The Villains Must Win-Chapter 339: S-Rank World 1

Plot Progression: 17%

I didn’t know where I was.

I didn’t even know who I was supposed to be.

Rank-S worlds—apparently—didn’t bother giving you proper introductions.

The System only flashed a single miserable progress bar at me:

Plot Progress: 17%. Incomplete.

Identity: Selene Ashsnow.

Current Role: Human tribute.

Current Location: Vampire Empire — Blood Cells.

Blood cells.

Not the biological kind.

The "human cattle storage room" kind.

Awesome.

A+ start to my vampire adventure.

I slowly sat up, head pounding as if someone had reset my entire existence with a hammer. Around me, iron bars glistened with frost, chains clinked with every shiver, and the smell of fear mixed with old blood hung thick in the air.

There were other women.

Huddled. Shaking.

Each one pale—not from beauty, but from starvation and terror.

At least I wasn’t alone.

Great. Group suffering.

The few fragments of plot the System allowed me to access hovered at the edge of my thoughts:

This world is gothic. Dark. Violent. Vampires rule. Humans exist to serve, bleed, or die.

The destined female lead is a helpless, innocent human girl adored by vampire royalty.

Sad to say: I’m not her.

Fantastic.

Also, judging from the fact that the plot was stuck at a pathetic 17%, none of the previous hosts managed to survive long enough to push it forward.

Translation:

Most of them died here.

Or got milked like cows until they fainted.

Or became vampire juice boxes.

Rank-S indeed.

I took a deep breath. Panicked a little. Then forced myself

to think.

Step One: Stay alive.

Step Two: Avoid becoming someone’s midnight snack.

Step Three: Advance the plot without drawing too much attention.

...which was hard, because I was already in a cell dressed in a thin, torn chemise that practically screamed, "Fresh blood donor available!"

I rubbed my temples.

"Gothic vampires, I said. Dark romance, I said. This will be fun, I said. Idiot."

A cough beside me drew my attention.

A girl with brown hair and trembling hands whispered, "Y-you’re awake. Thank the moon... We weren’t sure you’d survive the drug."

The drug?

Oh right, the auction sedation.

Humans traded to vampires were kept half-asleep so they wouldn’t faint from fear before feeding time.

"Where are we exactly?" I whispered back.

Her voice shook. "The Blood Cells under Lord Eryx’s manor. We’re... we’re waiting to see which vampire picks us for tonight. Some get taken upstairs. Some don’t return."

Lovely.

"So I’m Selene Ashsnow now?" I asked quietly.

She blinked at me, confused. "We... we only know your name because the trader said it. You’re new. They brought you last night."

Right.

Identity confirmed.

I stood, testing my legs.

Wobbly but functional.

I still had my space ring — thankfully.

Though only a handful of human items remained inside, it was better than nothing.

The moment I regained control of this body, I immediately hid the ring, slipping it beneath the hem of my torn chemise before any of the other girls could notice.

It probably appeared the moment I took over this body, the auctioneer would have stripped it away and sold it separately if it appeared before.

Good thing the transfer landed me after the auction.

One less disaster to deal with.

As I approached the bars, I noticed black runes carved into the metal—binding sigils that weakened humans and suppressed abilities.

That explained why my limbs felt heavy, like I’d run a marathon in my sleep.

I touched one rune lightly—

Ssss— it burned my finger like acid.

Yep. Anti-escape.

Anti-rebellion.

Anti-everything-fun.

The cell door suddenly rattled.

Every girl froze.

Some whimpered.

A few hugged each other.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor—the slow, measured stride of someone who didn’t need to hurry because nothing alive dared to challenge him.

A chill crawled up my spine.

Could be a romantic lead or could be the guy who murders me.

Fun.

A key scraped.

The cell door swung open with a screech.

A tall vampire guard stepped in, his skin marble-pale, his armor black and crimson.

"Line up," he growled.

The girls scrambled to obey.

I moved with them, careful, quiet.

A second vampire entered.

This one was different.

Sharp features. Silver hair that shimmered like moonlight. Crimson eyes that glowed softly, not hungrily. White coat instead of armor. Gloves stained with ink instead of blood.

He looked more like a scholar—or a surgeon—than a soldier.

He stepped toward us, expression unreadable.

"Lord Eryx requires samples," he said mildly. "I’m here to collect."

Samples?

As in blood samples?

Or "samples" in the way messy vampire romance novels describe?

My gut told me: dangerous.

But also... oddly familiar?

He moved gracefully, stopping in front of each girl, inspecting them with detached, clinical precision.

When he reached me, he paused.

His eyes narrowed.

And for a heartbeat—just one—his cold gaze softened, puzzled.

As if he’d seen me before.

As if he were trying to remember something long forgotten.

My pulse spiked.

He lifted my chin gently with two fingers. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Too gently for a monster.

Too gently for someone trained to see humans as cattle.

"...Selene Ashsnow," he murmured. "You’re the one they brought last night."

"Apparently," I said dryly before I could stop myself.

His eyebrow twitched—like he was mildly offended but also amused.

Boldness in a blood cell was not normal. And not expected.

"I’ll take her," he said suddenly.

The guard blinked. "Two samples?"

"No," he said firmly, eyes still on me. "She comes with me."

A murmur of fear-sympathy rippled among the women.

Being chosen meant two things:

You either survived... Or didn’t.

The guard unlocked my cuffs.

I swallowed.

Okay. Stay calm. Stay alive. Don’t stab the vampire scholar in the eyeball. Yet.

He extended his hand.

"Walk," he ordered softly.

And because staying alive required obedience—I placed my hand in his.

His fingers were cold, but deceptively gentle.

And from the faint smile on his lips, the sharp spark in his eyes, I knew immediately— there was nothing kind about him.

If he was smiling like that, then he was plotting something.

Because really—what else would a vampire lord want with a human like me...if not to drain me dry?