The Birth of Jeong-ya
The condition for being called a Jinma—a True Vampire—is not merely that one’s VT number must be high. VT is certainly a figure that governs overall ability, yet more important than raw power is what resides inside the mind. Vampires of immense strength who, across thousands of years, have amassed knowledge and wisdom, preserving the balance between the world of the mad moon and reality.
Those are the twenty-four Jinma. Yet now the vampire world was facing a change without precedent in the last thousand years.
Many Jinma had died. Sepia, Juk-yo, Chang-woon… The one who killed these three vampires was a hunter of vampires and monsters. Father Silvester, who earned the name of Jinma Hunter by slaying Sepia.
As a result, a new Jinma named Jeong-ya had been born. A terrifying vampire who gathered the blood of Juk-yo and Chang-woon, her VT reaching one million. But no matter how superior the flesh, there is no one invincible against bullets, and a Jinma who lacks knowledge and wisdom is merely frail.
In the end, Tetra Anax doubted her qualifications, decided upon her elimination, and countless vampires began flooding into Seoul.
“It’s a good development, sure.”
Sarhyuk clicked his tongue as he watched the information rolling in on the finder. When vampires flocked in, business was naturally good for him, something he ought to celebrate—yet if Jinma-class ones started showing up, that was a different story entirely.
“Uh… still, isn’t it a good thing? They say that vampire called Jeong-ya doesn’t properly have her power yet.”
“Well, she was human two years ago, so that’s only natural.”
Sarhyuk put on a listless face. Even a Jinma with a million VT—two years was far too short a time to acquire the dignity of a true Jinma. Stretch the reasoning a little, and she was an opponent one might just be able to take down.
“If we sold a million-VT Jinma to other vampires, how much would they pay?”
“……I can’t even imagine.”
Warm spring sunlight so bright butterflies might have drifted in poured into Sarhyuk’s office. He looked drowsy, then slumped face-down across his desk.
“Tch. A Jinma, huh… Dangerous, dangerous. My instincts as a businessman are screaming warnings. Stick my nose in and I’ll get screwed for sure.”
Yet a temptation even stronger than that was already moving Sarhyuk. If he had lived by reason, he never would have become a vampire hunter in the first place. It was precisely because impulses that transcended reason ruled him that he was the man he was now.
“Fine. Let’s do it. Find the vampire called Jeong-ya.”
Sarhyuk issued the order to his subordinates and shoved himself up from the table. Dealing with a Jinma-class vampire and her clan would probably require risking death, but what was cheaper than a vampire hunter’s life? If the only thing he stood to lose was his life, then at least for Sarhyuk it was a gamble with nothing to lose.
“You only live once anyway! Let’s go all the way, hot and heavy!”
While information about the new Jinma Jeong-ya was flowing even to Sarhyuk and the other hunters, and everyone was swelling with dreams of overnight fortune, the vampires likewise obtained the same intelligence and began to move. The Juk-yo faction, last to receive the news yet first to establish themselves in Seoul, had their very survival riding on this matter and so were all the more desperate.
“……So it was that woman after all.”
In stood in the shadows of the abandoned building that served as the Juk-yo faction’s hideout and licked a metal plate with his tongue. Through the braille plate Tetra Anax had sent him he learned of Jeong-ya’s existence, and he sensed that Tetra Anax had, in effect, issued an extermination order for Jeong-ya to the other vampires.
“In. What should… he do?”
In lifted his head at the voice that called him. Its owner was one of his own kind, wearing the form of a beautiful woman. Long ago she had been taken in by Juk-yo together with Gyeong; even after becoming a vampire for whom sexual acts brought no pleasure at all, she had loved Gyeong.
Because that Gyeong had challenged a vampire hunter in order to carry out Tetra Anax’s extermination order and had been killed in turn, she hated both Tetra Anax and vampire hunters alike.
“Ryeo. Erase personal feelings. Securing Jeong-ya’s person comes first. You can’t possibly not know why Gyeong endured humiliation to obey Tetra Anax’s commands.”
“Which is why, In, I seek your permission. Leave me out of the search for Jeong-ya.”
Ryeo held her head high as if her resolve were set and looked straight at In. He let out a low sigh.
“Gyeong was stronger than you, Ryeo. And if the one who killed him was an alchemist, then as a woman you are in even greater danger. Still… it seems the Juk-yo faction is no longer acknowledged even by Tetra Anax.”
“…….”
“Do as you like.”
In granted her leave and closed his eyes. A vampire of Ryeo’s caliber would certainly have been excellent strength, yet rather than drag her into the fate of a Juk-yo faction already staring at ruin, it was better to let her do what she wished.
“I’m sorry. In a difficult time, to leave the Juk-yo faction for the sake of my own desires.”
“No. The fewer sacrifices, the better. Tetra Anax has already issued the extermination order for the Jinma Jeong-ya to other clans as well. The Juk-yo faction ended the moment our lord died.”
In gave a feeble smile. Though a vampire never ages, the weathering of years remained fully upon In now.
“Then.”
