Cough! Cough!
Kai quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth.
But he couldn't stop the stream of bright red liquid spilling from his mouth onto the black-and-white keys of the grand piano - the very object Ethan considered the most valuable in this room - the VIP dressing room for female students in the Grand Theater of Harmony High.
"Damn it! You've dirtied my piano."
Ruby snarled as she watched her "Poodle" cling to the precious piano, vomiting uncontrollably.
"Get the hell home, Poodle! That's an order!!!"
Ruby sprang up from the armrest of the chair she had been sitting on, then strode toward Kai and shouted confidently.
It was pitiful that she showed not even the slightest bit of sympathy for the boy who, just minutes ago, had confessed his feelings to her and was now writhing in agony.
With both hands braced against the floor, Kai was almost lying face-down in the sticky, foul-smelling pool of blood he had just vomited.
His entire body trembled violently. It was as if more than one parasitic creature was moving inside his small, almost feminine frame.
Wherever those creatures moved within his joints, the bones in that area stretched, producing eerie cracking sounds that made him groan in unbearable pain.
"Get out of here NOW!!!"
Ruby shouted again.
But she had already lost her usual cold composure.
And she couldn't hide the near panic in her expression - as she watched her "pet," now grown large and strong enough, casually swing an arm and send the grand piano in the middle of the room…
… flying straight toward the door, its legs snapping apart as it crashed down, completely blocking the only exit for everyone in the room.
Sensing the escalating danger, the twin sisters Anya and Yara abandoned Autumn on the sofa and immediately hid behind the armchair where Ethan had been sitting earlier.
As for Ethan, even though his ears throbbed from the force of Ruby's shout, he endured it.
Without wasting another second, he picked Autumn up and ran toward where Anya and Yara were hiding. Cowardly as they might be, they were still Vampires. He could only hope that the twins would show their combat abilities when the moment came.
"Ruby! Am I… tall enough for you now? Will you drink my blood?"
Kai grinned and cheered like a child after completing his transformation.
Earlier, Ethan had felt an inexplicable sense of unease about the "killing intent" emanating from Ruby's Poodle boy. Now he finally understood the reason behind it.
So there was no longer any doubt…
…Kai was one hundred percent an Infected!
But Ethan was also quite surprised - Kai seemed far more conscious than the Infected he had encountered at his old boarding house at the end of last month.
The owner of the seven-story mini apartment at No. 7, Sunflower Street had not retained any clarity after turning into an Infected.
All he had done was growl like a wild beast and chase after Ethan, trying to tear him apart.
Fortunately, Autumn had arrived in time back then - saving Ethan, and also saving the landlord from the fate of becoming a Feral Vampire.
But now… who would save him? And who would save Kai?
Ethan glanced at the wall clock above the entrance. He hoped that Autumn's brothers - Vampires with real combat experience - would arrive before the worst could happen.
As if the waiting wasn't already unbearable, a deep frustration began to build within him.
When an Infected and Vampires were in the same space like this, he could only track the Vampires - their danger completely overshadowed that of the Infected.
If only…
If only someone could help him develop the ability to detect beings that looked human - but weren't.
"Ruby?"
Kai called out to her.
Receiving no answer, he dragged himself step by step toward her. It clearly wasn't easy for him to control his new body.
"No! You look disgusting. Just look at yourself. There's a mirror right there."
Ruby shook her head.
Her beautiful face showed both contempt and revulsion toward Kai's newly transformed form.
At her harsh words, Kai's long-lashed eyes shifted toward the large mirror at the end of the room.
"I… look fine, don't I?"
Kai asked a question that was difficult to answer.
How should one even put it?
Kai didn't smell pleasant, that was for sure - but he also didn't carry the rotten, nauseating stench of a pile of dead fish like other Infected.
And compared to other Infected, he actually did look relatively normal.
For example, Ethan's landlord. The man, who originally had a small and frail build, suddenly developed an enlarged, muscular upper body after becoming an Infected - completely disproportionate to his shriveled legs. On top of that, his saliva-dripping mouth stretched wide to his ears, revealing layers upon layers of sharp teeth crammed together.
Another example was the Chihuahua named Kitty, owned by the landlord and his wife. In its Infected form, it had a body as large as a bulldog, with a disproportionately oversized head. Most horrifying of all, its mouth grew a massive tongue covered entirely in eyes. But then again, comparing a human to a dog was hardly fair.
Meanwhile, Kai - the boy who had once cared so much about his appearance - at least still retained a form that somewhat resembled a human.
Of course, normal human skin wasn't flushed red with bulging veins like that. And no one grew more than a dozen horns of varying sizes on their head like he did.
What else was wrong with this Infected?
Kai's school trousers had shrunk up to his knees, with several seams torn apart as his body had suddenly grown.
And there was no need to describe his white school shirt, now soaked in blood - because he wasn't even wearing it anymore. It had been completely shredded by his expanded, well-defined body, revealing a set of sixteen-pack abs.
Yes.
Sixteen abs - twice the number of those guys who spent their entire lives training intensely at the gym.
And yet Kai had gained that physique, along with the height of a basketball player like Yao Ming, in just a few minutes of agony.
But was that kind of trade-off really worth it?
"Don't come any closer! You monster!"
Kai froze stiff - his nearly 2.3-meter-tall body (not even counting the horns) - when Ruby drove him away.
And then suddenly…
A rich fragrance filled the air - something like the scent of roses mixed with the sweetness of chocolate, with a hint of intoxicating wine - creating a dizzying sensation for anyone who breathed it in.
Like Kai, both the Vampires and the humans hiding behind the armchair gasped in amazement at Ruby's appearance.
Her reddish-brown hair began to grow longer, gradually shifting into a radiant orange-gold. It shimmered with a mesmerizing glow. And even though the room was sealed - no fan, no air circulation - her hair, now reaching her heels, flowed gently as if drifting clouds in the wind.
Ruby's figure also began to change. Already tall, she grew even taller. The curves of her body became fuller and more alluring. Perhaps all she lacked was a seashell beneath her feet to rival the Goddess Venus in the painting by the Italian master Sandro Botticelli.
And yet…
This was the very Vampire who kept insisting that she didn't need love. Ironically, her Awakened form looked exactly like humanity's image of the Goddess of Love.
Wasn't that utterly absurd?