Chapter 7 :

<7>

Se-geon went to school after two weeks and submitted a withdrawal form.

"Are you out of your mind! What are you going to do in this world without even graduating high school, you bastard! I know something happened and your head is a mess, but are you really thinking of quitting everything and becoming a thug?"

Se-geon’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Yun Deok-yong, was an old teacher close to retirement age, a man who had lived his whole life far away from promotion, to the point that he had never even once become a head of student guidance.

He was not particularly popular with students either, but he was a model teacher who faithfully carried out his duties as an educator in his own way.

After he once shoved a marble ashtray into a principal’s head at a famous private high school in Gangnam, he had been pushed into obscure posts, but having lived a teacher’s life without a single shame before heaven, he had a personality as upright and stubborn as anyone.

"If you think that way, then after graduating high school you’d also have to graduate college, wouldn’t you. I don’t have that much time to spare."

"If you can’t even graduate high school, that thing you like so much, what was it."

"A motor racer license?"

"Yeah. You won’t be able to get that either, will you? If you quit school right now just because you’re being swayed by your mood, you’ll regret it beyond measure, you bastard!"

But Se-geon had already made up his mind.

Of course it was regrettable that he would not be able to obtain a motocross license, but it was not as if going around wielding Desert Eagles and claymores like Sylvester could possibly be legal, and in that case it would only increase the chances of getting caught for no reason. Se-geon forced a smile.

"I’ve already made up my mind. And I have something I need to do."

"Are you even making up your mind just to do thug work? Huh?"

Was it because Se-geon had been hanging around with biker gangs? His homeroom teacher thought that Se-geon was joining some kind of violent organization. From Se-geon’s point of view, the biker gangs had simply clung to him because he was good at riding a motorcycle, but excuses like that never really worked anyway.

"It’s not a bad thing. Rather, it’s on the good side."

Se-geon said that and scratched his nose, as if even he felt awkward about it. He soon bent his waist at a ninety-degree angle and bowed.

"Then, thank you for everything until now."

Se-geon said that and left. Mr. Yun Deok-yong stared blankly at Se-geon’s back as he walked away. At that moment, the door opened and the head of student guidance came in.

"Mr. Yun? What happened?"

"No, it’s just that he looks like he’s going off to a battlefield. Damn it. It’s not like he’s even a student soldier. What does he think dropping out even means."

"Ah, that guy. Isn’t he a hopeless case? It might actually be for the best …..."

At that moment, the ashtray that had been on Mr. Yun’s desk flew straight into the head of the head of student guidance.

When Se-geon passed through the school gate, Deok-yeon was already waiting there. He was standing there wearing a beret, and as soon as he saw Se-geon, he greeted him cheerfully.

"So, did you quit school properly?"

"Yes. Now that it’s over, it kind of feels like I did something I shouldn’t have done. By the way, what happened to Sylvester?"

"He already left this morning."

Deok-yeon said that and let out a sigh.

"You idiot. If we’re talking about Sylvester the true vampire hunter priest, there isn’t a single person in this world who doesn’t know him. Do you really think a monster like that would even bother dealing with a greenhorn like you?"

"Is he really that amazing?"

"Does he look like he wouldn’t be?"

"He looked young, though."

When Se-geon muttered like that, Deok-yeon got into his car. In this day and age, it was a 1994 Pride sedan, a car you would be embarrassed for others to see you driving. Se-geon unconsciously frowned.

"There’s definitely a huge difference. From a Corvette to a Pride."

"What’s wrong with a Pride, you bastard? Because of guys like you, people throw away perfectly fine cars that run just fine and replace them for no reason. And when you’re doing this kind of work, driving a good car actually makes you stand out more."

"Wouldn’t something too bad also leave a strong impression?"

"Shut up, you bastard. Just get in already."

He said that and smacked Se-geon on the head. Although it was only playful, the punch of a former special forces soldier was something special, so Se-geon immediately shut his mouth.

"What did you do about your house?"