Ryeo left those words and turned away. In watched her retreating figure and closed his eyes.
“Nothing quite matches the feel of driving this.”
The Jinma Phantom parked his car, a Viper GTS, in the hotel garage and rose from his seat. Wilhelm, who had been waiting in front of the parking elevator, looked at Phantom and shook his head vigorously.
“Master. Do you intend to act in person?”
“Why?”
“No, I was just remembering how Father Silvester hid all over the place waiting to snipe you. Why not drag things out leisurely for a while? Agni, Juyda, Hecate, Henry Yuie—strong enemies everywhere. Charge out rashly and who knows what misfortune you’ll meet…”
Wilhelm spoke that way, clearly worried for his master. Yet the Jinma Phantom only smiled faintly.
“The fellow who once picked a fight with the Jubilo Family now advocating caution? Amusing.”
“Master. I’m saying this because I sincerely worry about you…”
“Ho, that is most kind of you. But do not worry. I have my own thoughts. For now, let us first ascertain Jeong-ya’s location.”
So saying, Phantom held out a hand to Wilhelm. Wilhelm then passed him a large case.
“Your beloved gun, the ‘Beast Double.’ Getting it in was quite the ordeal.”
Phantom opened the case carefully, mindful of the CCTV cameras that always hung in underground parking. Inside lay a massive chrome-plated revolver. Phantom’s crest was engraved on the grip; this gun was a masterpiece he had crafted himself.
A .50-caliber Magnum that fired only specialized rounds—its name was Beast Double. Because it used brutish 1332-grain special rounds, it was called Beast Double, as in 666 times two. A .50-caliber bullet of 1332 grains was nearly twice as heavy as the .50 BMG used in a Barrett—an absurd round.
Naturally, this gun had never been made for human hands. A pistol that could punch through Level 4 body armor—how could a human possibly use it?
“Feels like ages since I held this.”
Phantom slid the Beast Double, which he was handling again after so long, into its holster at his side.
“Ammunition: thirty high-velocity armor-piercing rounds, seventy cellular slugs.”
“Armor-piercing I understand, but cellular slugs?”
“Special celluloid shot packed inside the projectile. Upon striking flesh the round ruptures and the cellular material that spills out binds with moisture. A Beast Double round can drop an elephant in a single hit.”
Wilhelm explained the dreadful ammunition. With weapons of this caliber, even a Jinma could not guarantee survival.
“Hmm. Good.”
The Jinma Phantom draped a pure-white coat over himself to conceal the Beast Double and strode toward the elevator.
The moment classes ended, Chang-hyun raced home. More precisely, he sought the house of the person who had given him a ride.
“This is it?”
A small studio-style villa near home, converted from a factory—definitely close even to the rented room where that man lived alone.
“…….”
Yet the motorcycle from that morning was nowhere in sight. The man was probably not here. Thinking so, Chang-hyun turned to leave.
“Ah, I’m dying.”
Feeling his body refuse to obey again, Chang-hyun limped. Why was this happening? He had once been skilled enough to serve as a national team reserve Taekwondo athlete. Had injury not kept him from competitions and dragged him into military police escort duty, he might have continued receiving school support as an athlete—yet an athlete ruined by injury was truly pitiful.
“Well, at least my studies were decent enough, so that’s a mercy.”
That part was fine. Taekwondo had not even been an official Olympic sport back then, so unlike elite Olympic athletes, Taekwondo practitioners enjoyed a measure of freedom. Still… after pouring seventeen years into Taekwondo, to be unable to move now because of pain—that truly felt unjust.
“Ugh.”
Clutching his chest, he walked on. And just then… he saw a woman collapsed on the opposite roadside.
“Huh?”
Is collapsing in fashion these days? That was what he thought. Of course he himself had collapsed that very morning, so he was in no position to criticize others, yet a woman lying on the street?
“Uh. A-are you all right?”
The sun had not even set; she did not look like someone who had drunk herself into a stupor. Flustered, he examined her. An appearance that made one wonder how long it had been since her last bath, clothes so worn they barely covered her body—he could not erase the overall impression of grime.
“A vagrant?”
Yet he had never seen so young a female vagrant. At that moment she stirred awake.
“Ugh…”
“Ah, are you okay?”
“……Ah.”
She opened her eyes in startlement. When she rose, Chang-hyun wiped his chest in relief.
“Ah, thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to dispose of a corpse.”
“……Ah, th-thank you. Mmm. After going three days without food…”
“…….”
In this day and age, did people still collapse in the street from hunger? Yet she truly looked starved.
“Uh, you’re starving?”
“…….”
She flushed, as if embarrassed at having said such a thing. Well, if a woman had collapsed in the street from hunger, how could she not feel shame?
Too much.
Chang-hyun did not particularly like vagrants. Having worked many part-time jobs, he knew that even in a recession, if one looked hard enough there were jobs of a sort. Especially for the young…
Even so, abandoning someone who had collapsed from starvation was not something even a poor student living alone could do.
“Mmm. Want something to eat?”
