New York was a tough city to live in.
Especially when it came to real estate in Manhattan—not something a guy like him, who had only graduated from college two years ago and was still carrying student debt, could afford.
Even though his current annual salary was already $120,000.
Compared to Manhattan real estate prices, though, that money wasn’t just inadequate; it wouldn’t even buy him a bathroom.
The apartment Locke currently lived in was rented.
Originally, the rent was $2,000 a year, but starting six months ago, it had become $2,000 a month.
Even with the price hike, it was still relatively cheap compared to other apartments with similar floor plans.
After unlocking the door and stepping inside, Locke tossed his car keys into the nearby candy bowl.
He pulled a frozen pizza from the fridge and popped it into the microwave.
While it was heating, he opened the adjacent liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of bourbon that was still more than half full.
Downing a glass, he immediately felt the day’s exhaustion wash away.
Locke finished off the bourbon in his glass.
After a moment’s thought, with a shift of his mind, he summoned his system interface once more and looked at the copiable E-rank vampire ability displayed on it.
He was currently weighing his options: should he accept this ability with four full lines of negative side effects, or wait a bit longer to copy a better one when the opportunity arose?
Both choices had their pros and cons.
Copy early, enjoy early.
Copy late, and naturally, get a better deal.
Copying a high-tier vampire ability directly in the future would save him the Extraordinary Points required to upgrade all the way from E-rank to D-rank, or even B-rank and A-rank.
After all, this E-rank vampire ability had far too many side effects.
However…
…all of these side effects could be mitigated or removed once upgraded.
That wasn’t what was making Locke hesitate, though.
His true hesitation stemmed from something else.
Starting this year, mutant attacks targeting the Sentinel Secret Service had begun to increase.
Word was that a group called “Mutant Freedom” had emerged within the mutant community.
There was speculation that this organization was formerly the Hellfire Club.
The mutants of this organization operated under the banner of “Mutant Supremacy,” launching raids against Sentinel Secret Service branches everywhere since the start of the year.
And they had succeeded quite a few times.
New York City was no exception.
Last month, Ralph, captain of Sentinel Team 2 and a senior agent like Locke, was murdered by mutants in a shopping mall parking lot.
Half a month ago, a member of Team 5 also claimed to have been ambushed by mutants on his way home at night.
So…
To take it, or not?
Locke gripped the glass in his hand as a storm raged in his mind.
A moment later— *Ding!* The microwave chime signaled the end of the heating cycle.
The sound snapped Locke back to reality and pushed him to make up his mind.
Take it.
What if the mutants from Mutant Freedom came after him tomorrow?
In matters like this, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Frankly, when it came to luck, he had never been particularly confident.
His cheat system being twenty-two years late was proof enough of that.
If he gave up this chance and failed to track down other vampires through this one, just as mutants decided to ambush him…
What then?
No way.
Safety first.
Locke made his decision!
Even if this D-rank vampire gene currently had many weaknesses, taking precautions was better than repairing the fold after the sheep were lost.
As long as he was alive, his dreams remained alive!
As for the four lines of weaknesses belonging to this E-rank vampire gene, he could just upgrade it.
Having made up his mind, Locke triggered the system with a thought.
The next second— *Ding!* The moment Locke made his choice, the cheat system responded.
With a soft chime, the system panel displaying “Vampire Ability” instantly collapsed inward, rapidly condensing into a glowing gem.
[Copy Successful!] [Ding!] [First Card Slot: “Vampire Gene”] [Ability Rank: “E”] [Ability Effect: “Immortality, eternal youth, minor increases to attack, defense, and speed…”] [Ability Side Effects: “Bloodthirst (must drink blood daily), Vulnerable Objects (holy water and wooden stakes can kill you), Sunlight is your sworn enemy (exposure to sunlight causes slowness and discomfort), Ultraviolet Light is your fatal flaw (exposure to UV rays will turn you completely to ash)…”] [Ability Upgrade Cost: “10 points!”]
As the vampire gene, now transformed into an ability gem, slotted firmly into the first card slot, Locke immediately felt the changes taking place within his body.
His body seemed to undergo an irreversible transformation in that instant.
A quiet aura of deathly stillness leaked from his frame.
Locke could even feel his heartbeat slowing down step by step.
Slowly…
slowly…
until it ceased beating altogether.
The next second— A strange, unexplainable craving began to well up from deep within his heart.
Even his skin tone gradually turned pale the moment his heart stopped beating.
Locke was already fair-skinned, however, so now he was simply a bit paler than before.
His originally azure eyes turned a vivid, crimson red.
E-rank Vampire Gene—fusion complete.
Locke inspected his arms.
Pale.
But!
Powerful.
*Crack!* As Locke clenched his hand into a fist, a loud pop rang out, as though the very air had been squeezed to the bursting point.
Not only his strength, but his sense of smell and hearing had also received noticeable enhancements.
He could smell the pizza in the neighboring apartment, and he could even hear the sound of lovemaking coming from the apartment upstairs.
Though the woman’s moaning sounded a bit too fake.
Locke raised his head and stared up at the ceiling.
Just then, a sudden scent caught his nose.
It was as if a switch had been flipped inside him, instantly triggering an overwhelming surge of hunger and thirst.
This was…
the smell of fresh blood.
Locke turned his gaze toward the front door of his apartment.
In the neighboring apartment, the female tenant was frowning as she held a bleeding cut on her finger—an accidental slice while cutting pizza.
Having walked to his front door almost purely on instinct, Locke suddenly realized what he was doing and stopped dead in his tracks.
These damned side effects.
Upgrade.
He had to upgrade it right now!
[Ding!] [Ability upgrade requires…] “Upgrade!”
Half an hour later.
Locke stood in the bathroom, gazing through the bathroom mirror at his reflection—and at the system interface that seemed to float right within the mirror glass.
[Transcendence, Becoming Divine] [Extraordinary Card Slots: “1”] [Extraordinary Points: “1”] [First Card Slot: “Vampire Gene”] [Ability Rank: “B”] [Ability Effects: “Immortality (conventional weapons cannot take your life), Eternal Youth (your appearance is frozen from this moment on), noticeable increases to strength, defense, speed, and senses.”] [Ability Side Effects: “Blood Craving (blood is the source of your vitality; going a week without consuming blood will cause continuous weakening), Nightcrawler (cold as you are, cold as the night, you have become a darling of the dark; while in the night, your strength receives a significant boost, but as a cost, your abilities will be weakened during daytime travel—not fatal, but uncomfortable).”] [Note: “Spend 200 Extraordinary Points to upgrade this ability further.”]
Locke looked at himself in the mirror and grinned.
In his reflection— Two newly sprouted vampire fangs gleamed.
Looking at his reflection—with his pale complexion and eyes where one shone crimson red and the other azure blue—Locke couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
Well, whaddya know.
He actually looked a bit handsomer.