Second World Online

The sun had set completely by the time we passed through StoneBrook’s south gate. The orange light on the horizon faded to purple, then to pitch black, and I watched the numbers in Mira’s status window climb one by one like a thermometer reading. At nine o’clock game time, the Nocturnal Blood racial indicator finally lit up in full. All of the girl’s stats doubled once more.

"It feels like waking up from a long sleep," Mira murmured, rolling her shoulders. Her eyes glinted a faint red under the moonlight. "My body is light, but not the weak kind of light. The kind that’s ready to jump."

"That’s your race’s passive effect." I checked the pulleys and string of my [Titan’s Ironbark Compound Bow] for the third time before leaving the inn, the bad habit of an archer who didn’t trust the first shot. "And remember our rule. We hunt only until dawn starts to approach. This time I’m not carrying you across the grassland with my stamina nearly at zero."

Mira grimaced. "I don’t want to be carried again either."

"Liar."

"A little bit of a liar."

The most fundamental decision of the night had been made before we even left the room. I stored the Primitive Smoothbore Musket V2 in my inventory, and I wouldn’t use it except in an emergency. That weapon was indeed a masterpiece of server history, the first firearm that had ever existed in this world, but I had never truly liked it. Fifteen seconds to reload was an insult to someone who had spent years training his reflexes so the bowstring could be drawn again within seconds. In a night hunt that demanded a fast rhythm and continuous cover for a companion, a weapon that could only fire once every quarter minute was no more useful than a goalkeeper who had fallen asleep. My Compound Bow, by contrast, felt honest under my fingers. A seventy percent let-off eased the draw weight, the asymmetric cams cut the delay, and every skill I’d built since childhood could be used immediately, without translation.

We walked along the path toward the grassland to the south. Mira carried a small leather pouch at her waist, and from inside came the clinking of ceramic bottles knocking together. It was her own provision: four bottles of Smoked Meat Bone Broth she had cooked that afternoon, wrapped in thick cloth to stay warm. By Mira’s calculation, one bottle was enough to suppress her Bloodlust for two hours of hunting. I admitted the calculation made sense. A girl who had spent years managing meal portions in a big household turned out to have logistics instincts no worse than a warehouse manager’s.

I had chosen tonight’s hunting ground carefully. From mapping data and yesterday’s experience, the area about two kilometers south of the gate was the meeting point of three types of night monsters: Nightfang Wolves at levels 7 to 9, Duskhide Boars at levels 10 to 12, and occasionally a Hollow Hound at around level 13. The level gap was thin enough to keep the EXP portion large, yet far enough from the elite zone that would finish us both if we misstepped. I called it the green-yellow zone, and Mira called it "the place Syl says is safe, but my gut says isn’t."

Her gut was right, of course. There was no truly safe place in this world after the sun went down.

The hunt began with a pack of Nightfang Wolves emerging from the shadows of the sparse trees on the west side. Four of them, yellow-eyed, creeping low like yesterday. The difference was that this time Mira didn’t freeze. She drew a breath, spun the knife between her fingers, then stepped forward alone. I shifted behind a chest-high rock, nocked an arrow to the string, and let her work.

Her movements were far tidier than the night before. The first wolf leapt, Mira shifted her heel half a step, and her knife sliced the side of the monster’s neck in one short sweep. The second and third wolves attacked at once. Mira ducked, rolled sideways, then stabbed from beneath the jaw. The fourth wolf managed to bite her arm, but the leather armor I’d bought absorbed most of the fangs’ pressure. Before that jaw could close any deeper, my arrow had already pierced the monster’s temple with a dull thud. No reload pause. The string was back at my fingers.

Ting!

[System: Mirabelle defeated Nightfang Wolf Lv. 8. EXP +160]

Ting!

[System: Skill [Knife Mastery] has reached Lv. 5! You gained 1 SP.]

Wiping black fluid from her blade, Mira turned to me with a radiant face. "Syl, listen. It feels like my body has started learning on its own."

"That’s not a feeling," I answered. "That’s the effect of doubled DEX and AGI stats, plus the fifty percent skill EXP bonus from your real-world experience. Every attack you make puts more weight on Knife Mastery than it does for other players." I leaned against the rock and lowered my bow. "Thinking about it again, this system is actually very fair to those with real-world experience. It’s just that the fairness is never announced. The Developers hide their best mechanics in small notes nobody reads."

Mira nodded, tapping her chin. "So if I hadn’t touched a knife all this time, my bonus would have been wasted?"

"Your bonus is never wasted. It’s just too passive to call an advantage."

The next two hours ran like a freshly oiled machine. Mira moved from one monster group to another in a pattern that was beginning to become regular: draw attention, dodge, stab, then retreat to a safe position. I intervened only when something threatened her, such as two Duskhide Boars charging from different directions and nearly pinning Mira between the bushes. I activated Rapid Shot, and two arrows flew with a gap that was almost inaudible. The first pierced the skull of the boar on the left. The second lodged in the neck of the boar on the right, throwing off its stride, and Mira had time to leap away.

