Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Red Woman #5
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Over the past few days, I'd rested deeply and regained some peace of mind.
Occasionally, I'd wake up screaming, gripped by intense fear or incomprehensible madness, but overall, it was manageable.
It was all in the past now.
I deliberately avoided checking the status window.
Vampires, the truth behind the world, the agony of death and regression... all gone now. I had returned to everyday life.
Such bizarre events aren't common to begin with, and if you avoid them, you can live without further involvement. If encountering vampires was an everyday thing, humanity would have gone extinct long ago.
"Delicious pizza! Crab pizza! Free delivery!"
On the way home with the boxed pizza, I sang like SpongeBob, shaking my hips as I walked. My dream was to train my glutes to the limit and become like Omni-Man.
I'd eat it with Mom and Dad. Lately, having dinner with my parents felt really nice.
Before, even at home, I'd eat in my room alone on the computer. But never again. Nothing is more precious than time with family.
"Knock knock knock!"
I rhythmically knocked on the door lock with "knock knock knock."
Pizza...!
Pizza's all mine, fuck yeah!
I'd greedily devour the juicy toppings first, then at the end, gather the pizza bones and dunk them wildly in dipping sauce!
That's why I bought the dipping sauce.
Now, quietly go into my stomach.
That's what you were made for.
"Mom! I got pizza!"
As I shouted imitating Jimi Hendrix's style while opening the front door.
"Uh."
Thick.
A thick smell of blood wafted over.
"Uh, Mom...?"
No.
It can't be.
No.
It has to not be.
"Mom? You there?"
The living room was empty.
I set down the pizza and slowly entered the house.
It was silent.
Suspiciously quiet, no sounds at all. So what's this blood smell...? Or is there even a blood smell to begin with?
Am I gripped by that day's madness again, hallucinating a blood smell that isn't there?
That must be it.
It has to be.
There's no other possibility.
I stood in front of the master bedroom.
I cautiously grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.
"Mom?"
The scene inside gradually came into view.
I didn't want to accept what I saw. Red something spilled on the master bedroom floor. And on top of it, Mom crouched, covered in blood.
Her face buried in the pool of blood on the floor.
*Slurp slurp.*
Mom lifted her head. Her mouth area was bright red. She was smacking her lips, and her exposed fangs were extremely long.
I felt like I was going to vomit.
"Ugh, ugh...! N-no! No! Mom!"
This is a nightmare.
I tried to run to Mom but froze. Mom, who had been crouching, suddenly stood up. Then she slowly walked toward me, arms outstretched.
Normally, I'd hug her there. A bit embarrassing, but it's Mom... But, but!
"But why are you trying to bite me!"
"Kieek!"
"Hwak, hwaaaak!"
Like falling off a treadmill, I rolled on the floor once, then comically flailed and got up to run.
I have to get out, right now!
"Fuck!"
Vampire!
That fucking vampire bitch found me!
Running away didn't make it safe! She found me somehow! I shouldn't have come home! Because I came home, Mom!
"Mom, Mooom! Hic! Kuuuk!"
Mom turned into that!
Because of me, Mom was killed by the vampire and turned into a monster!
"No! Not Mom and Dad! Kruuuk!"
Terror, disgust, self-loathing, emotions heavier and stickier than imagination could fathom surged from within, transcending all that. Why? Why do I have to go through this shit?
The moment I opened the front door and stepped out.
"Uh?"
A blood-soaked hand grabbed my forearm.
"Ghak."
"Ah, Dad?"
Empty eyes. No, beast-like emotionless eyes stared at me. Dad was also covered in blood. Long fangs, and he seemed to see me as prey.
Not the usual somewhat weird but cheerful Dad...
"Ah, Dad. Please. Please! Pleeease!"
"Kyaaaak!"
Dad pushed me down. I hit the floor. I flailed, screamed, cried loudly with tears.
"Hiek! Hieeeek!"
Fangs sank into my forearm. Dad was biting my arm. Please. Please somehow. I just want it all to end now.
