Chapter 3 - "Only Hurt a Little" [Rewrite]

- After School

Taufik hurried home; as soon as he was home, he made his way to his room after throwing his school bag to the floor. At this hour, his mother was still at work, in her boutique. She wouldn't be back until 8 or 9 p.m., leaving him alone in the house.

"System, I want to claim my reward"

Taufik said as soon as he sat on his bed, without even changing his clothes.

[Yes] The System replied.

After that, a glowing screen appeared in front of him, its blue soft light illuminating his face. What is written there is a question asking for confirmation.

Looking at that, Taufik wanted to press [Yes], but then, he hesitated, his fingers hovering above the [Yes] option.

"System, is this safe? I mean, will there be any side effects or... something?"

[There will be no side effects, Master]

The System answers calming Taufik's heart, although just a little.

[However, during the merging process, the Master will experience a little bit of pain as your race transforms from human to vampire, not just any vampire, but a progenitor vampire]

"Oh, so just a little pain?"

Taufik exhaled in relief, grinning, and then continued to say.

"... That's acceptable. Considering the power I'm about to gain, it's definitely worth it!"

With that, he lay down on his bed, gazing at the screen one last time before choosing to press the [Yes] option on the screen, before closing both of his eyes.

At first, nothing happened; he didn't feel anything weird or anything like Pain. With a sigh, Taufik opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, the corners of his mouth rose into an embarrassed smile, feeling foolish for bracing himself for nothing. But then...

'The little bit of pain' that the System said, hit him like a truck.

*ARGHHH!!*

Taufik cried out in pain, his voice Like a cow being slaughtered using a blunt machete. He frantically searched for something to put in his mouth but found nothing; he grabbed the edge of his blanket, stuffing it into his mouth to muffle the sound, afraid that one of his neighbors might be hearing his scream and then reported it to his Mother, that was the worst scenario that Taufik didn't want to happen the most.

Taufik's body writhed as the Pain he felt intensified.

Only a few seconds had passed, but he felt like it'd been forever, a long time where he felt that every bone in his body was breaking and reassembling again and again. His blood draining and replenishing in an endless, excruciating loop.

'THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL A LITTLE PAIN, SYSTEM?!!'

Taufik cursed inwardly but got no response from the system.

Every second that passed felt like hours as the torment continued. Taufik's strength waned, his vision blurred, and finally, after two hours of enduring the 'relentless' suffering, he gave in.

"FUUUUCK!!"

Taufik yelled before his vision went black. Taufik was unconscious because his brain could not take any more pain, like a computer that suddenly shut down due to overheating.

--------

Three Hours Later

"... Ughh"

Taufik groaned as he woke; his body fell a little bit aching, but strangely... Fresh, it's like being reborn. He sat up slowly to calm himself, running his hands over his hair. The first thing he noticed was his skin; it was paler than before; other than that, nothing significant changed happened to him, like growing some horns or anything like that.

Examining himself further, he realized his body had undergone subtle changes. His height had increased from 5'8 to 5'11, and his muscles were more defined.

He felt stronger, and he also could feel, a strange, unfamiliar energy within his body.

'... Was this... Magic? But how am I supposed to use it?'

Said Taufik inwardly; he could feel the magic in him but couldn't use it; it was like having a whole new limb but didn't know how to use it and what function it had; it was a weird feeling.

"... *Sigh* I'll ignore it for now and find out how to utilize it later... But, this is, my body feels so refreshed, I feel like I'm a completely new person, it's a nice feeling"

Taufik said, satisfied with the newfound power he just got. He then began to move from his bed but froze when his eyes landed on the clock on the wall. It was 8:23 p.m.

"... Oh, shit!"

Panic hit him, realized that his mother could return home at any moment. His gaze shifted to his bed, which was soaked with sweat.

"... Mom will definitely misunderstand if she sees this mess"

Taufik muttered, then Without wasting any more time, he stripped the bed cover and rushed to the bathroom, tossing it into the washing machine.

While waiting for the machine to finish, he decided to clean himself as well.

Once he felt refreshed, Taufik stepped out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around his lower body while using another to dry his upper body.

When the washing machine stopped, he transferred the bed cover to the dryer. The rest? He would leave it to his mother to handle. At least it would be easier to explain the situation this way.

Finally, Taufik came and stood in front of the mirror, naturally drawn to his reflection.

In the past, he had been handsome, but now, after merging with the Vampire Progenitor Bloodline, his looks had become extraordinary with his striking red eyes-

"... Wha... Wait! Wait! Wait... WAIT!! SYSTEM! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY EYES?! WHERE'S MY BEAUTIFUL BLUE EYES?!"

Taufik asked in a panic, seeing his previously beautiful blue eyes now were striking red eyes in color.

[Master's eyes have changed due to the influence of the vampire bloodline]

The System explained naturally like there was nothing wrong with that, and the wrong one was him, who asked something that obvious.

"... B-But, I thought there were no side effects!"

[...]

"..."

[There was no side effect, Master... This is the natural appearance of a Vampire race]

"..."

Taufik was silent; he certainly felt that something was wrong, but what the system said felt so right, so there was no room for him to raise an argument.

A moment later, Taufik groaned, leaning his head against the mirror then said.

"... How am I supposed to explain this to Mom? She quite loved my blue eyes... She absolutely will shocked and feel sad when she finds out about this"

Like his Mother, Taufik also has the same blue Eyes as his mother. She likes to stare at his blue eyes because it makes her feel like she is not the only one.

Blue eyes were a rarity if you lived in Asia, especially in Indonesia, where the majority have dark brown eyes, so Taufik himself also quite liked his eyes,

"... System, can I turn them back to blue?"

Taufik asked desperately.

[Yes]

"Really? H-How?"

Taufik asked excitedly, but his joy did not last long because of the next words from the System.

[Master can use magic to create an illusion over your eyes]

"But... I don't know how to use magic yet!"

[Master magic is based on Imagination, so with only a thought, the Master can Immediately use Magic]

"... Really?"

[Yes]

"Alright, let's try it..."

Taufik said and then closed his eyes, focusing on the Magic within him, but Just as he began to feel a strange warmth flowing inside his body, something happened.

*Click*

The sound of the front door opening snapped him out of his concentration.

"... Shit!"

Taufik bolted out of the bathroom with his head down and a towel over his head. But his mother was already in the living room, her eyes immediately locking onto him.

"... Huh? It's rare for you to shower this late"

She said, raising an eyebrow. Then, with a teasing smirk, she added.

"What have you doing in your room? Something naughty?"

"No!!"

Taufik replied while avoiding her gaze and hurried into his room, then locked the door behind him.

"Ahaha~"

Taufik could hear her laughter through the door for a while and then hear her shouting.

"Come out when you're done dressing. We're having fried chicken tonight"

"Yeah!"

He shouted back.

---

Back in his room, after Taufik was done dressing, he went back to his task, turning his eyes color back to Blue.

"... Huuft~"

After he had taken a deep breath, Taufik closed his eyes, repeating the process he had done earlier in the bathroom; after feeling the sensation he had felt earlier, Taufik began to imagine his eyes shifting from crimson to blue.

The warm sensation he felt flowed to his eyes, and when he felt something had changed, he opened his eyes and rushed to the mirror.

A grin spread across his face as he saw his familiar blue eyes staring back at him.

"Ahaha~ It worked! It actually worked! Thank you, System!"

Taufik laughed softly before saying thank you to the system; of course, he was getting no answers, but Taufik didn't care. Then, without wasting any more of his time, Taufik came out of his room to meet his Mother.

....

...

..

.