Panic coiled around his heart, a poisonous serpent that only needed to bide its time knowing its prey would fall.

  All his plans, expectations, and hopes shattered.

  What was he to do now?

  He was trapped in the body of a monster, in a world full of danger and the person who could have been his greatest ally simply didn't exist?

  He was hyperventilating and shaking, his sense of balance lost to invisible winds that made his stomach swirl. So lost in his own thoughts it never registered that he was slowly slipping backwards until he fully tilted and entered freefall.

  Instinctual fright invaded him, ingrained survival instinct about falling washed through him blasting his mind blank. His heartbeat slowed to a crawl without his command.

  The heightened perception seemed to slow the world around him and did not help when he was hitting the ground flat on his back within a second.

  The impact knocked the wind from his lungs and from the pain that flared in his back he might have broken something. Only the pain quickly subsided as cracked bone sealed shut.

  He no longer had to fear minor and major injuries, his vampire nature would heal him from almost anything. A dark thought that lurked deep in his mind rose to the surface.

  ‘How far would I need to fall to actually die? My penthouse window? Skyscraper roof? What would it take for me to die?’ It took him a moment to recollect himself sitting up still sitting in the grass.

  There was so much he did not understand and all his hopes were dashed within days of having them.

  A predator's detachment set in and he began to rationalize as a new train of thought came to him.

  “No. Sayo missed someone who once lived here. You could see it on her face. In SSD the protagonist and his family had moved for his fathers job when he was young. Only returning a month before school started. She still misses him, which means he might still exist but simply never returned like he did in the game.”

  He pulled out his phone to make sure it was not broken and to check the time. He was not lucky enough to avoid cracking his screen when he fell. The corner of the screen now had a long crack stretching across to the middle of the other side of the glass.

  He had wasted too much time here learning truths that crushed his hopes and had places to be. He finally stood from the ground. His clothes had some grass stains on the back that he would have to deal with.

  He leapt back over the wall separating the property from street view and began making his way down the street.

  What was he going to do now? He had to remake all his plans from scratch.

  Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, sure there is no one to help me fight back the creeping rot of the city's underbelly.

  But there was always a chance the MC would not have helped. Perhaps even hindered me if he turned out to be a real piece of shit.

  I could have tried to influence him but that was always an unlikely outcome. No help but also no one in the way.

  A double edged sword. One he was willing to fall on, he was well and truly on his own.

  ‘Then I will do what the MC is not here to take care of.’ Nodding to himself and reaffirming his resolve he looked up to find a short, curvy girl with short chestnut hair waiting across the street.

  Without realizing he had caught up with Sayo, she seemed lonely. Constantly checking her phone and chewing on her lip.

  Another girl was hunched over sneaking up behind her. Bronze skin, orange hair, amber eyes full of mischief and a sly smirk. Carmen Horacio, the barbershop owner's granddaughter.

  He had a front row view as the girl finished slinking up to her friend and tapped her on the shoulder from behind. Even from across the street he heard Sayo’s scream.

  “EEK.” She covered one hand over her mouth and the other over her chest as she whirled around breathing heavily. She began slapping the other girl on the shoulder as Carmen clutched her stomach ready to double over with laughter.

  The lights at the cross walk changed, he could now cross but should he? He did not remember such an interaction occurring between these two in game and did not want to interrupt their antics.

  It would be more strange if he just kept standing here and staring at them though. His large stride quickly brought him across.

  ‘Maybe they will not even notice me and I can just walk by.’

  His hopes were dashed when Carmen’s gaze landed on him. She blushed and averted her eyes as her friend continued to scold her.

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  He was able to thankfully get past them and continue on his way to school without incident, for some odd reason though Carmen kept looking at him for a moment before tearing her eyes away several times.

  “Did she recognize me? It didn’t seem like it, she was more flustered than frightened. Another oddity to think about later. In a few streets she will be awaiting me.”

  In SSD two events would happen today that the MC could help with and after a few minutes of walking he found the first one.

  Standing alone was an elderly woman. She had very deep grey hair and had wrinkles around her mouth and eyes that suggested a long life full of smiles.

  She was struggling to cross the street with her two large bags and did not have a free hand to press the button for the crosswalk and no one nearby was willing to lend a helping hand.

  In SSD the protagonist had 4 options on what they could do for every situation. The most obvious one was to help the old lady cross, it took very little time to simply push the button for her and talk while waiting for the lights to change.

