Chapter 53 – 053. Vampire Detective
053. Vampire Detective
“Wait, Ji-hyuk! Your phone… Ah!”
Yang Jung-min called out to him, but Moon Ji-hyuk was already running far away.
Yang Jung-min stomped her feet in frustration, and when Moon Ji-hyuk’s smartphone vibrated, she couldn’t help but check it.
“…Taker?”
Taker – Detective Moon! Don’t try to catch him yourself! Leave it to the experts! That bastard is wearing a bomb vest. And it’s still daytime! That bastard is planning to die there.
“…A bomb vest?”
Yang Jung-min’s face turned pale. She glanced at the Saebyeok Group headquarters once, bit her lip, and started running.
‘Ji-hyuk will definitely push himself too hard! I have to stop him!’
***
I sipped my coffee at a café with a good view of the Saebyeok Group headquarters. Through the window, I could see Moon Ji-hyuk running towards the headquarters and Yang Jung-min belatedly chasing after him.
‘Moon Ji-hyuk can’t stop the bomb. He couldn’t in the original story, and the situation is even worse than the original now.’
In the original drama, Ji An-seok is caught by Moon Ji-hyuk. Before he can detonate himself, the vampire’s superior physical abilities completely subdue him.
The problem is the bomb Ji An-seok had planted in advance at the Saebyeok Group headquarters. That can’t be stopped.
‘And I unknowingly helped Ji An-seok a bit.’
I deliberately gave Moon Ji-hyuk, who was investigating Ji An-seok, misleading information. Moon Ji-hyuk believed me more than I thought he would.
Originally, Ji An-seok would avoid Moon Ji-hyuk’s pursuit and wander around before arriving at the headquarters around evening when the sun began to set.
‘Since there was no pursuit from Moon Ji-hyuk, Ji An-seok arrived quickly. There are still two hours left before sunset.’
Vampires have weaker physical abilities than normal humans during the day when the sun is up.
Unlike in the original drama, he wouldn’t be able to subdue Ji An-seok with his vampire strength. On the contrary, there was a high chance that Ji An-seok would subdue him.
‘Hmm. This coffee is not good.’
Soon, the police arrived and began forcibly evacuating the citizens. The police special forces would arrive soon as well.
‘Should I go to Young Hye-jung today?’
I fiddled with my smartphone, staring at the Saebyeok Group headquarters building. I wanted to see the over 100-meter-tall building explode with my own eyes.
***
“Stop it, Ji An-seok!”
Ji An-seok had just finished checking the bombs he had planted in the restroom when a breathless man suddenly appeared and blocked his path.
Ji An-seok frowned. He was sure he was proceeding with his plan without anyone knowing, but from some point, police cars had started arriving at the Saebyeok Group headquarters and evacuating the citizens. He couldn’t figure out where he had made a mistake. Were the South Korean police always this competent?
“Are you a cop?”
“Yes. I’m a detective. Ji An-seok. What you’re doing is wrong. It’s not too late. Stop it.”
“Well… I think it’s way too late.”
Ji An-seok pulled out a gun from his pocket and aimed it at the man. Moon Ji-hyuk flinched and took a step back.
“A detective who doesn’t even carry a gun. I’m not interested in you, so get out of my way.”
“Are you going to involve countless people in your revenge!”
“It can’t be helped. And if I kill the Saebyeok Group chairman’s family, I won’t detonate the bombs I planted. Get out of my way.”
“…Planted bombs?”
“You didn’t know that? I already infiltrated as a janitor and planted bombs all over the building. Like I said, if I kill the chairman’s family properly, I won’t detonate the bombs. So get out of my way.”
“Ugh…!”
Moon Ji-hyuk looked into Ji An-seok’s eyes and groaned. Those were the eyes of someone who had already accepted death. It was clear that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t work.
‘His goal is ultimately the Saebyeok Group chairman’s family. If I get out of the way here… Ji An-seok won’t detonate the bombs. Sacrificing the few for the many… Damn it. As a detective, am I supposed to turn a blind eye to a terrorist?’
The thing Moon Ji-hyuk hated the most was sacrificing the few for the many. Moon Ji-hyuk wanted to save everything, big and small.
