"Seriously, Marius, you're going to stay. You have only known this woman for less than an hour." I complained.

  I sat across from my undead bro in a former vampire lord's private room, sipping excellent wine and smoking a cigarette. Across from me, Marius just stared back at me, innocent and with no booze to make him trustworthy. I mean, drinking alcohol makes someone trustworthy... right? The movies say so, and it must be true.

  "It may have only been a short time, but the attraction cannot be denied, young Joey." He explained with a spark in his eye.

  Now, I wasn't exactly the most up on the romance kind of guy. Sure, I watched Korean dramas and got a little obsessed with that one about the time-stopping alien that looked like a male model. And perhaps a few others I may or may not got a little obsessed with. They were really interesting; every episode just got more and more dramatic as it went along. Also, I was keen to see where the two crazy kids ended up. Korean actors had also mastered the art of the look, somehow making staring at each other for an hour look cool.

  "Alright, buddy, I get it. Your life is now a manhwa, and romance is in the air." I waved a hand, dismissing my protests.

  "Manhwa?" he asked, perplexed.

  "It's a type of story from a place called Korea; romance and drama are their thing." I hastily explained before taking another sip of the wine.

  "What stories? Can you give me an example?"

  What followed the moment I jumped on that train was a full hour of me explaining how Korean dramas worked and going into detail about how a four hundred-year-old alien fell in love with a supposed reincarnation of a girl from the Joseon era. That led to a much longer explanation of Korea and this era. I explained it to the best of my ability, with my knowledge limited to the few Korean dramas set in that period. From what I recalled, it was just a medieval part of earth history where slavery was normal and wiping out peoples' bloodlines for minor offences was something the upper class just did.

  "So yeah, that's the Joseon era, filled with kingdoms, nobles and peasants. Kind of similar to this place but without magic and monsters."

  "Intriguing, but why did they wear those giant see-through hats?"

  "To be honest, I have no clue, but we are getting off track. Just know that Korean dramas are epic in the romance department, and Korea produced Solo Leveling, so they've got the magic touch." I tried to end the conversation as we had more important things to discuss.

  "Solo Leveling?" He questioned, tilting his head.

  That one question sent me back into another round of explanations. Explaining aura farming, the drip and being a shadow summoning badass in a three-piece suit. I could tell he wanted to know more, but I got us back on track. I could talk about Solo Leveling for ages; however, we had stuff to do. In bringing up that quest, he had to put that ghost to rest. Which was not possible as the aforementioned ghost couldn't remember where he lived.

  "Okay, we went way off topic. Let's decide what we are going to do." I leaned over the seat and glanced back at the others loitering around.

  This room was like that gothic study I found guarded by those annoying gargoyles. Wasn't able to find it again, even with the magic key. But after jamming it in every keyhole we found, we found this one, and it was pretty great. Magically preserved bar to my left and comfy couches to my right. It was a perfect place to relax after the crazy ordeal we had. Fighting people, killing monsters and making peace with a bunch of Volkaran and Garathi slave soldiers that were now lacking masters.

  "Rak, Xyn, what are you guys planning? Lover boy here wants to stay with Griselda the vampire." I wanted their input.

  They turned to face me, wine glasses in their hands, immersed in conversation. It was weird how they became so friendly. Before they were trading barbs constantly and were at each other's throats. After the battle, they had become fast friends and regularly talked about their lives. Rak seemed genuinely concerned about Xyn's former teammate turned vampire, appearing to be quite sympathetic. I suspected the battered old Garathi had similar pains, similar losses.

  "I say, go for it; love is rare." Xyn spoke, surprising everyone.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Really?" I couldn't help but frown.

  "What? Can't I be supportive of romance?"

  "Well, yeah... but it's just surprising you don't seem the type." I stepped into a minefield.

  "What is that supposed to mean?" She glared down at me, looming over with an intense stare.

  Stumbling over my words, I frantically tried to extricate myself from this drama. It was straight out of a comedy or romantic comedy. The dumb male character says something stupid and offends a female character. She gets offended, and the dumb male character stumbles over their words in apology.

  "I think what he means is..." Rak tapped her shoulder, "that you don't seem the romantic type and it's surprising that you wouldn't be cynical about love."

  Rak came in with a save, showing his true colours as an eloquent bro saving this poor man. I felt a little guilty for underestimating him. He seemed like such a brute, but that was just a facade, I think. It hurt a bit to suspect what he had been through. From what I learned, suggested he grew up in this brutal environment. Despite all that, he grew to be an intelligent and talented Garathi. And I was happy to have him as a friend.