  It was a very fast and easy event that won affection with the two girls you accompanied to school. Except he was not trying to win affection, he had not even intended on being the one to help her. He had planned on seeing what option the MC would choose so he could get a read on his character.

  Now though he was just kind of angry that no one was stopping to help the poor woman. Hell he could even do more for her than originally described in the game. He was no longer bound to the whims of a prewritten story and could go beyond what the protagonist would do.

  He could do more than simply press a button and stand by chatting. He approached the old woman and reached out to press the button for her.

  “Oh my, why thank you young man.” The little old lady brightened with such a small gesture but this was not the only thing he was gonna do for her.

  “Would you like me to carry your bags for you? I have plenty of time before I need to be at school and can walk a few streets with you.”

  The old woman had such a warm and genuine smile that it made the choice of offering to walk with her worth it already.

  “If it isn’t much trouble I would be overjoyed to be accompanied by such a handsome young man.” She practically threw the startlingly heavy bags into my arms.

  The extent of how strong I was still confused me. Two days ago I lifted a several hundred pound wolf like nothing and today I can feel just how heavy a bag containing a few cooking ingredients is. Even if I am not struggling with the weight it's still strange that this is heavy in comparison at all.

  Putting that on the list of things to look into at a later date I turned to address the woman as we walked across the intersection. “So where are you headed so early in the morning with groceries?”

  “My daughter owns a restaurant and I was bringing her a few things before she opened so I could have breakfast with her and my granddaughter. At this point however the girl has probably already left for school.”

  “Is there a reason she would wanna be at school so early? Classes do not start for another half hour at least.”

  The old woman had a proud smile on her face. “she is on the student council and leaves early to organize things for the day.”

  The woman continued to boast about how responsible her granddaughter was but he had started tuning her out as he couldn't help but frown. ‘That sounds strangely familiar.’

  The old woman looked him up and down.

  “Is that the Sukimi uniform? That's actually where my granddaughter goes, what a coincidence that such a handsome and strapping gentleman goes to the same school. Maybe I should introduce you to her.” She chuckled to herself as dread crept up on him.

  Family with a restaurant and is on the student council. He knew who her granddaughter was. Looking at the old woman again he noticed her eyes were grey and her hair was so dark despite greying with age that she had to have a certain dark shade when she was younger.

  ‘Yep I definitely know, maybe I will be lucky and be proven wrong when I see her mother.’

  Eventually they arrived at a small café with an outdoor area with a low fence and several tables to enjoy fresh air with a cup of coffee. The old woman invited him inside where he saw a middle aged woman easily in her late thirties with deep purple hair and grey eyes.

  ‘This is definitely the family of the student council president who hates me. It is best she never learns I was here or she might think I am gonna use this to threaten her or something else nefarious.

  She knew who his family was and would not trust him to have good intentions escorting her grandmother here.

  The woman behind the counter started making her way around to the front side. “Sorry mother, I could not get Mai to wait any longer to have breakfast with us. She takes her duties at school seriously and left early like usual.”

  ‘That was an understatement to say the least, Mai lives and breathes the student council and is rigid in following its guidelines.’ As he was thinking negative thoughts about the girl her mother as if detecting it had her eyes snap to him.

  “And who is this?” She tilted her head and her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she looked him over.

  The old woman slapped her daughter on the head with a newspaper she claimed from the counter. “You better be nice to that boy. He was the only gentleman who helped a poor old lady cross the street several blocks from here. And was even nice enough to carry the bags for me the rest of the way.”

  The younger woman looked slightly chagrinned but still suspicious. I thought I might at least smooth things over before leaving.

  “That’s okay, I know I appear a little rough and untrustworthy at a glance. I do need to get going if I do not wanna be late for school.” He sat the bags onto the front counter.

  The younger woman who was the student council president Mai’s mother looked like she felt a little bad about her actions. “At least let me grab you a snack to take with you and a drink.”

  “No really it is fine. Maybe I will come back another day to take you up on it, I am running behind as it is.” And he was, if he did not get closer to school soon something bad would happen to a young man near campus.

  The old woman had a large smile that reminded him of a cunning fox. “If you come early enough we might be able to introduce you to a lady close to your age who could use someone that could help her learn to unwind a little.”

  He was slightly uncomfortable, he had not known that Mai’s grandmother was so… Forward with trying to set the girl up with someone.

  “I will keep it in mind.” He forced a fake smile onto his face as he slipped out the store.

  The younger woman turned to her mother. “So what was that young man's name?”

  Her spine went straight as the realization hit her. “You know what, I never actually asked him.”