Valentine’s day: the holiday for coupled people to rub their relationship in the faces of tragically single souls.

If Viona were any other woman, she’d probably lament the day. Never had there been a Valentine’s day where she was ever partnered with anyone in all twenty-five years of her life. If anything, she was more upset by the fact of not receiving free sweets on account of her singledom rather than the lack of a boyfriend. Alas, there was always one thing that made her forget all of that.

“One, two, three…!” Viona tapped her smartphone lying on the table, biting her lower-lip in anticipation as a colorful animation of shooting stars flew across the screen. “Rainbow…rainbow…rainbow...!” She murmured as she rubbed her hands together.

Five blue stars—trash.

Four gold stars—better trash.

One rainbow star—RAINBOW!?

Viona leaned in closely to the screen, unblinking and heart racing.

This was it! This had to be it!

The stars lined up in a straight line; one by one they spun, turning the screen a bright blue before revealing the form of a handsome animated man. She quite liked his emerald eyes, curly brown hair, and that oh-so-gentle smile.

But…

“Go away…” Viona vigorously tapped the screen, the animations ending just as quickly as they began while she kept count of how many draws passed. “Five, six, seven…”

A rainbow hue took the screen. Viona’s breath caught in the back of her throat; her heart drummed in her ears.

Soon enough, she heard it. Words spoken in the seductive, mellow voice she never tired of gracing her ears:

> “How you tempt me with those chocolate stained lips. Mmm~ Surely, you wouldn’t mind if I licked them clean?”

Viona pumped her fist. “YES! FINALLY!”

The beautifully drawn artwork of yet another handsome man flashed across the screen. He was perfect; from the jet-black hair rested upon his shoulders, to the sly gaze of his bright red eyes completed by that devilish smirk she loved so much.

“Vampire husbando, acquired! Welcome home, Vincent!”

And with eight-hundred draws left to spare! Lady luck was certainly in her corner!

“And now that I have the first one…” Viona whispered, tapping the button on screen for another multi-draw. “It’s time to work on getting all his dupes!”

The initial high of getting her first copy of Valentine’s Day Vincent had worn off. She couldn’t be bothered to sit through and watch the summoning animations the next go around, tapping away at the skip button the second it appeared every time she did a multi-draw. In less than five minutes, she’d acquired all the duplicates she needed, leveled him to cap and maxed out all his abilities.

Once that was done, she took a screenshot and opened up her private Discourse server for Celestial Impact.

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: [Attachment Sent] Another one for my collection!

> 》Down Bad For Adolphus: You are actually terrifying. The banner hasn’t even been up for ten minutes yet…

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: Don’t act so surprised. Where there is Vincent, there will be me. There shall be no Vincent I do not own. Such is the bare minimum of one who claims to be wholly devoted to the Vampire King.

> 》Down Bad For Adolphus: Typical unhinged Vincent fangirl behavior.

> 》This Game Hates Me: Vincent fans are a completely different breed of human...

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: What? I am perfectly normal and sane!

> 》Down Bad for Adolphus: Imagine lying.

> 》This Game Hates Me: Couldn’t be me.

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: Bullies… Anyway! Gotta get back to work!‌ ( ^_^)／

> 》Down Bad for Adolphus: Have a nice day! ( ^_^)／

> 》This Game Hates Me: Byyyeee ( ^_^)／

Viona chuckled, getting ready to put her phone away only to be stopped when she noticed a text message flash across the top of her screen from an unregistered number.

“Hm?” Viona raised an eyebrow, pulling up the message.

> 》Unknown Number: Ugly girls like you deserve to be alone on Valentine’s day. Do everyone a favor and just kill yourself.

Viona stared blankly at the message for a few seconds before a smile slowly crept up on her lips followed by her bursting out into laughter.

“Ha!‌ Looks like a new episode just dropped!” She giggled, taking a screenshot of the message to share with her friends later before putting her phone away in her cardigan’s pocket and getting back to work.

“All right. What to do, what to do…”

She stood up from the table in the corner of the cafe, taking a look around.

The whole place was empty.

Her only company were the books lining the shelves and the empty chairs accompanying the various tables throughout the establishment.

She looked out the window, taking in the sunless sky.

Nothing but the stars, the moon, and a few streetlamps to illuminate the darkness.

If not for the occasional car driving down the street and the occasional pedestrian strolling along the sidewalk, the entire situation would have been unnerving to say the least.

Viona was used to it by now—working the night shift. No one wanted to do it despite it paying the most money. And money was exactly what she needed to supplement her hobbies and living expenses. Besides, who would be coming to a book cafe after eight o’clock at night? Few people to none at all. Easiest job ever.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 9 PM; just an hour left before closing. She’d already made sure the books were organized on the shelves, so there was really nothing left to do but to make sure the place was squeaky clean before she set foot out of there.

And that was exactly what she did; from the tables to the floor to the trash and everything in-between, nothing escaped her scrutinizing eyes. Once satisfied, she locked up the doors, turned the lights off, slung her messenger-bag over her shoulder, and left from the back.

Crisp air wisped against her cheeks as she walked down the sidewalk, phone in hand and eyes glued to the screen. One would probably think her an easy target up at first glance, until noticing how she seemed to survey her surroundings every minute before going back to her phone. Home was a fifteen minute walk away from her job. It didn’t matter how good the neighborhood was, anything could happen—especially at night.

Viona opened the Discourse app on her phone, going to her direct messages and sending over the screenshot she’d taken earlier.

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: [Attachment Sent] Yo, check out the new episode.

> 》Cherry Elf: Here this guy goes again LOL.

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: I know, right? You’d think he’d get tired of doing this after like 5 years, BUT NOPE.

> 》Cherry Elf: Living in that boy’s head rent free.

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: He just keeps going despite never getting a reply. He’s completely unhinged. And I’m not gonna lie, I find it pretty funny.

> 》Cherry Elf: Deserved. Especially after what he did to you.

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: Deserved indeed. Anyway, do you wanna do our weeklies together when I get home?

> 》Cherry Elf: Sure. How long until you get there?

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: About 10 minutes, maybe less.

> 》Cherry Elf: Kay! Just send me an invite when you get there!‌ (≧ω≦)ゞ

> 》Leader of Cult Vincent: (≧ω≦)ゞ

Viona’s lips curled into a soft smile as she closed out the chat. Her gaze wandered from the screen to the black canvas above her, admiring the array twinkling lights scattered throughout. The stars were always so pretty; it was a shame how difficult it was to see them clearly due to all the light pollution. Most nights, she couldn’t see the stars at all, so it was a welcome view.

A streak of brilliant white skirted across the sky. Her lashes fluttered in shock for a moment. Was that what she thought it was?

“A shooting star?” She whispered.

She’d never seen a shooting star in her entire life. This almost felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity given her luck. Actually… weren’t people supposed to make wishes on shooting stars? Crap! She had to be quick!

“Uhmm! I want…”

Wait! No! That wasn’t how it was supposed to go!‌ What was the old nursery rhyme again? Oh! Wasn’t she supposed to close her eyes too? Oh! And she couldn’t say what her wish was out loud otherwise it wouldn’t come true! There was also something about the direction of the shooting star and… ugh! Whatever! She was running out of time!‌

She closed her eyes and exhaled, squeezing her phone and holding it to her chest.

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What she wanted more than anything else was...

“Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

...to have a fulfilling life.