“……”
Ji An-seok walked forward, aiming his gun at Moon Ji-hyuk. He didn’t have time to waste confronting a single detective. And Ji An-seok had absolute confidence. He had a gun, and Moon Ji-hyuk was empty-handed.
When Ji An-seok got close, Moon Ji-hyuk lunged at him. He aimed for Ji An-seok’s left upper body, which was not moving well due to his injury. But it was daytime now. His physical abilities were currently below that of an average person.
Bang!
A bullet pierced his thigh.
“……!”
Moon Ji-hyuk bit his lip tightly and wrapped his arm around Ji An-seok’s neck. His plan was to knock him down and subdue him.
Ji An-seok reacted quickly. Although he had been discharged due to his injury, he was a soldier from a special forces unit. He grabbed Moon Ji-hyuk by the collar and threw him against the wall.
“You’re weak for a detective.”
Ji An-seok glanced at Moon Ji-hyuk. Moon Ji-hyuk, who had hit the back of his head against the wall, was unconscious. Blood flowed from the gunshot wound on his thigh.
Ji An-seok stared at him for a moment and then headed to his original destination, the chairman’s office. He didn’t care if Moon Ji-hyuk died or not. His goal was to annihilate the Saebyeok Group chairman’s family.
He entered the chairman’s office and frowned when he saw that it was empty. The chairman’s family was supposed to be looking down at the event from this office. But there was no one in the chairman’s office. The chairman had already noticed him and escaped.
There was an emergency staircase at the entrance of the chairman’s office.
“Chairman Park Yoon-soo… that perceptive bastard…!”
Ji An-seok pulled out a detonator from his pocket. Pressing the button would detonate all the bombs installed throughout the building. Just as he was about to press the button without hesitation, he discovered traces of the chairman heading to the upper floor.
“Helicopter! He’s planning to take a helicopter from the rooftop!”
It would still take some time for the helicopter to arrive.
Ji An-seok grinned and started running towards the rooftop. He could detonate the bombs right away, but he wanted to see the death of his enemy, Chairman Park Yoon-soo, with his own eyes.
“Wait for me! Chairman Park Yoon-soo! Let’s go to hell together!”
***
“Ji-hyuk! Ji-hyuk! Wake up! Ji-hyuk!”
Yang Jung-min tightly wrapped Moon Ji-hyuk’s thigh with her jacket to stop the bleeding and helped him into the elevator.
“……Ugh.”
“Ji-hyuk! Can you see me?”
Moon Ji-hyuk, with his blurry vision, recognized Yang Jung-min in front of him and slowly opened his mouth.
“…Jung-min. Ji An-seok…? Where is he….”
“I don’t know. They said he was targeting the Saebyeok Group chairman, so I went up to the floor where the chairman’s office is, but Ji-hyuk, you were collapsed there. We’re going down to the first floor now. Just hold on a little longer. There’s an ambulance waiting below!”
“…I have to catch him. Before the bombs explode…”
“Please, Ji-hyuk! You’re more important to me than that terrorist!”
Clear tears streamed down Yang Jung-min’s face. Moon Ji-hyuk opened his mouth but then closed it again. Seeing her tears, the words in his head disappeared like dust.
It was when the elevator was almost reaching the first floor.
Kwaaang! Kwaaang!
Explosions rang out repeatedly. The elevator stopped and then started descending to the basement.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Thud!
The fluorescent lights in the elevator went out, and darkness fell.
‘…Did he finally detonate the bombs?’
Moon Ji-hyuk bit his lip. His mind became complicated. He knew it all in advance. But he couldn’t stop it. If he had acted a little faster, if it had been night instead of day….
‘No. I shouldn’t rely too much on the vampire’s power.’
But he couldn’t completely abandon the vampire’s power either. Letting what he had rot away didn’t suit his personality. The only thing he had to be careful about was to discard it without hesitation when he could.
“Ugh…. Ji-hyuk…! Are you okay? Did you hurt your head or anything? It seems like the elevator stopped… Ah! Why now of all times! Ji-hyuk needs to go to the hospital quickly!!”
Moon Ji-hyuk could see Yang Jung-min, who was stomping her feet while holding onto the elevator wall. Vampires could see through the darkness even without a single ray of light.
“I’m fine, Jung-min.”
