49 chapter - Vampire (4)

Kang Juhui had sent an address located in an industrial complex by the sea.

From the officetel, it was exactly an hour and ten minutes away.

The one fortunate thing was that at this late hour, there was almost no traffic.

Ignoring every traffic light and speed limit, I floored it, and the estimated arrival time dropped quickly.

Honk! Honk!

Drivers inconvenienced by my reckless driving laid on their horns, but I had no time to stop and apologize.

Every time that happened, I stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.

Damn it.

A sudden summons with a time limit.

I was completely dancing to the tune she had set.

I knew perfectly well this was a trap.

Even so, I had no choice but to walk right into it—because Lee Yuna’s life was at stake.

Kang Juhui saw my power back then. She must’ve figured out long ago that I’m not some C-Rank Hunter.

And yet, she was confident.

That means she thinks she can take me down.

I had a pretty good guess as to how.

No matter how strong a Hunter is, there are modern weapons outside the Gate that can kill in a single shot.

The biggest problem was that Yuna was being held hostage.

That was the only reason Kang Juhui could control the situation.

I have to make it there on time…

I had no intention of letting her lead me by the nose forever.

I prepared every card I could play.

Now there’s no choice but to face her head-on.

To avoid being spotted, I parked the car some distance away and ran to the location myself.

11:35 p.m.

Ten minutes early. That meant Yuna should still be unharmed.

This is it.

One of the seemingly ordinary warehouses.

Creak.

I wanted to rip the door open and storm inside right away, but it wasn’t time yet.

Wait.

**

Kang Juhui stared at the timer.

[ 02 : 55 ]

Barely three minutes left.

He’s taking too long.

She was starting to feel a flicker of unease.

He didn’t… call the police, did he?

Of course, even if the police came, it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

She could just send them away with her ability.

And even if things did escalate, she had a powerful backer behind her.

The real problem is, Choi Changshik’s not the type to just walk into my hands.

Choi Changshik was a monster.

She had experienced his strength firsthand inside the Gate—strong enough to rank at the top even among B-Rank Hunters.

Without a trap like this, killing him would be impossible.

But if he was the kind of cold-blooded bastard who could abandon a comrade to save himself, then the trap would be pointless.

What do I do…

She looked at the unconscious woman tied to a chair.

It was obvious he cared about this woman.

She could tell just from the look on his face during the video call.

Originally, she had planned to kill the woman right in front of him the moment he arrived—

—so that he’d lose control and charge in blindly.

Wait…

Suddenly, an idea struck her.

Yeah. That’s it.

She would make the woman lure Choi Changshik into the trap herself—

and then, at the decisive moment, force her to kill him with her own hands.

Perfect.

Compared to this, her current plan was just a hastily slapped-together piece of trash.

Better this way.

[ 01 : 23 ]

Barely over a minute left.

She was just about to order her men to withdraw when—

VROOOOM!

A loud engine roared closer and closer to the building.

“Hm?”

Screech!

The car stopped right in front of the main gate.

The door began to open slowly.

And through it walked Choi Changshik.

Clack. Clack.

Following her earlier orders, Kang Juhui’s men stationed throughout the warehouse leveled their guns at him.

Changshik glanced around, then quietly raised both hands.

A gesture anyone would read as surrender.

“Ha!”

Seeing that, Kang Juhui let out a short laugh, then burst into loud, echoing laughter that filled the warehouse.

“Hahaha! You! You really came alone? Are you an idiot?”

Changshik said nothing—only stared at her.

Still chuckling, Kang Juhui went on.

“Well, at least it means this woman’s that important to you. Makes the trouble of kidnapping her worth it.”

She caressed Lee Yuna’s face while watching him.

Standing there motionless with both hands raised—he looked like a complete joke.

“Ahaha! That’s the face of someone who never even considered guns. Don’t you think you’re giving up a little too fast? You can resist my hypnosis, but where’s your fighting spirit?”

Until then, Changshik had kept his mouth shut. Now he spoke slowly.

“Why are you so obsessed with me?”

“Huh?”

Kang Juhui’s expression hardened. She took a few steps toward him.

“You really don’t know? What you did?!”

“If letting you live after you tried to kill me is a crime, then that’s my only crime.”

“…What?”

“I was too naïve back then. I should’ve killed you and left your corpse inside the Gate.”

Furious, Kang Juhui screamed.

“You son of a bitch!!”

She fired her pistol at him without hesitation.

Bang—! Bang—!

The gun spat fire and the bullets flew straight toward him.

But—

Ting!

They simply bounced off his body.

“…Huh?”

She stared, dumbfounded.

I definitely hit him.

Why did it look like the bullets were bouncing away?

While she was still confused, Changshik lowered his arms and spoke to her.

“My turn now?”

Startled, Kang Juhui shouted,

“Fire! Shoot him, damn it!”

Ratatatatat!

A hail of bullets poured toward him.

But only a handful even hit him.

He was moving too fast.

Ting! Ting!

Even the lucky hits bounced off harmlessly.

Watching that, Kang Juhui’s mind went blank.

No way… He’s at A-Rank Hunter level?

Only A-Rank physical-enhancement Hunters could shrug off bullets like that.

