Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Red Woman #3
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It was a ridiculously crude method, but right now, I had to try something. Anything. I didn't know any surefire ways anyway, and no matter what I did, I'd die.
All I could do was pray it worked.
"Please...!"
Just around the corner, the vampire would come into view.
"Hey there?"
Seeing her flash a grin and wave made my stomach churn. Predictable as ever. Just like all the previous loops, she'd beg and plead for me to open the shutter. Then I'd brilliantly dodge her, stomp her head in with all my might.
A perfect scenario.
"Hey, so... I dozed off for a bit and got stuck in here. Could you open this up? The key's right here."
Having seen this scene multiple times now, it felt strangely off. Her words varied slightly each loop. Maybe tiny details like the timing of my arrival caused the changes?
"..."
A brief silence.
Like the quiet kid who always sat at the back of the classroom, I steeled myself, eyes wide, and yelled.
"No way in hell, you fucking bitch!"
"What?"
"You crazy vampire bitch! I'm never opening this, you fucking bitch!"
"..."
The vampire's expression hardened.
"How do you know that? You've never seen me before."
"Your ugly mug gives it away, bitch! You scream vampire, you fucking bitch!"
Thump thump! My heart pounded like it might burst, an inexplicable surge of dopamine flooding me! Yes! I wanted to unload on this fucking bitch! She'd killed me three times, and I'd never even gotten to curse her out properly. This was bullshit! This psycho needed every curse in the book!
"Stop with that 'fucking bitch' crap...?"
"Gonna keep going, you fucking bitch!"
"Try saying it again? That I'm a vampire. How'd you know?"
"You're a bitch! Haven't you seen a movie? I can tell just by looking, you fucking bitch! You're advertising it loud and clear!"
I'd learned the truth through repeated regressions, but I couldn't stop the rant now. Dying a few times must've fried my brain. Even the most level-headed person would snap after repeated bullshit like this. So if a diligent guy suddenly loses it, you gotta look at him with kind eyes.
"...Fine, that tracks. But don't vampires have other powers? You'll spill everything anyway."
As the vampire spoke with clear annoyance, her sharp eyes flashed. She was trying to hypnotize me. At that moment. Splat! I whipped out my phone and shoved the screen at her.
"You psycho bitch! Think that cheap hypnosis works on me? I'm not opening the shutter, you fucking bitch!"
Please work! If this doesn't, I'm screwed!
"Urk!"
"Ha!"
It worked! Showing a cross photo on my phone actually worked!
"Hah, haha! See? See it? This cross—you see it, you fucking bitch! Holy shit! You crazy bitch! Strutting around like a big-shot vampire, but one look at a cross pic and you're done for! Damn! Even a smartphone screen does it!"
Mad dopamine surged again...!
"Crosses! Crosses! Look! Look at this, you fucking bitch!"
"Eek...!"
I survived! More than that—I'd landed a solid hit on this hated psycho vampire bitch! Look at her! Grimacing in agony, staggering back, shielding her face with her hands! Her skin looked burned!
"You can't touch me! Hypnosis doesn't work! Just die already, you fucking bitch!"
I mercilessly berated her, thrusting the screen closer, like Akuma shoving a camera in her face from Ju-On.
"In the name of the Lord, become worthless ash and vanish! Amen! Amen! Aaaaameeeen!"
Finishing like Father Andersen!
"Hah, haa...! You cocky little shit. I'll rip you apart."
"What?"
The writhing vampire plastered herself against the shutter. Then, like Neji activating his Byakugan, massive vampire wrinkles formed around her eyes. Her mouth tore open, revealing long fangs. Finally revealing her ugly true form...!
"Eek! Monster! Get out of our village right now!"
Terrifying sight, but the dopamine and adrenaline kept me surprisingly calm. Thud! Her eyes glowed fiercer. Some invisible force crushed my limbs. Hypnosis ramping up?!
"N-No! No!"
My hand kept moving! I need to keep showing the cross!
"What? Phone getting heavy? Drop it."
"Let go, you wicked thing...! You can't beat the cross in my heart! You fucking bitch!"
"Drop the 'fucking bitch' shit. Put it down now."
