48 chapter - Vampire (3)

Jo Cheolho’s funeral was held in the funeral hall right next to the hospital.

A place where lives were saved, sitting right beside a place for the dead—ironic, really.

Well… efficient, I suppose.

“Unnie!”

“Yuna, you’re here.”

Lee Yumi greeted us with a faint smile.

She looked a little worn out, but her condition was much better than I’d expected—enough to surprise us instead.

It was Yuna, not Yumi, who was on the verge of tears.

“What happened?”

“He was attacked by a monster.”

Yuna muttered in shock.

“M-monster? What kind of monster?”

“I don’t know the details. They suspect it was a monster that escaped from a Gate.”

“I see…”

And then—

“It was a vampire!”

A sudden shout rang out from deeper inside the funeral hall.

“A vampire killed our Cheolho!”

Looking inside, I saw a woman I assumed to be Jo Cheolho’s mother raising her voice at a man and woman in suits.

“What’s the Management Bureau even doing?! A monster’s going around killing people!”

“We’re sorry.”

“Ohhh, my son, my poor son!”

She collapsed, and it was Lee Yumi who caught her.

“Mother, please calm down.”

“Yumi! Please… bring my son back. Hm? With your ability, bring my son back to me.”

“…I’m sorry, Mother.”

“Ohhh…”

She sank to the floor, wailing.

“…I’m going to help my sister.”

“Go ahead.”

Once Yuna left, Hong Soo-ah and I placed our condolence money in the box, went inside, and laid flowers.

The chief mourner was likely Jo Cheolho’s father.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was like to lose a child.

I bowed briefly and stepped outside.

“Phew.”

Maybe because it was the first day of the funeral, the place was still restless. Most of the mourners seemed to be family or close relatives.

If not for Yuna, we probably would have come tomorrow instead.

Thinking we’d just be in the way, I went to Yuna and told her,

“We’ll head out first.”

“Already?”

“I’m planning to come back tomorrow with the others.”

“…Okay. Thanks for bringing me, oppa.”

“Yeah. Hang in there.”

We stepped outside—

and there, I saw the same man and woman in suits from earlier inside the funeral hall.

I found myself walking toward them as if drawn, and I asked,

“Is it true?”

“…Excuse me?”

“What they said about Cheolho hyung being killed by a vampire. Is it true?”

The woman hesitated, then nodded awkwardly.

“The wounds on the neck, the absence of blood in the body, and the gouged-out eyes all match what’s been found so far—”

“Hey! What are you saying?!”

“I—I just…”

The woman looked at me with trembling eyes and asked,

“Are you… family?”

“No.”

“…Oh?”

Startled, she turned to the man—her “team leader”—and bowed.

“I’m sorry! His expression was so furious I thought he must be family…”

What was she talking about?

Furious?

I pulled up my phone’s camera to check my reflection.

Sure enough, staring back at me was the face of a man twisted with rage.

‘What the hell…’

It was… unsettling.

Why was I this angry?

“Let’s be careful,” the team leader said cautiously.

“I understand how you feel, but if you spread what you’ve just heard online, it could interfere with the investigation. We’re narrowing the net, so if you can hold on a bit, we’ll catch the bastard soon.”

“…Please do.”

Even as we walked toward the parking lot, I couldn’t contain the boiling rage in my chest.

That’s when Hong Soo-ah took my hand and asked,

“…Boss, are you okay?”

Calm down.

I got in the car and took deep breaths to steady myself.

After forcing the anger back down, I said,

“I’m fine.”

I dropped Soo-ah off at her parents’ and returned to the officetel.

‘First, I need to reschedule.’

I was supposed to head to Gangwon-do for a job tomorrow.

I called Manager Yoon Sang-ho.

“Manager Yoon?”

[Yes, Hunter Choi Changshik. What’s the matter?]

“I’m going to need to delay my Gate clears.”

[Something happen?]

“Yeah. Yuna’s brother-in-law passed away, so I won’t be able to take any jobs for a few days.”

I heard a short sigh from the other end.

[Then I’ll cancel everything for this week.]

“Yes, please handle it that way.”

After hanging up, I sat blankly on the bed, thinking.

‘Why?’

Why was I this angry?

Sure, Jo Cheolho had been a good guy, and we’d grown somewhat close hanging out and drinking together.

His unfair death was worth being angry over—but for me, someone who wasn’t family, to feel rage this extreme… it was strange.

‘Because my parents were killed by a monster?’

As a kid, I’d dreamed almost every night of watching my parents being attacked by monsters.

The trauma had been deep.

Was it because the news of Jo Cheolho being killed by a vampire had touched that wound?

‘Feels disgusting.’

And then—

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang.

‘…Who?’

