The Vampire Incident (5)

I stepped out of the bathroom to find Cheon Hayeon in the middle of the living room, deep in meditation. She had already undone her male disguise. Her golden hair, gently swaying from the flow of her internal energy, shimmered with an ethereal glow that added an almost mystical aura to her presence.

She must have sensed me coming out, because her eyelids slowly lifted. I toweled off my damp hair and plopped down on the sofa directly across from her. Cheon Hayeon stared at me intently.

“What are you looking at me like that for?”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

...As expected, she’s annoyingly sharp.

“It’s not exactly a worry, but there’s a difficult problem I can’t quite figure out how to judge.”

“When reason fails to provide an answer, simply following your heart can sometimes be the solution.”

“Following my heart, huh...”

I still didn’t understand why the file had updated at this exact moment. Galhyeon-dong was a neighborhood that bordered the academy grounds. The area around the academy wasn’t just patrolled by the Murim Alliance—it was also watched by the students’ own security organization and even the Muksu Unit. If a murder had occurred despite all that surveillance, it was definitely no ordinary incident. On top of that, an entire family had been slaughtered.

If I jumped in recklessly, there was a high chance I’d end up in danger too. To pull off something like this so close to the academy, the perpetrator couldn’t be some run-of-the-mill thug. And if the autopsy report was accurate and the culprit really was a blood fiend or a crimson ghoul...

With my current abilities, I wouldn’t stand a chance. A blood fiend would be manageable, at least. But a crimson ghoul... even the weakest ones were first-rate martial artists. Thanks to their artificially induced qi deviation, they were far stronger than ordinary first-rate experts. Their terrifying power had been proven when the Blood Sect made its full appearance. Even the major righteous sects had been wary of facing them.

I couldn’t report this to the police or the Murim Alliance either. When I searched for it, no such article existed. That meant this event was going to happen in the future—and who would believe me if I told them? Even I was only half-convinced myself.

My thoughts were getting tangled, so I stood up and brewed some coffee.

“Want some?”

“That would be good.”

Soon the fragrant aroma of coffee filled the entire house. I set the cups down with a soft clink and sat across from Cheon Hayeon again.

What was the right answer here? Should I risk my own life to prevent the incident in advance? Or should I simply let things flow naturally and stay out of it?

It was a difficult question. There was no guarantee that stopping it would lead to a better outcome. In fact, it might trigger a butterfly effect in some unexpected place and create an even more horrific disaster.

But.

If I hadn’t known, that would be one thing. Now that I did know, I couldn’t just sit back and watch.

If I ran away from this, I had a feeling I would keep running forever.

It almost felt like the status window was asking me that very question.

In the end, there was only one answer I could give.

Having made my decision, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Can I change my request?”

“Did you not check?”

“Check what?”

“The ‘money’ you mentioned has already been deposited. It is only what I can freely use under my own authority for now, but if it is not enough, simply tell me. I will speak with the Divine Cult separately.”

“Hold on.”

I turned on my smartphone and opened the banking app. The moment I saw the deposit notification, my entire body froze.

‘One, ten, hundred, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thousand, ten thousand...’

An endless parade of zeros stretched on.

‘Ten billion won.’

...Holy shit.

Just because I’d casually mentioned needing money, Cheon Hayeon had casually dropped ten billion won into my account. There were limits to having zero financial sense. No matter how rich and famous her family was, this wasn’t an amount you just threw at someone you’d barely known for a few days.

“Is this really okay? Won’t someone come investigating? Like the National Tax Service or something?”

“Who would dare interfere with the affairs of the Divine Cult? Do not worry. Handling such trivial matters is simple.”

Cheon Hayeon squared her shoulders with an arrogant tone. So the Heavenly Demon Sect was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with government agencies.

“I didn’t expect this much.”

“It seems you are misunderstanding something.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“How much do you think your current value is worth?”

“Well... I’ve never really thought about it that way.”

I was a martial artist, so obviously my market value would be high, but still...

“Setting aside the information you provided about the Blood Sect, the clues you gave me to supplement the Heavenly Demon Divine Art alone make your worth ‘priceless.’”

“I haven’t really done anything special.”

“It does not matter. To me, you are like... an irreplaceable spiritual medicine without price. Your value cannot be measured by mere money.”

Human spiritual medicine, huh. Hearing it from Cheon Hayeon’s own mouth felt strangely ambiguous.

“I’m grateful that you think so highly of me, but...”

“Therefore, there is no need to change your request. Ask for more if you wish. I will help you as much as I am able.”

Maybe just becoming roommates with Cheon Hayeon had been an incredible stroke of fortune from the very beginning. Watching her elegantly sip her coffee with refined grace, the thought struck me anew.

“Just so you know in advance, this information didn’t come from the righteous sects or the Divine Cult’s spies.”

“Now I am even more curious.”

“Muhon Mayeong. How many of them are nearby?”

Clink.

Cheon Hayeon immediately set her coffee cup down. Her eyes gradually widened.

“...You knew?”

“More ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or less. The Young Sect Leader of the Divine Cult wouldn’t have come all the way into righteous faction territory without any protection.”

