Chapter 4 :

Corvette stopped at the entrance of the alley that led to Se-geon’s house. The priest opened the door and said.

"This is as far as I can take you. There are too many eyes from the neighbors."

“....”

"And forget what happened today. Think of it as getting bitten by a mad dog. No one will believe you anyway, and you’ll be treated like a lunatic."

After saying that, he closed the door as Se-geon got out.

At that moment, Se-geon, who had been slumped weakly until just before, suddenly knocked on Corvette’s window as if something had occurred to him.

"Wait! Just a moment!"

"What is it?"

Instead of opening the door, the priest pressed the window switch. As the power window slid down, the priest’s cold eyes shot straight at Se-geon.

Se-geon shouted desperately.

"Are there still many of those vampires left? Surely the one that died in my house wasn’t the last, right?"

Realizing that the priest was about to leave, Se-geon asked in a hurry. That impatience, that paranoid obsession, even showed signs of mental illness.

The priest replied coldly.

"Whether there are any left or that was the last one, it’s none of your business. What you need to do right now is go back, clean up the blood-soaked house, and try to return to a normal life."

"Don’t you know that’s impossible! My whole family is gone. How am I supposed to go back to a normal life? I can't forgive those bastards! So……!"

"So what?"

At that moment, the priest’s arm shot out through the window and grabbed Se-geon by the collar.

Then, with terrifying strength, he yanked Se-geon forward and smashed his face against Corvette’s window.

Se-geon’s blood splattered across the hard reinforced glass.

"Khak!"

"Don’t be ridiculous, you brat. Do you really think you’re something special? If you're so desperate to die, I can send you to the afterlife to join your family right now."

"Ughhh!"

Se-geon screamed in pain. Even though the priest was gripping his collar with only one hand, it felt as though his neck were being crushed by iron chains.

The monstrous strength was like an industrial press, and Se-geon couldn’t even speak, let alone breathe, only gagging helplessly.

And even though it would normally be time to let go by now, the priest showed no intention of releasing him. It was as if he truly intended to choke Se-geon to death.

The only saving grace was that Se-geon’s clothes could not withstand the priest’s grip and tore apart.

Rip!

With the sound of fabric tearing, Se-geon tumbled to the ground. Looking out the window, the priest said.

"Get back to reality. Misfortune isn’t yours alone, so stop whining, you bastard. Do you think you’re the only one whose family was slaughtered?"

"Damn it! I can't do that! How can I forget when I already saw it! You’re telling me to forget the monster that devoured my entire family? Is that really something you can say!?"

Clutching the back of his neck, Se-geon screamed.

Then, instead of answering, the priest pulled out a Desert Eagle and aimed it at Se-geon’s head.

"Annoying little bastard. Making you forget is easy. I just have to blow your brains out right here. Get lost."

“.....”

Se-geon did not step back.

The priest gave a faint grin, then smashed Se-geon’s face with the Desert Eagle—six-inch barrel.

It was like hitting someone in the face with a small dumbbell. Se-geon collapsed instantly, blood pouring out.

"Aaagh!"

"Fine. Then come find Arjuna. We'll talk properly from there."

As the priest spoke, Corvette’s V8 engine began to idle with a terrifying roar.

"My name is Sylvester. Just call me Sylvester for now. got it?"

With that, he drove the Corvette out of the alley. Listening to the fading engine sound, Se-geon closed his eyes.

* * *

"Huff! huff! huff!"

Along a dark national road lined sparsely with streetlights, a man was running.

As if chased by a wild beast, he clutched his abdomen as he ran, and blood poured down beneath his feet and splashed onto the grass.

Thudududuk.

Startled insects took flight all at once, their shapes reflected in the mercury vapor lights. Their chitinous shells reflected the pale light, casting dizzying shadows.

The fleeing man stopped for a moment and caught his breath while staring at the light. Then, behind him, like a phantom, the black-clad priest, Sylvester, appeared.

Holding a heavy Desert Eagle, he walked toward the blood-soaked man.

"Aaaah! I didn't do anything! I really don’t know anything!"

The bloodied man cried out and stumbled backward, falling onto his backside. But Sylvester slowly advanced and aimed the Desert Eagle.

Click.

The sound of the hammer being cocked rang out loudly and ominously.

The man, terrified, kept retreating, and before him appeared Chuncheon Lake, glimmering in the moonlight.

He continued backing away, then dropped to the ground and begged.

"P-please, spare me. I-I’m a vampire, but I used to be human, and I have a family I have to support! Please!"

The vampire begged pitifully. It was cowardly, but understandable.

However, the priest stepped closer with an unchanged, cold expression.

A large van sped past them along the road, but for some reason, the people inside passed by as if they could not see them at all.

Sylvester spoke to the vampire who was begging for his life.

"Then cry."

“!?”

"Prove your innocence by crying, you bastard whore."

Sylvester stepped closer as he said that. But the vampire could only tremble, his hands shaking.

"W-what……?"

At that moment, tears rolled down Sylvester’s cheek.

Amazingly, Sylvester raised the Desert Eagle with clear tears streaming down his face.

His vivid silver hair reflecting the moonlight, and the transparent tears flowing down his slightly oriental features, were a ‘beauty’ that did not suit a priest who was the very embodiment of abuse and violence.

"That’s your limit. Slut!"

Bang!

A cold gunshot rang out.

* * *

Se-geon pulled up the zipper of a racer’s leather suit with both hands, holding his gloves in his mouth.

His face was still covered in bandages, barely concealing the marks of Sylvester’s beating.

If he had really become a monster capable of regenerating even severed arms, bruises on his face would have healed quickly. But Se-geon did not seem to have become a vampire.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Se-geon put on his gloves.

