Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Yeongcheon Style
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Upon transitioning back into the world of Vampire Detective, the very first thing I did was unpack the storage container I had transported from reality so I could change into a clean formal suit. Utilizing this container had proven to be the single most effective method for organizing my gear, seeing as storing the container directly into my dimensional inventory naturally brought along everything packed inside it without taking up separate item slots.
It was the exact same formal attire I had worn merely once during my college entrance ceremony and had left untouched in the back of my wardrobe ever since.
The outfit was practically identical to the simple black suit and dress shoes I had been sporting earlier. I promptly shoved my blood-drenched garments alongside the stained sashimi knife straight into the box, gathered the frozen swordfish and the battered baseball bat to leave them safely behind in reality, and prepared to tidy up the aftermath.
Next, I directed my attention toward the three deceased thugs sprawled across the pavement, transferring their remains into my inventory one by one.
"Ugh, this nauseating stench of iron and blood."
I shook my head in revulsion while slinging my backpack securely over both shoulders, feeling genuinely fortunate that I had removed it prior to the confrontation, leaving the fabric completely immaculate.
Had I been striving to orchestrate an immaculate, picture-perfect crime scene, I would have painstakingly scrubbed away the blood splatters coating the ground and the alley walls; however, performing such deep sanitation was far too exhausting of an ordeal, and I possessed neither the luxury of time nor the technical expertise to pull it off convincingly.
Besides, given that the physical corpses have completely vanished from the scene, the chances of the authorities launching a full-scale homicide investigation are slim to none.
Even if the police eventually came knocking on my door to interrogate me, all I had to do was maintain absolute ignorance and deny every accusation, knowing full well they held neither murder weapons nor dead bodies to corroborate any charge.
South Korea is practically blanketed with surveillance cameras from corner to corner, meaning the investigators will instinctively scour the Han River or nearby coastlines on the assumption that the bodies were disposed of in the water. I can easily dump the corpses whenever a safe opportunity presents itself down the line.
With that reassurance in mind, I made my way toward a nearby motel, washed away the grime under a hot shower, and collapsed into a deep slumber.
***
"What in the world happened here? There are gallons of blood pooled across the asphalt, yet not a single body or weapon in sight."
Detective Moon Ji-hyuk muttered under his breath, knitting his brows in deep bewilderment as his keen gaze thoroughly inspected every inch of the shadowed alleyway.
What irritated him far more than the puzzling scene itself was the lingering scent of fresh blood hanging heavily in the humid air, an aroma that caused his internal body temperature to surge uncontrollably due to his dormant vampiric instincts.
Detective Team Leader Oh Jeong-jin gave an impatient click of his tongue, casually surveying the crimson-streaked walls before turning to deliver his instructions to Moon Ji-hyuk.
"It's obviously nothing more than another violent territorial squabble between lowlife syndicates, so wrap up this preliminary report as quickly as you can."
"You want me to... wrap this up quickly?"
"That is precisely what I said. We have neither cadavers nor weapons recovered from this scene, so why on earth would you squander our precious manpower digging into petty gangster nonsense when our precinct is already drowning in backlogged cases?"
Moon Ji-hyuk clamped his jaw tight in suppressed frustration, well aware that Oh Jeong-jin always operated with such cynical pragmatism, yet finding himself grated by the senior detective's dismissive attitude every single time.
To be fair, any veteran officer stepping onto this pavement would immediately categorize the site as an underworld gang clash, and considering the conspicuous absence of physical remains or discarded blades, that conclusion was ninety-nine percent certain to be accurate.
"Even if that is true, shouldn't we at least conduct a proper forensic sweep?"
"A sweep for what, exactly? Are you volunteering to go hunt down missing corpses in the middle of nowhere, or track down whatever blades inflicted this slaughter? ...Just picturing the bureaucratic nightmare makes me want to heave. Look closely at the blood pooling on the asphalt; there isn't a single drag mark indicating that heavy bodies were hauled away, nor are there identifiable footprints left to establish a trail. The victims have probably been weighted down at the bottom of the ocean by now, and seeing as there are no surveillance cameras covering this blind spot, how could we possibly mount an investigation?"
"We could still swab the samples to run DNA identification through the national database."
"Do you honestly believe the higher-ups will authorize wasting limited forensics resources on an apparent mob hit when we have civilian homicides piling up? Our testing quota is strictly limited as it is. When two criminal factions tear each other apart without causing civilian casualties, the standard procedure is to let the dust settle quietly, and the brass will tell you the exact same thing. If you are truly that desperate to chase down this dead end, go do it off the clock on your own personal time."
