Alice stood up, walking over to me. "Okay, we''ll focus on the vampire evolutions later. Right now, we need to focus on your place as a Sin."


    I nod a bit, looking at her.


    "The rest of us have our stuff together. As a Sin, you need people to rule over, followers. Whether it be a simple cult, village, or maybe even a kingdom." Alice said, placing her hand on her hips.


    "Doesn''t that mean the world will see us as bad guys?" I asked, Alice nodding in response.


    "Of course they will. Do you not know how many holy nations are in this world? There''s quite a lot, not in this region, but there are about 7 holy empires around here." She said as she took a seat on the desk.


    "There''s a roundtable meeting we have to attend with the other Sins. They''re quite the characters, so be aware." Alice then swiped her fingers, opening a small portal and stepping inside.


    I followed behind her, the lights nearly blinding. When I opened my eyes, I saw that we were in a circular room with 7 portals, including the one I came through, surrounding the roundtable in front of us.


    The chairs seemed cushioned, having tall heads to them. "You can have a seat next to me." Alice said, walking to the table and taking a seat.


    I took a seat next to her, a little nervous and slightly confused. Then, I saw others beginning to enter, accompanied by who I assume were servants.


    "Ahh, is this the new guy? Doesn''t look jealous enough to me." A fat male with slicked-back hair and a suit on said, lighting a cigar. He had a thick accent to him, reminiscent of an Italian. "How ya doin'', kid?"


    "That''s Troul Marx, The Sin of Greed." Alice said as she leaned back in her chair.


    I narrowed my eyes. I didn''t even have to know him to know this dude was greedy. Look at all that jewelry, that slicked-back hair, and those predatory green eyes.


    "I''m doing fine." I said, my eye twitching. That opulence is making me mad.


    "Heya guys! Whoa! Who''s this?" A small boy, a demi-human I assume, hopped onto a chair. He had fair skin, red eyes, short white hair, and white bunny ears.


    "This is Star Black." Alice said, introducing me. "Star, this is The Sin of Sloth, Bun. We just call him Mochi, though."


    "Sloth? He seems so energetic, though." I said, Alice resting her chin on the table.


    "Not every Sin''s personality is what they are. Don''t get me wrong; Mochi is definitely lazy; he barely does the tasks he''s assigned." She said, Mochi leaning back on the chair.


    "But my room is so comfy!" Mochi said, whining as his ears swayed.


    "Of course you would say that." A tall woman entered the roundtable, taking a seat at one of its chairs.


    She had her hair in a messy ponytail, which reached to her upper back. Her hair was as red as my blood. She had brown skin and yellow eyes. She kicked her legs up onto the table, crossing them.


    I could see a bit of muscle on her; clearly, she was a tomboy. She looks pretty good too.


    "That''s Malica Root, The Sin of Wrath." Alice said, watching as Malica began to drift into sleep.


    I didn''t even want to greet her; she seemed scary as hell.


    "Hey darlings~" As everyone heard those words, the table collectively groaned.


    "That''s Marlin, The Sin of Lust." Alice said half-heartedly.


    "Sounds like nobody likes him." I said, watching a man in a rather revealing outfit that was skintight on him come into view.


    His skin was smooth and fair, having short pink hair and the same-colored eyes. I don’t know why, but the air around him made me uncomfortable.


    “Oooh, who’s this lovely face?~” Marlin said as I saw his body meld into a shadow. I felt the darkness itself caress my chin.


    ”What’s your name, hun?” Marlin whispered in my ear, but I reached back and grabbed him by his neck, slamming him onto the table.


    Marlin, however, seemed completely unscathed, and the table remained unbroken. I blinked a few times before I realized what I did. “Oh, my bad.”


    Marlin sat up, massaging his throat. “Good grip, I like that~”Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Okay, this dude was a weirdo.


    ”Back to your seat, Marlin.” Alice said, Marlin willfully obeying and heading back to his seat.


    ”Okay, so Greed, Lust, Pride, Wrath, Sloth, and Envy are here.” Alice said, sighing. “That just leaves… her.”


    I heard light footsteps approach the table, along with a faint dripping sound. Everyone at the roundtable seemed nervous, all except for Alice.


    ”Did you guys start already?” A soft, groggy voice spoke; a woman with long, messy green hair took a seat between Bun (or Mochi) and Malica.