Sylvester had only told him to come to Arjuna, but had not explained where Arjuna was or what kind of place it was.

Arjuna was a character from the Indian epic Bhagavad Gita, the one who listens to the teachings of Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu.

But there was no way he was being told to seek out something that abstract.

So Se-geon searched for Arjuna on the internet.

Most of the results were either the title of a Japanese animation or Arjuna from the Bhagavad Gita.

Still, Se-geon did not give up and next looked through the phone book. And what he found there was ‘Occult Shop Arjuna’.

Riding the RX-125 that had become his brother’s keepsake, Se-geon sped down the road.

It was still Wednesday. Normally, as a high school student, Se-geon should have been going to school.

But after his entire family had been slaughtered, telling him to faithfully fulfill his duty as a student and attend class would have been abuse.

But what, exactly, was Se-geon thinking as he headed toward Arjuna?

Revenge against the vampires who killed his family? That revenge had already been carried out by Sylvester.

The vampire had already been brutally killed by Sylvester, and even the corpse had long since disappeared. Then what was he still chasing, and for what reason?

"Kghhh!"

A groan burst out from inside the helmet. As if responding to those violent emotions, the heart of the RX-125 roared with a high exhaust note as it tore down the road.

Arjuna was a large one-story shop facing a small park. True to its name as an occult shop, a large pyramid-like object made of brass was displayed out front.

But what caught Se-geon’s eye was the jet-black Corvette coupe parked in front of Arjuna.

The black sports car reflected the sunlight in a smooth, glossy sheen along its gentle curves, making the exotic occult shop stand out even more.

After parking behind the Corvette, Se-geon hung his helmet on the motorcycle and headed for the shop entrance. The inside of the glass doorway was laid out in a rather dark and gloomy fashion.

Was it because it was an occult shop? Even the air drifting out from inside felt unsettling.

Jingle, jingle.

As he opened the door, a small copper bell hanging on it rang.

Perhaps because it was still early in the morning, before customers usually arrived, no one was standing at the counter.

Se-geon thought about calling out to someone, but instead looked around the shop.

This exotic occult shop had a sofa set aside for receiving customers on one side, and on the opposite wall were displayed unusual masks from various countries, Chinese talismans and feng shui items, and crystal balls made of clear quartz.

Se-geon was not particularly interested in the occult, but such strange objects had a kind of pull that drew in even the eyes of those who were indifferent to them—and Se-geon was no exception.

Just as Se-geon was absorbed in the displays, the door behind him opened and a middle-aged man wearing a beret came in.

Because he had not avoided sunlight in his younger days, his skin was quite rough, but his build was still solid.

Above all, the beret he was wearing belonged to the Special Warfare Command—commonly known as the Special Forces.

"Ah!"

Startled, Se-geon looked at the retired soldier. The retired soldier, upon seeing Se-geon, recognized him at a glance.

"Are you Han Se-geon?"

At that moment, Se-geon froze in place as if nailed to the floor.

Even if he was a survivor of a grotesque murder case that had become the talk of thrill-seekers, he was not a celebrity—so being recognized at first sight meant that this place truly was the very Arjuna he had been looking for.

Of course, how many occult shops in South Korea could possibly have a 2002-model Corvette coupe parked in front?

Even the black Corvette standing outside was undeniable proof, but Se-geon was still struck by the realization.

"Yes. That's right."

"You came earlier than expected. Sit and wait."

The man said that and pointed to the sofa.

He then sat down on the opposite sofa first, and Se-geon noticed that the man’s hands were trembling. Just then, a door inside the shop opened, and a woman appeared.

"Oh my, what a mess. A customer's here."

Her slightly over-animated, soprano voice was surprisingly beautiful.

She was a slender, black-haired beauty like a model. It was clear she paid great attention to her hairstyle—her long hair had sharply cut ends in a razor cut, and she was wearing a neat men’s suit.

Rather than an occult shop clerk, she looked more like a casino dealer.

Was she in her early twenties? Yet there was something mysterious about her, making it hard to tell her age by appearance.

Seeing the stunning woman, Se-geon stood up.

"I’m looking for Father Sylvester. Is he here?"

"Ah, he is, but he’s sleeping right now. Should I wake him?"

She said that and laughed softly.

At that moment, however, the door behind her opened and Sylvester appeared.

His face, still damp as if he had just finished washing up, clearly showed an annoyed expression.

Perhaps, deep down, he had hoped Se-geon would fail to find this place. But Se-geon had found Arjuna far sooner than he expected.

Finding it in only two days with nothing but the shop name was an impressive level of initiative—comparable even to that of a private investigator.

"I’m already awake. No need to wake me."

As he said that, he brushed back his silver hair and tied it behind his head.

Perhaps because he had just gotten up, he was wearing a pure white shirt instead of his priest’s robes—a shirt printed with a famous image of Snoopy lying on top of his doghouse.

His silver-blond hair, which did not seem particularly styled, shone in a way no artificial dye could imitate.

His tall, well-proportioned figure and handsome face—beautiful enough to be called such—made him look more like a model than a priest who hunted monsters.

Standing beside Arjuna’s female clerk, the two of them looked remarkably well matched.

Staring at the strange priest, Se-geon asked bluntly.

"Is this your house?"

"My place in Korea. Not my home, though."

After saying that, Sylvester looked at the middle-aged man.

The man in the beret took an envelope out of his jacket and placed it on top of the case.

"Here. It seems that bastard has left Korea."

"So in the end, we were just tailing him again and missed him this time too. Damn it."

Sylvester accepted the envelope, checked its contents, and walked over to the sofa.

Without even turning to look at Se-geon, he asked,

"What will you have to drink?"

"Coffee."