But he shouldn’t dwell long on his brother, the entrance ceremony will start in around an hour, and he must meet all of the targets before it does. So he starts looking around, but then he stops, why not use his future sight? He has three uses from his last feedings, and that will help him find them quicker

But he isn’t able to even use it when he’s about to, a person bumps into him, making his bag fall onto the ground. ‘’Shit’’, he whispers. ‘’Look where you’re going!’’, he says annoyed, bending over to grab his bag, tapping it to remove the pieces of grass and soil from it, and just when he looks up a new notification is received.

Kitsu Ueno

The Fallen Prince

19

Perhaps the system was guiding the targets to him, just like in the game, or maybe it was just luck. He vaguely remembers him, as he was really popular in the game and his face was big in the loading screen. Black hair and eyes, soft features and a cold expression, a man with pale skin and eyes that remind you of ravens, a cold and quiet beauty, he was the quiet and mysterious character, not Eryx’s taste, and he remembers his sister saying one of his endings involved him killing the heroine because he thought she was cheating on him. Too crazy for my taste, he thinks, but regardless of his personal taste, he still must introduce himself to him to complete the mission. 

‘’Sorry’’, Kitsu says, bowing, he’s polite but his eyes are dull and cold, as if his mind is somewhere else. 

‘’It’s okay’’, Eryx answers, as he still is staring onto the other’s face, analyzing how surreal it is to see him there in flesh and bones. He is good looking, if he wasn’t crazy… He thinks the other is also tall, being almost as tall as Ezekiel, almost a tower near Eryx, who always had the lowest stature of the brothers and from the boys in his classes. ‘’I’m Eryx Algeo’’, he says, not really sure how much the system would consider an introduction, perhaps saying his name is fine, after all he’s probably keeping his distance from him. 

‘’Kitsu Ueno’’, the other answers, but that’s basically how far their conversation goes, as none of them are good with social situations. But just when Eryx was about to awkwardly leave, he’s struck with luck once again. 

‘’Hey, if it isn’t the Prince!’’, a loud and cheerful voice approaches them, immediately Eryx recognizes his target, or at least the one he chose when he played the game.

Nash Vega

The Captain of the Swimming Team

20

From all of the targets, he’s the only one where the bad endings didn’t involve deaths or heavy injuries, just pure heartbreak, he was also the easiest to romance, as the heroine at least. However, differently from the game, he has no set of choices or a heart meter where he can tell how much his answers are being positive or negative. 

Exactly like he was in the game, Nash is bright, his bright blue eyes shine in a surreal tone, his thin lips are like usual up in a sweet smile, bringing up his dimples, and his short blonde hair is wet, meaning he just came from the pool, what is further confirmed by his training bag and the varsity jacket with his name on it. 

He puts his arm around Kitsu Ueno, making the other show a clear discomfort expression. ‘’Don’t touch me’’, his tone is low and he pushes Nash away, who looks confused but his bright eyes don’t dim at all.

‘’C’mon don’t be like that, my dad said to take good care of you!’’ He says cheerfully, ‘’Did you already make a friend?‘’ Just then he looks at Eryx, and that’s the first moment his expression ever changes, both in game and in life. He looks truly disturbed to see him there. ‘’Eryx Algeo?’’ He speaks as if those words were weird and disgusting.

Fuck, why does he hate me? This complicates things. ‘’Yes, nice to meet you…’’

‘’Nash Vega’’, although he looks completely disgusted he still shakes Eryx's hand, introducing himself. ‘’Uhm, I’ll see you later Kitsu…’’ He says uncomfortably, turning his gaze to Eryx hesitantly. ‘’Eryx.’’

‘’See you’’, he replies either way, he mustn't show he noticed the man’s discomfort towards him.

‘’It’s because of your brother’’, Kitsu says, not looking at Eryx, his eyes fixated on the stage where the Student’s Council were organizing for the ceremony. ‘’He became the second best swimmer after Luc joined the team’’.

‘’Oh’’, Eryx whispers, it makes sense, his relationship with the targets won’t be the same as the heroine’s, after all, he’s: a vampire, from a prestigious family and the youngest brother of famous and scary vampires. It’s hard not to know your own brothers’ reputation.

All of his older brothers have infamy, and the fact that his two eldest brothers fought in the war 500 years ago, makes so that there are very few people that could possibly even go against them in prestige and reputation. So even if Luc pisses off the Captain of the Swimming Team, there’s nothing Nash can do, he can’t kick him out nor try to outshine him.

