47 chapter - Vampire (2)
The next morning, after eating an early breakfast and setting out, we managed to finish clearing the Gate before eleven.
We dropped Im Jin-sol and Seong Yohan off at headquarters and were on our way home.
♪♬♩♬~
[Hong Yura]
It was Hong Yura again.
“Hello?”
[Changshik, is Soo-ah there?]
“Yes. She’s right next to me.”
[Phew. I thought so. Can you put her on the phone?]
I shook Hong Soo-ah awake from where she was dozing beside me.
She blinked at me with sleepy eyes.
“I’ll hand you the phone.”
I spoke toward the receiver, then held the phone up to Hong Soo-ah’s ear.
Soo-ah took it with a faintly annoyed expression.
“…Mm.”
“…No.”
“…Yeah.”
“…Got it.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear and tried to go back to sleep, apparently done with the call.
But when I brought the receiver to my ear, the voice on the other end was still going.
[—So you have to come home today, all right?]
“It’s me.”
[…Where’s Soo-ah?]
“She went back to sleep.”
[…You two aren’t… sleeping together or anything, right?]
“No. We’re on our way back after a clear. In the car.”
[Didn’t you finish the clear yesterday and come back?]
“The schedule ran long, so we stayed overnight at headquarters and went for the clear this morning.”
[I see… She doesn’t tell me a thing… Good grief.]
The conversation with Hong Yura dragged on.
[Make sure you tell her. She has to come home today.]
“…Yes.”
[I’m counting on you.]
“Yes.”
By the time the call finally ended, I felt a wave of fatigue I hadn’t had before.
She was a surprisingly talkative woman.
No wonder Hong Soo-ah avoided her calls.
Lee Yuna, who had been quietly waiting beside me, asked,
“Is Soo-ah unnie going home today?”
“Yeah. We couldn’t have dinner together today anyway, so it works out.”
It would’ve been awkward to take Soo-ah along to persuade Yuna’s family, after all.
Traffic was heavier than usual thanks to the expressway toward Seoul, but we still reached Seoul National University Hospital before one.
“Manager, you know Soo-ah’s home address, right?”
“Yes, yes. Isn’t it the Xi Apartments right near her officetel?”
“That’s right. Please take her home.”
“Sure thing. Good work today.”
Soo-ah waved, and I waved back.
“Be careful, unnie!”
After sending her off, we headed to the meeting place.
Someone was already there waiting—and it was a face I recognized.
“Hunter Choi Changshik! Over here!”
“Huh?”
“Been a while, hasn’t it?”
It was a Management Bureau employee I’d met back in the Rapid Erosion Gate, shortly after I’d taken over Choi Changshik’s body.
Yuna looked surprised.
“You know my brother-in-law?”
“Brother-in-law?”
“Yes.”
“Then… your sister is—”
That’s when—
“Nice to see you.”
A voice as smooth and clear as marbles rolling on a silver tray.
I turned to see a woman in a doctor’s coat smiling and holding out her hand.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we, Mr. Changshik?”
It was the same woman who had treated me when I was on the verge of death.
I just stared blankly at Yuna, unable to give a proper reply.
‘No wonder I thought they looked so much alike.’
I’d been too busy lately to remember.
“What’s wrong, oppa?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Yuna’s sister said,
“My arm’s going to fall off. Are you just going to leave me hanging like this?”
I quickly took her hand.
“Sorry. I’m Choi Changshik, the one responsible for the party Yuna’s in.”
“I’m Lee Yumi. Please take care of our Yuna. But…”
Her eyes scanned me up and down, stopping at my side.
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
“…What?”
“Here. You have a bullet lodged in you.”
“A bullet?”
I glanced at where she pointed and remembered.
“Ah—”
About a month ago, when the Snow Leopard appeared in a Gate, some lunatic had come in—his bullet was still stuck in my side.
Lee Yumi peered at it.
“It’d be hard to remove here. Come to the hospital sometime and I’ll take it out for you.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
“Anyway, let’s eat first.”
After thinking a moment, she asked,
“Can you eat seafood?”
“I can eat anything.”
“There’s a place nearby that’s great for nak-gop-sae. Let’s go there.”
It was packed enough that we had to take a number and wait.
While we waited, Yuna’s brother-in-law, Lee Yumi’s husband, spoke up.
“I never introduced myself back then. I’m Jo Cheolho.”
“Ah, yes. Choi Changshik.”
Jo Cheolho grinned.
“You’ve gotten really famous, haven’t you? I was shocked seeing you on TV.”
“I was just lucky.”
“No, it’s the reward for living righteously.”
He was laying on the praise thick.
“I can still picture you throwing yourself into that Gate, risking your life. You were a real hero.”
“It wasn’t that big a deal. I only went in because I knew I could clear it.”
