Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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I'd been drinking with a friend, and when we stepped out, it was already late at night.
My buddy, completely wasted, slumped down and started puking. I pretended not to notice and quickened my pace to make my escape.
"Ugh... Kim Geunhong, you bastard, where the hell are you going, urk, ugh!"
He was so plastered anyway that he wouldn't remember a thing. In a couple of days, I could just say I'd hailed a taxi for him.
"Heh."
The night air was refreshingly cold—criminally so. It felt like something was about to happen, with that biting chill.
Even after hustling up a steep incline, my cheeks were numb.
Whenever I felt this kind of cold, I couldn't help but wonder if I was a cold-hearted person myself.
I rubbed my hands together as I headed down the hill. This neighborhood was built by bulldozing a mountain, so hills were everywhere.
"Hoo."
The alcohol had me buzzed. No buses running at this hour, so it would take at least thirty more minutes to get home. Would my body hold out?
That's what I was thinking when...
"..."
The street felt strangely quiet.
Not a single car on a twelve-lane boulevard—it was downright eerie. Sure, it was late, but was this neighborhood always this dead?
No people in sight.
Illegal parking everywhere, toppled shared scooters. Wasn't this street usually crawling with buff guys covered in tattoos?
It happens sometimes, sure... but walking alone down such an empty road stirred up ominous thoughts.
It was so quiet, so devoid of anything, that it made me feel like something was bound to appear.
Of course, that wouldn't happen. I just hurried along, thinking only of getting home and showering as fast as possible.
There was a crosswalk by the bus stop.
The traffic light was off. No cars around anyway—maybe I should just jaywalk? Nah, better take the subway underpass.
—Thud thud.
I headed down the subway stairs.
The staircase to the station platform had a metal shutter pulled down. They usually do that late at night to block access.
"Huh."
Inside that shutter...
Stood a woman.
Blonde hair cascading down, dressed in red.
Stunningly, impossibly beautiful.
"Hi?"
She gave a soft smile and waved hello.
The scene was so surreal, I froze.
"Hey, could you come over here for a sec?"
"Come over?"
"Yeah."
"Uh... sure."
I approached as she beckoned.
She was breathtaking—goosebumps beautiful. Foreigner? Her Korean was pretty good for one.
Wait.
Why was she inside the shutter in the first place?
Was I so drunk I was hallucinating? No, she was real, no matter how I looked.
"Hey, why are you in there?"
"Hmm, how to put it."
Her finger touched her plump red lips.
"I dozed off for a bit and got locked in."
"Oh, you're trapped."
"Could you open this for me?"
"Open it?"
How was I supposed to do that?
Staff were probably all gone— who do I even call?
"Open it."
"Hang on. I need to call someone or—"
As I reached for my phone...
"Here."
She held out her hand to me.
"It's the key. Use this to open it."
A key lay in her palm.
"See that padlock on the floor? Unlock that for me."
"Oh, that one."
I took the key, went to the padlock, and crouched down.
"..."
But... wasn't this suspicious?
This shutter wasn't some prison-grade iron bars. It was flimsy, meant just to deter people from going down, not to trap anyone.
She could've reached through those thin bars and unlocked it herself anytime. Or just called the cops without waiting for anyone.
It was irrational.
"Hey."
"..."
"Couldn't you just unlock it and come out yourself?"
Crouched as I was, I couldn't see her face.
A vague unease started creeping in.
"I tried, but my hand wouldn't fit."
"It looks like it would."
"Just open it, okay?"
"Sure... fine."
Suspicious, yeah, but it was just opening a door. Backing out after chatting this far would look weird.
Still, why was she talking down to me like that?
—Click.
—Rattle.
I unlocked it and rolled up the shutter.
It was surprisingly light.
That's all it was meant to be.
Not for containing anything—just blocking entry. Her wrist could've slipped through the gaps easy.
—Step.
The woman in front of me took a step forward and met my eyes.
"Thanks."
"No big deal. Be more careful next time. I'm gonna head out now."
As I turned to go...
"Huh."
My body wouldn't move.
Then, she reached out toward me.
"Thanks so much for opening it. But... I'm hungry."
I couldn't speak.
What the hell was she even saying? As the question echoed in my mind, her face—now split in a grotesque grin to her ears—drew close.
It pressed against my neck.
No.
Not pressed.
She stabbed her sharp fangs into it.
"Urk."
I felt the blood being sucked out vividly, yet it all seemed unreal. In my hazy, dreamlike vision, something like a message window appeared.
*Ding.*
[You have become a vampire.]
[You die in the most horrific way.]
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...
...
[Ending - Non-Human]
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...
...
[Proceeding to the next loop.]