Unsettling Power

As I walked toward the motel, I added everything I'd learned today to the mental notepad in my head.

First. Even in human form, roughly an hour of walking under the sun turns dangerous.

That was probably because taking my clothes off had increased the surface area exposed to the sun — but sunlight was still a threat to me either way.

Second. Sunlight slowly gnaws away at my power. I barely felt it in this form, but as a monster… I'd feel it the instant exposure began.

So today's conclusion. In monster form, never. Ever. Do not operate during the day.

There wouldn't be any reason to operate under the sun anyway. There shouldn't be. Even in this form it was this bad — if the vampire component ever ran denser…

Ugh. I'd get roasted in an instant, wouldn't I?

I rubbed my throbbing, sunburned shoulder and shuddered at a scenario that would never actually happen.

…This wound won't heal on its own, will it? Whatever else, it's a wound from the sun.

It'll stick around until I drink blood. Ugh, it stings.

That aside… I reflected that my little demonstration might have been a bit much. Well — yes, I had deliberately overdone it.

But I'd wanted to see Su-hyeok look sorry. That guy, for all his hard edges, wasn't the type who enjoyed watching someone suffer because of him.

Ah, of course — assuming they weren't an enemy.

So I'd wanted to watch him look apologetic while I was in a little pain. I never expected him to just drop on the spot.

If he hadn't been there… hmm. Would I have gradually turned into a charcoal briquette over a long stretch of time?

And nobody would have picked me up before then. Who was going to scoop up a woman hot enough to literally smoke, after all.

Ah — would Su-hyeok have, though?

Even a Su-hyeok who didn't know me, not the Su-hyeok who took me back to their office — I think he still would have. He's the type who saves people and then acts like it was simply the obvious thing to do, without fishing for credit.

Of course it hadn't been a life-or-death situation for him, but still, it must have been hot. He put up with that while carrying me — or holding me — to get me out of there, and I don't think I could have done the same.

If I ran into a situation like that… well. I don't know what I'd do, but I'm certain I couldn't do it the way he did.

…Honestly, when he said it was the natural thing to do, my heart raced even as I felt a wall between us.

I knew why I felt that wall. Hearing those words, I got the sense that we were different people down to our very natures.

Even cornered that badly, he still treated it as obvious — and I freshly realized that that was what it took to be a protagonist.

As for why my heart raced… hmm. Well. Maybe it was human respect. Honestly, I was impressed. I would never have been able to think altruistically in that situation.

If there were just a few more people as noble and valuable as him in the world, this world would be a much better place.

The thought came to me — whether it was mine or the voice in my head, I couldn't tell. But it didn't matter, did it? It was true either way, as far as I was concerned.

…He's a character built that way from the start, so of course he's unrealistically good!

If I kept going like this I'd spiral into depression, so I decided to think of something cheerful. Moping never helps much anyway.

Let's see. I've got his contact info, and I've earned his trust.

If I keep the relationship going, pretend to toss him the occasional job, and shove him into all kinds of fortuitous encounters — or fights he can reasonably win — that should do it.

He's weak, so I have a duty to train him hard so that his goodness doesn't get crushed by the world's malice.

Because people as good as him are the ones who should lead the world.

For Su-hyeok it'll be one hardship after another, but hmm. I just have to manage things so he doesn't break.

Good — future planning complete. Su-hyeok, all of this is for your own good, so don't you dare break halfway through, okay?

Thinking optimistically, I got back to the motel and tossed my clothes off — and Na-rae looked at me and nearly had a heart attack.

"Oh my god, your body… Did you roll around in a fire pit or something?! How do you have so many burns…!"

"Uh, it's kind of similar, but it's none of your business."

"What on earth happened to you?! Ah, I get it. You got jumped on the way, didn't you?! I told you! Going back and forth through Incheon half-naked is going to get you killed…!"

Why was she worrying about me? Shouldn't she be happy if I died? I thought about it carefully and remembered that no, she wouldn't.

I'd made quite a few enemies. Na-rae ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠must believe she needs me to protect herself from them.

"I said it wasn't that. And trash like that isn't even worth a single punch. Even if I've been holding back, there's a baseline."

"Then what was it…?"

Hmm. What should I say to get the funniest reaction.

Yeah. That one.

"It's a secret."

"Aaaargh!!!"

The reason I was still hanging around Incheon even though the incident that kicked off the main story hadn't hit yet was because the burns remained even when I turned into monster form.

This wasn't some random mook — this was the first appearance of a special-grade monster. The whole world's attention would be on it, and I couldn't show up covered in burns all over.

I'd prepared my entrance line and the name I'd use as a monster and everything, and looking like I'd spent five seconds rolling around in a fire pit would completely kill the cool factor.

