Jack awoke feeling nauseous from the smell beside him. Despite his overwhelming urge to sleep, he pushed his tired body out of bed and stood up with great effort. His gaze landed on his bare feet.
'I'm standing…'
He could feel the pressure on his feet, the stone-cold floor below, and the slight breeze from a half-opened window against his bare skin. Having been bedridden, he hadn't stood up in many years. Jack almost cried tears of joy, no matter how doomed his situation was. Just being given a chance to walk again was already a miracle.
"So, I have access to all five senses now. In the game, I could only look around and move my character with a controller."
Curious, Jack ran his sharpened fingers across his bare skin. He accidentally left a light cut, but it instantly healed, just like in the game. As a noble vampire, he was immune to the sun, unlike lesser vampires, and could use blood to quickly heal minor wounds. He was also tall—exceedingly so. He could reach the high ceiling with his arm if he wished to. He also had defined abs, but he would say he was on the leaner side rather than a weightlifter body type. The cold morning breeze caressed his body in places he really wished it wouldn't. He was naked, after all.
"Now, where to find clothes…"
Jack looked around the room, but there was no sign of the much-needed wardrobe apart from the bed and table.
'I wonder if she knows.'
He glanced at the shivering woman on his bed. A few hours should have passed from the sun's position sneaking through the window. He scowled. After a quick nap, he felt his mind was clearer. He had transmigrated into someone else's body, that of a "Fated Villain." While he could now walk, use magic, and heal wounds instantly, he had also inherited this body's long list of problems, such as death flag number one: The human slave Melinda.
He had attempted five play-throughs as Jack Winterfell and had never seen the end of the game's storyline. He'd always died one way or another. Melinda was a particularly brutal death flag that all players encountered on their first play-through. The beautiful human companion had long broken free of the villain's F-grade Blood Magic. Without fail, Melinda would stab Jack Winterfell thirty-eight times with a silver-coated knife, ending any runs on day two.
'I was so mad. I remember throwing my VR headset across the hospital room and cursing her name for the rest of the day.'
Jack mused. While it had been a mere annoyance back on Earth, this was now his reality. He had slept peacefully next to someone plotting his murder.
'I can't trust anyone. Edward had been like a brother to me, and this woman is no different.'
"Melinda, wake up," he said in a calm voice.
The woman slightly stirred in her sleep but refused to move from below his bedsheets. As she turned over, he saw drool leaking from her mouth that formed a bridge of saliva between her red lips and his pillow. He subconsciously felt his black nails elongate and his rationality slip away. A concoction of this body's traits combined with the knowledge that a human would dare to kill a vampire overcame him. However, before he murdered the person who knew the location of his clothes, he shouted out again.
"Melinda, wake up."
The woman's eyes shot open like a scared cat. She took in Jack's full figure, and she suddenly started shaking like a leaf after seeing his nails at the length of daggers and his glowing red eyes filled with murderous intent. She quickly scrambled off the bed, almost tripping to the floor.
"Master, p-please forgive me for oversleeping," she begged.
'If it were the original Jack Winterfell, a clueless Noble Vampire, he would maybe fall for her scheme. But having played the storyline, he already knew she'd broken away from his control and was planning his murder. She would have responded to my command the first time, no matter her condition, if she were still under my Blood Magic's Mind Control. But instead, she only woke up once I shouted at her.'
Jack frowned and commanded, "Run me a bath, fetch my clothes, and then wash all my sheets thoroughly."
Jack emphasized thoroughly while pointing to the drool-soaked pillow and scarlet bedsheets. Although the blood was technically his fault, Jack had no sympathy for this woman. She was just food to him, nothing more and nothing less. He then had a disturbing thought.
'Wait, how can I think of a human as food? Is this body having more of an effect on my mind than I was aware of?'
"Certainly, Master! Please follow me," Melinda quickly responded and turned to leave.
The blood slave acted all happy to accept his command, but Jack noticed the slight defiance and hatred behind those smiling eyes. He shuddered slightly from the scene of her crazy eyes as she stabbed him repeatedly in a past play-through as damage numbers flew across the screen. Melinda the Psychopath, as the forums called her.
Despite still being naked, Jack followed Melinda out of the room and down the corridor.
'Apart from Melinda and me, I know this mansion is empty, so there's nothing to worry about. Jack Winterfell killed everyone who was staying here already. If I remember correctly from the wiki, this was originally owned by a small-time baroness from a neighboring country. She was a widow who escaped from her homeland after her husband died, and she lost all her influence. So, using the last of her savings, she bought this house and brought a few loyal servants along.'
The house had one master bedroom, a guest room, and a large bathroom on the top floor. The bottom floor had a dining room, kitchen, meeting room, and servant quarters for up to five servants. Jack had come to this house to kill the mini-boss Jack Winterfell while playing as other characters in the game many times. He had also explored this house a little while playing as Jack. He knew where most of the rooms were, but the location of his clothes completely eluded him.
'What was the darn lore again? Didn't Jack Winterfell come to this city, break into this house, murder everyone inside, and then have a delectable feast on their blood? Oh yeah, it was all done in front of the baroness's only daughter, Melinda.'
Jack looked at Melinda's back.
'This stupid villain was lucky that the baroness had so few funds remaining and hadn't hired any guards. Otherwise, Jack Winterfell would have likely lost even with his vampire body. The old Jack found Melinda's blood very delectable and decided to enslave her with Blood Magic. Unfortunately, he only had control over her for a few weeks before she broke from his spell.'
'From my calculations, that should have been a few days ago. Is that why her blood became so disgusting to me? Also, why hasn't she run away?'
The answer was obvious after a second of thought.
'How could she ram a silver-coated dagger through Jack's ribs and get her revenge if she ran away? Also, she had become an orphaned child with no backing anymore, so who would help her?'
The duo reached the end of the corridor and entered a room on the right. Inside was a large wooden bath coated in a watertight resin. Jack reckoned he could lie comfortably in the bath despite his large frame.
'Nobles really knew how to indulge themselves. Such a big bath is fit for a king.'
Melinda walked over and gracefully pressed her hand onto a stone mounted on the side of the bathtub. The stone glowed a pale blue, and crystal-clear water gushed out. The bathtub seemed enchanted as it glowed slightly and heated the water to a comfortable temperature. Once the tub was full, Melinda left the room to fetch Jack's clothes.
Jack cautiously tested the water's temperature with his toe. Finding it perfect, he slowly lowered his body into the warm water. The image of the water washing away the filth from his perfect body soothed him.
'While I always enjoyed baths, this stupid [Germaphobe] trait makes them simply divine.'
He lay back and let out an audible sigh as he collected his mind. He was now living in a game as a mass-murdering, germaphobe freak vampire who was insane enough to keep the daughter of his murdered victims as a slave. Yet that's not even the worst part. On Monday, he had to attend a magical university as a lecturer's teaching assistant, a position he bought his way into. The original Jack had poor magic talent and no teaching credentials. A fact that everyone knew.
"It's only a matter of time before they uncover that I'm a Noble Vampire teaching at a human school."
Jack looked to the ceiling.
"If Melinda doesn't murder me first, then the students at the university will."
'The death flags truly were endless.'