"What on earth is going on!"
Lee Moon-hyun, the head of the Korean Black Cross, shouted at the executives gathered in the conference room. The usually mild-mannered man, who resembled the friendly neighbour next door, now had a fierce expression on his face, his anger palpable. The conference room fell silent as if a mouse had died.
The seven executives bowed their heads, avoiding eye contact with Lee Moon-hyun.
"Director Baek!"
"…Yes, sir."
Baek Ji-wook, the head of the Investigation Departnt, stepped forward. The Korean Black Cross is divided into three departnts: Support, Investigation, and Combat. Baek Ji-wook was the top manager of the Investigation Departnt, which was responsible for investigating vampires. They track down vampires hiding in various places and investigate incidents suspected to be caused by vampires.
"You tell ! What the hell is going on!"
Baek Ji-wook suppressed a sigh. The atmosphere in the headquarters was tense. He couldn't afford to make a mistake. He recalled the incident that had occurred two hours ago and began to speak.
"...At around 11:10 AM today, the headquarters' commuter bus suddenly accelerated and crashed into the entrance of the building. The casualties include Hunter Park Ki-joo, who died, and Hunter Jo Joo-hyun, who is in critical condition and remains in a coma. The cause of the bus's sudden acceleration is still under investigation…"
"…Director Baek Ji-wook. I'm warning you. If you're going to spout nonsense like that, just leave the room right now!"
"…I apologize. While nothing is confird yet, we are treating this incident as a terrorist attack by a vampire and have begun our investigation. The bus was empty. It seems that a vampire progenitor used their psychic abilities to carry out the bus attack."
"Now you're making sense. It's your job, as the Investigation Departnt, to find out who this vampire progenitor is… What's their ability?"
"We suspect it's telekinesis."
"Telekinesis? That's ridiculous! The bus didn't fly—it drove! The wheels were turning. And you're saying it's telekinesis? Are you ssing with ?"
"It's possible that they used telekinesis to precisely control the bus's movent."
"Fine. Let's say that's the case. But the bus crashed at 300 km/h. Does that make any sense to you?! The bus was moving at the speed of a KTX train!"
"…We will investigate thoroughly."
"How?"
"We'll call in 80% of our investigators nationwide to track down every vampire hiding in Seoul."
"That's not enough. Call in half of the hunters spread across the country as well. And comb through all nearby CCTV footage to find the culprit."
Huff, huff.
Lee Moon-hyun let out a rough breath. His fierce expression softened slightly after venting his anger.
"…Combat Director."
"Yes."
"Tell the hunters to be careful. If the headquarters has been openly attacked, do you think other places won't be targeted? For now, they should move in groups of three."
"Understood."
"How's Jo Joo-hyun?"
"He's currently in surgery. The doctors say the success rate is less than 30%."
"…We'll have to pray to God. Assign hunters to guard Jo Joo-hyun. And Support Director."
"Yes, sir."
"Contact the National Intelligence Service and request their assistance. This is a declaration of war from a vampire, but from Korea's perspective, it's a terrorist attack by vampires, so they'll act decisively."
Lee Moon-hyun stood up abruptly.
"I'm going to the Blue House."
He glared at the assembled executives and said,
"…This attack is an unprecedented crisis in the history of the Korean Black Cross. I don't need to tell you how urgent this situation is. Find the culprit and kill them. If we let these vampires think we're weak, Korea will be in trouble… I trust you all understand what that ans."
Lee Moon-hyun left the room.
Due to the unexpected intervention of soone, fate began to take a different turn.
***
Moon Ji-hyuk scratched his head as he looked at the traffic officer in front of him.
Officer Yang Jung-min. With her neat hairstyle that reached her collarbone, she had a very kind appearance, but lately, he had been running into her every day. It wasn't intentional. It was just a coincidence. The problem was that the coincidence was happening so frequently that he was starting to wonder if it was fate.
"Mr. Moon Ji-hyuk. Why do you keep following ? Are you a stalker?"
"I'm on the side that catches stalkers. I'm not following you; I'm here on business."
"What business?"
"The high-speed bus collision that happened today."
"What about it? Are you handling that case?"
"No, it's not our departnt's case… It's just that sothing feels off. I saw the CCTV footage, and the bus was moving way too fast for a sudden acceleration. Plus, it looked like there was no one in the driver's seat…"
On the internet, it was being called the "possessed bus." Rumours were spreading that a vengeful ghost had possessed the bus and caused the crash. The mysterious nature of the incident was drawing a lot of public attention.
'…It sounds absurd, but if vampires exist in this world, then ghosts might exist too. Plus, the atmosphere at the police station is unusually quiet about this accident.'
Even though the incident had occurred within his precinct, the police station was acting as if nothing had happened.
"Well… The traffic chief told us not to worry about it, so… we don't know much."
"I see…"
Sothing felt off.
In the past, he would have just listened and moved on since it wasn't his departnt's case, but now he felt a sense of unease.
'Maybe the governnt has known about vampires for a long ti. And… if this incident was caused by a vampire…?'
Moon Ji-hyuk decided to take so ti to personally and carefully investigate the case.
"Alright. I'll be going now."
"Wait a second. Take this with you. It's delicious."
Yang Jung-min approached him. For a mont, her intoxicating scent struck his nose, startling him.
"Huh!"
"…What's wrong? Do you not like green grape candy?"
"Oh, no. I'll eat it. Thanks."
Moon Ji-hyuk quickly stepped away from Yang Jung-min.
'…I'm going crazy. Thinking a woman's neck looks delicious… I really feel like I've beco a vampire. I need to turn back into a human soon.'
It was a desire that seed to blend lust and hunger.