“……Th-that. It’s fine. You needn’t worry.”
Yet even as she spoke she swayed sideways and sank down. Even if she had walked around with a placard begging for concern, it could not have been weaker than this. Chang-hyun, at a loss, supported her.
“……You don’t look fine. First, um…”
He dug through his bag and pulled out the bread he had left unfinished at lunch when his appetite vanished. There was a saying that a student living alone’s stomach could digest even steel, yet lately his condition worsened the moment the sun rose and he could not eat.
“For now, at least this…”
At that she began to struggle in earnest. Eat and face was the problem; refuse and life was the problem—and her sense of dignity was still strong enough to put up a tug-of-war.
What a strange person.
Chang-hyun forced the bread on her and then fled home as if escaping. Better for her face if she vanished from his sight.
“Ah…”
She tried to call after Chang-hyun, yet in the end she simply accepted the bread. In the residential street where the sun was setting and twilight slowly gathered, she stood holding a single piece of bread like a child abandoned in an alley.
Chang-hyun finished bathing, changed clothes, gathered the laundry, and stuffed it into the washing machine. Normally it would have been time for his part-time job, yet because his body had been poor lately he had missed shifts and finally been fired. With nothing else to do he thought of watching TV, when suddenly the girl he had seen on the way home that day floated into his mind.
“No way…?”
Thinking she could not still be there, he looked out the window—and sure enough… a woman was crouching in the alley. Ah, damn. A runaway girl. Yes, that had to be it! But if she had run away, it could only have been a week at most—how did she get that filthy in that short a time? Ah, wouldn’t a women’s shelter or whatever feed and house her? All sorts of thoughts crowded his head.
“The weather’s still cold; I can’t leave her on the street.”
Yet inviting her inside was equally unsettling. Grimy as she was, purely in terms of figure she was quite something…
What am I thinking!
Chang-hyun thumped his own head. In any case, absolutely not! Impossible. Bringing a vagrant into the house. If the expensive new CDP he had just bought went missing…
Rumble… Boom!
Just then lightning began to flash outside. Chang-hyun deliberately shut his eyes and covered his ears, trying to ignore the situation outdoors, yet soon even the sound of pouring rain reached him. About ten seconds passed?
“Aaaargh! Dammit!”
Chang-hyun kicked off the floor and dashed outside. Sure enough she was crouched beneath a utility pole, taking the rain.
“Ah, earlier—thank you for the bread.”
“…….”
The woman greeted him the moment she saw him. Not the least bit like a vagrant—why on earth had a woman like this ended up on the street? And how had she survived the winter?
“What are you doing? It’s raining. Go home.”
“I have nowhere to go.”
“…….”
Textbook. Chang-hyun screamed inwardly.
“……C-c-c-come to my place at least. Starve like that and catch a cold and you’ll die!”
“B-but…”
She hung her head deeply. Chang-hyun, equally awkward, hung his head as well. The two of them stood for a moment beneath the utility pole in the rain.
“Uh, I’ve been unwell lately myself and suffering, so… I can’t take any more rain. Decide whether you’re coming inside or not.”
“Even so…”
“Hurry!”
Irritated, Chang-hyun raised his voice. At that she shook her head vigorously, hard enough that water flew off.
“It’s all right. I’m tougher than I look, so I’m fine…”
“Fine. Then freeze to death for all I care!”
Disgusted by the stubborn woman, Chang-hyun strode ahead. Watching him walk away, she let out a sigh of relief. But only for a moment—Chang-hyun stopped mid-stride and came backpedaling.
“You idiot! Stop being stubborn and come! Otherwise I’ll worry so much I can’t sleep, wreck my body, collapse again tomorrow, and it’ll all be your fault!”
Strange logic, yet Chang-hyun said it and dragged her along without mercy.
“But!”
“Then at least stay under the eaves!”
So saying, Chang-hyun forcibly hauled her all the way into the house. Half flustered, half grateful, she bowed her head.
“Ah… yes. Th-thank you.”
“No need for thanks. Ah, what’s the number for the women’s shelter again. Should I ask 114?”
“No, it’s fine, really.”
“…….”
Chang-hyun cleared his throat and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“I’m truly grateful. I… I’m Lee Jeong-ah.”
“I’m Kim Chang-hyun. Mm.”
Thus Chang-hyun introduced himself. The rain was growing fiercer by the moment.
“……But, um… if I stay here it’ll be a nuisance for you somehow.”
“If you leave it’ll be a bigger nuisance.”
Chang-hyun was thoroughly fed up with her persistent stubbornness. At least he was certain she was no ordinary vagrant. Yet she was hardly some North Korean spy either—why did she keep trying to leave?
“Anyway, take a bath first for now. Um… I’ll lend you my track suit and a T-shirt.”
He pulled clothes from the wardrobe. At that her face flushed scarlet.
“Ah, all right. Then…”
In the end she entered the bathroom without another word. In that instant Chang-hyun felt oddly embarrassed and turned his head aside.
“Jeong-ah, huh…”
The rain looked ready to turn into a storm any moment.