I Have No Plans to Date Anyone

Fang Cheng suddenly sprang back to life, leaving Kanzaki Rin's mind blank for an instant.

She had clearly driven a silver dagger into Fang Cheng's chest. Why was he still alive?

Silver was a potent weapon against vampires. Although powerful vampires could ignore it, for lesser vampires—especially a rookie like Fang Cheng, who had only just turned—it was deadly poison. A single touch should have been fatal.

That was why Kanzaki Rin had let her guard down after stabbing Fang Cheng in the chest. His sudden revival caught her completely off guard.

After a moment of shock, Kanzaki Rin quickly reacted.

But it was already too late. The instant Fang Cheng tackled her, he wrapped himself around her like an octopus, clinging on for dear life.

Kanzaki Rin was agile and strong. She grabbed Fang Cheng's elbow and tried to wrench his arm outward to break free.

But Fang Cheng had learned his lesson. He gritted his teeth through the pain and refused to let go.

The two grappled, rolling from one side of the living room to the other as their ragged breathing filled the room.

The struggle didn't last long. As Kanzaki Rin snapped one of Fang Cheng's arms, Fang Cheng seized his chance to pull the dagger from his chest and press it against her throat.

They both froze, facing each other from less than a hand's breadth away, their warm breaths brushing across each other's faces.

But there was nothing remotely romantic about the atmosphere. They glared at each other in anger, and sweat dripped from Fang Cheng's nose onto Kanzaki Rin's face.

He wasn't tired. His broken arm was what had made him sweat.

Kanzaki Rin gritted her teeth and stayed silent, frantically searching for a way out.

A little over ten minutes later, Fang Cheng had tied Kanzaki Rin up in a bundle and tossed her onto the sofa, using the traditional art of Kikibari.

Fang Cheng, meanwhile, had put his clothes back on, finally keeping his assets from being exposed.

The number in his field of vision was still 3. It hadn't changed.

Kanzaki Rin had thought she'd killed Fang Cheng, but her dagger had only grazed his heart. It hadn't caused a fatal injury, and once the dagger was pulled out, the wound healed.

Fang Cheng took a baseball bat over to Kanzaki Rin and looked down at her, his gaze like the Big Bad Wolf eyeing Little Red Riding Hood.

Kanzaki Rin's mouth wasn't gagged, but she didn't scream. Instead, she pressed her pink lips together and met Fang Cheng's gaze without fear.

Her defiant expression made Fang Cheng see red. Who was the intruder here?

His broken arm had healed, but that didn't mean he could simply forget how much it had hurt.

Fang Cheng grabbed the baseball bat and jabbed it hard into Kanzaki Rin's stomach a few times, nearly making her throw up the sour liquid in her stomach.

Then he banged the bat against her head, making it go clunk, clunk. "What's your name?"

Two lumps had already risen on Kanzaki Rin's head, but she didn't cry out. She just stared coldly at Fang Cheng. "You'd better not do anything stupid. My teammates are waiting outside, and they could come looking for me at any moment."

"Having teammates makes you special? I've got four whenever I start a game."

Fang Cheng studied her face. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed. Before long, he wore the look of someone who'd seen a ghost. "Kanzaki Rin, Class 2-A at Kashima Academy?"

Kanzaki Rin's whole body jolted, and the question slipped out. "How do you know?"

Fang Cheng knew, of course. They were classmates.

He also attended Kashima Academy High School. He was in his second year, too, just in a different class.

Kanzaki Rin was a famous beauty at Kashima Academy. Ever since she enrolled, she'd topped both the "Female Classmate I'd Like to Date" list and the "Ice Queen I'd Like to Have Insult and Step on Me" list.

No wonder she'd looked familiar. The original owner's memories were a mess, so Fang Cheng hadn't recognized her right away.

"How do I know?"

Fang Cheng gave a cold laugh. "I wrote you a few love letters. How else do you think I'd know?"

That's right. Kanzaki Rin had been one of the original owner's secret crushes. Even now, her photos were still hidden on his computer in a folder disguised as schoolwork. Every man knew what those were for.

Fang Cheng couldn't help wanting to throw his head back and lament. The woman who'd broken into his home in the middle of the night and tried to burn his butt was one of his secret crushes. Could anything be more absurd?

Kanzaki Rin was surprised to hear that Fang Cheng had written her love letters. Her eyes widened.

Even more surprising was how bluntly he'd admitted it.

A boy wrote a love letter to his crush, only for her not just to ignore it but not even remember him.

For any other boy, that would be a mortifying secret, something he'd never admit even under threat of death.

But Kanzaki Rin truly didn't remember. She received more than a dozen love letters every day. By the end of a semester, there'd be enough to sell to a recycling center.

She never even opened them. How could she remember who'd written one?

Still, learning that they were classmates made Kanzaki Rin breathe a little easier. She'd been racking her brains over how to escape.

"Thank you for the love letters."

Kanzaki Rin relaxed her tone and tried to soften her expression. "But I'm sorry. I have no plans to date anyone right now."

Fang Cheng nodded in understanding. "Then should we just get married?"

Kanzaki Rin: "..."

Was there something wrong with this guy's head?

