54 chapter - Preliminary Skirmish (4)
Waaaahhhhnk.
The siren wailed as a police cruiser pulled up, the young rookie officer at the wheel gripping it with a stiff, nervous face.
“Officer Kim, no need to be so tense.”
“But Sergeant Park… the caller said they heard someone being murdered next door…”
Sergeant Park smirked.
“Last year, wasn’t it? We got almost the exact same report. We rushed out just like tonight. And guess what it turned out to be?”
“…What was it?”
“A movie. Neighbors watching a gangster flick at full volume.”
“Hahaha.”
Park patted the rookie’s shoulder as he chuckled awkwardly.
“Most of the time, nine out of ten of these turn out to be nothing. So relax.”
“Yes, sir! We’ve arrived at the location!”
“Good work.”
The report had come from Unit 302 at Best Officetel. Park casually glanced up toward the third floor of the building.
“…Huh?”
What caught his eye was a completely shattered window.
His expression tightened.
“…Looks like something really did happen.”
“What do we do?”
Officer Kim was equally grave, pacing anxiously at his side.
They quickly entered the building and reached the door of 302.
Ding-dong.
They waited, but no answer came.
Instead of pressing the bell again, Park knocked firmly.
“This is the police!”
Bang, bang, bang.
“Please open the door!”
Hurried footsteps approached from inside.
Park placed a hand on his pistol, just in case.
Click.
The door opened to reveal a man with a deeply troubled look on his face.
“…What is this about?” he asked.
Park stared him down suspiciously.
“We received a report. May we take a quick look inside your home?”
The man visibly flinched.
“Th-that might be a problem…”
“Excuse us just for a moment.”
“Wait!”
Park tried to push in, but stopped short in surprise.
The man’s strength holding the door was no joke.
Now that he looked closely, the man’s body was sculpted muscle.
Muscular?
And only then did he realize the man was wearing nothing but underwear.
“Why are you—”
He was about to ask why he was half-naked when—
“Baby? What’s going on?”
A woman in her underwear appeared from what looked like the bedroom.
“!!!”
Her figure was flawless, her skin pale and vibrant—like something straight out of a lingerie catalog.
She planted a hand on her hip, utterly shameless, and demanded,
“And who are you?”
“Uh, w-well—”
While Officer Kim fumbled, face red as a beet, Sergeant Park recovered himself.
“We got a report claiming screams of someone being killed were heard here.”
“Oh my.”
The woman gave a clear, easy laugh.
“Sorry. We tend to get a little… intense when we make love. Sometimes I can’t quite control myself…”
Crack!
She casually tapped the wooden table beside her—and it splintered apart.
That strength was no joke. Clearly an Awakened.
“We make all sorts of noise. I suppose my voice might sound like screaming. We were in the middle of it just now, actually…”
Park blanched at her unabashed words and hastily pulled back.
He had already glimpsed the inside past her—yes, the window was shattered, but otherwise the place was spotless.
Not a single trace of blood.
If there had been a real murder, there would have been some sign. Maybe the woman’s story was true.
They really go all out.
Doing it right by the balcony, with the window breaking and all.
Still, nothing else seemed amiss.
“My apologies. Next time, please try to be a little more mindful of your neighbors when you… engage.”
Flustered, Park grabbed the rookie, who was still sneaking glances at the woman, by the ear and dragged him away.
“Ow, ow! Sergeant Park, that hurts!”
“Behave yourself, unless you want to get hauled in for sexual harassment!”
“Aagh!”
Back downstairs, Officer Kim let out a goofy grin.
“Just like you said, Sergeant. Nothing serious at all.”
“Tch. Kids these days, no shame.”
“Honestly, I thought she was some kind of celebrity. Heh. At least I got an eyeful tonight.”
“Eyeful my ass! You’ll land in jail if you keep that up. Don’t you know how quick your life can be ruined these days?”
Chastised, the rookie ducked his head.
“Sorry.”
“Good grief.”
As he walked, staring at the ground, something nagged at him.
“…Wait.”
He glanced between the ground and the shattered window of 302.
Why isn’t there any broken glass?
If the window had been smashed from inside, shards should be scattered outside.
But the ground was perfectly clean.
Did they already clean it up?
As he mulled it over—
“What are you doing! Hurry up!”
“C-coming!”
**
“Are they gone?”
“Yes.”
“Phew.”
We’d shoved the vampire corpses into the bedroom.
If the cops had come a bit further inside, it would’ve been disaster.
I turned to Hong Yura.
“That was close.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You put on quite the show.”
“So did you.”
We looked at each other in our underwear and gave a helpless laugh.
“Still, we got something out of it.”
“What’s that?”
“They have ranks. From mindless vampires up through lowest-rank, low-rank, mid-rank, and high-rank.”
“High-rank is the top?”
