Damien lay naked in the warm water, allowing it to clean his every nook and cranny. He really couldn’t believe this was now his body. His previous body was sickly and thin, almost like a twig. Nothing compared to this body that seemed to be crafted by the gods themselves.


    He pondered if he was dissatisfied with his situation. He had spent the last five years in this world via a VR headset, and he would often dream of exploring these lands for real instead of through an avatar. He didn’t have a good relationship with his family, and he certainly didn’t miss the hospital or Hastings who had turned from friend into a killer.


    Though he would have an easier time if he transmigrated into any other character. This villain’s backstory was way too dangerous, after all. As a Vampire, his body wasn’t going to fail him. It was the very world itself that wanted him dead.


    Such is the fate of a mid-game villain put into the game as a stepping stone for the good guys to defeat.


    He let out a tired sigh while playing with the pocket watch in his gloved hand. He decided he would never take the gloves off, even in the bath.


    Right, let’s go over the few positives. I am in a game world with magic and other wonders that never existed back on Earth, and if I survive these few years, I will get to experience it all. Vampires are immortal, after all…


    Also, Damien’s talent for Psychic magic is the highest in the game. The NPCs inside the game have no idea about [Traits] as they are hard-coded into their DNA by the developers to create their personalities. In the game, traits are designed to force characters to pursue specific paths in life. For example, Damien’s destined to be a pitiful villain. However, all hope isn’t lost. This character has traits that help him wield Psychic magic—traits that the native Damien never knew. The other vampires just assumed he was a useless waste of space since he refused to increase his Blood magic affinity. A school of magic he is not well suited for. Thankfully, I played the game and read the wiki. Damien isn’t talentless, he just applied himself to the wrong things.


    Snapping open the pocket watch, Damien glanced at his status page again.


    [Damien Nightshade]


    [Noble Vampire]


    Schools Of Magic:


    [Psychic Magic (D)]


    Psychokinesis [D]


    Pyrokinesis [E]


    [Blood Magic (F)]


    =Null Spells=


    Mana Control [F]


    Traits:


    [Germaphobe] Unable to learn melee skills / 100% Increased control over ranged spells.


    [Control Freak] Increased affinity to control skills by 10%


    [Lazy] Increased mana regeneration while resting by 20% / Increased exp to learn new spells by 10%


    [Concentration] Increased affinity with mental spells by 5%


    [Noble Aura] Intimidation increased.


    His [Lazy] trait made learning new spells take a long time, and his Mana Control being F-rank caused everyone to assume Damien was a useless mage.


    Another point of interest for him was the fact that the [Traits] actually affected him more than he expected. When this was a simple game, and he played a character through a VR headset, the programming in the game wasn’t that advanced. So, for example, there was no way to simulate germaphobia through a VR headset.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    But now? Damien could feel that dirt and germs were constantly crawling across his skin and trying to slip into his pores. It was a truly disturbing experience.


    He also noticed his other trait [Lazy] was causing him problems. Right now, he felt fine relaxing in a bath, but the idea of getting out of the bath seemed to go against his very soul.


    Maybe these traits are going to be harder to overcome than I first thought.


    Looking back at his status, he notices the all-too-familiar E-rank Pyrokinesis.


    Call him childish, but the idea of willing fire into existence was something many aspiring pyromaniacs could only dream of.


    Making sure his palm was just above the water’s surface, Damien willed his mana to create a small flame. After a bit of concentration as his Mana Control was F-rank, a small orange flame appeared, less intense than a simple candle. Extreme pain shot down Damien’s arm and almost made him scream in agony.


    Damien quickly plunged his hand into the warm water and canceled out the spell.


    In between labored breaths, he muttered, “Out of all the offensive spells, you choose to learn fire? As a vampire? Are you stupid? You may be resistant to the sun but fire?!” Damien cursed while gnashing his teeth.


    In the game, Damien could not use his Pyrokinesis except as a last resort since his own magic harmed him. But it is different experiencing the pain in real life, rather than just losing a few HP points when this was a simple game.


    “So pyrokinesis is off the table. That only leaves psychokinesis and Blood magic,” Damien said rubbing his burned hand.


    Unlike minor cuts that healed instantly, the damage inflicted by fire took far longer for a vampire to heal. Sealing a wound was simple, but completely regrowing the burned flesh required more vitality to be wasted.


    Blood magic is far stronger than any other school of magic. The only problem is its fuel source is the caster’s vitality rather than mana. As a result, I can literally die from blood loss incurred through my own spell usage, Damien mused while watching his flesh regrow.


    After using Blood magic to heal his right hand, he felt hungry for blood again. So, blood is the fuel source for my magic. That’s good to know. He also noticed that his white glove had a hole that exposed his freshly healed palm.


    Seeing that the fire ruined his glove, he removed both gloves with psychokinesis and floated them across onto the table in the room.


    I could get used to this, it’s so convenient and easy to do.


    Due to inheriting Damien’s memories and the vampire’s natural ability to use magic, he found magic easier to use than he thought. Like riding a bike for the first time in a while.


    “Wait, can psychokinesis be used in combat? Can I throw a rock at someone and kill them?” Damien pondered.


    In the game, psychokinesis was listed as a simple lifestyle spell and therefore couldn’t be used to inflict damage. Instead, players mainly used it to move items around and pick up loot in dungeons. Maybe the game designers thought psychokinesis would be too overpowered as an attack spell? It is rather versatile as a null element spell.


    “Master?” A distant voice called, but he ignored it.


    Certain schools of magic were perfect counters to others. For example, if you studied the school of Water, you would lose to a student of similar strength from the school of Earth.


    “But Psychic magic should be equally good against all schools,” Damien said while stroking his chin.


    “Master, I have your clothes.”


    The school of Psychic is often laughed at, as Psychic spells are very mana intensive and not flashy at all. In addition, Psychic magic requires immense concentration, which is the school’s biggest downside.


    “Master, are you ignoring me again? Hello?”


    Try to maintain a calm mind while a giant ogre is running at you; it’s not reasonable for most people. Perhaps my [Concentration] trait will help in this aspect? This requires some investigation.


    “M A S T E R.” Fay shouted each letter directly into Damien’s right ear.


    Damien snapped out of his weird trance and spun around. He went to grab Fay by the neck with a single swift motion before falling short and managed to pause.


    “What do you want?” he growled at the frightened girl.


    “I got your clothes,” she said, pointing in a direction with her arm. Damien looked to the side and saw an exquisite wine-colored suit and black shoes laid carefully on a chair to the side of the room.


    Damien lowered his hand that had been an inch from her neck and frowned.


    “Do not sneak up on me again, or I will snap your neck.”


    He was serious. Fay was too dangerous to be keeping around while he was still getting ahold of his situation. It was a fact that she would kill him one day.


    Fay nodded, “Understood Master.”


    Damien realized he had almost touched her with his ungloved hand and almost gagged on the spot.


    God, this [Germaphobe] trait is merciless on my mind.


    “Run me a new bath. You got my hand dirty again,” he said with blatant disgust as he stepped out of the bath and waited for the warm water to be changed.


    “But I didn’t sneak up on you… I called out many times…” she muttered under her breath.


    Damien just scowled at her with repulsion.


    For all I know, you could have been about to stab me in the neck with a silver knife.


    Seeing his reaction, Fay nodded with fear and proceeded with Damien’s orders.


    “Sigh, these darn traits will be the death of me,” Damien mumbled. Fay looked puzzled but quickly returned to her work.