Impossible!

And yet, he was still charging straight at her.

To her, he looked like death itself approaching.

“S-Stop him!”

The vampires she had created herself—her subordinates threw themselves in his way, but it was only a °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° stalling tactic.

Changshik tore through them mercilessly and closed in.

Terrified, she aimed her gun toward the back and shouted,

“S-Stop! One more step and she dies!”

But Changshik’s reaction was… strange.

He smiled.

“Go ahead. Shoot.”

“…What?”

Had he gone insane?

Slowly, she turned to look behind her.

“W-What the hell…?”

A massive sphere of water was surrounding Lee Yuna.

“Aaahhh!”

Bang—!

Crying out, Kang Juhui fired at Yuna, but the bullet couldn’t pierce the water barrier.

“I told you. You picked the wrong person to mess with.”

Somehow, he was right behind her.

Once the distance was gone, the fight was essentially over.

But I’m not the same as before!

She was no longer a weak, mental-type Hunter.

Now she was a vampire—one who had consumed the blood of dozens.

Physically, she could match a B-Rank physical-enhancement Hunter.

“Don’t touch me—!”

Her nails elongated into sharp claws and raked across his face.

As he flinched and stepped back for an instant, she raised her gun to his head.

Bang—!!

But she had overlooked two things.

First, Changshik also had the specs of a B-Rank physical-enhancement Hunter—and with his skill active, he was several times stronger.

Second, when it came to movement, the gap between them was like an amateur versus a pro.

“…!”

With the smallest motion, he dodged the bullet and vanished from her sight.

Where did he—ugh?!

Thud!

His foot slammed into her ribs.

“Gahk!”

She only realized what had happened when she was already rolling pathetically across the floor.

The searing pain blurred her vision.

I… can’t… breathe…!

It felt like her entire right ribcage had been shattered.

She could barely stay upright.

Then she felt someone grab her hand.

Of course—it was Changshik.

“N-No!”

He wrenched the gun from her grip and twisted her arm without mercy.

Crack.

“Aaagh!”

Her right arm twisted grotesquely from the shoulder down.

Then, with no will left to resist, she screamed as his fingers dug into her eyes.

“Kyaaaahhh!”

Her scream was the signal—ocean water surged into the warehouse, instantly sweeping away her armed subordinates.

**

I’d been lucky.

Kang Juhui still believed my immunity to her hypnosis was entirely my own ability—so she hadn’t tried using it on me at all this time.

And this suit… is incredible.

A warrior-class leather suit gifted by Mountain Guild’s branch leader, Lee Yae-chan.

It really had stopped the bullets.

With my strength boosted by my skill, even getting hit barely made a dent.

He wasn’t exaggerating.

I knew it was tough, but this was the first time I’d confirmed it could block gunfire.

It had been a gamble, but it paid off.

And most importantly—Hong Yura arrived in time.

Thanks to her, I was able to rescue Yuna safely.

Without her ability, it wouldn’t have been this easy.

Splash, splash.

After sweeping everything away, Hong Yura strolled casually into the warehouse.

“Thanks for the help,” I said.

“No need to thank me. I told you before, right? I’d grant you one favor—anything you wanted.”

She slowly looked around the warehouse.

“So… what the hell happened here? Why was Yuna kidnapped, and who’s this woman?”

I glanced at Kang Juhui, sitting with her twisted arm, and sighed.

“It’s a bit of a long story.”

After hearing the rough explanation, Hong Yura nodded.

“So you’re saying these are vampires?”

“I’m not sure. They could just be people under her control.”

“That’s why you told me to avoid killing them. Got it. But why’d you spare her?”

“I’ve got questions for her.”

I climbed onto Kang Juhui’s back, pinning her down, and asked,

“Who turned you into a vampire?”

When I first caught her, she’d been human—not pale like now, and without those sharp fangs.

“Talk. Who made you a vampire?”

Shaking pitifully, blood dripping from her mouth, she said,

“If I tell you… will you let me live?”

“…”

“Promise me. Then I’ll tell you.”

“…I promise I won’t kill you with my own hands.”

“Fine. Ptoo.”

Spitting blood-flecked saliva, she went on,

“Go to the night market and find Black Fang. He’s the one who turned me.”

“…Black Fang.”

For some reason, I had a gut feeling that following this lead would take me straight to the one who’d taken my parents from me twenty years ago.

I couldn’t explain why—it was just instinct.

It wasn’t about settling some old grudge.

I simply couldn’t allow vampires to keep walking this earth.

I let her go and said,

“Noona.”

“Yeah?”

“Yuna was kidnapped because she was close to me. Cheolho-hyung was killed for the same reason.”

Hong Yura nodded in understanding.

“So if we let her go, even our Soo-ah could be in danger.”

“Yeah.”

Hearing us, Kang Juhui blurted desperately,

“W-Wait! That’s not what you promised!”

Hong Yura replied,

“I never made any promises to you. And it’s a Hunter’s duty to eliminate monsters roaming outside the Gate.”

The water pooling around the warehouse began to gather toward Kang Juhui.

Seeing the water soak into her clothes, Kang Juhui screamed,

“Get up! Get up and kill those two bastards right now—!!”