Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Red Woman #6
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I must never leave any trace of my movements.
To disrupt any trails of my path, I always alternated between taxis and public transportation whenever I moved. The moment I let my guard down, the vampires would kill me. Such paranoid delusions consumed my mind.
I kept withdrawing cash and sleeping in motels. Money wasn't an issue anyway. Even on the run, life wasn't too uncomfortable.
I kept in touch just enough.
I had to avoid going completely off the grid. If I cut off all contact, I'd be reported missing, and then Mom and Dad would start looking for me. That could make them targets for the vampires.
I must never contact my family... Not only me, but I had to keep my parents hidden too. Contact should be minimal at best.
Even so, I doubted vampires could dig through all communication records, but better safe than sorry.
"Crosses...!"
I draped crosses all over my body and got cross tattoos on various spots. My bag was always packed with garlic, stakes, and silver. I was prepared to summon flames anywhere.
I felt myself turning into the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing. Wasn't I constantly devising ways to fight back against the vampires while on the run?
If this wasn't Van Helsing, then who was?
—Clank.
That was why my luggage was a bit heavy. The cross jewelry draped over me, the thicker clothes to hide the tattoos, and always carrying a backpack made me feel a little sluggish.
Worried messages came from my parents and friends. Every night, I stuffed my fist in my mouth and sobbed, missing them.
"...How long do I have to keep living like this?"
Riding in cars, eating at restaurants, sleeping in motels—the days dragged on. I was still tormented by extreme, inhuman nightmares. Death and regression... all of it twisted delusions...
There was only one way to end this pain.
"Like the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing."
By killing that vampire.
Only that could save me!
"Oh, Lord! God!"
I visited the largest church in Korea to absorb its holy energy!
"Pastor! I seek salvation! Can I receive some good energy from this church?!"
"What's wrong with this guy? Go register or something, why are you...!"
"I want to register!"
I was clinging to the pastor's ankle, pleading.
"What's the commotion?!"
A booming voice rang out.
Looking up, I saw he was a very famous pastor. A top-tier one who led countless fanatics. Almost no one in Korea didn't know him.
I never liked these kinds of believers before, but now it didn't matter. A man with so many fanatics under him surely had something special.
"It's just that this guy—!"
"I've come to register at this church! Please let me join!"
"What? A new follower?"
In an instant, his face turned benevolent. He knelt on one knee and extended his hand to me. I took it and stood.
"If the Lord's lamb is wandering, it's our duty to guide it. Pastor Kim, register him right away."
"Understood!"
"Thank you!"
And so, I joined one of the biggest churches.
Of course, I wasn't satisfied with just that.
"Ah! Islam!"
Itaewon, the street of Islam!
"Itaewon freedom!"
I headed to the Islamic mosque in Itaewon, a place brimming with youth. Countless Arabs in turbans stared at me in surprise.
"Allahu Akbar! I want to learn about Islam and the Quran! Please teach me!"
"Ma haja al-insan?!"
Sadly, registering with Islam failed, but the fire burning inside me didn't die.
Right now, I was a Crusader!
A devout believer praying for the Holy Spirit's energy in the Holy Land before setting off on a holy war!
"Your lamb heads to the battlefield!"
I had to kill the vampire!
I couldn't let that vermin crawl around in the shadows of the world, infecting people like pests.
This was about saving myself, but also saving the innocent lambs.
I had to kill it...!
Only then would this nightmare end.
"Come find me."
Only then would this fugitive life end.
"I said come find me...!"
Only then could I escape the fear of death!
"I'm right here!"
Preparations complete, I stopped running.
After stockpiling a massive arsenal of anti-vampire weapons, I deliberately left traces. I even revisited the subway where I'd first encountered it.
That damned monster would find me soon.
Our final showdown was approaching. It was human time now, so if it attacked, it'd be at night.
Night is the monster's time?
Don't make me laugh...!
Night or day, it didn't matter. The faith in my heart wouldn't extinguish even in the abyss of darkness, shining nobly in the shape of a cross forever.
And the time came.
I knew something had come for me.
A quiet alley in the dead of night. Even the residents had evacuated due to redevelopment—it was a deserted corner of the city. Only hopeless trash, birds enjoying flight, or young dreamers would crawl into a place like this.
Or perhaps a being of another form.
—Splash.
I sensed a presence.
The vampire was approaching. In my hands, I gripped a cross and a stake. I had a 500g pack of minced garlic from the mart and a massive amount of peeled Chinese garlic that Chinese prisoners had husked with their teeth.
China was a country that denied supernatural phenomena.
The Cultural Revolution. Communism's red wave denied ghosts and erased otherworldly beings. Using garlic from such a country in kimchi was a sin, but using it to turn evil bright red like kimchi was righteous.
"The endless Yangtze rolls on."
I stretched my arms toward the sky and arched my back. The perm energy infused in the red Chinese garlic would protect me.
Come on, I was ready.
"Come...!"
I'd throw garlic, flash the cross, and stake its heart. I couldn't imagine a future where I lost. I'd defeat it and return to normal life for sure.
"Over there."
A voice came.
Behind me?
"Vampire hunter. That right?"
"What?"
Turning around, I saw two men in black suits. Both built like pro wrestlers. And they wore sunglasses in this pitch-black night.
What the hell?
Humans?
My first thought was whether they were even human. Legend said vampires could shapeshift. If those suit guys were vampires in disguise, it made perfect sense.
Even from a brief glance, I could tell. They looked human, but felt nothing like it.
"Vampire hunter."
"Or should I say crypto bro?"
The two men approached, saying that.
Hold on.
How did they know I was into coins?
"You... what are you? Vampires?"
I didn't know how to act.
—Splash.
One suit guy pulled a pistol from his coat.
"Shit?!"
What hit me next was searing pain.
—Pew.
A tiny firing sound.
Like a toy gun. But the pain was real. A bullet, a small piece of lead, had burrowed into my body...!
"Arrrghhh!"
I screamed and rolled on the ground.
Vampires used guns too? That was cheating!
All my preparations were for nothing! My faith and tattoos didn't block bullets at all!
Who would've thought it'd bring a gun...! Hoarding crosses, garlic, stakes, and silver against something like that was all bullshit!
Me dying to a vampire's gun? No way!
"Target secured."
"Initiating retrieval."
With voices like they were reporting to someone, the men's brutish hands grabbed and twisted my body.
—Crack!
"Hngh!"
My arm snapped, my leg shattered, but I couldn't even scream properly. A gag was stuffed in my mouth, a black hood over my face.
"Mmmph!"
I was suffocating.
Writhing in pain, I felt them hoist me up and toss me into a car.
Was I being transported to the vampires' headquarters just like this?
I was a fool.
A fool!
The vampires' power was vast!
To fight back with just one person's strength! Yeah! Everything I read online was true! Vampires had infiltrated the cores of nations, allied with the powerful, and built their own kingdom!
The US President, the British King—all the same!
They sacrificed humans to them...!
Why were Koreans so obsessed with church? Because religious leaders spread faith desperately to protect the people. I was the fool. I should've consulted the church and fought with them. Or at least told the Itaewon mosque.
—Stab!
"Ugh!"
Something sharp pierced my neck. I felt the drug being injected as my eyes closed.