Moon Ji-hyuk said calmly. It wasn’t a lie or a bluff.
There was no sunlight in the elevator, and the fluorescent lights had broken due to the impact. Because there was no light, the vampire’s power was awakening despite it being daytime.
The gunshot wound on his thigh? It hurt, but it was already slowly regenerating. By night, it would be completely healed before the sun rose again.
In a way, it was a good thing for Moon Ji-hyuk that the elevator had fallen and stopped in the basement. Because of that, he wouldn’t be taken to the hospital right away. If he had been taken to the hospital, the doctor would have found out that he was a vampire.
“Jung-min. There’s something I’ve been hiding from you.”
“…Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden? More than that, take out your smartphone and contact the outside quickly…”
“Please listen. Jung-min. I’m not human, I’m a vampire.”
Moon Ji-hyuk stood up. Except for a slight stiffness in his thigh, his body felt more alive than before.
“H-huh…? Y-you can stand up?”
“Jung-min, you wouldn’t tell anyone about my identity, right? You wouldn’t try to see me as strange either. Still… it doesn’t seem like vampires and humans are a good match after all. It would have been better if we had met when I was human.”
“……Ji-hyuk?”
Moon Ji-hyuk grabbed the elevator doors with both hands and began to pry them open. It was impossible for a human. But it was something a vampire could do. The iron doors of the elevator slowly began to open. Light entered the dark interior.
It was the underground parking lot. The sounds of car horns, people shouting, and things breaking could be heard.
“It was fun while it lasted….”
Moon Ji-hyuk couldn’t finish his sentence. Yang Jung-min, who had suddenly hugged him, kissed him.
Moon Ji-hyuk’s eyes shook. Should he push her away? Or… After hesitating, he finally hugged Yang Jung-min’s back. Was it because he was a vampire? She felt unusually warm.
***
“Tsk.”
I was disappointed. I thought that if a bomb exploded, the building would be shattered and collapse. But reality was a little different from my imagination. At this rate, it was worse than the building explosion scene in the original drama I had seen in real life. When the building exploded in CG, it was quite a sight to see.
It was true that the bombs installed throughout the building had exploded. But the building didn’t collapse. Black smoke was rising, but it was still standing. Only the windows and some parts of the building were shattered and had fallen to the ground.
‘They designed the building well. No, if a building over 100 meters tall collapsed with just a few bombs, that would be even stranger. And the power of the bombs was weaker than I thought.’
Another explosion occurred on the rooftop. Why did the explosion happen so late?
‘Did Ji An-seok self-destruct? As expected, Moon Ji-hyuk couldn’t stop Ji An-seok. Did Moon Ji-hyuk die? I haven’t heard from him.’
I hope Moon Ji-hyuk is alive. The story isn’t over yet. Well, the end isn’t far off now.
‘Hmm. I’ve seen everything I need to see. Should I end the game here for now?’
[The game is being terminated.]
[Starting experience point calculation.]
[Choi Sun-mi’s affinity level is 3.]
[Acquired 1 bonus point for reaching affinity level 2.]
[Acquired 3 bonus points for reaching affinity level 3.]
[Moon Ji-hyuk’s affinity level is 4.]
[Acquired 6 bonus points for reaching affinity level 4.]
[…….]
[Level has increased.]
[Acquired 17 points.]
[One more playable game slot has been added for reaching level 20.]
[One more inventory slot has been added for reaching level 20.]
***
Back in reality, I reflexively switched the game progress to pause. I used to be a bit clumsy, but now I was acting almost on spinal reflex.
‘I can’t trust auto-play. Even though it’s my avatar, it’s hard to predict where I’ll jump.’
But there were times when I used auto-play. When I was spending meaningless time in the game world. Auto-play was convenient then. Of course, I always watched when I used auto-play. If my avatar was about to do something stupid, I would immediately press pause.
‘But lately, assassinating vampire hunters has become more difficult.’
The vampire hunters also know that I’m assassinating them. They’ve started acting together. There were almost no vampire hunters acting alone.
‘We’ll have a proper fight soon. My current abilities are a bit lacking. I need something.’
I fiddled with my smartphone. As my level increased, the number of selectable creations increased.
‘Oh, what’s this?’
One of the newly selectable creations caught my eye.
