Chapter 1682 – 1682. Hunter Vs Vampire
“Excellent! Trainee number 25! I can’t even call you a recruit anymore!”
The instructor clapped, impressed.
In this practical exercise, no other trainee had killed a vampire with a knife like I had.
“Your knife skills were on par with an expert. On the other hand, trainee number 14….”
The instructor’s gaze turned to Park Son-gang. Unlike the look he gave me, his eyes instantly turned fierce.
“Drop!”
“Yes, sir!”
Park Son-gang immediately dropped to the ground. The instructor stood in front of him, hands on his hips. His eyes shone menacingly.
“Trainee number 14! What was that battle just now? No, it was a pathetic mess that’s not even worth calling a battle! Don’t you know when to shoot? Don’t you have the courage to fight for your comrades? What do you think of your comrades?”
“I’m sorry!”
“Does saying sorry excuse your mistake? If it weren’t for trainee number 25, but another trainee, they would have been at least severely injured by the vampire!”
“I’ll correct it!”
“You damn bastard! You’ll take a retest separately! If you perform like this on the retest, you’ll have to pack your bags!”
“I will pass, no matter what!”
Park Son-gang yelled, screaming. Of course, that didn’t stop the instructor’s scolding. Park Son-gang would probably be punished all day today.
‘He might give up on being human tonight.’
I had to stay sharp.
• • •
Midnight. 00:00. The time after the evening roll call when everyone was asleep.
I was sitting on my bed, not asleep. I wasn’t sure if the vampire attack would be tomorrow or right now.
‘If I fall asleep and get attacked, I could be done for in one go.’
My current physical abilities were no different from an ordinary person, and I couldn’t use mana either. It was impossible to fall asleep and wake up sensing a vampire’s presence. Vampires were better at moving stealthily than humans.
‘Even if I have full recovery, I should save it as much as possible. I can’t use full recovery in vain if I get ambushed.’
I took out my smartphone.
I positioned myself so that no light would leak out of the door or window and started browsing the internet. With the internet and money, I could watch movies, read novels, dramas, and comics as much as I wanted.
‘Since this is the world it is, there are a lot of creative works that portray vampires as the axis of evil.’
In this world, the existence of vampires was known to the citizens. That’s why they feared and hated vampires at the same time.
Stories about vampires and humans falling in love? People here hated it. The same went for vampires. To them, humans were just food. Nothing more. Vampires who felt sexual desire for humans were considered huge perverts.
Creak….
I heard a sound from the window. I turned off my smartphone and carefully moved towards the window. I opened the window silently. I leaned against the window and listened.
Creak, creeeeak….
I heard a man’s groan. It wasn’t a sound made while doing something. It was a groan as if he was forcibly enduring pain.
‘Upstairs. Diagonal direction. The owner of that room is… Park Son-gang.’
There was only one reason why Park Son-gang was groaning at this late hour. Park Son-gang was currently having vampire blood injected into his body, transforming into a vampire.
‘Should I kill him now?’
If I quietly took care of him now, there wouldn’t be a vampire attack. Then I could train peacefully for the next week and graduate.
‘No. Let’s build up achievements. It would be better to have solid achievements to meet Jaeger Joo Seo-hyun.’
I waited quietly by the window. In my head, I rechecked the plan I had made to prepare for the attack.
‘So, before being attacked, I’ll go down to the first floor, inform the instructors of the situation, and have the armory opened.’
The people here weren’t ordinary people. They were experts in vampire hunting, and the trainees they had trained were gathered here. With the right weapons, they wouldn’t be easily defeated even if 30 vampires attacked.
Creak…. Creak, heh heh heh….
After the groaning, I heard a low chuckle.
‘It seems he successfully transformed into a vampire. If it’s like the original, he’ll be a common, not a slave.’
Vampire ranks were determined by blood. Being injected with a common’s blood made one a slave, and a noble’s blood created a common. A lord’s blood naturally created a noble. And if they lived long enough, slaves could also become nobles.
Drip!
Liquid dripped from the window.
‘…I smell blood.’
Park Son-gang, who had become a vampire, had splattered his blood outside the window. The smell of vampire blood was similar to that of humans.
‘Not yet. Even if he’s a vampire, he can’t raid this place all at once. Let’s wait for an hour.’
An hour passed.
I went down to the first floor. When I went down to the first floor, an instructor was standing guard, arms crossed. The instructors here at the training center didn’t slack off even when they were on guard duty.
“Trainee number 25. What’s the matter?”
“I smell blood outside.”
“…What?”
“I opened the window because I was stuffy, and I smelled blood.”
The smell of blood.
Those who dealt with vampires were sensitive to the smell of blood. The instructor immediately picked up his radio.
“This is the dormitory. Trainee number 25 says he smells blood. Confirmation is needed.”
