The Vampire Queen's System

The System

[You have died.]

“What?”

Elizabeth found herself floating in a deep black space. There is nothing around her. Not a single form of light to illumine her surroundings. That is, except for the dialogue box that ominously floats in front of her. With the words that the teen processed for a couple of seconds.

“I died?”

[Do you want me to answer your question?]

“I mean, if it’s possible...yes please?”

[Understood master. I will now answer all your inquiries.]

[…]

[You fell from the top of your school’s gymnasium by accident.]

As these words appeared in front of Eli, she recalled the events in her head. The bucket of water balloons. Tiffany and the jocks. The daredevil act she performed and...the unfortunate event which the dialogue box confirmed to her.

She remembered the last moments of her life. A big blur mixed with the blinding spotlight hitting her. The feeling of gravity pulling her down. The wind that felt cold and indifferent to her body. The screams she heard and, the sudden darkness that came after.

“So I’m dead now...” Elizabeth’s voice trailed off.

[Yes. That is correct master.]

Eli tried to feel her body. She tried moving her hands and her legs but nothing is responding to her will. This scared her but, Eli also thought that this is to be expected. After all, she is already dead and, as far as she knows, there isn’t supposed to be anything felt by a dead person.

The only thing she has command over are her voice, her sight, and her thoughts. The former two weirded her out because, she didn’t feel like she still has lips and eyes. She can’t feel the movement of her lips and her tongue whenever she speaks and, she couldn’t even blink with her eyes. That is why her sight and voice are oddities. Questionable. Just like everything else that was happening at that moment. And because there are a lot of questions on her head, she decided to ask the dialogue box about the specifics. But even before she could get to the details, a new text appeared in front of her.

[Although you have died, things aren’t finished with you just yet.]

“Not finished? What do you mean?”

[Your action has gained you a chance at reincarnation.]

“Reincarnation?” The words failed to make sense to Eli right away. In fact, nothing made sense at that moment.

As far as she can tell, there isn’t supposed to be an interactive dialogue box when you die. That’s not what has been taught to her and, Eli is sure that no belief system has a weird concept of death such as this. That’s why she tried to grasp as much as she could.

“Wait, can I ask some other questions before that?”

[Of course master.]

“First of all, why am I here?”

[You died master.]

“No not that.” Eli commented. “I want to know what forces are responsible for this reincarnation.”

[Analyzing the question, please wait...]

There were a few seconds of this dialogue text appearing in front of Elizabeth.

[Your death has been meddled with by a witch. Her name and appearance have not been registered but, she casted a spell over your corpse, allowing you to reach this place.]

Elizabeth thought about this for a second. She knows a limited number of people but, the neighborhood she lives in is relatively small. That’s why it’s easy for her to make assumptions and, direct her thoughts and guesses to specific circumstances. The very thing that Eli did at that moment as she asked:

“This witch...was she also at the prom?”

[Yes. She was within close proximity when you died. Allowing the spell to be casted and, for the effects to be as potent as this.]

Eli didn’t need to think about this information too much. She knows that it is Jenny who did this on her corpse. There isn’t any proof of this of course but, this is the only “witch” she knows of and, is the only “witch” close enough to her body right after the fall.

[The process of reincarnating you didn’t come without a price master. The witch needed to use the lives of some students in the prom to make this possible.]

“She killed them?” Eli exclaimed; thinking of all the innocent who were also present at the prom.

[You don’t need to worry master. I can sense the traces of magic she used. The souls she took were undeniably rotten.]

“Oh...okay.” Eli disapproved of what happened to the other students but, there was nothing she could do about it anymore. The deed is already done and, she is already in the middle of the process of “reincarnation” which Jenny prepared for her.

She thus decided to focus on other things. Namely, on the nature dialogue box which still weirded her out.

“Okay time for the next question.” Eli said. “What are you?”

[I am a system, master. I exist to serve you and to help you in the process of leveling up and getting stronger.]

“Leveling up…” Eli sighed. “This is like a game, isn’t it?”

[That is correct master. A system, such as I, work in a similar way as a game’s interface. The specifics of which will be shaped by the world you will enter in. With the only constant variable being the interface that I have.]

“That would be what exactly?”

[The one I mentioned master. My inherent purpose is to aid you in leveling up.]

Eli chuckled after reading this. It’s the first time she heard of something as ridiculous as a systematized way of reincarnating. Something which the nuns at the orphanage wouldn’t believe. Nor does Elizabeth think that anyone, for that matter, would believe it if she told them about it.

“You really enjoyed doing this didn’t you?” Eli said, referring to Jenny in mild amusement.

There is a bond connecting Eli to Jenifer. Even though they don’t interact directly, they feel a kind of sentiment toward one another. One formed by the fact that, the two of them have been bullied all their lives. That’s why Eli laughed at that moment.

She is being aided by someone that wasn’t even her friend. She is being helped by a person who isn’t even related to her by blood.

[Do you have other questions?]

“Yes.” The words on the dialogue box snapped Eli out of her train of thoughts. “What world would I be transported to exactly?”

[I cannot answer that part master. The reincarnation will be done in random.]

[There are different gateways for you to pass through and, only the worlds which use these methods are available. However, the specifics are too broad for me to give you the details.]

“That’s a bummer.” Was all that Eli could say.

[You don’t need to worry about it too much. You are assured of a good host upon reincarnation.]

“Uhm...okay?” Eli said in reply, not sure what this means for her exactly.

[Depending on the world you transport in, you will be given a set of skills which you can utilize for survival. The system will also update based on these conditions.]

There was a lot of information that the dialogue box was showing all at once. But this didn’t pose a problem to Eli. She is the top student of her school after all. With her grades even being enough to rival students from cities and better schools.

But since all of this is new to her, questions still flooded in her head. That’s why she decided to continue asking until all her questions have been answered. However, she wasn’t given this opportunity.

[You will now be transported to the new world.]

“Wait! I Still have questions!”

[I’m afraid that’s not possible anymore.]

A brilliant flash of light caught Eli. All the darkness was dispelled and, the girl found herself suddenly regaining all her other senses. The warmth of her flesh. The beating of her heart. The movement of her finger…these are the last things she remembered before the event that followed.