"No way! You fucking bitch!"
Teetering on the edge. The hypnosis was loosening my grip. That's when I realized: if this dragged on, I'd drop the phone. And then I'd die. The moment she shook off the cross's effect, I couldn't resist her hypnosis. Game over...! What cruel death awaited next?! Something! I need to do something more! What options? Holy water? None here. Sunlight? Nope. Stake? No, and even if, I'd need strength to drive it in. What's left? Garlic? Garlic's all I got, but where the hell is any?!
"Ah...!"
I had it! Garlic!
"Garlic!"
"Huh?"
Vomit surged up.
"Urk!"
Right. If my heart holds a cross, my gut holds garlic. I'd scarfed meat and booze with friends earlier—think I skipped garlic? Koreans are the people of booze and garlic; my stomach was packed with divine garlic blessings from Hwanung himself!
"You... what? Hold on!"
This bitch...! Last time, she ripped open my gut to kill me. Now you'll die for it. From the garlic in my belly!
"Uuuuuurp!!"
Something erupted from my mouth. To put it mildly, it was like unleashing the zombie puke bomb from Metal Slug 3. Anyone seeing this would think it was time for a bizarre adventure. Thinking of death made puking easy. Splash! The vampire, glued to the shutter, took the full blast of weird fluid from my gut right to her face and body. Coated head to toe in digested garlic juice. Result?
"Kyaaahhhh!" Sizzle! The vampire screamed! Her skin melting! It worked! For real!
"U, uwaaaaa! It worked! It worked! Hey, hey! Don't close your eyes! Look! Look at this! You fucking bitch!"
Calmly finishing her off. I jammed the phone closer, hammering her. She thrashed in place for a while, then...
"You'll regret this!" Whoosh! She slid backward like reversing on a walking rail, dissolving into black smoke and vanishing. The smoke sank toward the station's lower levels.
"Ah...!"
I was alone now. With puke stains. Ding.
"Shit."
The moment I saw the message window.
"Fuck! I lived! I LIIIIIVED!!!"
I screamed in ecstasy.
I don't remember much after that.
I bolted like a maniac, barricaded my place more obsessively than Su-zume in a frenzy, drew crosses on every scrap of paper—not enough, so I scribbled them on the wallpaper too.
"Crosses... crosses! More crosses!"
I need more crosses!
Enough to give two to every Crusader and still have leftovers!
Crosses were now strategic supplies. Stockpile mandatory; if needed, commission mass production from cross farms. Cross ham sounds good. Price it 1.5 times Spam.
Satisfied with the crosses, I grabbed garlic from the fridge, rubbed it all over myself, scattered it everywhere. Even tucked some in my pits.
For good measure, I prepped a stake substitute: kitchen knife like a stake, slathered in minced garlic for anti-vampire enchant.
Then I spent the night wide-eyed in my ultra-secure fortress.
The vampire vanished below the station, but no relaxing. That psycho could seduce some idiot into opening the shutter, then come for me.
"Come at me anytime...! I'll end you!"
If she shows, cross baptism, garlic barrage, then stake-knife to the heart.
Tap tap tap! Lost in mad fantasies, my body shivered, teeth chattering. Truly insane.
"Mad world under the mad moon"—that's exactly this. Status windows, multiple deaths and regressions, the vampire—all felt like delusions of a lunatic. No peace. Knife in hand. If I jammed it in my throat, would I wake in that subway again? Doomed to respawn there every death, battling the vampire for life? Even dying at 100, respawn then?!
"U, uwaaaak! Uwaaaaaak!"
In my dreams, I became a vampire destroying the world. No imagining the end. Screaming brought morning.
The night's madness ebbed.
Showered off the garlic stink, packed to head to my parents' place.
"School my ass... Gotta bounce first."
No confidence living in this psycho neighborhood. Vampires prowling at night? Even if they paid my deposit and gave free rent, hard pass. Even homeless avoid this.
Anyway.
My place was a 20-minute walk from the station. Close enough she'd find me eventually. Had to flee before then.
"Vampires can't move under the sun."
Escape by day—safe.
Off to my hometown.