I stirred the next day to banging on my door. Must've been the guy I convinced to let me stay for ten credits.

I immediately got out of bed, still wearing my trench coat.

"Hey! Open this door! Pay me the rest of my credits!" He yelled from the other side.

Shit... This wasn't a dream after all.

Not happening, nope. I kick the window out, stepping on the sill and jumping out. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt when I landed.

[Your boldness and quick thinking are impressive.]

[Choice Route: Brave acquired.]

I stared at the display. "Okay, what?" I asked, walking away from the inn. It was still cloudy out, but I could tell it wasn't going to last that way for long.

[Notice: You can use an umbrella to shield yourself from the sun.]

[As you grow stronger as a vampire, you'll eventually become immune to sunlight.]

"So my new name in this world is Star Black, huh?" I asked myself, heading into a shop. I needed to get myself at least somewhat fitted before I met this Jade person.

The shop was standard. It wasn't like any modern shops I've seen on earth, but it wasn't too bad. I began to scan for new trench coats, as that seemed to be the latest fashion sense.

"Oh..." I checked the price tag, rubbing the back of my head before taking the cost. 785 credits. Jeez.

I grabbed a hat as well, though it wouldn't conceal all of my hair; it'll at least do. I brushed my hair out of my face, walking to the sweater aisle.

After a moment of selection, I saw a navy blue turtleneck. "Where am I?" I asked myself, the price of the turtleneck being 400 credits.

I sighed, walking up to the store clerk. "Hey, I'd like to buy these."

The clerk looked at me with a look of confusion. "Sorry sir, but the store for the, ahem... poorer people is in the Lower City."

[Would you like to charm the individual?]

"C'mon, cut me some slack, please?"

The clerk's eyes glossed over. "Sure, sir. One credit."

"How about for free?" I asked, not trying to spend another cent. Wait, I forgot; there is no change in this world, at least in this region.

"Sure, sir." The clerk said, his voice still remaining monotone.

I looked behind him; a bin filled with umbrellas was right there. "An umbrella too?"

The man reached over, grabbing a black umbrella and handing it to me. The handle was curved. Perfect.

I grabbed the umbrella and left the shop, chuckling.

[Your greed is astonishing.]

[Potential Greed Route is attainable.]

"Hey! It's not greedy; I'm just trying to look nice for this Jade woman." I said, grabbing the interface.

"What even are you anyway?" I asked, walking into an alleyway. "Shit... Forgot to buy pants. These will do, I guess." I said, referring to the black pants I wore. The belt was in good condition at least.

I slipped out of my old clothes and put on the new ones. It fit quite nicely; I just had to adjust it a little. I put on my hat and left out of the alleyway, feeling like a million bucks.

"Hopefully they have places where I can shower..." I mumbled.

As I walked by a bar, I saw a person get thrown out of the bar, the door breaking as well.

"AND STAY OUT, YOU VERMIN!" A raspy voice yelled, a man with an apron on walking back into the bar.

I looked down at the individual, the display appearing in front of my eyes.

[The person in front of you is unreadable. Like you, he is not from this world.]

My eyes widened as I saw the words. As I processed this, it began to rain lightly, the sound of it pattering on my hat.

I looked at the person, my eyes widening even more.

"Wait... That uniform..." I watched the person stand up. The uniform was a little roughed up. It was a school uniform.

A white button-up with a black blazer over it and a yellow and green striped tie. He wore black slacks with it as well.

"You, kid!" I called out, the person immediately drawing a dagger on me. A dagger? Was that a dagger? That's a whole broken sword!

"That face... Those eyes... Kaido?!" I called out, Kaido lowering his weapon slightly

"How... How do you know my name?" He asked, his breathing heavy. Now that I thought about it... I could hear very well. Much better than I could on earth.

"It's me! Mark? The guy you always called Martini Man back at the gas station when you walked back from school." I said, his eyes widening at my response.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

[I cannot gauge anything about this person. You seem to know him, so I will leave it to you.]

The system displayed, disappearing once more.

"No way you're him! You look so... small, and your eyes are weird-looking!" Kaido looked me up and down.

I opened the black umbrella I had, raising my hand to shield him from the rain.

"I got shot and reincarnated into this body. Could this be considered reincarnation? I'm not sure..." I rubbed my chin.

"What... You're not really starting life anew from birth. Are you?" Kaido asked, me shaking my head in response.

[Your meeting with Jade is in twenty minutes. Her location is in the Upper City, specifically in the tower at its center.]

I looked at the display, then back at Kaido. "Come on, let's find you some clothes really quick." I head back to the same place where I had gotten my original clothes.

Luckily, the clerk was still hypnotized.

Jeez, how long does this last?