    The woman had dark skin, similar to me. She wore a tattered green shirt and skirt that were slightly ripped. She had an open trench coat that was brown in color.


    I swear I saw faint bloodstains on it as well. Her figure was slim, having decent curves and a nice face too. She had bags under her glowing green and yellow eyes.


    ”This is The Sin of Gluttony, Selene Proxy.” Alice said, everyone looking visibly uneasy around her.


    ”Now that we''re all here, everyone, I''d like to introduce you to the newest Original Sin, one that has been missing for a time. This is Star Black, The Sin of Envy." Alice said, Some of the sins clapping.


    "Now, down to business. Since Envy is a new Sin, he requires some... territory." Alice said, snapping her fingers and making an ethereal landscape appear on the table.


    "Star, your territory can be from anyone or anything. You must have a town''s worth of territory and about 500 people under your command to be considered one of us. Unless you prove your worth in a fight against a strong foe."


    I listened intently. To overthrow a town in another''s territory would be risky unless I could control it from the inside.


    "Believe it or not, Alice and Malica are the only two that own an entire hidden nation—well, two nations, but y''know." Marlin said, smoking a cigarette.


    "So, once you have your territory straight, we''ll know, and we''ll call for another meeting to accept you." Alice said, smiling.


    "Just a heads up, the only one of us that has no followers or territory is Selene for... reasons." She said, narrowing her eyes slightly.


    Selene just looked around the room, shrugging and munching on what looked like cooked meat.


    "Any other issues that need to be brought up?" Alice asked, looking around.


    Malica leaned forward, her gaze sharp. "Heard tales of a Hero, specifically in the eastern Holy Church Empire."


    "The ones that worship The Pure One?" Alice asked, Malica nodding in response.


    "That''s concerning. A Hero just popped up last month, and one is already hard enough to deal with." Alice stroked her chin.


    "Oh yeah, by the way, some unwanted attention has gone down in my business. Someone halted the gun trade, but later found out it was a rat, so I had to step away from a few meetings." Troul said, taking a puff from a little cigar.


    "Interesting. Well, I hope your business keeps going well." Alice said, standing up.


    "If no other issues are to be discussed, this meeting is adjourned." Alice said, grabbing my hand and gently leading me out of the Roundtable.


    I don''t know who, but I could feel some of their gazes on me.


    When we entered our portal, Alice sighed as she let go of my hand. "You have my permission to explore freely around my manor."


    "Oh, uh, okay. Do the Sins like each other, or something?" I asked, Alice laughing in response.


    "Oh! Sorry, sorry. No, actually, a good portion of them hate each other. The Roundtable is just a slight armistice zone to ensure stuff can get done." Alice said, smiling.


    "At the end of the day, we''re just really strong people with abilities tied to what we are." Sighing, she turned around. "It has been a long day, so I''ll see myself to bed. Do see how you''ll become like us. I look forward to it."


    Alice walked down the same corridor we were initially in. The moonlight makes her already elegant presence even more captivating.


    I looked around, wondering what to do now. In order to fit in with these guys, I have to basically rule over people? I don''t want to do that, though; people have lives, just like me...


    [Echo Fragment nearby. You can use it to view previous memory fragments of the original user of your Route.]


    "An... Echo Fragment? In a place like this?" I looked around, starting to walk around.


    The feeling was stronger when I looked outside and into the forest, so I searched for the entrance of this manor.


    There was nothing too interesting, just doors, interesting wall patterns that consisted of lines and swirls, and the soft carpet beneath my feet.


    I came to a flight of stairs that curved to the first floor of this massive manor, but ahead of the velvet carpet on the first floor stood the entrance.


    I went down, opening the door and stepping out. Surprisingly, despite there being snow beneath my feet and it being cold enough to see my breath, I wasn''t cold at all.


    [Due to your vampiric nature, you have a high resistance to cold environments.]


    I blinked at the interface. "Huh." I said, starting to jog to the place of interest.


    The closer I got, the weirder it felt. It felt like pins and needles across my entire body.


    Once I reached the point of interest, there was something strange in front of me.


    A small orb with cracks floating around it. I reached out slowly, its force beckoning me to touch it.


    Once I did, it began to shine brightly, blindingly so, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut.


    When I awoke, I looked around, being in a completely white void. "Greetings." A voice called out from behind.


    I turned around, my eyes widening as I saw a white-haired man with blue eyes and a crack in the air where his torso was.


    "So you''re the second user, huh?"