Chapter 26 :

<26>

"Haah, haah…..”

Light poured down. People on the street were flocking somewhere in a long, unbroken stream. Cutting through the crowd, it was panting like a wounded beast.

A vicious thirst that felt as though it were squeezing its throat, and an itching that raised goosebumps all over its body, a sensation as if its skin were drying up and cracking apart. That feeling, which began at the throat, immediately spread throughout its entire body.

"Ahahahahat!"

"Nice, second round, second round!"

A group of people spilled out onto the street. Their clothes were crumpled and shabby, their suit jackets loosened with ties undone. Reeking of a strange stench mixed with sweat and alcohol, they were the typical office workers so often seen on the night streets.

It was only natural that it, passing through their drunken ranks, would splash cold water over their intoxicated minds.

'S-s-save me.’

It tried to ask for help, but no voice came out.

"W-what is that?”

Pak!

In that instant, one man’s head was sliced off horizontally. Severed from the face, the head flew through the air and slammed into the opposite wall. The process by which the neck separated from the body was so fast that the now headless body remained standing as it was.

“......”

Was it because they were too shocked? The people stood frozen before the tragedy, unable even to think of running away.

It looked down at its own hand. For something that had so easily cut a person apart like a surgical saw used in brain operations to open a skull, it appeared to be an ordinary hand. But now, it could never again be called ordinary.

"Kekekekeke!"

"Aaaahhh!"

The moment its laughter overlapped with the people’s screams, the neon sign hanging over the alley entrance exploded.

Jiiiiiiik...….

Hot blood splattered against the cold concrete wall.

* * *

"I’ll give you fifty million won."

Inside the office so old it looked as though it might collapse at any moment, the bald black man readily proposed a huge sum. In transactions like this, the seller usually tries to get a higher price, and the buyer tries to lower it. But the amount was so enormous that the seller was the one overwhelmed.

"Excuse me?"

Se-gun doubted his ears for a moment.

'Fifty million won for three 400ml plastic packs?'

"You don’t like it?"

Bill Murray shrugged as if puzzled. On the display behind him, the staggering number 2,040 was shown. Seeing the VT of the blood taken from the female vampire—likely turned by the True Vampire Phantom—Se-gun was horrified. He had always assumed VT naturally ranged between 20 and 60.

"N-no. Of course not......."

Se-gun, already struggling from a lack of money, had no reason to refuse such a fortune. Bill Murray blew a bubble with his chewing gum, opened the safe, and pulled out bundles of old bills. Se-gun stared at the stacks without a word.

'Ho! I guess I need to rethink the idea that being a vampire hunter doesn’t pay.'

Se-gun put the money into his bag and purchased cocaine and Psychedelic Moon. To properly fight powerful vampires, he needed the strength of Psychedelic Moon and cocaine. Song Deok-yeon had clearly been a far stronger vampire hunter than Se-gun, yet even he trembled from the aftereffects of drugs.

He was living proof that without using drugs, one could not survive at that level of skill.

"When using a hand gun, 1:1 is best."

Bill Murray winked in an oddly mismatched way as he offered advice. Se-gun nodded, knowing he was referring to the mixing ratio of the drugs. Even though he had earned a massive fifty million won by capturing an expensive vampire, once he bought Psychedelic Moon and cocaine, the expenses were no small matter. Considering long-term costs such as firearms, blades, bulletproof vests, and motorcycles, he felt he shouldn’t spend recklessly, even with this sudden fortune.

"Honestly......."

Se-gun gave a dry laugh when he realized he was worrying about money.

How ridiculous. In some ways, Yoon Mi-hye was Jin Yu-mi herself. Though they stood on opposite sides as victim and perpetrator, they were ultimately mirror images. Selling her blood and receiving such a large sum made him feel even more despicable. But he couldn’t refuse it. To keep fighting vampires, he needed money. It wasn’t about making a living—it was about survival between life and death.

'Pathetic. If I’d known it would come to this, I shouldn’t have handed the house and factory over to my uncle.’

If he hadn’t, perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up selling blood like this for money.

"Maybe I’ll buy a motorcycle first."

Thinking of his destroyed RX-125, Se-gun sighed. Slinging the bag of money over his shoulder, he left Bill Murray’s Healing School.

"Mmm!"

Se-gun stretched. Though injecting vampire blood had completely healed his wounds, muscle pain still lingered. He had fought vampires with monstrous VT levels, yet somehow survived. He could only feel relieved at that fact.

Still, he felt resentment toward Sylvester. In the end, hadn’t Sylvester sent Song Deok-yeon because he didn’t trust Se-gun? Though it had been the correct choice, neither Song Deok-yeon nor Se-gun had been able to save Jin Yu-mi. He could never agree with Sylvester’s method of using humans without hesitation just to draw out a True Vampire.

But there was nothing to be gained by confronting Sylvester about it. Sylvester had clearly warned Se-gun to protect her, and the one who failed was Se-gun himself.

"Hm?"

While walking, Se-gun suddenly stopped. In the alley leading to the station, a horrifying massacre—something one might only see in a movie—had occurred. By morning, the police had reported it and cordoned off the scene, but blood had splattered all the way to the mouth of the alley, naturally drawing attention.

'Even if I was running, how did I pass by this without noticing?'

Se-gun asked himself. Looking at the faint remaining bloodstains, it seemed impossible to cause such a massive disaster unless someone had driven a vehicle straight into the alley.

"......."

Se-gun paused briefly, then picked up his bag and walked toward the station.

* * *

Night came again.

It slowly opened its eyes.

Grrrrr!

