Blood Realms: Infinite Level
Episode 1 — The Alley in Manhattan
New York City — 2:17 a.m.
Rain.
Not the gentle kind that lulls you to sleep, but the hard, endless kind that makes the whole city feel drowned and restless. It hammered the rooftops, hissed against passing cars, and carved rivers into the cracked sidewalks.
The kind of night no one should be outside.
But I was.
Another double shift at the tech repair shop, twelve hours of bent neck and sore wrists. My hoodie clung to me, the soaked fabric cold against my skin. The streetlights flickered overhead, struggling to keep the darkness at bay.
I didn't even want to wait for the bus. All I wanted was the shortest path to my tiny apartment, a microwave meal, and eight hours of forgetting my life existed.
That's why I cut through Carter Alley — a narrow passage between two abandoned buildings, a shortcut that shaved ten minutes off the walk. Dangerous, maybe, but I'd done it before.
That night, it was a mistake.
⸻
Halfway through the alley, I heard footsteps.
Not the quick, splashing rush of someone late to the train. Not the uneven stagger of a drunk. These were slow, deliberate, and perfectly in sync with mine.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Someone was there.
A tall man — or something that wore the shape of one — stood under a busted streetlamp. His skin was pale, almost glowing in the rain. Silver eyes locked on mine, unblinking. His long black coat looked like it had been stolen from a funeral in another century.
He didn't move toward me at first. Just stood there, head tilted slightly, like a predator sizing up prey.
A faint smile spread across his face. It was wrong. Too wide. Too many teeth.
"Hungry," he said, voice low, the word curling into the rain.
⸻
My first thought: mugger. My second: lunatic. My third — the one I couldn't explain — was run.
"What do you want?" I asked, taking a step back.
He took one forward. "Only… a taste."
The world blurred.
One moment he was twenty feet away, the next his hand was on my throat, slamming me against the soaked brick wall hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. My feet kicked at the wet concrete, but his grip didn't loosen.
I saw the fangs too late.
Pain. White-hot, burning through my neck and flooding my body. I couldn't move. My muscles locked, my heartbeat thundered in my ears. My blood felt like it was being dragged out of me by force, like every drop was being stolen along with my strength.
He groaned, low and guttural. Then something changed in his voice. "What—? Your blood—"
And then something inside me broke free.
The agony shifted into something else — a rush, an electric pulse that lit up every nerve in my body. My vision burned red. My hearing exploded with sound: the rain slapping against rooftops, the faint buzz of a dying streetlamp, the man's heart beating too fast.
It wasn't fear anymore. It was hunger.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
Species: Mutant Vampire (Unique)
Level: 1
Ability Unlocked: World Vein Travel
The words didn't come from anywhere I could see. They just… appeared, burned into my mind like they'd always been there, waiting.
The man stumbled back, eyes wide. "No mortal—"
I didn't let him finish.
One second I was pressed against the wall, the next my hand was buried in his chest. I felt the ribs snap, the wet heat of his insides. My fingers closed around something solid and trembling — his heart.
"Hungry," I whispered, and the voice that came out wasn't mine.
I bit him.
His blood wasn't like mine. It was thicker, hotter, filled with something… alive. It burned down my throat and spread through my veins like liquid fire. My muscles tightened. My lungs expanded. Every ache, every weakness — gone.
[LEVEL UP: 1 → 2]
Stats Increased.
New Skill Unlocked: Blood Sense — Detect life within 30 meters.
The man shuddered, then went limp. His skin dried and cracked before my eyes, his body collapsing into gray ash that scattered into the puddles.
I stood there, breathing hard, rain washing the blood from my lips. My pulse was steady. My hands didn't shake. I should've been terrified.
I wasn't.
I felt stronger.
That's when the air in front of me… tore.
A thin black line split the night, widening into a jagged rip that bled red mist and lightning. Beyond it, I saw stars and shadows swirling, the shapes of places I didn't recognize.
[WORLD VEIN ACTIVE]
Select Destination: 4,281,023 Realms Detected
The words appeared in my mind again, and somehow, I understood them. Each "realm" was a world. Somewhere else. Somewhere beyond the one I'd always known.
I could stay. Pretend none of this happened. Go back to my apartment and try to live the life I'd just outgrown.
Or… I could step forward.
I looked down at my reflection in the rainwater pooling at my feet. My eyes glowed faintly crimson. My teeth were sharper. My skin paler.
The man who walked into this alley — the man who worked dead shifts, paid rent late, dreamed small — he was gone.
What stood here now wasn't human.
It was a predator.
And predators don't go home.
I stepped into the portal.