[System: You defeated Duskhide Boar Lv. 11. EXP +8 (Level Difference Penalty)]

Eight EXP. A number just as pitiful as yesterday’s. I had stopped complaining because it only worsened my mood. Tonight’s hunt wasn’t for me. I was the defensive player making sure Mira wasn’t surrounded, and she was the striker scoring goals. With Rapid Shot, my accuracy did drop, and arrow damage fell to seventy percent, but for clearing monsters below my level, that was a highly profitable trade. I didn’t need one perfect shot. I needed three good-enough shots in the time of one musket shot.

Gradually, the notification window in front of Mira turned into a rain of numbers.

Ting!

[System: Mirabelle has reached Level 8!]

Ting!

[System: Mirabelle has reached Level 9!]

Ting!

[System: Mirabelle has reached Level 10!]

At level ten, a different window appeared. Its color was golden instead of blue, and Mira stopped moving at once to read it.

[System: Congratulations! You have reached Level 10. Racial Feature unlocked: [Bloodline Skill Slot 1]]

[The Vampire race can now learn Racial Skills. Racial Skills do not use SP, but require a Trigger Condition determined by the race.]

[Trigger Condition: Absorb Blood Essence from a Monster of Equal or Higher Level (0/1).]

I straightened up. Mira looked at me with an expression that clearly said she had guessed what was on my mind.

"I have to drink blood," she whispered, her voice half hesitant and half wary. "Syl, that means..."

"It means one requirement, not an obligation." I raised a hand before she could panic. "The wording is clear: absorb blood essence from a monster. Not humans, not players. And ’equal or higher’ means your current level, ten, not some unreasonable target. We just need to find one suitable monster."

Mira swallowed. "And how do I... absorb it?"

"That’s the part that isn’t explained." I rubbed my chin. "The Developers like letting players discover their racial mechanics for themselves, and that’s clearly their trademark. We wait until there’s the right target, then you try. But I have to repeat one thing. If anything feels wrong, you stop. That’s an order."

"I understand," she answered, this time in a steadier voice.

The opportunity came sooner than expected.

Toward midnight, the grass on the west side rustled without wind. The temperature dropped a few degrees, and the howls that had been scattered earlier now stopped entirely. A silence like that never signaled good news. From behind a small hill emerged a monster waist-high to an adult, shaped like a gray-skinned dog, toothless, with hollow eyes glowing a pale blue.

[Hollow Hound Lv. 13]

"There it is," I said quietly, drawing the bowstring halfway as I positioned myself behind Mira’s shoulder. "Level thirteen. Higher than your level. It qualifies."

Mira drew a breath and stepped forward. The Hollow Hound roared, its howl sounding like two voices merged together, and leapt at her with terrifying speed. But Mira, whose AGI now rivaled that of a level twenty player at night, had already shifted two steps to the left before the first claw touched the ground. Her knife lashed across the monster’s foreleg and made it stagger. I loosed one arrow without Rapid Shot, without Focus, only to pin its hind leg so it couldn’t flee. One thrust from Mira into the nape of its neck, and the creature collapsed with a hoarse sound.

[System: Hollow Hound is in a Dying state. Racial Skill Trigger Condition available.]

[Choice: Absorb Blood Essence? (Y/N)]

Mira stood frozen, staring at the dog’s body with an expression I couldn’t fully read. I didn’t rush her. I just stood behind her, lowered my bow from its half-draw, and waited.

"Syl..."

"Yes?"

"If I... can’t do it, is that okay?"

"It’s okay," I answered without a pause. "No skill is more important than your comfort. We’ll find another way."

Mira closed her eyes for a moment. Then she pressed Y with her fingertip.

A faint red light flowed from the dying Hollow Hound’s body, rose slowly along Mira’s knife, crept up her hand, and vanished beneath her skin. No blood spilled. No gruesome scene. Just a smooth, concise system process, wrapped in visuals deliberately made to feel like a ritual. Mira gasped once, then opened her eyes with a clear look of relief.

Ting!

[System: Trigger Condition fulfilled. Racial Skill [Blood Sense] learned.]

[Effect: Detects blood sources and living creatures within a 30-meter radius, displaying their positions and estimated levels. MP Cost: 20 per activation.]

[Bloodlust decreased by 5%.]

"I got a radar," Mira said with a nervous giggle. "Not something scary."

"No." I let out a long breath without realizing it. "And very useful, even if the system packages it as if it were a dark transaction. With Blood Sense, you can detect hidden monsters and stealth opponents before attacking. With your stats, that’s a tactical advantage almost no level ten player has."

Mira looked at me, then smiled a little. "Syl, you’re enjoying this too much."

"I’m merely admiring a system design that makes sense," I replied flatly, but the corner of my mouth lifted slightly.