"Are you granting me permission to pursue this independently?"
Oh Jeong-jin shot Moon Ji-hyuk a weary, exasperated glare, realizing that this rookie's stubborn sense of justice was so unyielding that he might genuinely go rogue to pursue the lead.
"Drop the hero act and file the standard closure paperwork, because we have far more critical matters demanding our attention."
"......"
Moon Ji-hyuk fell into a resigned silence, unable to offer an immediate counterargument.
"Haaah... listen to me, Ji-hyuk."
Oh Jeong-jin sighed heavily as he reached forward, resting both hands firmly upon the younger man's shoulders to talk sense into him.
"Learn to pick your battles wisely. Just early this morning, another completely desanguinated, mummified corpse was recovered over in Yeoksam-dong. ...Damn it all, that makes it the eleventh victim already. You've been practically obsessed with hunting down that serial perpetrator, so are you seriously proposing we abandon that critical pursuit just to chase after some missing mobsters?"
"......I understand your point. I will conclude the report swiftly."
Moon Ji-hyuk was left with no room to argue, knowing full well that those desiccated corpses pointed directly toward an active vampire operating within the city. If he could manage to track down and apprehend that creature, he might finally uncover a crucial lead on how to reverse his own curse and reclaim his lost humanity, making it an investigation he could never afford to abandon.
"Good, that is the professional mindset I expect from you. I'm heading back to the precinct first."
With those parting words, Oh Jeong-jin turned on his heel and vacated the premises.
Moon Ji-hyuk cast one last lingering glance over the blood-spattered alleyway, noting the unmistakable violent trajectories recorded within the crimson arcs yet finding not a single smear to suggest that casualties had been dragged along the ground. A blood loss of this staggering volume had to correspond to at least two or three individuals bleeding out on the spot, presenting an array of glaring anomalies to anyone observing carefully; however, he forcibly banished those nagging doubts from his mind.
The vampire case must take absolute precedence over everything else, especially since eleven innocent souls have already been drained dry and discarded like trash.
***
By the time my personal liquid funds had dwindled down to approximately one hundred million won, I initiated the command to return to reality.
It is finally time for me to pursue legitimate certification and become an official Hunter.
Surviving that sudden ambush orchestrated by armed thugs had made me realize just how terribly fragile and vulnerable my combat fundamentals truly were.
Over the following three days, I indulged in continuous nightlife circuits across high-end establishments to burn away my accumulated tension and satisfy my physical impulses.
However, those hedonistic escapades must be put on pause for the foreseeable future.
The chilling realization that I would have been completely helpless had those three assailants turned out to be genuine vampires kept intruding upon my thoughts, ruthlessly extinguishing my desire for entertainment.
My current roadmap is straightforward: acquire my Hunter registration and seek out professional combat instruction immediately.
Up until this point, I had never undergone formal combat training suited for Hunters, as the curriculum within Gukcheon University's Hunter Department was notoriously skewed toward academic theory, leaving practical instruction limited to rudimentary drills.
Furthermore, under strict national Hunter regulations, civilians were legally barred from learning advanced martial arts techniques unless they held valid Hunter credentials.
Naturally, I cannot afford to disclose the true nature of my primary abilities under any circumstances.
Should the existence of my unique Playful Life system ever leak out, the global community would descend into utter chaos, and in the worst-case scenario, the authorities would place me under severe administrative confinement to exploit such an unprecedented anomaly for state interests. Maintaining absolute secrecy regarding my core power was an absolute necessity.
In order to pass the registration screening, I must present at least one convincing, publicly acceptable skill.
While Complete Recovery stood as my most reliable trump card, its strict limitation of activating merely once every twenty-four hours strictly upon my own body would likely draw nothing more than pity or mockery from the evaluators.
On the other hand, revealing my advanced Hacking capabilities was far too dangerous, as possessing the power to compromise national infrastructure would inevitably trigger immense government scrutiny and paranoia.
Without any powerful clan or wealthy family backing my corner, securing a solid, practical ability is my only viable route toward earning my credentials.
After all, lacking demonstrable supernatural skills meant an automatic rejection from the Hunter Association.
With my mind firmly resolved, I brought up my character parameters to review my options.
I decided to dump every single one of my twenty-three available stat points directly into the Random Gacha feature, aiming specifically to draw an ability respectable enough to clear the Hunter certification exam.
While the probability of pulling useless novelties was undeniably high, relying on the system draw remained the most realistic avenue at my disposal.
Let’s see what fortune has in store for me!
