CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 52: THE PRICE OF NEGLIGENCE

Zaen woke up after feeling a chilly morning breeze on his naked body.

How long was I asleep?

Zaen tried moving his leg but couldn’t. Confused, he propped himself up on his elbow and saw Ann on the floor. She slept peacefully with her head resting on his thigh, her hands tightly wrapped around his leg.

"This woman..." Zaen mumbled. "At least she had the decency to clean her face."

Hearing his words, Ann smiled and stirred, but didn’t wake up. She was back in her human form, if one could say so. Still, Zaen remembered seeing the strange static-possessed form from last night.

"Vampires... also sleep? Strange."

Zaen took a deep breath, trying to process everything. On one hand, he should have been thankful because, thanks to her, his perception increased again, albeit only by 0.1 points.

"Perhaps repeating the same action over and over doesn’t give the same perception increase."

It made sense after all, his perception only increased with Hina because of the new experience. Whatever happened last night was a repeat of what happened the night before. Hence, the less than flattering increase.

But on the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel disgusted after looking at her.

She had drugged him and forced herself on him. But what he did afterward was more or less the same thing. One could say they were even in that regard. That thought seemed to calm his thoughts against Ann.

Besides, having her by my side would solve my two biggest problems.

With a constant partner, Zaen could gain a lot of new ’experiences’. Using Hina was out of the question as she wasn’t there.

That’s where Ann came in. Though he’d have to be careful around her as she could bite back, unlike Hina. Besides, she didn’t have his sample yet as he doubted anything from last night would be useful. Hence, she wouldn’t complain about being with him.

Also, she could fill the void of information he has regarding the game, the anomaly, as well as the organization.

Maybe it’s not that bad after all. I can think about it later. First, let’s get out of here.

Since the sun was already up, it was only a matter of time before the servants started working. It would be bad if they saw him there with Ann.

He gently tried to move his leg again, but her grip tightened slightly, and she murmured something in her sleep.

"Master... don’t stop..."

"Master...? Don’t make me cringe..."

Although he said that, his face betrayed his true thoughts. Despite being stoic and whatnot, in the end, he was still a young adult with fantasies in his head. Who wouldn’t like being called like that by a woman?

We must stay focused.

While he was thinking about her strange declaration, Ann slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a couple more times before reality hit her in the face. She sat up, staring at Zaen’s naked self.

"What are you doing here?"

Zaen smirked, reached out, and raised Ann’s chin with a finger. She gulped, not daring to look directly at him. Since she had called him her master, it was only right for him to behave as one.

"I don’t remember you being such a loud mouth before," he said, teasing her. "Maybe it’s because you had your mouth full."

Ann’s cheeks flushed a deep red, and she averted her gaze, crossing her arms over her chest. She vividly remembered the scene Zaen was talking about and, even though she was embarrassed about it, she wanted it to happen again. But she would not admit it to him.

"Things happened in the heat of the moment," she muttered, trying to regain her composure. "I’m sure it won’t happen again."

Smirking, Zaen leaned in closer, his face inches from hers. He then turned her face and slowly whispered in her ears.

"Are you sure about that?"

Ann opened her mouth to respond, but found herself unable to speak. Deep down, she wished moments like last night would happen more often. Being locked up in the facility had deprived her of her freedom to express herself, and that included letting loose in strange ways.

But as the older one between them, she couldn’t admit it openly, nor could she tell Zaen that his slave had another identity.

Maybe... I can enjoy whatever happened for a little while.

She thought, knowing sooner or later, they’d return to the facility and her usual, taxing life of testing and treating anomalous diseases would continue for the rest of her life.

That said, even though she knew a part of her wanted to keep the secret, another part didn’t. For over three centuries, her family had performed her role as the organization’s go-to anomaly-biologists.

The males were tasked to procreate to ensure their bloodline carried, while the females... well, the organization had done a few objectionable things to them in the past.

But in all those years, she couldn’t get the one thing she yearned for the most.

A companion.

None of the Tepes even know their parents or other family members. They were born in facilities away from civilization, raised there, and lived the rest of their lives in facilities working for the organization.

Ann had finally found someone like that in Zaen.

He was the perfect candidate to be her companion, her master, and her savior, at least for the moment.

Should we run away? It might be possible if I convert him too. No, that would be too soon...

Ann was lost in her own world when Zaen let go of her chin and started getting dressed.

"Where are you going?" she asked, wanting him to stay back.

But Zaen didn’t reply and continued as if he didn’t hear her. Ann took the hint and shyly looked at the floor before correcting her mistake. Little did she know Zaen had genuinely not heard her.

"Master..." she said. "Can I ask where... are you going?"

"W-What did you—?"

He covered his mouth, cutting the words off. Zaen realized he was enjoying the roleplay stuff. Something about being in control of someone was tempting him, and it made him want more.

"To my room? Where else?" Zaen replied without turning to look back.

As long as he was in control, their relationship didn’t feel forced on him anymore.

Once dressed, he casually walked up to her, grabbed her chin, and planted a deep kiss on her lips. Ann’s eyes widened before relaxing as she enjoyed the feeling of being one with her beloved master again.

Even as they parted their lips, a string of saliva connected their lips. But no one cared about that. They were busy staring into each other’s eyes.

"Remember that gift and be a good girl," Zaen mumbled, pinching her nipple for the last time. "Or else, I might not be as caring as before."

With that, he turned around and left, trying hard not to cringe at what he said. As he stepped outside the door, a notification popped up before him.

[Due to the player’s negligence, an innocent soul was claimed by one of the four remaining residues.]

[Exp -100]

[Exp: 3,000/1,600]

What?