Teresa didn’t lower her guard right away.
Even after the brute was gone, even after the silence settled, her attention stayed locked on Erica with the kind of focus that didn’t miss details. Her gaze flicked once more to the name hovering above Erica’s head, then back down again, sharper this time.
“You’re a Helsing cadet,” Teresa said, her tone flattening slightly. “So explain something to me.”
Erica swallowed.
Teresa tilted her head just a fraction, studying her.
“Why can’t you handle a brute?”
Erica blinked.
“A… what?”
“The thing that almost killed you,” Teresa said, gesturing casually toward the remains behind her. “Mutated brute vampire. They’re basically bulls with teeth. Loud, predictable, and stupid if you know how to move.”
Erica opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then opened it again.
“I—uh—I was just—”
Her brain scrambled for something that sounded like it belonged in this world. Something that wouldn’t immediately get her killed or… worse, flagged as something she wasn’t supposed to be.
“…I’m not very good,” she said finally.
Teresa stared at her.
That didn’t help.
Erica shifted slightly under the pressure of it. “I mean—I just started and—well—”
She hesitated.
Then, without thinking it through—
“I started playing today.”
The words landed wrong the second they left her mouth.
Teresa took two slow steps back.
Not in fear.
In disbelief.
“…A player,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.
Her expression hardened immediately after, the confusion replaced by something sharper, colder.
“That’s not possible.”
Erica instinctively took a half step back.
Teresa’s voice dropped.
“No player has ever been part of the Van Helsing bloodline.” Her eyes narrowed slightly, searching Erica’s face like she was trying to peel something back. “So who are you really?”
Erica’s mind raced.
If she broke character now—if she said the wrong thing—
Respawn.
Or worse.
“I… I’m sorry,” she said quickly, lowering her gaze just enough to sell it. “I just—”
Think.
Think.
“I was really bad in training,” she continued, forcing the words out like they hurt to admit. “They kind of… gave up on me.”
She gestured vaguely behind her.
“And now I’m here.”
Silence.
Teresa stared at her.
For one second.
Two.
Then—
She laughed.
Not a small reaction.
Not controlled.
She actually laughed, turning slightly as the sound broke out of her like something she hadn’t expected to find funny.
“Ah—” she breathed, shaking her head. “That’s such an Arnold thing to do. Damn.”
She looked back at Erica, still smiling.
“He threw you to the vamps?”
Erica blinked.
“…I’m kind of clumsy,” she admitted.
That set Teresa off again.
“Of course you are,” she said, laughing under her breath. “Of course you are.”
A soft chime echoed in Erica’s vision.
A small panel appeared briefly in the corner of her sight.
───
CHARACTER TRAIT EARNED: UNLUCKY
Luck -10%
Strength +10%
───
“…Huh,” Erica muttered quietly.
The screen vanished just as quickly as it appeared.
Teresa stepped forward again, extending a hand toward her like the interrogation had never happened.
“Damn, cousin,” she said, still amused. “That sucks.”
Erica hesitated for half a second, then took it.
Teresa pulled her up easily.
“Well,” she added, glancing toward the broken hallway behind them, “guess you lucked your way into something useful.”
She turned her head slightly and raised her voice.
“DOC! GET OUT HERE.”
A moment passed.
Then footsteps echoed from deeper within the structure.
A man stepped into view, older, composed, his posture relaxed in a way that didn’t match the environment. His eyes moved quickly, taking in the scene, then settling on Erica with immediate interest.
“Newcomer?” he asked.
Teresa jerked her thumb in Erica’s direction. “Yeah. Found her getting flattened by a brute.”
The man studied Erica for a moment longer, then nodded slightly.
“Come,” he said. “If she is okay, its best we check for bites.”
Erica followed before she could question it.
The interior opened up into something far more structured than the ruins above. Reinforced walls. Containment units built into the sides. Equipment scattered across tables, some of it humming faintly with power.
And then—
She saw it.
A containment cell sat off to one side, sealed behind thick reinforced glass. Inside, something hung suspended.
At first, she thought it was a corpse.
Then it moved.
Barely.
A dried, shriveled figure clung to a frame, its skin stretched tight against bone in some places and regrowing in others. Patches of flesh slowly filled in… then darkened… then withered again, collapsing inward before repeating the cycle.
Over and over.
Erica stared.
