Adrian’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest when the front door burst open with a loud bang. He spun around, knife already halfway raised—but it wasn’t a vampire. Not yet.It was a young woman, maybe in her early twenties drenched in sweat and trembling like a leaf in a storm. Her eyes were wide, wild with panic, and her pale hands fumbled with the lock behind her as if death itself was chasing her down the hall.“Wait, what is going on?” Adrian snapped, his voice sharp with fear. He took two quick steps back, heart hammering as he raised the knife more defensively now. “Who are you?!”The woman jerked in surprise at his voice. She looked at him as if she’d only just noticed he was there. Her eyes were full of tears and she was breathing heavily.“I...please...I live next door,” she stammered. “I—I’m your neighbor! Apartment 3F. Please… let me stay here.”Adrian blinked, as he finally recognized her. She was familiar; he had passed her in the hallway a few times, earbuds in, polite

Adrian stood in the middle of the bloodstained living room, surrounded by ten armored figures still saluting with impeccable discipline. Though their expressions were hidden behind their visored helmets, their eyes visible through reinforced lenses reflected a startling humanity. He blinked once. Twice. These soldiers looked too real. Not like digital constructs or NPCs from some game.“Are they… human?” he muttered under his breath, suspicion curling in his gut.A soft chime sounded in the air, and with a flicker of pale blue light, a new holographic screen materialized before his eyes:[The Knights you summoned are military-trained human beings. They possess the knowledge, skills, and expertise required to perform their assigned tasks. As for their memories, they are created with none. Their only recollections will originate from the moment they are summoned. Additionally, being human, they experience hunger, require sustenance, can form interpersonal relationships, and most importa

The penthouse sat silent at the top of the thirty-second floor, its luxury ruined by the chaos below. Adrian stepped inside with urgency, barely sparing the lavish surroundings a glance before walking straight toward the towering glass wall that overlooked the city. He pressed a hand against the windowpane, cool to the touch, and looked down.What greeted him was no different from the horror he had witnessed hours ago—only now, it seemed worse. Smoke drifted like tendrils through broken streets, fire flickered in alleys, and the agonizing screams of civilians were muffled by distance but ever present. The Pawns—those twisted, mindless vampires still prowled the ground, chasing people like crazy dogs. He narrowed his eyes, scanning deeper.Odd. No sign of the mutated beasts from earlier. No towering monsters, no ugly spider-limbed freaks.“Could they have migrated toward more populated areas?” he muttered.A noise behind him made him turn. One by one, the Knights entered the penthouse,

Several hours earlier...The sky outside had already begun to darken, a dusky purple bleeding through the clouds as evening crept across the city. The lights in the hallways flickered with inconsistent power, and the once-vibrant campus of the Technological Engineering Institute had become a place of fearful whispers and cold silence.Inside a third-floor classroom, the windows were barricaded with desks and metal chairs, and the doors were reinforced with what little furniture the students could find. The air was stale, thick with anxiety, sweat, and the quiet static of fear. A dozen university students, most still in uniform, clustered in uneasy silence around a single figure near the window.Raina stood tall, her long silver hair catching the weak light that filtered through the blinds. Her posture was graceful, though tense, like a dancer in the moment before a leap. She held her phone tightly to her chest after ending a call, her fingers trembling as she turned to face the others