“…I’ll send three instructors now. Wait with trainee number 25.”
“Understood. Trainee number 25. Did you hear that? You’ll wait with me.”
After a while, three more instructors arrived. They were all armed with guns and swords. The instructor who was on guard duty received a gun from them.
“Instructor, I would like a weapon as well.”
“Recruit, you’re still a recruit. Guide us to the place you mentioned. Two instructors will stay here and wait.”
I led them to the back of the building.
One of the instructors who saw the dark red blood on the ground took out a vial of powder from his pocket. He opened the vial and sprinkled the reagent on the blood. The blood reacted immediately, bubbling.
“…It’s definitely vampire blood.”
“Damn it! The vampire bastards will smell it and come! Report to the control room immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’m going to find the rat hiding in the building! Judging by where the blood fell, it shouldn’t be difficult to pinpoint. Trainee number 25! You come with me! I trust your ghost-like swordsmanship!”
He handed me a silver-plated knife. I took the knife, hiding my smile and putting on a determined expression.
“Thank you.”
“It’s a precaution for the worst-case scenario. If things go well, you won’t have to step in. Let’s go!”
The instructor and I started from the first floor and went around the dormitory. And we reached the third floor where Park Son-gang was. We looked inside through the small window in the door.
“Instructor, I found him. It’s room number 14. The vampire is sprawled out.”
I called the instructor quietly.
The instructor approached silently and checked inside.
“Park Son-gang…. That damn bastard was a spy. Did he bring vampire blood and transform? Did he bring it by putting vampire blood in his ass?”
The instructor guessed the answer in an instant. His experience was not to be underestimated.
“Recruit. I’ll take care of him now. You’re my partner for now. Can I trust you?”
“Please trust me. I won’t disappoint you. …But don’t we need help from the other instructors?”
“He’s just become a vampire. Even if he’s a common, his experience is shallow. Moreover, he spilled a large amount of blood to call the vampires. He’s lost the source of vampires, blood. He’s weaker than a slave right now. Above all….”
The instructor gripped the doorknob tightly and spoke as if spitting out the words.
“He noticed our presence. We’ll kill him before he runs away.”
Bang!
The instructor, who had flung open the door, pulled the trigger of his pistol. A silver bullet, specially made to kill vampires, accurately hit Park Son-gang’s back as he tried to escape through the window.
“Kyahhhhh!”
Park Son-gang screamed and collapsed. The instructor walked forward, firing his gun, bang, bang, bang. Park Son-gang, who had more than ten silver bullets in his back, looked up at me and the instructor with tearful eyes, terrified.
“I, Instructor! P, please save me!”
“You damn spy! Who the hell did you call?! Tell me!”
“Baek Ji-oh! That Baek Ji-oh threatened me, so I had no choice!”
“Is that sly bastard behind this? Trainee number 25!”
“Yes, Instructor.”
“I’ll give you the chance to deal with the vampire! What will you do?”
“Thank you!”
The instructor handed me his pistol.
“I have a knife.”
“It’s an emergency. Wake up all the guys who are still lazing around in the dormitory!”
I understood what he meant. I aimed the gun at the vampire’s head.
“Aaaah! Save me!!”
Bang!
Park Son-gang, whose head was pierced, went straight to hell. I didn’t stop there and kept pulling the trigger until all the bullets were gone.
Gunshots announcing the wake-up call rang out regularly.
• • •
Everyone woke up, and the armory was opened. The trainees received rifles, pistols, and knives with the instructor’s permission. I received a sniper rifle and a sword in addition.
The 12 instructors and the head instructor gathered on the rooftop of the dormitory. They used barricades to block the entrances.
The armed head instructor spoke in front of everyone.
“The vampire attack will begin in about an hour. The number of enemies will be at least 10 or more. They’ll probably come from the back mountain. Don’t panic. We’ve already set up a base, and we’ve requested reinforcements from the company. Reinforcements will arrive within 3 hours at the latest. We just need to hold out for 3 hours.”
The head instructor spoke in a steady voice. The instructors and trainees quietly steeled their hearts. Having finished their resolve, they moved according to the head instructor’s instructions.
“Trainee number 25.”
“Yes, Head Instructor.”
“Can you snipe?”
“It’ll be difficult if they come from the back mountain.”
“……Difficult? Not impossible?”
“I have good night vision. The trees are in the way, but… the distance isn’t even 100m. If I can spot them, I can snipe them.”
“That confidence is impressive. But the place you need to snipe isn’t the back mountain. It’s the front.”
“Huh?”
“There are a lot of idiots among the vampires. There are many who think they’ll be fine as long as they don’t get hit in the head even if they’re sniped. There will probably be some who come running from the front. You snipe those guys.”
“Understood. I won’t miss a single one.”
“I trust your rumored sniping skills.”
“All the idiots coming from the front will die.”
“I like that.”
