Just Became a Vampire, I Clinged to Life by Grinding Health

Chapter 3: The Sinister Giant Crocodile, the "Top-Grade Elixir" for My Health Points!

Darkness, dampness.

The foul stench of decaying mud and unknown refuse, rich and dense as if solid, enough to make any normal person vomit on the spot.

Veridian took a deep breath, feeling the darkness envelop his body. A sense of security unprecedented in his life permeated his icy limbs and bones.

There is no holy light that burns the skin, no sun that overlooks all beings.

Here, there is only the shadow and silence that share his origin.

Here, is his paradise.

He leaned against a relatively dry pipe bend, impatiently sinking his consciousness into his mind. The dark blue panel still hovered quietly, yet the data on it had undergone earth-shattering changes.

【Health: 15/15】

After drinking the "Sinful Blood" of that apprentice knight, not only did it replenish the life he had lost under holy light, but it also strengthened his frail body, forcefully increasing his maximum health by 5 points!

A faint but undeniably present warm current still flows through his veins, the lingering echo of sin and vitality.

Veridian's gaze didn't linger too long on the already unlocked skills, but rather fixed itself intently on the detailed description of one particular skill.

【[Resilient Skin]: Gains effectiveness by enduring physical damage. Upon reaching MAX proficiency, it can be transformed into a permanent talent.】

A talent!

A permanent talent!

These two words, like two thunderbolts, exploded deep within his soul!

For a fleeting moment, in a sterile hospital room from a past life, he experienced the endless torment of his body's organs failing one by one while his consciousness remained terrifyingly lucid; in this life, abandoned by his family and locked in the side hall, he waited for the holy light to burn him to ashes, consumed by an icy despair……

Two extremes of helplessness from his life converged violently at this moment, giving birth to a near-twisted, hysterical obsession!

If……

If he leveled up the【Tough Skin】skill to maximum, awakening  the talent of【Damage Reduction】!

Then grind the 【Pain Tolerance】 to max level and awaken the talent of【Super Regeneration】!

Grind all skills that can be thought of related to defense, resistance, recovery, and immunity into talents!

With hundreds and thousands of life-saving talents stacked together, how thick will his health bar become?

When his health becomes an astronomical number, when he can be reborn from a drop of blood, when his recovery speed exceeds the damage limit caused by enemies..

What could the so-called holy light, the so-called purification, the so-called judgment of the gods, possibly mean in his presence?

That would no longer be simply living.

But rather an absolute, eternal, and even, conceptual level of [immortality]!

No one could any longer determine his life or death! No one could let him experience again that helplessness and terror of watching himself walk towards death!

“I must live!”

Veridian growled in a low voice, a morbid flush rising on his pale face, the black pupils burning with the fire of “paranoia.”

He found it!

He found the only way to fight against this cruel world, against that unavoidable death!

“Squeak!”

A few faint screams broke his reverie.

Veridian did not hesitate for a moment, turning to slip deeper into the castle.

That battlefield shrouded in holy light and cries of battle was a rich hunting ground, but not one he was qualified to enter now.

His pitiful fifteen-life points, in the aftermath of battles at that level outside, might not even last a second.

Hang on!

Must hang on first!

In Veridian's mind, the fragments of memories from the original owner of this body were quickly searched through. Those honors, etiquette, and magical knowledge belonging to the vampire noble class were all thrown aside like garbage. What he needed were the memories that the original owner considered shame.

Because of his thin bloodline and low status, the original owner had been ostracized since childhood, living in conditions worse than servants, and walking only the most undesirable, forgotten paths.

Now, these humble memories had become the only way for Verdian to survive!

He avoided the main thoroughfare, relying on his agility at six o'clock, his figure like a wisp of smoke, slipping through shadow after shadow along dusty servant passages.

The thunderous explosions of holy light outside, the roars of knights, and the screams of the bloodline as they died—all became the perfect cover for his actions.

Veridian abruptly turned his head, his superior bloodline night vision allowing him to clearly see, at the edge of a pool of wastewater not far away, several large rats were fighting over a rotting corpse.

His eyes instantly lit up.

That wasn't a rat.

That was walking, living, experience that could lead him to the path of immortality!

Almost as soon as the thought arose, Veridian's body had already transformed into a fleeting shadow. The soul of a former office drone was ignited, and the principle of efficiency above all was stamped into his instincts.

Without hesitation, without testing. He needed to rapidly hone the most basic self-defense skills.

“Puff!”

Sharp claws precisely slit the throat of one of the mice, splattering warm blood.

【Ding！You used the racial ability [Claw Attack], current proficiency: 1/100.】

He didn't even look, turning around and biting the neck of another mouse trying to escape.