"Keurk...!"
My stomach burned hot. Dad's strong hand entered my belly. The front door opened again. Mom came out.
"Kyak!"
Mom lunged at me. Then together with Dad, they started tearing open my abdomen and pulling out my entrails.
—Splurt! Splurt!
In the midst of horrific pain and dizziness, I closed my eyes as I watched my parents gnaw on my entrails.
[You were eaten by your parents.]
[Death Count: 3 -> 4]
[Restarting.]
"Hwaaaaak! Hak! Aak! Urk, uuuuk! Keuek!"
The moment I opened my eyes, tears and vomit poured out. Clutching my stomach, I rolled on the floor, expelling all the pain.
"Urk! Uuuk! Uuuuk!"
I died...!
Died again!
Eaten alive by Mom and Dad this time!
"Kraaak!"
The image of my parents turned into monsters wouldn't leave my mind. It's all my fault. I'm such an idiot for going home! The vampire tracked me and turned my Mom and Dad into monsters!
"That fucking bitch!!!"
Along with the pain, extreme rage boiled up. What the hell do I do with that fucking bitch? How do I deal with the bastard who touched my parents!
There's only one answer.
Cross.
"Uh?"
The moment I tried to stand, I realized something was off.
"Not the subway...?"
Not the subway. What I saw was my studio apartment plastered with cross posters. Realizing this, I sat blankly, trying to grasp reality.
Why... is it my room instead of the subway?
Did the regression point change?
"Status window."
[● Status Window]
Name: Kim Geunhong
Age: 24
Loop: 2
Death Count: 4
[● Collected Endings]
Only the death count had changed. Nothing else was different. Just in case, I checked my phone—it was that same dawn.
The dawn after escaping the subway, spending a sleepless night wide-eyed in my room.
"..."
I couldn't figure out why I'd regressed here instead of the subway. Still, encountering this new anomaly briefly distracted me, clearing my head a bit.
"Mom... Dad... Haah."
If I'd regressed here, that means they're safe. Thinking that brought a huge wave of relief.
"Call."
I called Dad first.
[Uh... Uh, Red Sun. What. Why.]
"It's Dad."
It's really Dad!
"Huu!"
I hung up and let out a big breath. Both of them are safe. Thankfully, regression made it all undone.
"Get it together."
I stood, pressing my temples hard with my thumbs and rubbing.
"Get it together. The vampire will find me."
So I can't run back home. I don't know how she tracks me, but if I go home, she'll follow in just a few days. Then Mom and Dad die.
"Somewhere else."
I have to bolt somewhere else.
But even fleeing elsewhere offers no guarantee she won't find me. Even if I go to Gangwon Province, she might track me there.
So I need to prepare to confront the vampire anytime. Like the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing, loaded with anti-vampire weapons, living every day on the knife's edge between life and death.
A true vampire hunter life.
But where the hell does the money for that come from?
"Regression."
Like lightning in my head.
Info on stocks and coins I'd memorized over the past few days came back to life. I had almost no money now, but with this memory alone, I could amass overwhelming wealth in an instant!
With that, fleeing for my life would be a piece of cake!
"Good thing I memorized it."
No time. Prep starts now. Mom. Dad. Friends. Relatives. Can't meet anyone. I have to go full fugitive alone.
With my mind steeled, I immediately sprang into action.
Having seen Mom and Dad like that once, no more acting spoiled.
[People are dying!!!!!!!!!!]
[Heart about to burst, upvote lololol]
[Still believe in America???????]
Using the info I'd memorized before regression, I made an insane amount of money.
I crushed it up and down, never lost a dime.
Starting from college kid level funds, it ballooned beyond professional investor levels, multiplying several times over as my wealth skyrocketed endlessly.
An amount I couldn't have imagined before, but now it felt like cheat money in a single-player game.
The old Kim Geunhong, who once reveled in manic joy all day over a measly 50,000 won profit, was gone. With the power of regression in hand, money was just a free resource I could generate endlessly.
Having grown my fortune, I began my life on the run.