"Dude... What's going on? What happened to you?" Kaido asked as I pushed him into the clothing section.

"Just hurry! I don't have all day! We've got somewhere to be!" I said, Kaido nodding in response.

"Okay, okay." He searched around the clothing sections. Kaido was a nice kid. He was seventeen.

Pretty tall, standing at 6'4, short black hair, fair skin, brown eyes...

He wasn't anyone or anything special. Then how did he end up here? Why can't this system get a read on him? Maybe he has an ability too.

[Scanning what I can...]

[All I could gather is his name and his system of power.]

[His name is Kaido Tamaka. A native to Japan but had transferred to America.]

[His system of power is Magic. As opposed to you, whose system of power is Routes.]

"Wait... I went a Destined Route... How did I ever get a Choice Route earlier?"

[You are lucky. Not many people have two Routes, as the people that have two are less than 0.5%.]

[However, now that you have the Route of Choices, major choices will grant you an ability or two depending on that choice.]

"Huh... interesting." I said, watching Kaido come back with a black button-up. The top button was unbuttoned, and he wore black jeans.

He also had on some jewelry too. A few rings, a chain on his pants, and stylish shoes.

"You sure you've got the money for all this?" Kaido asked, a bit of sweat forming as he looked at the clerk.

"Oh! Yeah, don't worry; he said it's on the house. Come on!" I signal him to follow me. There was a bit of hesitation in his movement, but he eventually gave in.

"Do you know anything about this world, Mark?" He asked.

"Call me Star. That's the name of this body; I'll at least honor it by using the name." I said, having the umbrella over the both of us.

The rain seemed to pour down. "Oof..." I mumbled, Kaido grabbing the umbrella for me.

"Oh, thanks." I said, as we began to ascend a steep hill. I then noticed something. At the end of the steep hill, there was a drop.

There were large wires carrying cable cars up and down, likely separating the rich from the middle class and poor.

"Whoa," Kaido said, pointing down.

As I looked down, there were large concrete walls mixed in with bronze and steel encircling the place.

This entire area seemed to be a city in and of itself.

I've got to find more information.

As a cable car came down, Kaido and I stepped inside, watching the door close and take us up.

We took a seat across from each other. Looking at each other with an awkward look. "So, what are you exactly?"

Kaido asked me.

"Oh, I'm a vampire." I said, Kaido raising a brow.

"Aren't you supposed to be, like, disintegrating right now?" He asked, shaking my head in response.

"I'm assuming direct contact with the sun would, yes, but I don't think it'd go through clothing, nor shade." I said, the cable car reaching the top.

We stepped out, our eyes widening at the sheer opulence of the place.

Extravagant houses, fountains, things you'd normally see in reality TV shows.

"This is insane!" Kaido said, placing his hands on his head.

I looked up at him. "Let's go. Our destination is that tower." I said, pointing to a massive tower that loomed in the center of the city. It had a massive clock in its center, with stained glass surrounding it.

The stained glass has lines going through them, almost like a pie. Time was off; I couldn't make out that language, but they looked similar enough to Roman numerals. 14:32? They went by military time?

I began to walk forward, Kaido following closely behind.

As I got closer to the clock, I realized something: there were 18 numbers instead of the usual 12 like on Earth.

"Days here are longer." I said, Kaido catching on quickly.

"Yeah... Eighteen. Assuming that means in a day, then that means days here are thirty-six hours." He said, my eyes widening.

"I'm a vampire! This is horrible!" I whined.

"Calm down! You still have eighteen hours of darkness." He said, reaching the gate of the tower.

There were two guards, both fitted out with navy blue coats with gold buttons on them and hats bearing an unknown crest.

"State your purpose." The one on the right said, having his hand near the hilt of his sword.

"I'm here to see Jade Carmine. Hope that isn't an issue." I said, the guards looking at each other and then at Kaido.

"Is he with you?" The one on the left asked.

I nodded my head, tipping my hat. "Of course, my good sir!"

The two guards nodded. "Twelfth floor to the left, fourth door." The left one said as they both began to push open the giant brass doors.

As we walked in, the smell of colognes and perfumes hit us like a truck, though we weren't complaining.

We ascended up a spiraling staircase, counting the floors as they went by. I believed this type of architecture seemed a bit odd.

The stairs themselves were made of marble, with the railings and bars being made of gold and steel. Above, there was a massive chandelier hanging overhead where the peak of the tower was.

Once we reached the twelfth floor, we reached the fourth door.

Me and Kaido gave each other a look before nodding, with me reaching forward and knocking twice.

"Enter." A stern voice called out.

I entered first, with Kaido following behind me.

In front of us, behind a dark oak desk, sat a woman, her long green hair and same-colored eyes her most prominent features.

"Greetings, Star Black."