Fang Cheng could tell from her expression that she was cursing him in her mind. He looked surprised. "I was just joking. You actually took me seriously? Is there something wrong with your head?"

Kanzaki Rin gritted her teeth. Her blood pressure felt like it was shooting up, and her chest felt tight.

Clang!

Fang Cheng brought the bat down on her head again, raising a bloody lump.

Kanzaki Rin glared at him in pain. "You!"

"You what? Tell me what you were doing in my house in the middle of the night! Why did you try to burn me? Wait, how can you use fire? Are you even human?"

Fang Cheng fired off a string of questions. He wouldn't be able to sleep that night unless he got answers.

"Which one of us isn't human?"

Suppressing her headache, Kanzaki Rin retorted, "Why do you think the wound on your chest healed? Do I really need to spell it out?"

Fang Cheng's heart gave a slight jolt. He'd only been bitten recently. How had this woman found out?

He remembered that the vampire had wrecked all the cameras on the street.

"How did you know?"

"My drone's been watching you."

Fang Cheng was speechless. On his way back, he'd noticed drones flying overhead from time to time. He hadn't realized they belonged to this woman.

Kanzaki Rin continued, "You've already been turned into an inhuman creature by a vampire. I'm here to take you into custody."

Fang Cheng was very unhappy. "What does me turning into a vampire have to do with you?"

Kanzaki Rin didn't get angry. She just looked at him like he was an idiot. "You've never heard of the Natural Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters?"

Fang Cheng paused. He hadn't been in this world long, and his memories were still hazy. After thinking it over, he found the memories of the Natural Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters.

To combat the threat of supernatural monsters, governments around the world had established special law enforcement agencies.

The agency established in Area 11 was called the Natural Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters, or the Countermeasure Department for short. It specialized in handling incidents involving supernatural monsters.

The department held high rank and had an armed force independent of the police and military—the SAT Mobile Unit. Its cases took priority over ordinary public-order and criminal cases, and it could summon and detain citizens for 48 hours without conditions.

The soldiers who'd fought the vampire earlier were probably members of the SAT Mobile Unit.

If Kanzaki Rin really belonged to the Natural Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters, then her actions in taking Fang Cheng into custody were legal.

Fang Cheng also remembered that some of the department's operatives seemed to possess supernatural powers. It was a topic that had been discussed to death online.

Without the prompt, Fang Cheng really wouldn't have been able to find what he needed among the original owner's decade-plus of memories right away.

"You really work for the Countermeasure Department?"

Fang Cheng eyed her suspiciously. "You're still in high school, aren't you?"

Did the government hire child laborers, too?

Kanzaki Rin watched him with equal suspicion. "Are you messing with me? I'm an intern."

She suspected Fang Cheng was deliberately messing with her by asking questions everyone knew the answers to.

It was just as well that interns weren't allowed to carry guns. Otherwise, she would've shot this guy a long time ago.

Kanzaki Rin's reminder made Fang Cheng recall that the Natural Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters had an internship program. It was meant to train talented people, but the interns' identities were kept secret.

Now Fang Cheng was in a bind. If Kanzaki Rin had just been a burglar who'd broken into his home, he could've beaten her without a second thought.

But she had official backing, and her actions were legal. Fang Cheng would have to think twice before locking her up and making her his slave.

After a moment's silence, Fang Cheng asked, "What'll happen to me if you take me back?"

As he spoke, he watched Kanzaki Rin's eyes, trying to judge whether she'd lie.

Kanzaki Rin met Fang Cheng's gaze calmly. "You haven't done anything wrong, so you'll most likely be locked up."

Fang Cheng couldn't believe it. "I haven't done anything. Why would they lock me up?"

Kanzaki Rin lowered her eyes and spoke slowly. "Because you've become a vampire, and vampires have to attack people to survive. So they can only lock you up."

Fang Cheng was baffled. "Why do I have to attack people? Can't I just buy blood?"

He didn't feel any desire to drink blood right now, but he didn't have to bite anyone to get it. Wouldn't donated blood be better?

If nothing else, maybe pig's blood or duck's blood would do.

Fang Cheng loved pork blood stew with pickled cabbage and vermicelli.

This time, it was Kanzaki Rin's turn to fall silent. She'd never considered that question.

But even if blood really could be bought, the authorities would never allow a dangerous creature to roam freely among the population.

Amid the awkward silence, Kanzaki Rin suddenly felt the tiny communicator on her collar vibrate. Someone was trying to contact her.

Fang Cheng noticed, too. He reached for her collar and felt the communicator vibrating.

The mood grew tense in an instant.

The moment he touched the communicator, Fang Cheng realized Kanzaki Rin hadn't lied. She really did have teammates, and they were trying to reach her.

That left Fang Cheng with a difficult choice.

Should he let Kanzaki Rin contact her teammates and get himself locked up?

Or should he deal with her and then face a manhunt by the Countermeasure Department?

Of course, he could also leave her behind and run, beginning a life on the lam.

Fang Cheng didn't want any of the three options. But for the moment, he couldn't think of anything else, and his expression grew darker by the second.

Kanzaki Rin stared intently at Fang Cheng, her heart pounding faster and faster like a drum.

She knew that Fang Cheng's next move would decide whether she lived or died.