We continued the hunt at a calmer rhythm. Blood Sense changed everything. Each time Mira activated it, a thin red circle spread out from her feet and displayed small dots in the air, the positions of the monsters around us, complete with estimated levels. She began choosing targets, avoiding large groups, and prioritizing opponents that were most profitable in EXP. Her efficiency rose sharply, and I could move from rock to rock without having to stay glued to her side. With that red circle as a living map, I only needed to keep watch from fifteen meters away and use Stealth and Slow Walking to close the gaps whenever an enemy snuck in from behind. For the first time that night, I felt I no longer needed to watch her every movement.

One more thing happened toward two in the morning. Mira repeatedly dodged attacks from various directions, and a new notification appeared.

[System: Repeated activity detected. Basic skill available: [Evasion]]

[Learning Cost: 1 SP. Remaining SP: 21. Learn this skill?]

[System Note: Consistent evasive movement detected. No NPC instructor required.]

Mira turned to me at once, and I nodded. "Take it."

"One SP for..."

"Dodging. And with doubled AGI, the Evasion bonus will multiply. It’s the most sensible investment you can make before buying anything more expensive."

Ting!

[System: 1 SP deducted. Skill [Evasion Lv. 1] learned. Remaining SP: 20]

[Effect: Increases chance to dodge physical attacks by 3%.]

Mira looked at the number in the window with a satisfied face. Twenty SP, more than I’d ever had at the start of my journey. I recalculated in my head. At the same level, I’d had to fight for days to gather ten SP. Mira had reached twenty in just two nights, thanks to her race, her real-world experience bonus, and a body that never complained when asked to overwork. That comparison should have made me envious, but strangely, all I felt was a quiet pride.

Toward three o’clock, I began to notice something odd.

I was staring at the sky when Mira finished her second bottle, and my habit of checking the stars’ positions made me pause. The constellations were exactly the same as last night. The position of the moon, the angle of its light, even the pattern of thin clouds on the east side hadn’t changed at all apart from natural drift. Two nights in a row now, StoneBrook’s sky had been clear and cloudless.

That’s too consistent, I thought. Or rather, too clean.

In the real world, weather isn’t something that can be predicted this well. But Second World Online was clearly designed with a dynamic weather system. I myself had once experienced a thunderstorm during the expedition to Gale-Wind City. If the weather really did vary, then two clear nights in a row was an acceptable coincidence. But if the phrase starless night in that ancient manuscript referred to a specific weather condition, I couldn’t wait on luck.

"Syl?" Mira stood beside me, tilting her head. "You’ve been staring at the sky for a long time."

"I’m calculating." I lowered my gaze. "If a starless night means the sky is completely covered by clouds, I need to know how the system generates that condition. Is it random? Scheduled? Or triggered by something?"

"Should we ask the NPCs?"

"That’s the first step." I nodded. "Tomorrow morning, I’ll ask Madam Marta and a few merchants in the plaza. People who depend on the weather every day usually have their own forecasts. While waiting for the answer, we have no choice but to keep hunting."

Mira nodded and resumed her alert stance. But I noticed her wrists beginning to tremble faintly. Her bloodlust was rising.

[Racial Status: Bloodlust (Mild). Lust Level: 41%]

"Third bottle," I ordered.

She drank the warm broth without protest, and the number in her status window dropped again.

At half past four, I called a halt. The sky in the east was still perfectly black, but the small bell in my status window had already rung, a reminder I’d set myself to ensure we had a safe margin. Thirty minutes before the dawn transition. Enough to return to StoneBrook without having to run.

"That’s enough for tonight."

"But I can still..."

"You can, but your body will start weakening in half an hour, and that happens exactly when we’d be two kilometers from town." I looked straight at her. "We did the worst yesterday. Today we do the best."

Mira closed her mouth, then nodded and lowered her knife. On the way back, she opened her status window once more and read out the final results of tonight’s hunt in the tone of a student handing in exam results.

[Name: Mirabelle | Race: Vampire | Level: 14]

[Skills: Knife Mastery Lv. 7 | Cooking Lv. 6 | Evasion Lv. 1 | Blood Sense Lv. 1]

[Remaining SP: 20]

"Level fourteen in one night," I muttered. "If other players saw this number, they’d accuse us of using an exploit."

"It is an exploit, isn’t it?" Mira asked innocently.

"No. It’s your race, your experience, and your hard work. Nobody’s cheating as long as you play it properly."

We arrived at StoneBrook’s gate just as a thin pale-gray line began to appear on the eastern horizon. The "Silver Moon" inn was still dimly lit, and Madam Marta was already waiting at the reception desk with the same room key as yesterday, as if she could guess when we’d return. Upstairs, Mira lay down on the bed and vanished in a blue shimmer within minutes.

I sat alone on the edge of the still-warm bed, staring at the tightly closed purple curtain.

Two nights. Twelve game hours. A girl who yesterday still held a knife like a kitchen knife could now topple a Hollow Hound in a single exchange of attacks. I had manipulated this system plenty with calculations, markets, and exploits, but none of that felt as warm as watching someone I cared about grow this strong in so short a time.

But the puzzle was still waiting. A lake without ripples, a church that rejected monsters, and a sky that was too clear. Somewhere in the combination of those three things hid an answer I hadn’t yet found.