  "Oh," was all she said.

  "Back to the topic again, I think we should leave the temple and go explore." I suggested.

  "Agreed, I have been stuck in this place for all my life. I want to see the world beyond it." Rak agreed, and I beamed.

  "I understand Rak, but he is here, I can't just leave him... like that."

  We all knew whom she spoke of — her old teammate, now a monster by the hand of another monster. Lost his marbles and feral beyond rationality. However, Xyn never lost hope he could bring him back. Despite her repeated failures to talk and return to a semblance of the past. Now, he languished in rather nice confinement, but he was still confined to quarters.

  "Griselda and I will care for him, you have my word." Marius promised, and that seemed to ease her worries.

  Marius was a true bro; if he could help, I would accept it without a second thought. Which was weird since I had only met him recently. And he came out of a coffin. Still, none of us were normal, and distrusting someone because they were a little weird was the height of hypocrisy. They discussed how they would care for the newbie vampire. Once they had finished, Xyn seemed content with the fate of her old friend.

  "I will visit his family in Remoria, let them know he is still alive and just needs time." Xyn spoke softly.

  "Remoria?" both I and Rak spoke in unison.

  "It's the nearest city and probably the only place where no one will stab you on sight." She gestured to Rak as he frowned.

  "I assume this place is more accepting of non-humans?"

  "They are... in fact, they have Garathi citizens. Though I haven't met many, just seen them defend the city once from a monster horde." The moment she uttered those words, I knew Rak was on board.

  "Oh, we are definitely going there."

  "It is the best place to head. But what about the rest... the Volkaran and Garathi that don't want to stay?" She was asking an important question.

  After the battle, the surviving army surrendered, and then the question came up of what to do with them. Most of the Garathi led by Calraz, who were now composed of living and dead men, wanted to remain in the temple. Now pledged to Griselda, which was weird, but she seemed a better vampire overlord than the last guy. I think he did that to keep his ghost buddies, since Marius was making googly eyes at the stunning vampire. The rest were not keen on staying, so releasing them seemed like a good option to avoid another fight. The problem was, would they ravage the countryside?

  "I will lead them." A stern voice spoke up from the side.

  All of us turned to the lone Volkaran, nursing a mug of ale, seated by himself. That was the Doctore, now known as Unas, his true name. Following the liberation and his subsequent freedom from vampiric control. Griselda made sure he was free of the influence, which was a moot point since the controller was dead.

  "Are you sure, Doctore?" Rak spoke up, still using his title.

  "It is time for us to leave this prison. They need a leader, and I will keep them from causing trouble... none of us want to return to chains." He made an interesting case, and we agreed.

  Hopefully, we have missed nothing before the next chapter of our lives, as everything appears to be wrapped up nicely with a little bow. Remoria — the name sounded cool. I wondered what kind of city it was and if I could buy some new gear to experiment with. I got up from my seat and walked around, eyeing the faces of everyone I knew. Some relatively new and others I felt I knew for years. Conflict put things into perspective and proved to create fast friends. Arriving at the door, I left, walking down the corridor with no actual destination in mind.

  Plucking a certain item from my bag, I inspected the red vial, filled with possibilities. I made sure no one knew what I had taken. Not sure how everybody would react, especially Griselda. She was a vampire as well, and perhaps she had an issue with me using the blood in experiments.

  "What secrets can I draw from you, I wonder... the secret to eternal life?" I couldn't help but whisper before shrugging, returning the vial to my bag.

  I had other things to occupy me, our pending adventure to a city and the serious problem of the new System AI coming into operation. That had several issues I needed to contend with, such as keeping up the expenditure to maintain my stealth field. Constantly hiding myself will drain resources. Which meant I needed more power to stay above water. But that was minor in the grand scheme of things. What truly mattered was the fear that they could blink all my fellow clerks out of existence.

  "Please be okay." I whispered a small prayer, not to any god, lest they were listening.

  I truly wondered what had actually happened to them. So many fantasies flittered through my mind, most of them horrific, but a few had a glimmer of hope, and it was within those hopes that I truly wondered about Sammy, Greg and even my manager. If uncaring gods did not blink you out of existence. What are you up to?

  rating or review to strengthen my story with motivation!

  early access and support the author at .

  Discord — we’ve got snacks and chaos.