Tree, a big plant just as common as grass, was currently the target of Theo’s gaze. Located beyond the glass panel embedded in a very shabby wooden frame surrounded by others of its kind.

He woke up a couple of minutes ago from a forest-induced nightmare. Big trees, small trees, round trees, square trees, golden trees, if you can name it, then it probably hunted him in the nightmare.

Now that he somehow recovered and generally organized his thoughts, he could finally think properly.

The four massive memory explosions that went off in his head yesterday were that of lives he had never lived before and experiences he had never experienced. It wasn’t hard to conclude that it was a result of that skill of his.

Although he gained all the memories, they still didn’t feel like his own. It was more like memorizing every facet of someone’s life, but not experiencing it personally. He didn’t feel the same emotions for people the ‘previous him’ did, the memories also weren’t fully ingrained in him, akin to a library that stored all the information and could be accessed at any time.

He did however notice some quite obvious patterns. Every life he was born into some sort of mysterious or powerful background, and if that was it, all would be well and good, right?

As if.

His name was always Theo, no matter how different the world’s naming style was, but he was fine with that, he liked his name. The problem arose when in each and every one of his four lives he suffered from some misfortune, most commonly, lack of talent. If the fact that every single one of his lives seemed like a start to a bad fantasy novel wasn’t enough, the name of the skill that started it all only solidified this point, and Theo didn’t like this. A novel was all fine and good from a reader’s point of view, but does anyone really want to fight constant swarms of antagonists their whole life?

For the sake of his mental state, he decided to focus on the realm he was currently in, not that he knew how to go back to any of the other realms, or even his own for that matter. He also wasn’t too sure of how to contact Eileen, but he still had a grudge because of what happened, so he wouldn’t concern himself with it for now.

He decided to dig out as much information about his current situation and this realm as he could, since having the necessary information in a figurative hard drive in his mind wasn’t really a solution.

This realm interestingly enough functioned on a system. It was like a world from your standard summoned hero novel. Classes, levels, magic, magical beasts, dungeons, gods, medieval setting, it had all of that, just a lot more intense.

The kingdoms were giant, magic on a cataclysmic scale and beasts on a level no natural disaster could contend with.

As for him? He was a loser of a prestigious vampire family with an impressive lack of talent. Unlocking one of the most common classes there was, he became a ‘shame’ on the family name. It was not all bad though, as his family mostly cared about results and put a lot of importance on blood ties, so while his life wasn’t flowery, it was still a paradise compared to what Theo was used to.

His family also didn’t need to put others’ opinions in high regard as it was an open secret in the noble circle that they were pretty much the co-rulers of the kingdom.

The Ingram ducal family, a vampire clan of high status that was the shadow behind the Vapora royal family.

‘Yes, I am a vampire now, although as I’ve learned, apparently sunlight only significantly effects vampires of low bloodlines or some of the vampire variants, but the garlic and the wooden stakes are just nonsense. Though light elemental attacks still work on them, or rather us, with greater effect as they would on humans.’

He wasn’t exactly sure of how he ended up in a hut in the middle of a forest, but he could make some assumptions.

The last memory he got from this body was of him coming to train in this forest and getting ambushed by a pack of wolf-like beasts. The most surprising thing out of that situation might actually be that he survived, as the vast majority of beasts surpassed him in strength and levels. Just the fact that a member of a powerful family went somewhere alone sounded like a bad idea to begin with.

As he was lying on the hard bed all bandaged, he decided to start planning ahead. He finally got a chance to experience a normal life for the first time and he wasn’t willing to give it up, although becoming a vampire of a powerful clan in a fantasy-themed world wouldn’t pass as normal back on earth, he put that life behind him and decided to… well… start a new chapter.

The first objective was one that every cliché protagonist has in every novel there ever was. you guessed it, get stronger. Although he didn’t become a reject of the family yet, the ‘yet’ part was very important. The prospect of his family putting heavy emphasis on the achievements and usefulness of its members didn’t bother Theo, he wasn’t used to what a ‘normal’ family was, as he never truly had one, so he didn’t dwell on it any further.

Others might be stuck at this point in their plan, as only hard work and effort could offer true results, but Theo wasn’t just anyone. He turned to his ticket to a better life and opened up the white-rimmed panel in his mind.

‘Theo!’ A high peached voice entered his mind, which immediately woke him up from his dreams of a better future and put him in a bad mood.

‘What do you want?’ He asked in a tone that clearly expressed his annoyance.

‘I am so soooooo sorry! I-I-I didn’t know that was going to happen… well… I did, but I didn’t know it was going to be that bad!’

Receiving no reply, she panicked and continued.

‘I am really really sorry… I’ll never do it again… I promise.’ To sound so wronged when apologizing to another person was quite an achievement in itself, it was almost like he could hear her eyes tearing up.

‘Fine, but never mess with the system without my permission from now. Ok?’

‘Yes!’

Using her distraction method again, she quickly continued.

‘You've got a lot of rewards from that quest. Wanna check it out?’

Theo didn’t need her reminder as he could already see a bunch of notifications on the transparent, white-rimmed panel.