At this hour, the only people who’d ring my bell were Yuna or Soo-ah.

But I heard footsteps heading down the stairs immediately afterward.

So it wasn’t them.

Clack.

In front of the door was a small delivery box.

‘Did I order something?’

It was light, and from the sound, something rattled inside.

I cut the tape and opened it—inside was an ordinary smartphone.

‘A phone?’

Just then—

♪♬♩♬~

It rang.

I put it on speaker.

[Hello?]

A woman’s unfamiliar voice.

[Ah, ah. Hunter Choi Changshik, you there?]

I stared at the phone before speaking heavily.

“Who are you?”

[That’s cold. Already forgotten my voice?]

“…”

She spoke cheerfully, like she was enjoying herself.

[It’s me! Kang Juhui. The woman whose eyes you gouged out.]

Kang Juhui—

one of the culprits in the F-Rank Gate disappearance case I’d recently dealt with myself.

[How’s the gift I sent? Hope you liked it.]

“This phone?”

[Hm? Ahaha. Guess you haven’t seen it yet. There’s a video stored on there. I’ll call you back later—watch it first. That’s the real gift.]

The call cut off.

‘A video?’

I didn’t like dancing to a criminal’s tune, but I couldn’t ignore it now that I knew. I checked the phone’s gallery.

“…”

The moment I saw the man’s face, I froze like stone.

He was tied to a chair, glancing around in fear.

[Hey. Don’t look away—look here.]

Kang Juhui’s voice from behind the camera.

The man looked straight into the lens.

[W-what is this?]

[Shut up. Just answer what I ask. You’re “Jo Cheolho,” right?]

Jo Cheolho nodded in terror.

[Good. Now, you’re going to die.]

[…What?]

[Let me tell you why—you can thank someone named “Choi Changshik.” You know him, right?]

His trembling eyes filled the frame.

When he didn’t answer, she pushed,

[Answer.]

[I—I do.]

[Good. That bastard gouged my eyes out. Bad guy, huh?]

There was a clatter—she was picking something up.

And then she came into view, holding a scalpel.

[And it seems you’re pretty chummy with that piece of trash.]

[D-don’t come any closer!]

He struggled desperately, but couldn’t escape her grip.

[You have such pretty eyes. Worth taking.]

[AAAHHH!]

[Hold still. I can’t take them out cleanly if you keep moving.]

[GYAAAHHH!]

With bloody hands, she held the eyes up to the camera.

[Don’t they look delicious?]

Then she shoved them into her mouth.

I didn’t stop the video. I didn’t look away.

From the conversation, it was clear—Jo Cheolho had died because of me.

Because he’d been friendly with me. Because I hadn’t killed Kang Juhui when I had the chance—choosing instead to feed some pathetic sense of justice.

[Mmm. Just as tasty as I thought. Too good to keep to myself.]

I kept my eyes on the screen to stoke my anger.

[P-please, let me go…]

[Nope.]

She toyed with him like a plaything, then mounted the chair, camera in hand.

[Now for the finale.]

She winked at the camera and bit into his neck.

[AAAHHH!]

His scream echoed—

and over it, another scene bled into my vision.

“Jihoon, run! Now!”

I was back in that nightmare.

My mother, screaming as a monster sank its teeth into her neck.

“…Why?”

Something was different this time.

The darkness that always hid the monster’s face was gone.

It was the face of an ordinary man—

a human-shaped monster with fangs buried in my mother’s throat.

“…Ah.”

I remembered.

‘It was a vampire.’

It had been a vampire that took my parents from me.

The nightmare ended, and I was back in brutal reality.

Tears dripped onto the blackened phone screen.

Then the screen lit up again—this time, a video call.

I wiped my eyes and answered.

[How was my gift? Did you like it?]

“…”

Seeing my face, Kang Juhui’s voice brimmed with glee.

[That expression! That rage-twisted face—I’m so glad I went to the trouble of filming it.]

“Listen.”

I glared into the screen, enunciating each word.

“You picked the wrong person to fuck with.”

[Puhaha. God, this is fun. Hearing your voice when you’re too angry to think—it’s bliss.]

“Wherever you are, I will find you. And I will kill you.”

She grinned.

[Then you’d better hurry. If you don’t, you’ll lose someone else.]

“…What?”

She turned the camera—

Tied to a chair was a very familiar woman.

Lee Yuna.

[If you don’t hurry, she’s going to die. Just like that man.]

“If you so much as lay a finger on ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) her, I’ll—”

[Relax. If you get here within an hour, she’ll be fine. Promise.]

A text message came through—with an address.

[Better hurry. It’s just over an hour from your place, so you’ll need to speed if you want to save her.]

She checked her watch.

[One hour starting now. Rea-dy… go!]