Deok-yeon asked while the car was stopped at a red light. Se-geon shrugged his shoulders.

"I gave it to my uncle. With the factory and all."

"Huh? You don’t have any money, then?"

"My uncle gave me about twenty million. Why?"

"Hmm. You obviously need to buy equipment. It’s not like you’re going to fight vampires with your bare body."

"Equipment, you mean guns?"

"I can’t give you guns yet. For now, let’s buy some basic equipment first."

Deok-yeon said that and stepped on the accelerator.

Se-geon was led by Deok-yeon toward the warehouse district. It used to be a warehouse used by the U.S. military, but after the base was relocated and it was sold back to the private sector, it had become an old red-brick building.

Perhaps because there were a lot of delinquents hanging around nearby, there was graffiti clumsily painted on the wall that read, ‘Rave Jeans.’ Se-geon read it and muttered that it really sounded like a brand name.

At the entrance, Deok-yeon rang the bell and spoke to Se-geon, who was looking around everywhere.

"Just stay still. Don’t you know people get suspicious if you keep looking around like that?"

"Really? It doesn’t look like anyone is watching."

At that moment, the warehouse door opened and an old man with snow-white dreadlocks came out. Completely out of place with the dark atmosphere of the warehouse, the old man was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. When he saw Deok-yeon, he spread his arms wide and greeted him with exaggerated excitement.

"Hey! Look who it is. Sergeant Song! It’s been a long time!"

"A long time, my ass."

Deok-yeon said that and took a bag out of the trunk.

"Here. I brought some blood donations."

"Oh. I heard you stuck close to a true vampire hunter and made a killing. So it was true. This much?"

The old man took the bag and opened it. Inside, it was filled with blood packed in vinyl bags. Seeing that, Deok-yeon grinned.

"There’s still one more bag, so it’s too early to be surprised. I didn’t come all the way here just to make you die buried in cash, you know."

"That much? The market price might drop."

"This isn’t a horse-racing betting ticket. Why would the price drop? Huh? Se-geon, bring one more bag from inside."

"Yes."

Se-geon answered and brought out another bag. The old man looked at the bag full of blood and scratched his head.

"That’s an incredible amount. I guess a lot really does fall off from a true vampire hunter."

"Hurry up and calculate it."

"Wait a second. But who’s the kid over there?"

"Ah, I’m thinking of raising him starting today. No need to worry about it."

"Is that so? Then everyone, come on in."

He said that and went inside. Se-geon followed him in, looking around. Inside the warehouse, there were several stacked trailer boxes, wooden crates inside them, and a few pieces of electronic equipment.

Several mercury lamps were hanging from the ceiling, crackling as they scattered shadows.

"What are all these things?"

"Be quiet. Do you want me not to teach you later? I’ll take care of it when the time comes. Hey, old man. Hurry it up."

Then the old man with dreadlocks put the vinyl packs into some kind of machine and began appraising them one by one. After the infrared and laser scans inside the device were finished, the results were displayed on the LCD screen.

"What? It’s all trash. Most of them are VT 22.3?"

The old man said that and looked at Deok-yeon. Deok-yeon’s face immediately twisted. Was it because the numbers were far lower than he had expected?

"Well, they’re low-grade ones anyway since they’re low-tier types. But are they really that low? You didn’t mess with the machine, did you?"

"If you can’t trust it, go find another dealer. Do you think this machine is some ordinary junk? I’m doing business at a loss myself, too. There’s such a thing as depreciation in this world."

"Ah. I was just saying. Damn, old man, you’re really something. So how much is it?"

"About 2.5 million won per pack. That’s the market price for VT 22. What do you say?"

"There’s a decimal point three at the end, you know. Why don’t you give a little more?"

"Don’t joke around. Even at 2.5 million won each, it’s already over one hundred million won! It’s no joke gathering that much cash, either. And the rule is round half down. If it’s 22.3, it’s 22. What’s with all the complaining? It’s not like this is my first or second day in this business."

