Night covered Aurelius Academy in silence.

Moonlight stretched across the stone pathways while cold wind moved through the silver trees surrounding the campus. Most students had already returned to their dormitories after the long evaluation day.

Inside her small dorm room, Lina sat quietly on her bed while staring at Qhuin.

The rabbit sat near the window motionless, his crimson eyes reflecting the moonlight outside.

The atmosphere felt strangely heavy.

Lina finally spoke softly.

"...Are you okay?"

Qhuin didn’t answer. Or rather, he couldn’t.

The hunger had become unbearable, and even the sound inside the dormitory irritated him.

The beating of Lina’s heart, the movement of blood beneath human skin, and the scent coming from students outside the hallway made his instincts grow unstable.

The system screen appeared again.

[Blood Energy critically low.]

[Warning: Host entering weakened state.]

[Recommendation: Consume blood immediately.]

Qhuin’s expression hardened.

"Annoying."

Back in his previous life, blood was never difficult to obtain. Humans willingly offered it to noble vampires for protection, status, or survival.

But now?

He was trapped inside the body of a weak rabbit.

A starving rabbit, Lina slowly approached him carefully.

"You’ve been quiet since earlier..."

Qhuin glanced at her briefly before looking away.

The girl hesitated before sitting beside the window.

"I know everyone laughed at you today," she whispered. "But I don’t think you’re weak."

Qhuin blinked slightly.

"That makes one of us."

Lina gave a small nervous smile.

"Even if you’re small... your eyes feel different from normal beasts."

His ears twitched ’Sharp observation.’ he thought

Most humans only saw appearance, but this girl noticed things and had an instinct.

Suddenly—

Growl.

Qhuin’s stomach rumbled loudly again. Lina jumped slightly before looking worried.

"You’re really hungry..."

She quickly stood up and searched through her bag before pulling out a small piece of dried meat from earlier dinner.

"Here."

Qhuin stared at it silently.

"...You expect a vampire to eat this?"

Still—

The smell made his body react automatically as his instincts screamed at him to consume something.

Anything.

After several seconds, he reluctantly grabbed the dried meat with his mouth and chewed slowly.

Lina watched carefully.

Then, Qhuin stopped moving.

The meat tasted horribly dry and lifeless, totally useless.

The system immediately responded.

[Low-quality food detected.]

[Blood Energy unchanged.]

Qhuin nearly threw the food away in disgust.

Lina noticed his reaction and lowered her head slightly.

"Sorry..."

Qhuin sighed internally what his body truly desired was blood.

Before he could think further, a distant scream suddenly echoed from outside the dormitory.

Both Lina and Qhuin froze. As another scream followed.

Then shouting.

"Someone help!"

"There’s a beast!"

Lina quickly rushed toward the window.

"What happened?"

Qhuin immediately jumped onto the windowsill beside her. Several students could be seen running across the academy courtyard in panic.

Something large moved between the shadows near the academy forest. Its glowing yellow eyes flashed briefly beneath the darkness.

Then another scream echoed.

Qhuin’s crimson eyes constricted instantly.

Blood.

Even from this distance, the scent reached him clearly as his instincts erupted violently.

[Blood detected.]

[Instincts increasing.]

Without hesitation, Qhuin jumped out of the window.

"W-Wait!"

Lina panicked before quickly following after him.

The cold night air rushed past as Qhuin moved rapidly through the academy grounds. His small body darted between trees and pathways far faster than any normal rabbit could move.

The closer he got, the stronger the scent became.

Students gathered at a distance while several academy guards attempted to surround the creature.

Now Qhuin could finally see it clearly, it was a massive wolf-like beast standing near the forest entrance.

Its black fur looked corrupted while dark veins spread across its body. Blood dripped from its jaws as it growled toward the guards surrounding it.

One injured student lay nearby clutching his shoulder.

The beast had already attacked someone.

"Shadow Fang Wolf..." a guard muttered nervously.

"It escaped from the northern forest zone."

Qhuin observed silently from beneath a nearby tree.

The wolf wasn’t extremely powerful, but against normal students it was deadly.

Suddenly the beast lunged forward.

Boom!

One guard crashed backward after barely blocking its claws, and the students screamed and scattered further away.

The wolf growled aggressively before preparing to attack again.

Then—

Its yellow eyes suddenly locked onto Qhuin, for a brief second, both beasts stared at each other.

Qhuin slowly narrowed his crimson eyes. The wolf instinctively stepped backward in fear, pure fear

Even weakened, a vampire king was still a predator above ordinary beasts.

The surrounding guards noticed the strange reaction immediately.

"Why did it stop?"

Qhuin stepped forward slowly.

The hunger inside him intensified violently and the scent of blood covering the wolf tempted him heavily and his body wanted to devour it completely.

The system suddenly appeared in his vision.

[Hidden skill condition met.]

[Blood Predator activated.]

A strange cold energy spread through Qhuin’s body.

The wolf whimpered slightly backing away.

Then, it turned and bolted toward the forest.

The guards looked stunned.

"It fled?"

"What scared it?"

Lina finally arrived breathlessly before spotting Qhuin near the trees.

"Snowy!"

But Qhuin barely heard her, his eyes remained fixed on the forest.

The scent of blood still lingered there in the air calling him. It was inviting him deeper and the first time since arriving in this world, Qhuin smiled.

A dangerous smile.

Perhaps this world would not be so boring after all.