“…What is that?”
“A failure,” the doctor said calmly. “And a success.”
He turned slightly toward her.
“We have been researching a cure for vampirism,” he continued. “Progress has been… limited.”
Teresa leaned casually against a nearby surface, arms crossed.
“Translation,” she said, “no luck.”
The doctor ignored her.
“But,” he added, “we have made progress in other areas. Enhancement serums. Ability triggers. Early-stage mutation control.”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“You may be useful.”
Erica blinked. “Useful how?”
“Delivery,” he said simply. “Testing. Observation. Survival in the wastes.”
Teresa snorted softly. “She’s not making it far.”
Erica glanced at her.
“Arnold threw her out of training for being clumsy,” Teresa added, amused.
“…Oh,” Erica said.
Wait.
Teresa straightened slightly, looking back at her.
“Wait,” she said. “You didn’t finish training?”
Erica shook her head.
“Nope.”
Teresa frowned slightly.
“Then you never got a serum.”
Erica hesitated.
“…What’s a serum?”
The doctor smiled.
Not wide.
Not friendly.
Just enough to show interest.
“Would you like one?”
Erica blinked again.
“…Is that optional?”
“For survival?” Teresa said, laughing. “Not really.”
The doctor stepped closer, his tone shifting slightly.
“It is better to survive in the wastes with power… than without it.”
Erica glanced toward the containment cell again.
“But if I get turned,” she said slowly, “wouldn’t that just make a stronger vampire?”
Both Teresa and the doctor laughed.
“So at least you were a clever student,” Teresa said. “Damn, how clumsy are you really?”
The doctor gestured toward the cell.
“This serum is my own invention,” he explained. “If you are ever turned, your body will be constantly poisoned. Regenerating and deteriorating simultaneously.”
He pointed calmly at the figure inside.
“Like that.”
Erica watched as the thing inside the cell twitched again, its skin briefly filling out before collapsing inward.
“…Damn.”
She swallowed.
“…But if I do turn, I don’t want that.”
Teresa stepped forward and hit her lightly on the back, laughing.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “If you turn, I’ll find you and kill you myself.”
Erica paused.
That probably wasn’t comforting.
She looked back at the doctor.
There were downsides.
Big ones.
But that also meant—
The ability had to be worth it.
“…I’ll do it,” she said.
The doctor’s expression brightened immediately.
He turned and disappeared briefly, returning moments later with a bag filled with small vials, each one a different color, different texture, some glowing faintly, others thick and opaque.
Erica stared at them.
“…What does it give me?”
The doctor shrugged slightly.
“I don’t know.”
She looked at him.
“…you don't know?”
“They are untested,” he said simply. “Choose whichever you like.”
“…Just one?”
He sighed.
“I take back the clever comment. Did you not pay attention in training at all?”
Erica didn’t answer.
“Only the first serum works,” he continued. “Your body adapts immediately. After that, all others are useless.”
He held the bag out.
“Choose.”
Erica looked down at the vials.
Nathan flashed through her mind.
He’d probably be annoyed she couldn’t join him later. But if she got an overpowered ability like that Blacksmith from that one game then she could be set, even start streaming. This was a relatively new game after all.
She tries streaming in other games but if you aren't special in a VR game no one watches anymore.
But—
If she turned later, she could always just log out.
Play something else.
It wasn’t permanent.
Right?
She reached into the bag and grabbed one.
Pink.
Bright. Almost glowing.
She pulled the cork and drank it before she could second guess herself. It had a taste... it was so sweet. Erica's eyes lit up. She had never had something so sweet. Or even tasted much at all in her life. It's so real.
The world shifted.
A soft yellow glow filled her vision as the system activated.
───
SERUM CONSUMED
ABILITY ACQUIRED
───
DOUBLE JUMP
Jump again in mid-air by generating a temporary solid platform.
───
LEVEL UP
Level 1 → 2
───
Stats filled her vision in a clean overlay:
• Strength: 2 → 3 (×1.10)
• Stamina: 1 → 2
• Health: 2 → 3
• Dexterity: 2 → 3
• Luck: 1 → 1 (×0.90)
• Intelligence: 1 → 2
───
The screen faded.
Erica blinked.
Then frowned slightly.
“…Double jump?”
She stared at the empty space where the interface had been. Then she stared at the empty vial.
“…Damn it.”