Moon Ji-hyuk felt ashad of his sudden urge and raised his hand to cover his face, but then he felt a chill and quickly lowered it.
A vampire's body temperature was lower than a human's.
'This is terrifying.'
***
As evening began to fall, I entered Yooksung-dong. Located on the outskirts of Seoul, this area is commonly known as a "moon village." And among moon villages, this one has the worst security.
Entertainnt establishnts line the streets, and there are secretly operated illegal brothels. Yooksung-dong is also ho to many gangsters and ethnic Koreans from China.
'A brothel… Should I check it out?'
But I quickly dismissed the thought. The entertainnt establishnts here were clearly low-quality. The brothels wouldn't be any different. Visiting a prostitute here would only waste my ti and leave disappointed.
'I'd be better off spending that ti elsewhere.'
As I walked down an alley, I spotted a shabby pawnshop. The house was filled with junk, and the sky-blue gate was heavily rusted. The word "Pawnshop" was roughly spray-painted in red on the gate.
I pressed the doorbell next to the gate. A ding sounded, followed by an old man's voice.
"...Co in."
I opened the gate and entered. The yard was filled with all sorts of odds and ends, along with a few container boxes. It looked more like a junk shop than a pawnshop.
I walked toward the shabby house that looked like it could collapse at any mont. When I opened the door and entered, the interior was nicer than I had expected. Still, it was clear that it was a pawnshop, with decent items on display.
"You're here. Over here."
A man in his 60s was sitting at a wooden table. He was short and his face was wrinkled, but his eyes were sharp.
I glanced at the two n standing on either side of Kang Wook-sung. The pale-faced n were glaring at , silently warning not to try anything.
I walked over to the table and sat down across from him.
"...You're younger than I expected. How old are you?"
"21. Where's the money?"
"Under the table."
I leaned to the side and looked under the table. There was a box filled with bundles of 50,000 won bills.
"As promised, it's 400 million won. Where's the list?"
I placed the backpack I was carrying on the table and unzipped it, spilling its contents. Several bankbooks and a USB drive fell out.
"The money in the bankbooks needs to be laundered, and the list is on the USB. Check it."
Kang Wook-sung gestured to the man next to him, who plugged the USB into a laptop on the table and began reviewing the data.
The list was accurate.
There were a total of 913 mbers of the Korean Black Cross, including 174 professional vampire hunters.
The list contained their nas, addresses, phone numbers, and combat records.
'…Co to think of it, this is probably worth over 3 billion won.'
I quickly dismissed the thought. If I had asked for 3 billion, Kang Wook-sung might not have agreed to the deal.
After about 10 minutes, the vampire spoke to Kang Wook-sung.
"...The list is accurate. It matches our information and is even more detailed."
Kang Wook-sung nodded.
"Take the money. The remaining 600 million will be ready in three days."
"Oh. Thanks."
I began neatly packing the bundles of money into my backpack. I had prepared a sturdy 200,000 won backpack for this purpose.
"How did you get this?"
"What do you think a hacker does? I hacked it."
"…Do you think we haven't tried hacking? The Black Cross uses its own network in each country. Hacking is impossible unless you physically break into their building and search their computers."
"There's always a way. You just don't know it."
"What's the way?"
"That's my secret. Think about it yourself. There are many possibilities. One of them is… maybe a traitor within the Black Cross tead up with ?"
The money was exactly 400 million won.
I zipped up my backpack and stood up.
'Now that I have the money, I should go to Young Hye-jeong. Let's have so real fun this ti.'
I couldn't help but laugh.
'To Young Hye-jeong, let's gooooo!'
I quickly prepared to leave the house.
"Taker. Can I ask you sothing?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Why are you in such a hurry to get money? What are you planning to do with it?"
I smirked. I thought it was probably the coolest smile I'd ever made in my life.
"To beco a king."
***
"That guy… He's not normal. Wouldn't it be better to kill him now before he becos a problem in the future?"
"...."
Kang Wook-sung quietly pondered the suggestion made by the vampire standing beside him.
He was dangerous.
That much was certain.
Sohow, he had obtained the Black Cross's list. If he had truly hacked it, then even the vampire organization Kantra could be at risk of being hacked by him.
'The good thing is that he's not on good terms with the Black Cross.'
That ant there was still a possibility of him becoming an ally.
There were many humans, not vampires, who cooperated with Kantra. Humans were creatures who would join hands with monsters if it benefited them.
"…No. Taker is not an enemy. Above all, his abilities are too valuable to kill. It would be better to maintain a steady business relationship with him."
"Should we assign soone to tail him?"
"No, don't follow him. Didn't you see how Taker treated us? He's not an ordinary guy. He knew this place could be a death trap, yet he walked in confidently. He must have sothing up his sleeve. And…"
Kang Wook-sung replayed the recent mory in his mind.
Kang Eugene's voice, tone, expression, and gaze. Combining all of that, he ca to one conclusion.
"That guy's insane. He genuinely doesn't fear us. I've seen a few people with eyes like that before."
"...What do you an?"
"People with eyes like that fall into two categories: either they're insane murderers, or they're monsters greater than us."
Kang Wook-sung swallowed his next words. That the guy's eyes were similar to the boss's.
"Identify all the Black Cross mbers on the list and keep an eye on them from a distance. Tell the underlings not to provoke the hunters."
The man seed displeased with the order, slightly furrowing his brow.
"Should we just leave the hunters alone?"
"If you want to remove a beehive, you need the right safety equipnt. Especially if it's a hornet's nest. The Korean Black Cross is backed by the South Korean governnt. If we act carelessly, we'll be the ones in danger. This isn't Africa or South Arica. Be careful not to ss things up by acting recklessly."
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