【Ding！[Basic Bite] proficiency +1, current: 32/100!】

【Ding！[Blood Siphon] proficiency +1, current: 32/100!】

【Health +0.01】

A negligible gain, yet it granted Viridian an extreme euphoria akin to drugs.

The direct feedback from this numerical increase shot through his body like an electric current, intensifying his desire to grow stronger.

This feeling, damn it, is addictive!

He struggled to resist the urge to turn back and rub against her one more time, weaving through the alleys and finally stopping at the end of a secluded storage room piled high with clutter. He pushed aside a decaying wine rack, revealing an unassuming iron door behind it, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

In his memory, this was the castle's passage for disposing of household waste and refuse, leading directly to the sewers.

Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled open the iron door, and a foul wind, almost capable of knocking him unconscious, filled his face—mixed with the stench of decay and sourness.

Yet Veridian, as if he had inhaled the fragrance of paradise, plunged right into it.

The passage inside was a slippery slope, and he tumbled and crawled, letting mud and viscous liquid coat his entire body. Finally, his feet gave way, and his whole body fell into a murky stream.

Cold, foul-smelling wastewater instantly surged over his chest.

But Corvillian let out a long breath, feeling the darkness and dampness completely envelop him.

He was safe.

Temporarily.

Next, he moved like the most efficient hunting machine, carrying out a cold and precise cleanup in this filthy sewer.

To quickly enhance 【Claw Attack】, he tried repeatedly scratching the hard moss on the walls with his fingertips, even deliberately scraping rough stones with his nails, gradually making the tips of his nails harder and sharper.

For 【Tough Skin】and 【Pain Tolerance】, he would even deliberately let passing water rats bite his least vital parts, feeling that faint sting, and with each tolerance came a slight jump in proficiency.

【Ding！You have been attacked by rodents, [Resilient Skin] skill level +0.01!】

【Ding！You have been hit by a blunt force (hitting a wall), [Enduring Pain] skill level +0.01!】

This insignificant improvement is practically self-torture for an ordinary person. But for Verdian, it is every brick on the path to immortality. He shows no signs of slackening; every breath, every heartbeat, seems to serve efficiency.

However, just as he immerses himself in this primal "leveling" euphoria, a blood smell far more intense than that of mice, mixed with an nauseating stench, suddenly wafts from the depths of the canal ahead.

Whoosh……

Under the water, a heavy and viscous stirring sound came, as if something colossal was awakening. Unusual ripples broke on the surface, the foul smell overpowering the original rot, becoming suffocating.

Veridian's movements stopped abruptly. He instinctively crouched down, vanishing into the shadow of a thick stone pillar. His vampiric superhuman hearing allowed him to detect the dull yet immensely powerful heartbeat coming from beneath the water.

That heartbeat, like an old steam locomotive slowly and steadily chugging along, seemed to shake this dark and damp space with every pulse. This was definitely not a sound that an ordinary creature could make. He knew, the blood scent here had attracted the true master of this hunting ground.

CRASH——！！！

The murky water exploded violently!

A disproportionately huge head, thrusting fiercely from the filthy water.

It was a crocodile, but its size was larger than any crocodile Viridian had ever remembered. Its skin was a grayish-white, as if it had been soaked in sewage for countless years, covered in festering sores and twisted scars, as though the filth and sin of the entire city had settled upon it.

Its pair of turbid, greedy and cruel vertical pupils flashed a bloody light in the dimness, firmly locking onto Veridian hidden in the shadows. A primal, bloodthirsty pressure from the predator, like an invisible sledgehammer, crashed hard against Veridian's heart.

However, at the very moment this pressure reached its peak, the fear surging in Veridian's heart quickly subsided as another thought rose.

This is not purely a threat.

This is... the scent of wealth!

A second later, on the system panel, a prompt heavily emphasized by an eerie blue light popped up fiercely!

【Warning! Encountered the "Sin Aggregate"!】

【Target: The Elite Giant Crocodile of the Sin-Stained Sewers】

【Detected thick "sin" aura: Greed (Level 3), Gluttony (Level 3), Killing (Level 4), Cruelty (Level 2) … …】

【Warning: Consuming this target's "Blood of Sins" is expected to grant a massive amount of proficiency!】

Veridian's breath froze instantly.

He looked at the colossal crocodile exuding an aura of terrifying pressure, yet not a trace of fear was on his face; instead, he slowly cracked open a grin of extreme excitement and fanaticism.

This is no monster.

This is clearly carefully prepared by the system for him,  the first Super Experience Gift Pack in the Newbie Village! It's practically a mobile, living, top-tier potion soaked in thick guilt!

Veridian's crimson eyes burned even more fiercely in the darkness, as if he had already seen his health bar soaring and talents awakening in the future!