“Don’t know if there’s more above that yet. But according to them, mid-rank vampires have the power of B-Rank Hunters.”
“B-Rank?”
“Yeah.”
“Then high-rank could match A-Ranks.”
“Exactly. Luckily, it seems there aren’t that many of them. They’re obsessive even about one low-rank corpse going missing.”
Yura stroked her chin with a serious look.
I continued.
“And there’s more.”
“What else?”
“It seems when Hunters—Awakened who already hold mana—become vampires, they gain even greater strength than ordinary ones of the same rank.”
“…What?”
She thought hard for a moment, then said,
“First thing: contact the guild.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Take these bodies, report everything, and tell Director Lee Yechan that Hong Yura of Taeseong Guild has made an official request for cooperation.”
I looked at her as she gathered her clothes.
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to say that yourself? Why not come with me and explain at headquarters?”
“No. I have something else to do.”
“Something else?”
She winked.
“Something only I can do.”
Fully dressed before I realized, she waved a hand a few times—then vaulted out the window.
Vrooooom!
A red Lamborghini roared off into the night.
Different car than the last one I’d seen her with.
“…Haa.”
With a pounding headache, I picked up my phone and called Lee Yechan.
He answered before the third ring.
[This is Lee Yechan, Director of the Mountain Guild.]
“…Director.”
[Ah, it’s you.]
“I need to speak with you urgently. Could you send a collection truck to my address—for monster corpses?”
[At this hour? What happened?]
“I’ll explain in person.”
[If you drag me out here and it’s something trivial, I’ll be very disappointed.]
“You won’t be disappointed.”
[We’ll see. I’ll be expecting something big.]
“Yes.”
Soon, a truck bearing the Mountain Guild emblem arrived.
We loaded up the frozen mid-rank vampire and the eight other corpses, and headed for headquarters.
By the time we arrived it was a little past 3 a.m.
Despite the hour, the guild compound was lit bright as day.
“Hey!”
Lee Yechan himself came out to the parking lot to greet us.
As the truck stopped, he climbed straight into the cargo bed.
His face stiffened when he saw the block of ice inside.
“…A person? Don’t tell me you killed someone?”
The vampires looked perfectly human on the outside.
“They’re not human. They’re vampires.”
“Vampires?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but—”
He cut me off.
“No. I believe you.”
At the word vampire, his face turned deadly serious.
“Let’s talk upstairs.”
We went up to his office and laid out everything we’d learned.
He listened grimly before finally speaking.
“You’ve uncovered a lot.”
“…?”
“To correct a few errors: only the lowest-rank die from sunlight. By low-rank, it just weakens their stats.”
I froze at his words.
“And becoming a low-rank doesn’t instantly make you C-Rank Hunter level. To raise physical abilities that much, you’d need to drain at least dozens of people.”
He knew more about vampires than I did.
How?
Thoughts spiraled until the worst-case scenario struck me.
What if even Lee Yechan is in league with the vampires…?
We already suspected Ryu Sumin of the Taeseong Guild might be tied to them.
Why not Lee Yechan too?
If that’s the case, I’m done.
Lee Yechan was a monster who could slice through a forest.
Could I possibly face something like that?
No.
My body was seizing up with tension when Lee Yechan smiled and said,
“Barely a month in the guild, and you bring back a live mid-rank vampire. More than I expected.”
Fortunately, his words weren’t what a collaborator would say.
They were what an enemy of the vampires would say.
He continued,
“From now on, no need to bother capturing them alive. Just kill them on the spot. We already know everything we need about them.”
“You’ll kill the mid-rank we captured too?”
“Of course. The bodies get incinerated.”
“Then let Yuna drink its blood first.”
At that, his expression hardened.
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
A wave of killing intent lashed toward Yuna.
She flinched and shrank back, and I quickly cut in.
“Wait. I’ll explain.”
I realized I hadn’t told him about her yet, and hurriedly recounted everything.
Lee Yechan frowned.
“She became a vampire, but in the daytime she reverts to human?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk, face thoughtful.
“When she’s in vampire form, has she attacked anyone?”
I answered firmly.
“Never.”
“No baring fangs? No clawing or striking like a beast? No signs of aggression at all? Be honest.”
“Not once.”
He leaned back, arms crossed, sinking into his chair.
“That’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“Once, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) a Hunter became a vampire. He was lucky enough to kill a low-rank right away and inherit its power.”
I asked,
“And?”
“He changed completely. He kept his memories and could speak, but he became a vampire through and through. He attacked people, craved blood. He was nothing but a monster.”
Lee Yechan glanced at Yuna, murmuring to himself,
“So why does she seem perfectly fine?”
The silence grew heavy.
After a long pause, I spoke, breaking it.
“Maybe it’s thanks to Yuna’s ability.”