Kiss-Shot, while slightly disappointed, wasn't particularly bothered.
Unlike Souta, she didn't care that much.
After all, she still had suicidal tendencies—if the system took away her ability to sacrifice herself, she would actually be upset about it.
Souta, on the other hand, took a moment to get over his disappointment.
He had just been hoping for a freebie—a way for the system to erase his weaknesses for free.
If he couldn't be a freeloader, though, it wasn't too big of a deal.
After all, he had the entire anime multiverse to rely on!
Fixing vampire weaknesses should be easy.
Not to mention... he still had his unused Invitation Letter!
If he just sent an invite to Rias Gremory, she could turn him and Kiss-Shot into Devils...
Souta suddenly paused.
Would the Devil race's characteristics be strong enough to override Kiss-Shot's vampire weaknesses?
If not... then the reincarnation could fail.
Then again, that wasn't a big problem either.
The anime world was huge—if Rias wasn't an option, he could just do a quick search and find tons of alternative solutions.
Besides, once he completed this quest, he would earn 1,000 points and be able to buy a Travel Card.
With that, he could freely choose his travel destination and time period.
That was even more useful than an Invitation Letter!
He could pinpoint the exact time and place that would make solving his problem as easy as possible—
Souta suddenly froze as he remembered something important.
The Solo Quest that the system had assigned him...
Didn't it promise more than just points?
Aside from 1,000 Points, the reward also included—
💀 [One "Immortal Body" Evolution Opportunity] 💀
When the quest first appeared, he had been too busy worrying about saving Kiss-Shot to ask the system what it meant.
Then, after she turned him into a vampire, he passed out for two days and completely forgot about it.
Now that he thought about it...
What did "Immortal Body Evolution" even mean?!
Souta quickly asked the system:
"System, what exactly does the reward 'Immortal Body Evolution Opportunity' do?"
Souta didn't waste time and asked directly.
[This reward allows an immortal body to evolve towards a more perfect state, eliminating any weaknesses caused by different world-setting limitations on immortality.]
"Hm? Why does this sound like it was specifically made for vampires in this world...?"
Souta was a bit surprised.
Did the system already see through everything from the beginning?
That said—he had to admit—this reward was amazing.
It was the perfect solution to his current condition.
He wouldn't even need to use the Invitation Letter anymore!
"Oh, right," Souta asked again, "Will this kind of reward show up in future quests?"
He immediately thought of Kiss-Shot.
If the reward could appear again, then her weaknesses could be perfectly fixed as well.
[The appearance rate is random. However, the host does not need to worry—once a special reward has appeared in a mission, it will become available for purchase in the marketplace after the mission is completed, using points.]
That answer reassured Souta.
He even felt a little excited.
After all, system marketplace items are infinitely purchasable!
That meant... not only could Kiss-Shot be saved, but—
If other vampire characters joined the Friends Chat in the future, like Arcueid Brunestud (who struggled with bloodlust) or Leticia Draculea (who feared the sun),
Their weaknesses could also be removed with ease!
And it wasn't just vampires—
Any immortal beings with flaws could be fixed.
For example, the demons in Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba).
Just as he was deep in thought—
Suddenly, Souta felt a hard kick against his knee.
The force was strong, making him wince slightly from the pain.
He looked down and saw Kiss-Shot, her cheeks puffed up in frustration, looking extremely displeased.
"...Uh, sorry." Souta awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I was thinking about something."
"Souta." Kiss-Shot narrowed her golden eyes. "You already used that excuse the last time you zoned out."
Clearly, she wasn't buying it.
Souta didn't hide anything from her and admitted:
"I was communicating with the system through my thoughts. You should try it—it's pretty useful. Just think about what you want to ask, and it'll respond."
"Hm? Mind communication?"
Kiss-Shot raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued.
Her surprised expression afterward confirmed that it worked.
Souta only now realized—
Oh. So I don't have special privileges after all.
Souta suddenly looked at Kiss-Shot and said:
"I found a way to remove all vampire weaknesses."
"...Remove weaknesses?"
Kiss-Shot's gaze turned serious as she stared at Souta.
Her voice was quiet, but it carried undeniable weight.
"Are you saying that, instead of relying on me—your master—to help you...
You would rather place your faith in that mysterious system?"
To die for her servant—
That was the new path she had chosen for herself.
It was the perfect way to end her existence.
She had resolved herself to this choice.
It wasn't something she could just throw away.
And she absolutely would not let some ridiculous system interfere with that decision.
"Wouldn't it be better..."
"...if I were the one to return you to humanity?"
Hearing her words, Souta fell into a rare moment of silence.
For once—he didn't know how to respond.
Kiss-Shot's suicidal tendencies were not an easy problem to solve.
Maybe they weren't as severe as he had originally thought.
At first, Souta assumed that Kiss-Shot's desire to die was absolute.
That was the logical conclusion, given everything he knew.
Something she did earlier made him question that belief.
She had been enthusiastically showing him all the benefits of being a vampire.
There was only one possible explanation.
Maybe—deep down—she actually wanted someone to stay by her side.
Someone to live with her.
Someone who wouldn't leave her alone.
A single person couldn't endure immortality.
Could maybe support each other and keep going.
That's what she was really thinking, wasn't it?
If that was the case...
Then solving her inner conflict might not be as impossible as he first assumed.
After about ten seconds of silence, Souta finally lifted his gaze to meet Kiss-Shot's eyes.
"Kiss-Shot, do you know why I want to return to being human?"
Kiss-Shot's golden pupils flickered.
"...You already told me."
"You don't want to drink human blood—so you reject being a vampire. Isn't that right?"
"Yeah. The reason I don't want to be a vampire is because I don't want to eat humans."
"But it's not because... I don't want to spend my life with you."
His voice was calm, sincere.
"A single person living forever... must be a lonely and boring thing."
"So lonely that you might even start wanting to die."
"But if there were two of us—"
"If we had each other—"
"I think we could keep each other going."