‘’You have a heavy burden to follow’’, Kitsu says again. He’s way more talkative than in the game, Eryx thinks, but perhaps that means that he has no interest in him whatsoever, since one of the premises of him was to be a cold and distant person to whom he likes until he becomes more and more infatuated. 

‘’I don’t intend in walking in their shadows or try to outshine them’’, Eryx answers with a shrug, adjusting his bag on his shoulder, ‘’I’m not here to become the best at anything,’’ he continues, he doesn’t even think he has any special talent to be able to do so. From birth he was the failure of the Algeo family, no special talent, no special characteristics and a human. Now, all he wants is to enjoy finally being a vampire and completing the missions so that his family remains safe and well.

‘’What’s your goal here then? Why not go to another Academy?’’ Kitsu’s question sounds bitter, maybe he was jealous of Eryx’s words.

There isn’t much to say, he is there because his brothers went there, because he became a vampire just the day prior and doesn’t have much of a choice since he must beat the heroine. Not that he can say any of that, so he looks deeply into Kitsu’s deep black eyes. ‘’To find a boyfriend I guess’’, his answer sounds stupid even to himself, but that is basically the summary of everything. 

His reaction is much of a surprise as Kitsu starts laughing, as if Eryx was hilarious. ‘’Sure, my bad, I guess I should know better than to try to pry into Algeo’s business’’.

Eryx tilts his head, watching as Kitsu laughs slowly, waiting for him to stop so that he can speak again. ‘’I’m not joking, though’’.

Kitsu’s expression becomes serious but his eyes show pure disbelief. ‘’You entered the Link Academy, just so you could date?’’

‘’Yeah, that’s pretty much it’’, sure it is quite more complicated than that, but he isn’t going to fake a reason or even try to pretend he’s there to form a legacy just like his brothers’, he’s far from being as exceptional as them. ‘’My brothers’ are quite overprotective of me, I wouldn’t be able to date staying home, and when I start dating, not anyone would be able to withstand them, so I need someone of a decent background’’.

‘’I can understand that, but there are easier ways to find a date than entering this place’’, Kitsu comments, as if Eryx was stupid for being there for such a reason. ‘’You could just enter a dating app or something’’.

Eryx snorts, ‘’Sure, as if my name alone wasn’t a caller for weirdos and scammers’’, he says. ‘’It isn’t that easy to find someone to date, you know’’, he looks at Kitsu who seems truly interested in what he’s saying, which feels weird. ‘’Why, you’re interested?’’

Kitsu’s disgusted expression should be used in psychology text books, as it was exactly what one would imagine such an expression to be, he doesn’t even attempt to pretend not to be disgusted. His eyes do make Eryx feel bad, sure he wasn’t considering the man either way, but such extreme reaction sure wasn’t what he was expecting either well.

Considering most of the targets are straight or at least bi since they’re into the heroine, some are bound to not see me in such light, he thinks with a sad expression, which Kitsu mistakes as an answer to his own.

‘’Wait, I don’t mean you’re disgusting or anything’’, he attempts to explain himself, his flustered gaze is weirdly different from how he’s portrayed in the game, something Eryx finds utterly fascinating. ‘’It’s just that I’m not into men, plus, you’re the youngest Algeo, someone needs to be crazy to date you’’.

You are crazy though, Eryx wants to say but he remains silent, thinking if he should remain there or leave so that he can go find other targets.

But as fate - and probably the system itself - plays in mysterious ways, he’s not able to do either, as someone coincidentally falls onto Kitsu Ueno. Even if the system didn’t tell him, Eryx could tell that this girl is the heroine.

Seren Mila

Heroine

19 years

Long wavy golden brown hair, sweet emerald eyes, perfect and common features, and most importantly the perfect stature to make the male leads see her as an innocent herbivore. The heroine is exactly how she’s portrayed in the game, beautiful enough to the attention of the male leads to make sense yet generic enough so that anyone can reflect themselves on her. At least that was what his sister told him when she was explaining the game concept to him in his past life.

‘’S-Sorry’’, she says, blushing, her movements are so perfect, she bends over ever so slightly so that Kitsu helps her up, yet her words are swift and delicate so that he feels she’s inoffensive. The game that is rigged in her favor from the start, finally begins. ‘’I tripped’’, she continued, her eyes meeting Kitsu’s.

This is what sister called a ‘meet-cute’? Eryx wonders as the two seem to be into their own little world. As if time was slowing down just for them, which it wasn’t, so instead of standing there and watching the heroine progressing her own quest, he moves, leaving the two to develop their own relationship. 

A Sub-quest was updated!

Introduce yourself to all of the targets (In Progress):

Targets met: (3/7)