
Yuki stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned to his System, his emerald eyes wide with sheer shock. "Four months? As in... one, two, three, four?!" he demanded, holding up his fingers to emphasize the math.
"Yes," the System replied, thoroughly annoyed with him.
"Okay... what about the nearest demon settlement then?"
"The closest one is twelve days away. But they absolutely hate vampires."
"..."
Yuki pointed an accusing finger at the floating ball of fluff. "Wh-Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?!"
"I don’t know, maybe because if you HAD LISTENED TO ME AND READ THE DAMN MAP!" the System shrieked, its form flashing violently. "But no! Instead, you wanted to chat up the women in the reincarnation waiting area! You see what happens when you don’t listen to me?!"
"Alright, alright, I admit my mistakes," Yuki muttered, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "So... what do we do now?"
"Just survive. And get stronger."
"And how do I do that?" Yuki asked innocently.
"Ugh. Go and kill anything that has an essence core. Absorb the core, and you’re set to get stronger. But do note: you need exactly 1,000 Rank 1 cores just to reach Rank 1. And once you do, you have to go through an Ascension Trial to be granted access to the next rank."
"So I collect a thousand cores, and then I have to beat a trial just to level up?"
"Yeah. That is literally what I just said."
"Why are you so mean to me?"
"..."
"Tch." Yuki turned around and continued walking, thoroughly annoyed by his System’s hostility. "How do I gain more abilities anyway? Is there a hard limit to how many I can have?"
"You can’t gain new abilities," the System stated flatly. "You only get one, and it upgrades with every Rank Ascension. Your core ability is Vampire Monarch—a very versatile power. But since you decided to dump all your points into survivability, don’t be surprised when all your upgraded skills turn out to be completely non-combat oriented."
Yuki let out a soft chuckle, a confident, brilliant smile returning to his face. "It doesn’t have to be combat-oriented for me to use it as a weapon. I’m very resourceful, you know."
"Huh... sure... whatever. Anyway, there are seven Ascension Ranks in total, and each one gets significantly harder as you level up."
"Well, that will be a challenge," Yuki said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But it shouldn’t take that long to reach the first Rank."
"I admire the enthusiasm," the System sighed. "But there’s a catch. After you reach Rank 2, Rank 1 cores become completely useless to you."
"Wait..." Yuki paused again. "So I can only use Rank 1 cores to bridge the gap between Rank 1 and the Rank 2 threshold?"
"Yes! Are you slow? Why do you keep asking me questions about things I literally just explained to you?!"
Yuki turned to his System and just stared at it, looking deeply offended and hurt by its words.
"Screw you, asshole," Yuki huffed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the System replied, rolling its digital eyes. "Just keep moving, pretty boy."
Yuki turned back toward the snowy path, grumbling under his breath. ’Why am I taking emotional damage and getting insulted by a floating sea bunny?’