At that point, Deok-yeon had nothing more to say. The old man took the vampires’ blood and filled the bags with cash instead of blood. Watching this strange transaction, Se-geon could not hold back his curiosity and asked,

"Are you selling blood?"

"Huh?"

At that moment, the old man stared wide-eyed, looking back and forth between Se-geon and Deok-yeon. Deok-yeon cleared his throat and explained to the old man.

"He’s a real rookie and doesn’t know this line of work, so don’t worry."

"Even so, this kid really knows nothing. What kind of wind blew that you’re trying to ruin a kid’s life like this?"

"Oh, right. Can I buy about two blood collection devices for this kid?"

"Then I’ll deduct the price from the payment."

"Sure, do that. While you’re at it, why don’t you throw in one extra?"

"Then how about used ones? Looks like Seok-jung’s guy got killed. I collected his gear for the time being. I can give you three with that."

"That works."

The old man handed Se-geon blood-soaked blood collection devices. Se-geon took one and stared at it in a daze.

It looked like a small hammer with a needle attached to it, and a vinyl pack was fixed behind it. Inside the pack was medicine to prevent the blood from clotting.

The grip felt heavy, probably because there was a battery inside.

"You use that to collect a vampire’s blood and bring it back. Then we’ll check how pure that vampire was with the VT analyzer and set the price. Got it? This collector uses a lithium-ion battery, so keep it well charged. If you fully develop your battery technology, kill all the vampires, and then can’t draw their blood, you’ll be so frustrated you won’t be able to sleep at night."

"Yes. I see."

Se-geon replied and stared at the blood collector. After packing the bag of money, Deok-yeon pulled along the absent-minded Se-geon.

"Well then, old man. Good business to you."

"Yeah. You too, don’t die and live long."

Deok-yeon and Se-geon left the warehouse. Only then did Se-geon come back to his senses and ask Deok-yeon,

"Wait! That was vampire blood just now?"

"Then what did you think it was?"

"I thought it might be RH- or something… because that kind of blood is expensive in Korea."

Se-geon said awkwardly. Selling vampire blood for money. If that was the case, then humans were also sucking blood from vampires, weren’t they?

With those thoughts swirling in his head, Se-geon suddenly felt his chest tighten. It was a feeling he could not quite put into words, a bad omen. Se-geon shook his head hard, trying to brush it off. Deok-yeon grinned at him.

"No way. RH- human blood is more expensive than vampire blood. RH- vampire blood is completely worthless."

"That aside, what kind of value does vampire blood have to be sold for that much?"

"That stuff doesn’t even count as expensive. They’re low-grade ones who haven’t been vampires for long, so the purity of their blood is extremely low. But even that kind of blood…"

As he said that, Deok-yeon pointed at Se-geon’s arm. Looking at the arm that had been severed and reattached, Se-geon felt he finally understood why vampire blood was sold for such a high price. It was nothing less than the ultimate medicine that surpassed modern medical technology.

"What if vampire blood had been used to reattach that arm? Now do you understand?"

"What? Injecting vampire blood? Then wouldn’t you become a vampire?"

"Sometimes you do become one, but in most cases you don’t. If you ingest it by mouth, the probability is even higher."

Only then did Se-geon remember how Sylvester had persistently asked whether he had drunk blood or not when they first met.

"I… I see. No wonder it’s traded at such a high price. Then do vampire hunters make money from that?"

"Well, the uses of vampire blood are endless beyond that. But it’s definitely our main source of income. Why? Disappointed? Because we’re not apostles of justice?"

"A little. I thought we’d be taking requests from people or something."

"If you want to take requests, you’d need a place to receive them, and then rumors would spread right away and it would become a headache."

As he said that, Deok-yeon got into the Pride sedan and placed the bag of money in the back.

"Alright. With this many blood donation certificates, we should be able to live it up for a while. Get in. I’ll take you to my hideout."

"Yes."

Still unable to shake off his uneasy feeling, Se-geon reluctantly got into Deok-yeon’s car. A single white Pride left the warehouse behind and disappeared down a quiet, deserted road.