VRMMORPG: Rise Of The Blood Paragon

Lionel's eyes settled back on the people kneeling in front of him, and as he stared at the blood in the bowl, he felt an overwhelming urge to take it and gulp it down.

His hand moved on its own, reaching for the cup of the first maid in front of him. He picked it up from the maid and moved it closer to his mouth. His hands trembled as he tried to gain control of himself, but he felt himself weakening, and it seemed the only way to alleviate that feeling was by drinking the blood.

As he continued staring at the blood with his mind in shambles, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, causing his hand to drop the cup.

The blood spilled onto the floor, and the golden cup rolled away into another part of the room.

Lionel's ears felt as though they had been heightened as he tuned in to the sounds around him. He could suddenly hear the rustling of leaves outside, the wind howling, and the footsteps of people.

His gaze returned to the blood, and he jumped to his feet. His legs moved on their own, but suddenly, he sat back down, pressing a hand to his nose.

As Lionel's hand clasped his nose, a sense of relief washed over him.

'What the hell was that?!' he screamed in his mind, turning his eyes to another side of the room, completely away from the spilled blood.

"I need to log out. If my last gaming session was boring, I'm not sure what to say about this, which feels like I'm about to be sacrificed or put into a cult…" he muttered, contemplating the game panel.

A blue panel appeared before his eyes, displaying his name, race, and other details, but what bothered him most was his status, which was blurred. The part where "Player" had been previously written was obscured, replaced by a prominent number.

It looked like a countdown, and without giving it much thought, Lionel swiped to the side, revealing the log-out button, which was blinking red.

As Lionel pressed it, he instantly felt himself in a cramped position. The air he had felt on his body and the comfortable sensation of sitting down on a soft cushion vanished.

Heaving a heavy sigh of relief, Lionel finally returned. He got out of the gaming console, quickly shoving the gaming pod to the side.

Done, he left the VR room to his room and sat down on the bed and immediately, he took his phone. He pressed a few keys, dialed a contact and it started ringing.

"Yo, you remembered me today! Where have you been keeping your phone?" Alex's voice sounded across the line.

"I've been doing well until recently when I was almost used as a sacrifice… or perhaps I almost made one…" Lionel replied, his voice strained. Unsure of what he was saying, he shouted with a frustrated sigh, "I mean… I don't even know!"

His hands trembled on his lap as he bit his lower lip. Sweat streaked down his face, and then he suddenly started feeling a stiffness in his heart, as though he couldn't breathe well.

Lionel pressed his hand to his chest and dropped his phone on the bed.

"I'll be right back," he said, quickly rummaging through the drawer.

Soon, he brought out a blue bottle, different from the one he had used before entering the game, quickly gulping it down with his saliva since there was no water around.

When he was done, he sprinted to the bathroom and put his mouth to the washbasin tap.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked, concern now etched in his voice as he noticed his friend's odd behavior.

"Well, I just had a panic attack," Lionel said, before adding, "which is the least important thing right now."

Alex chuckled, his voice ringing over the phone. "What do you mean it's not important? A panic attack means you're closer to dying! So, what else happened that could be more important?"

"You killed someone?" he asked, with no seriousness in his tone.

"No," Lionel replied, a little surprised, and added, "I'm not sure why you'd think I could kill someone."

Waving his hand, his tone growing more serious, he said, "Believe me, those are not as serious as what I have now: killing someone or dying."

"Hmmm… What do you have?"

"So, you know the game you forced me to buy, which I told you I didn't like the first time I tried it?" Lionel asked.

"Yes—" Alex began, but Lionel cut him off immediately.

"I mean, I tried to play it again tonight because I was really annoyed, and something very strange happened."

He mumbled as he continued, his hand shaking. "I mean, I was the vampire prince for a while, and I was asked to drink blood. I felt my body convulsing as though I would surely die if I didn't drink the blood. At one point, I was about to do it, but then I logged out and found myself back home."

"Huh?" That was Alex's response when he first heard his friend's story.

Before adding, in confusion, "You can't play the game; it's under an update. Didn't you see the message I sent you?"

Becoming more serious, he asked, "Lionel, are you high?"

"Of course not. I mean, I did take a few pills because my dad annoyed me, but just for anger suppression."

"A few pills? How many exactly?" Alex pressed.

"Ermmm…" Lionel mumbled as he tried to recall before saying, "I mean, perhaps ten?"

Alex turned silent on the other end of the phone, and then suddenly, after a few seconds, he started laughing.

"Gosh! You almost had me for a second. Vampires and all, I thought you didn't do fantasy. You're just high and dreaming!"

"Look, forget about the high stuff. I was sure about it; I felt as though I would die if I didn't drink that blood."

"Okay, I'm not saying you didn't feel it. Everyone dreams, and dreams aren't real. What you mentioned can't happen. First, the game is undergoing an update, so you can't even play anything, and even if you did manage to log in, your account would be automatically deleted before you even get to play," Alex explained.

"Also, do you know the most ridiculous part of your words?" Alex questioned, and Lionel could only listen as he added, "It's the Vampire Prince. Yes, the game is fantasy, but most aspects of it are played in the human world since that's where the dungeons to loot are, and the portal connecting both worlds doesn't even allow for any travel back and forth."

"So, first, how did you get to the supernatural world? And worst of all, how did you become the vampire prince?"

As Lionel heard Alex's words, he suddenly started to believe him; perhaps what he had felt and seen in the game was all wrong. Perhaps he was truly high, and it was just him dreaming.

But questions still lingered in his mind.

'Why would I dream about fantasy of all things? Perhaps me handling guns and all that?'

"Well, fuck the drugs then!" Lionel said into the phone, his color finally returning to his face as he added, "Honestly, I believed all that was happening, and if not for you, I wouldn't know what to do."

"That's why I told you to take it easy on the drugs. Perhaps just two instead of ten. I wouldn't cry when you die if the drugs cause it; I told you several times," Alex said, his warning ringing in Lionel's ears.

"I better get going then. I should probably sleep it off or get more drugs and alcohol to wash it all away," Lionel said with a laugh.

"You…" Alex began, but then gave up.

He had just finished warning him about watching his alcohol and drug use, but Lionel just went ahead to suggest that.

Alex was one of Lionel's friends who had it all good in life. After graduating high school, he went straight to medical school, and the way he coped with all his stress and worries was by playing fantasy games because, to him, he could escape into the fantasy world for a while.

And that was what he was trying to do for Lionel, but Lionel didn't seem to appreciate it.

As the call ended, Lionel dropped his hand hanging by the bed and stared into the horizon. His back hit the bed, and he was left staring at the ceiling, unsure of what to do.

What he felt tonight shaped him somehow, but what bothered him most was the regret he was currently feeling.

'Why did I leave? How would the blood have tasted? Was there any good to happen in that world? Perhaps it could've been interesting.'

For once, he suddenly just wanted to try and immerse himself in the world, just as his friend had always told him.