Wha… what is happening?
Rain tried to speak, tried to scream, but no words left his mouth. He tried to move… but his body refused him. Is… is this my death? The thought slipped out in a distant, weak tone.
"Shhhh…" the figure whispered. After sucking at his neck, she shoved him fully onto the wet, dirt-covered ground.
He wanted to beg for his life, to say anything—I have a family, I have so much to live for… But he knew it wouldn't matter. This woman wasn't normal. She was a vampire. A predator filled with hunger. And truthfully… he didn't even have a family to beg for, nor much else to live for.
Her hand lifted, gripping his face and forcing his head up, and then she kissed him. Rain mumbled weakly, confused, but she pulled back, speaking in a calm, mellow tone. "Food doesn't talk. Just shut up and accept death." Then she kissed him again.
It wasn't romantic. Not even lustful. Her teeth bit into his bottom lip, drawing blood. A large pool filled his mouth, and he swallowed by accident. The taste was awful—metallic, bitter. Rain had tasted his own blood before, but this… this tasted different. Was it hers too? She must've bitten her own tongue by accident.
Truthfully, he didn't care.
Time stretched as she continued to drain him, moving from his neck to his lips, tearing his shirt open and feeding wherever his skin bled. Minutes passed—five, maybe more—but to Rain, it felt like hours. His body grew weaker, brittle. He couldn't even turn his neck, but he could tell his skin no longer held its normal color. Pale… maybe even gray.
Eventually, she stopped. Was she satisfied, or just bored? She walked away without another word. Rain lay there, drained, on the dirt-filled dungeon floor. And then… he died.
⸻
Two days ago…
Alex sighed. "Okay… fine. What about this girl?" He paused, then smiled. "She's hot. And look—she's a level 2 ranker."
Rain grabbed Alex's phone and let out a sigh. "Dude…"
"You don't think she's hot?" Alex asked, his voice quiet but carrying around the coffee shop.
"Shh… bro, shut up," Rain muttered, glancing at the stares from other patrons. They decided to leave.
Walking through the streets of Thyrris, Alex asked again, "But seriously… who do you think you'll pick for the dungeon raid?"
Rain looked at the ground nervously. "Hmm…" he paused, then added, "Ugh, why don't you just go with me? Won't that be epic?"
"Epic?" Alex laughed. "You know me—a level 3 ranker shouldn't publicly go into a level 1 dungeon."
Rain exhaled. "Bro… why? What kind of friend are you, man?" He tried to act sad, to guilt Alex, but his friend saw through it instantly. "Stop trying to manipulate me," Alex said.
Rain laughed. "Fine. But if I get hurt in tomorrow's dungeon raid, you gotta compensate me."
Alex agreed immediately. Night fell, and they exchanged their final words before parting.
"See you, man."
"See you, bro."
Alex walked away, then turned back. "Oh yeah… download that app I used back at the coffee shop to pick someone for the raid. Makes life a lot easier."
Rain gave a thumbs up and continued home. Once inside, he greeted his dog, Shadow, then collapsed onto his bed.
Rain's thoughts began to spiral, anxiety creeping in as he stared at the ceiling. What will I do tomorrow? The dungeon raid loomed in his mind, followed quickly by another problem. How am I supposed to find someone to go with me this fast?
Then he remembered the app Alex had shown him earlier.
Dungeon Meet.
It was an app made specifically for finding partners for dungeon raids. Rain grabbed his phone, downloaded it, and quickly started setting up an account. But as soon as the questions started popping up, he found himself hesitating.
How old are you?
What's your gender?
What is your skill?
What is your race?
The questions just kept coming, one after another, until it felt like the app was interrogating him. Some of them were easy enough, but others made him pause.
How skilled are you? /10
What rank are you?
Truthfully, Rain knew the answer. He was extremely below average. Maybe… a two out of ten, if he was being generous. He had only awakened a few days ago, so of course he was still rank one—like everyone else at the start. The difference was that Rain had never trained before awakening.
Most people did. Humans, elves—almost every race trained long before they ever awakened, so when their powers surfaced, their growth was much faster. Rain didn't have that foundation. He was behind, and he knew it.
By the time he finished filling everything out, nearly an hour had passed. Rain stared at his completed profile, exhaled slowly, and hoped it would be enough.
Now Rain began to explore the app.
There were only a few things you could do on it, and thankfully, it was simple. Weirdly enough, it reminded him of a dating app—though Rain had never used one before.
Each time the screen refreshed, a new person appeared. Male or female. Sometimes with a single photo, sometimes several if they bothered uploading more. Tapping on their profile revealed basic information: age, gender, skills, preferred weapon. But above all else, there was one thing that mattered more than anything.
Their rank.
The thing that divided everyone in the world.
Rain scrolled through profile after profile. Men and women alike. None of them really wowed him, but he still found himself swiping right on a few. That's when he realized why apps like this were so popular. Swiping right when you liked someone's skills—or their rank—and left when you didn't was strangely satisfying.
Two full hours passed.
Then he finally got a match.
It was a girl he'd almost forced himself to swipe right on.
Was it her face? Definitely. He wasn't going to lie to himself about that.
Somewhere along the way, he'd forgotten this wasn't a dating app. That illusion broke every time another guy popped up on his screen, which eventually pushed him into the settings. He changed it without hesitation.
Only females.
Call it desperate if you want. But the girls on this app were nothing like anyone Rain had seen before—and there was a reason for that.
Their rank.
Everyone knew that the higher your rank, the more refined your body became. Rank 7s, 6s… even rank 5s were noticeably more attractive than normal people. Strength shaped everything.
That's what made this strange.
The girl he matched with was only rank 2.
Yet she looked better than most of the rank 5s he'd seen.
Was that why he swiped right?
Rain barely had time to think before a message appeared.
Roxy: hello
He opened the chat and stared at the screen longer than he should have, overthinking every possible response. In the end, he settled on the simplest one.
Rain: hello
She didn't respond right away.
Ten minutes passed. Long enough for his thoughts to spiral. Should I just swipe right on everyone? What if she changes her mind?
Then his phone buzzed again.
Roxy: I saw on your profile you're doing a rank 1 dungeon raid tomorrow. Can I join?
Rain's face lit up. Excitement surged—along with nerves. His fingers hovered over the screen as his mind raced.
What should I say? What if I mess this up?
Even texting felt intimidating. He wasn't used to this.
Rain: Tomorrow at 11 a.m. Want to then?
The reply came almost instantly.
Roxy: Yes.
"Thank God," Rain muttered aloud.
He set his phone down and lay back, staring at the ceiling.
Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.