Muhon Mayeong referred to the members of the Mayeong Suradae. The Mayeong Suradae could be considered the Young Sect Leader’s personal elite guard. There was no way she would have left all her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠closest subordinates back at the Divine Cult. At least some of them had to be stationed near the academy.

“There are ten.”

Cheon Hayeon, who had been lost in thought for a moment, finally spoke. The Mayeong Suradae was a small but elite unit. They hadn’t earned the title Muhon Mayeong for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing. Every single one of them was a peak-level master. The fact that the Divine Cult could afford to maintain an entire unit made up of peak experts—each of whom would be a sect leader in a smaller organization—showed just how powerful they truly were.

Still, if there were only ten... at least half of them would need to stay close to protect Cheon Hayeon. After all, their primary duty was to safeguard her.

“Can you mobilize the Muhon Mayeong?”

“For what purpose?”

“I’d like them to do some surveillance.”

The ‘distant future event’ probably hadn’t been updated in the file. This game wasn’t that considerate. There definitely wouldn’t be much time to prepare. At most, a month.

“Where?”

“Near Eunhaeng-dong. The frozen warehouse owned by Nanhwa Corporation.”

After looking it up, there were five possible locations in total. If Cheon Hayeon assigned one person to each, there would be no one left to monitor the actual murder site. And if I went to watch the warehouse myself, I had neither stealth techniques nor any experience in that field. I also had to attend classes at the academy. It would be much easier for me to handle the murder scene where raw power might be needed.

“How long?”

“Within a month at most. It could be as soon as this week.”

“That is not a difficult request. Surveillance alone will suffice?”

“I’d also like them to investigate inside if possible. Don’t touch anything too obviously... and if they see someone being kidnapped, rescuing them would be enough.”

Cheon Hayeon’s eyes narrowed with interest.

“I want to open up that head of yours and see what kind of scheme you are drawing.”

“If you open my skull, I’ll die.”

“It was a jest.”

“I’m counting on you.”

With a faint smile, Cheon Hayeon rose from her seat.

“You may trust me. Your request shall be fulfilled.”

“Thanks.”

I rested my chin on my hand and looked away. Then I slowly zoomed in on the photo from the file article I’d seen earlier.

The scene near the police line. Galhyeon-dong. This was enough.

In a developed country like Korea, you didn’t need to run around on foot checking everything one by one. In the countryside it might be different, but this was the capital region. I picked up my tablet and opened a map. Using the structures visible in the photo, I filtered the satellite map for possible matches, then used street view to narrow it down further. After repeating the process a few times, the list of candidates usually shrank dramatically.

It wasn’t perfect, but I managed to narrow it down to three locations. Now it was time to check them in person.

“I’m going out for a bit.”

I spoke casually to Cheon Hayeon, who was standing in front of the mirror in the master bedroom, arranging her long golden hair. She nodded silently. No matter how many times I saw her, her beauty was enough to make my eyes pop out. Just looking at her appearance made it easy to understand why she’d been ordered to crossdress. Of course, that probably wasn’t the only reason.

I sent a message to Han Yeoreum while running toward the candidate sites to loosen up my body as well.

I ran for quite a while, but there was no reply. Unlike me, whose body was overflowing with yang energy and boasted insane recovery, it seemed Han Yeoreum had passed out from the aftereffects of her training.

First candidate site. Eliminated.

Second one, also eliminated.

By the time sweat started dripping down my forehead, I arrived at the third and final candidate site.

‘Jackpot.’

When I checked from the same angle as the article photo, it matched perfectly. Looking around, the area was deserted and isolated enough that no one would notice if something happened. However, one question remained.

Why would an academy student be wandering around a place like this and get attacked?

Even now, there wasn’t a single person around. The place gave off an eerie vibe even in broad daylight. If it were late at night around 11 p.m., it would be even worse.

I dropped a pin on the map to mark it.

‘If I use light footwork and run at full speed, it’d take about ten to fifteen minutes.’

From the academy dorms to here. If I managed my energy carefully, maybe twenty to thirty minutes.

Now that I knew the location, next I had to figure out the exact time. That was the biggest problem. All I knew was that it would happen ‘one day’ between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

Hire surveillance personnel? If the culprit was bold enough to openly kill an academy student near the academy, ordinary watchers would be useless. It would likely just increase pointless casualties.

‘This is giving me a headache.’

Did it really need to be a human watching? No. All I needed was to detect suspicious movement. Commercial equipment could handle that much.

‘I’ll borrow some of Cheon Hayeon’s power too...’

I wasn’t some blue mass-produced caretaker robot. It felt like I was relying on Cheon Hayeon more and more often lately.

Just as I finished my thoughts and was about to head back, a message from Han Yeoreum finally arrived.

Yeah, she definitely passed out.

My finger paused over the screen for a moment. When I didn’t reply right away, a flood of cat emojis with question marks came flying in.

...I’m keeping Han Yeoreum out of this one.

I took one more look around the future crime scene, then turned to leave.

The boundary between the ordinary and the extraordinary in this world.

Just how blurred was it, really?

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.