My Vampire System Chapter 1 Just an old Book

"Watch where you're walking, Quinn, or you'll trip over your own feet!" a student jeered from down the hallway.

Quinn kept walking through the school corridor, unfazed by the harassment that had become a routine part of his life. Even though he was used to it, the constant badgering still stung, and he found he couldn't stop himself from resisting whenever it happened.

Coming to a halt, Quinn pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose; they had slipped down once again. His eyewear was in a sorry state, clearly worn down from years of use. The frames were reinforced with layers of tape, and they sat quite crookedly on his face.

Spinning around, he immediately retorted with a middle finger.

"I bet you can't even count how many fingers I'm holding up right now!"

The boy’s face darkened, and he sprinted toward Quinn with his fists balled.

"You useless level-one piece of trash! When will you finally realize you have no place in this world?"

The bully pressed his palms together, and a sphere of green energy began to manifest between them. As he closed the distance to just a few meters, he thrust his hands forward, sending the radiant green light erupting from his palms.

Trapped with nowhere to escape, Quinn realized the blast was far too quick for him to dodge. He had no choice but to clench his teeth in anticipation of the impending agony. The impact of the light lifted him off his feet, hurling him backward into the corridor wall with a dull thud.

"What is going on over there?" a student nearby asked. "Are they actually fighting on the final day of school?"

A crowd formed rapidly, curious about the source of the clamor. A female student rushed toward the damaged section of the wall to see if the victim was alright.

As the dust settled, Quinn’s wavy black hair became visible through the haze. Once the air finally cleared and the girl realized who it was, her expression shifted; she retreated quickly and walked away, acting as if she had seen nothing at all.

When the girl rejoined her group, Quinn noticed the others teasing her.

"I can't believe you actually tried to help him out."

"I didn't recognize him at first," she snapped back, her cheeks turning bright red.

Quinn stood up and retrieved his glasses from the floor, though one of the earpieces had snapped off yet again.

"Damn it. Not this again..."

It was his final day at school, and he had hoped that for once, he might avoid any trouble. Quinn was utterly exhausted by the bullying, and he certainly wasn't the type to just stay silent. He had witnessed others choose to endure the abuse, only to find themselves treated even worse for their passivity.

Quinn didn't care to linger at the school like the rest of his peers. As he walked past, he observed others sharing laughs or shedding tears, convinced they would never see one another again. Quinn felt no connection to any of them and had no desire to change that.

Upon reaching his home, he got straight to his chores. Quinn lived in a cramped, single-bedroom studio with just enough room for a small bed and a desk. A wall-mounted television played silently in the background, though he used the noise only to drown out the silence, never actually watching the screen.

The government provided this apartment to him because he had no surviving family, despite him being only sixteen years old. Resting on his bed was a single suitcase, holding the few belongings he owned.

Entering his room, Quinn pulled open a drawer and retrieved a book. It was a heavy, thick volume that weighed nearly half a kilogram. Its cover was pitch black, featuring a centered ring with lines radiating outward in every direction.

"Let's try this again," Quinn muttered, placing the tome onto his desk.

He reached into his bag and withdrew a small test tube containing a clear fluid.

"Test 112: Hydrochloric acid. Let's see if this does anything." He carefully poured the liquid over the book’s cover.

"Still no reaction." He finished pouring the entire tube, but the book remained completely unaffected.

Quinn examined the cover closely for any signs of corrosion, but the book looked identical to how it had always been.

"Another failure. Why won't you open? Why did Mom and Dad even leave me this thing?"

One hundred and twelve times. That was how many different methods he had employed to force the book open. Not only did it refuse to unseal, but it appeared to be completely indestructible. Quinn had tried fire, blades, and melting it, yet nothing left a single mark.

He flopped onto his bed and turned up the TV volume. He never paid attention to the broadcasts, but the sound of human voices made the room feel a bit less desolate.

The news was currently playing.

"While the peace treaty with the Dalki has held for five years, officials report that tensions are escalating once again, and we must prepare for the possibility of a new war..."

The threat of war had been a constant theme on the news for years. Thirty years ago, humanity encountered the Dalki—creatures that resembled humans save for their scaled skin and dragon-like tails.

The Dalki had immediately demanded the world's resources and attempted to enslave mankind. Humanity had fought back, but their modern technology proved useless; conventional bullets failed to pierce Dalki hide, and their tanks were no match for Dalki airships.

Every man and woman had been mobilized to defend the planet, Quinn’s parents included. The war burned for years, and Quinn grew up never even knowing his parents' faces.

Just as humanity faced certain annihilation, a few individuals emerged wielding strange, special abilities. They eventually shared their knowledge of this power, helping to turn the tide. Even then, the Dalki remained formidable, leading to the stalemate and the peace treaty signed five years ago.

Predictably, human greed soon surfaced. Rather than sharing these powers openly, elite officials hoarded them. Only the wealthy could afford to learn the strongest abilities, leaving the common people to rot.

Quinn had been left with nothing after his parents perished. The government paid for his housing during his school years, but that was all. When he was ten, an agent had arrived at his door and handed him that book, saying it was the only inheritance his parents had left for him.

"Why is this world so incredibly unfair?"

Quinn sighed and walked back to his desk to deal with his broken glasses one more time. He noticed a lens had popped out and attempted to force it back into the frame.

"Come on, just snap in!" he shouted, applying firm pressure.

Suddenly, the lens shattered into shards, and a sharp fragment carved a deep cut into his thumb.

"Does the universe just hate me?"

As he cleaned up the scattered glass, he noticed a sliver had landed on the cover of the book. As he brushed it away, a bead of blood from his thumb fell exactly into the center of the ring.

The ring began to glow with intense light, and the book suddenly hovered into the air.

"What the hell is going on?"

The book flared with brilliant light and shuddered violently. It flew open, and its pages began turning at high speed. Quinn found himself locked in a trance, unable to look away. Though the symbols on the pages were unlike any language he knew, he felt as though he understood their meaning.

When the final page turned, the book dissolved into fine dust. Simultaneously, Quinn’s vision began to blur. His strength evaporated, and his eyes grew heavy.

Just before he lost consciousness, he heard a final, distinct message.

<Congratulations, you have been granted the Va...>

Unable to stay awake to hear the conclusion of the sentence, Quinn slipped into unconsciousness.