If it weren't for this, I'd already have flown off to get ready for my debut.

But I never dreamed in a million years that wounds I took in human form would still be there after transforming into a monster.

I mean, when I transform, my body literally melts down and gets reconstructed. Shouldn't that at least auto-repair a few wounds?

Even if they are sun wounds.

Looking at how I still can't regenerate them in this form, I guess reconstruction alone isn't enough to erase them… I don't know. I just need to drink some blood and fix the wounds already.

The main story starts in a few hours.

So I was about to grab some trash causing trouble on the street and slit his throat when a forgotten curiosity suddenly came back to me.

Why do I feel so reluctant to drink blood with my mouth.

Hmm. The fact that time's a little tight bothers me a bit.

Well, flying gets me there in no time, and I'm not going to pass out or anything… Maybe I should just try it with a "let's experiment" mindset.

With that absurdly casual thought, the moment I sank my teeth into that trash's neck—

…Some memory suddenly surfaced. Is this… my memory…? No, it isn't my memory. This… is…

It is my memory. A memory from when I was purest blood, before I became this.

Something that had been suppressed and buried under "me," but that could also wake up because of "my" actions.

Ironic. The jailer who had been locking me away would also be the one briefly granting me freedom.

The jailer doesn't even seem aware that they are a jailer.

Not that I particularly hated them. How could I hate someone who will one day become me? Could I hate myself, who shares the same body, the same teeth?

But… watching someone who holds my power yet can't fully command it is rather frustrating, so shall I give them a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gift?

To escape this prison, I needed to stain the jailer a little more with blood.

I tossed aside the completely desiccated corpse, then in an instant closed in on a rat lurking nearby and hoisted them high.

Jailer, watch carefully. This is the proper way to use blood.

At the same time as I embraced the rat, I wrapped them in my wings so no one could see.

Then I took them into my body and mixed us together.

If I've shown the demonstration, even a fool should be able to follow along.

I can feel the jailer starting to surface. You're panicking. Don't worry. I am you, and you are me.

There's nothing to fear…

…What the fuck. What the hell just happened? That clearly wasn't me, but my consciousness was crystal clear. What. Was that?

No, more importantly — with the Ilie talk, I think I just saw the vampire elder's memories? Is that right? Some other Ilie, not that Ilie? No, wait, it is?

I was confused. On top of that, all the memories of the guy I'd just absorbed had been stuffed into my head too, which made it worse.

Not that there was anything special or important in them, but the pure volume of information made my head feel like it was going to explode.

Wait. Wait, wait. Let me sort this out.

So: I drank blood with my mouth, and then suddenly the control of my body got stolen, and in that brief window the vampire elder decided to teach me how to use blood by absorbing a whole human — and when you absorb them, you can see all their memories… is that it.

My head throbbed. I'd thought the voice I sometimes heard in my head was the vampire's, but it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was Shining White's voice? That?

That doesn't make any sense — a former magical girl wouldn't say stuff like that… Ah, right. She was the one who negotiated with the Zodiacs too, for crying out loud.

Shining White, what the hell were you doing with your life.

Even as I was horrified, I got even more curious about Shining White's past. And also… the vampire elder. She's a whole other problem.

Is it okay to just grab some random person and absorb them as a demonstration?

Well, he was trash anyway and probably had no "value in living," but still.

The absorption itself wasn't the issue so much as how casually she did it. There wasn't a shred of hesitation.

Plus, looking at her thoughts while she had control for a moment, she genuinely thinks it's fine — wow. Now I finally understand why I was so reluctant to drink blood with my mouth.

I must have known, at least subconsciously, that every time I drink blood with my mouth, control of my body goes over to this crazy bitch.

Then why was there no problem when I drank blood right after being freed… maybe that was literally because I was on the verge of starving to death.

I've seen firsthand how weak a vampire gets when starved of blood. If she went ten years without a blood supply, even an elder would get that weak.

Now that there's blood to spare, she's starting to creep out little by little.

Whatever the case, from now on I absolutely must not drink blood with my mouth. The sensation of having my body stolen and handed over to something else inside me… was absolutely not pleasant.

Ugh, I was just going to play at curiosity for a second, and this is what I get.

…Learning about my other ability is good, but I didn't want to find out that way.

I shuddered for a moment at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bone-chilling sensation of swallowing a human whole, then looked at the watch the dead guy had been carrying and realized there wasn't much time left.

This was no time for this. I had to get to Seoul right now. I could re-examine just how horrifying what I'd just done was later — but being late to the main story event was something I couldn't undo.

I spread my wings wide, then flew with all my strength toward Seoul.