“Confidence or not, most people wouldn’t enter an already eroding Gate. That takes real courage. It’s a dangerous thing.”
He sounded genuinely sincere.
Honestly, it felt good.
It was nice to have someone recognize what I’d done.
“In that situation, anyone would’ve done the same. It could’ve turned into a serious incident.”
“No.”
He shook his head firmly.
“I meet a lot of Hunters through my job. People willing to throw themselves in without hesitation, like you, aren’t common.”
Just then, the server called us.
“Party 114, come in.”
The smell inside hit immediately.
Seeing people devour their food at the tables raised my expectations even more.
“Four servings of nak-gop-sae, please.”
“Sure.”
When the food came, it was a feast for the eyes—whole octopus, big shrimp, a rich broth packed with seafood and knife-cut noodles.
“Thank you for the meal.”
I tasted the broth first.
Slurp.
Spicy, savory warmth seemed to wash the fatigue from my body.
“Wow, this is really good.”
“Eat up.”
Once we’d eaten our fill, Jo Cheolho started in again with my “hero” story, recounting the Rapid Erosion Gate incident in exhausting detail.
Yuna chimed in with perfect timing, clearly enjoying herself.
“That really happened? Wow, oppa, you’re amazing.”
As the so-called protagonist, I kept my head down and ate. The nak-gop-sae really was excellent.
Near the end of the meal, Lee Yumi spoke.
“Let’s get to the point. I want Yuna to quit being a Hunter.”
“Unnie!”
“You, hush.”
With a commanding tone that silenced Yuna, she turned to me.
“I know you’re a very skilled Hunter. The fact you’ve been scouted by a big guild like Mountain proves that.
And I can tell you’re a righteous person. This man—” she glanced at her husband— “constantly complains about Hunters, and you’re the first one he’s praised.”
“Hey!”
She shot him a playful look, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) then turned serious again.
“But that’s what worries me—your willingness to throw yourself in for others.”
“…?”
Seeing my confusion, she clarified,
“When the leader moves, the party members move with him. If you willingly take risks for justice, our Yuna will be in danger too.”
So that was it—she was dressing up “recklessness” as “righteousness.”
“Am I wrong?”
It felt like sitting across from a disapproving father-in-law.
But I couldn’t back down.
‘I can’t lose Yuna like this.’
At this point, her abilities were indispensable—healing, mental resistance, spirit attacks, detox. Every known skill was invaluable.
I had to convince her.
“Hunting is dangerous. You never know what will happen in a Gate.”
“That’s what I—”
“But I have the ability to handle those dangers. And our party was scouted by Mountain as a group—every member is skilled.”
She stayed silent, listening.
“And I won’t risk the party’s safety for some sense of justice. I always put their safety first.”
“From what I saw that day—bloodied and half-dead—I can’t say I believe that.”
“Just as I went into the Gate to save people that day, I’ll do everything I can to protect my party.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“So you’re saying you’d even lay down your life for our Yuna. Did I hear that right?”
“My party members won’t be put in danger while I’m still breathing.”
“…Hmm.”
She went quiet, thinking—until her phone rang loudly.
“Yes, this is Lee Yumi. Yes. Yes.”
Her expression turned grave. She stood.
“There’s an emergency patient. I need to get to the ER right now. Honey, can you take care of the bill?”
“Uh, yeah.”
She looked at me before leaving.
“With that kind of confidence, I think I can trust you. Take care of Yuna.”
And she was gone.
Yuna spoke up.
“Uh… that was her giving permission, right?”
“Sounds like it. Congrats, sister-in-law.”
I let out a small sigh of relief.
Jo Cheolho grinned.
“Now that you’ve got the green light, should we celebrate?”
I smirked.
“Sounds good.”
We spent the whole day using that as an excuse—bowling, karaoke, a movie, dinner, drinks.
By the end, I was on first-name terms with Jo Cheolho.
“Let’s hang out again, Changshik!”
“Yeah, hyung. Let’s meet up on another day off.”
“Definitely!”
It had been a long time since I’d enjoyed myself like that.
After putting him in a taxi, Yuna and I called a driver service for the ride back.
“Isn’t my brother-in-law a great guy?”
“Yeah. He seems like a really good person.”
The kind of person who put you at ease.
“Tell him I want to hang out with him again.”
“Okay.”
Jo Cheolho really was a good guy. The kind you’d want to spend more time with.
But—
Two weeks later.
We’d just finished an F-Rank Gate clear and were heading home as usual when Yuna got a call.
“Unnie? What is it?”
Her face drained of color as she listened.
“…What? Are you serious?”
She stared blankly ahead.
“…Hyungbu… is dead?”
From the receiver came the faint sound of Lee Yumi’s sobbing.