Phlegm boiled up in its parched throat. It had devoured three people just yesterday, yet the thirst in its body had only grown worse. Whenever its mind briefly cleared, it knew the thirst would never end. It also knew there was no longer any need to try to quench it. But unlike its reason, an overwhelming desire hammered its head like a sledgehammer. Each blow made its vision blur.

Clank!

It opened the lid of a garbage truck and leapt out into the night city. The first thing that entered its blood-red vision was the crescent moon glowing yellow in the city lights.

"Kraaaah!"

It kicked off the metal garage door and sprang outside. Though the riverside of the Han River was developed into a park and usually crowded, no one approached the entrance where garbage trucks came in.

"Grrrkk!"

It ran toward the river breeze. Soon, it spotted a person walking along the riverside path. A middle-aged man, who seemed to be out for a walk with a small beagle, turned around when the dog stopped and kept barking.

"Honestly, why are you suddenly barking? Hm? Ahh?!"

He gaped in shock at its grotesque appearance. But in that instant, his head was flying through the air. The small beagle, forgetting even its size, lunged at it and bit into its leg.

"Keuh!"

But as if it didn’t even need to use its whole arm, it flicked the beagle on the forehead with just its index finger.

Thud!

The small dog shattered into pieces in a single blow. Its head flew off, and its entrails burst through its torso and spilled onto the ground in a wet splatter. It looked as though it had been struck by a bullet.

"Woooooo!"

Holding the human corpse in one hand, it began running forward.

Crunch!

With a single bite, blood and flesh filled its mouth. For a brief moment, the conflict vanished and an astonishing pleasure surged through it. Was the human body always this delicious? If it felt sweet, it was endlessly sweet; if it felt salty, it was intensely salty. There was even a freshness to it. It became enthralled by the taste of human flesh. But once it swallowed, the thirst returned. Like a starving ghost cast into the hell of hungry spirits.

'There are more than enough humans to rot away anyway, aren’t there?'

It wiped the bits of flesh from its mouth with the back of its hand and hurled the corpse aside.

Clunk!

The human body slammed into a trash bin. Already torn apart by it and no longer resembling a human form, the mangled corpse stuck out with only its feet protruding from the large container. In a park at night, how grotesque would it look to see nothing but a pair of human feet sticking out of a trash can? But more grotesque than that sight was it, as it ran off in search of its next victim.

On the cool autumn night, the sound of insects rang loudly along the Han River. Even at this hour, the riverside park was crowded. Young men and women skating on inline skates, people fishing, others simply out for a walk—countless people wandered along the riverbank.

"Oh man. My back hurts."

Kim Sung-ju skated in and threw himself onto a bench. At the far end of the bench, a couple lay gazing at the sky, but it was large enough for him to stretch out as well.

"Ah, Sung-ju brother!"

A short-haired woman who had followed behind grabbed Kim Sung-ju’s arm as he lay down and barely managed to stop. The couple, who had deliberately ignored him until he sprawled out, finally stood up and moved to the next bench. The man wore a sleeveless shirt despite the chilly night air, his solid build suggesting he could handle himself in a fight.

As if holding back for the woman’s sake, the man shot Kim Sung-ju a glare before leaving. Kim Sung-ju sat up, raised his middle finger at the couple’s retreating backs, and adjusted his protective gear.

"brother, how far are we going?"

"Shall we start heading back?"

"Eh. It’s getting dark. Not that great."

The woman spoke in a blunt, almost masculine tone. Yet her appearance was quite refined. Though she had a boyish look, she had a charm that drew men to her—she was practically the flower of their inline skating club. So many guys hovered around her that Kim Sung-ju already had a headache.

'She’s my cousin, after all.’

Thinking that, he looked at his cousin. With her long bangs grown out enough to cover most of her face, she swept her hair aside along her part and glanced back at him. The night breeze was perfectly cool.

"It’s already autumn."

"Yeah. Oh, brother!"

"What?"

“That...... what is that?"

Kim Sung-ju casually turned his head in the direction she pointed. There stood what looked like an ordinary dog. Of course, to truly be ordinary, its size would have to shrink to about one-tenth—it was quite large.

"Huh?"

In that instant, with a cracking sound, a shop installed in the park was torn apart in its entirety. There was no hesitation, as though someone were crushing a house made of straw.

"Waaahhh!"

A man who had just been about to buy something from the shop screamed. But the scream scattered midway. It swung its hand, severed the man’s neck, and bit into his torso, lifting him up.

"What the hell is that?!"

Kim Sung-ju shouted as if screaming, jumping to his feet. His cousin, Kim Ji-yeon, grabbed his wrist and pulled him.

"Quick! This way!"

"Y-yeah!"

The park descended into chaos in an instant. It killed a human, stuffed the body into its mouth, and then closed its jaws. With a horrifying crunch of bones breaking, the man’s leg convulsed. But only briefly—it spat out the red lump of flesh as if chewing gum and discarding it.

"Aaaahhh!"

People fled in all directions, screaming. But it pounced on them like something from a nightmare—no, like the nightmare itself. It split a person who had collapsed with weak legs straight down the middle and bit into them. With a human clenched in its jaws, it ran forward and swung its hand from behind, severing the legs of those fleeing in panic.

Slash!

With a sound like a sickle slicing through hay, a person fell forward. Then it picked up the corpse like a farmer harvesting crops and tossed it into its mouth. The more humans it devoured, the more it mutated—its body changing, growing ever more ferocious.

"Damn it! What the hell is that?!"

After putting some distance between himself and the chaos, Kim Sung-ju ran in a wide arc and glanced back. Thanks to his skates, he might say he had survived. The people nearby had not escaped the monster’s attack.