I repeatedly activated the draw sequence in rapid succession, watching a pile of mundane junk materialize before me: a digital alarm clock, a packaged slab of pork belly weighing one hundred grams, a can of bright yellow spray paint, and various other trivial items.
Just as my patience began to fray, the golden chime of the ninth pull resonated through the air, delivering an absolute jackpot.
"Yes! It finally came through!"
Acceleration Lv.1
Temporarily accelerates the user's bodily movements for the duration of 1 minute.
Cooldown: 1 hour
Although its active duration was relatively brief and the cooldown period stretched for an entire hour, it was more than sufficient to serve as an undeniable proof of awakening during testing, marking this endeavor as an absolute success.
"Hell yes! Now I can finally walk through the front doors as a fully licensed Hunter!"
A surge of pure exhilaration washed over me, igniting an urge to dance right then and there.
Giving in to the impulse, I began celebrating wildly all across the narrow confines of my studio apartment.
"Hahaha!"
Without wasting another second, I hurried straight to the local Hunter Association branch, breezed through the standardized physical assessment, and had my official identification card issued on the spot.
From this day forward, I was officially recognized as an active F-rank Hunter.
***
"Whoa, look at you! I knew you had it in you all along, Sung Yu-jin! I never doubted you for a second!"
Oh Jun-hyuk brought his palm down against my shoulder in the middle of the lecture hall, offering his boisterous congratulations for the entire room to hear.
Drawn by his loud proclamation, several of our department classmates began gathering around my desk to offer their own well-wishes, and while their sudden friendliness felt somewhat superficial given their past indifference, receiving their praise was pleasant nonetheless.
News of my successful awakening swept through the Hunter Department with astonishing speed.
Even a few faculty professors took a moment to approach me after class, having been well aware of my prolonged struggles as an unawakened cadet.
"You've finally secured your official registration, haven't you? Excellent work, congratulations."
"I always knew you possessed dormant capability. While physical acceleration is a relatively widespread classification, true mastery depends entirely on how creatively you apply it in practical combat."
"Now that you have awakened your potential, I expect you to take your attendance far more seriously from here on out."
Professor Park delivered his words of encouragement wrapped in a stern reprimand, leaving me to offer an awkward, apologetic smile as I accepted the lecture gracefully.
"Hey, Hunter Sung Yu-jin! You're officially one of the initiated now, so how about we hit the club circuit tonight to celebrate? You know that registered Hunters receive a flat fifty percent discount at the entrance, right?"
"I already tagged along with you to that venue a couple of months ago, remember?"
Back then, I had accompanied Oh Jun-hyuk to an upscale Gangnam nightclub that boasted an incredible atmosphere, only to find the entire outing painfully humiliating due to being dead broke, physically unimpressive, and entirely unawakened.
The women present had treated me as though I were completely invisible.
While Oh Jun-hyuk spent the entire evening chatting up gorgeous women and basking in their laughter, I was relegated to awkwardly nibbling on fruit platters at the booth table, occasionally attempting half-hearted dances just to blend into the scenery.
The night had concluded with him escorting an attractive girl to a nearby lodging while I trudged back toward my cramped studio alone in the cold.
However, those humiliating memories were nothing more than relics of the past; with my recent awakening, enhanced facial complexion courtesy of Complete Recovery, and a newly respectable appearance, my prospects were vastly different, even if my bank account remained currently depleted.
"Rather than an overcrowded club... why don't we consider spending our evening at a high-end room salon instead?"
While standard nightclubs were undoubtedly filled with striking beauties, the venue style simply did not suit my personal preferences. Successfully charming women in a crowded club demanded relentless social posturing and exhaustive small talk, yet more often than not, the effort yielded absolutely nothing at the end of the night.
In fact, even an experienced player like Oh Jun-hyuk maintained a casual encounter success rate hovering well below twenty percent on any given outing.
He regularly invested weeks building rapport through messaging just to secure a single private meeting, a tedious routine that felt far too exhausting for my taste.
"...A room salon, you say?"
Oh Jun-hyuk’s eyes went round with astonishment, clearly indicating that he was completely uninitiated when it came to private luxury venues.
"Precisely. While elite Tenpro establishments demand exorbitant sums, the companions they employ are on par with celebrated public idols, and provided you have sufficient funds to cover the arrangement, several venues are more than happy to facilitate private after-hours encounters."
"...Damn, you sound like someone who frequents those places on a regular basis."
"I happen to have experienced them firsthand. In fact, take a look at this clip from one of my visits..."
I casually brought up a recorded video on my smartphone screen, showing footage taken not at Eung Hye-jeong's establishment, but from a different private salon where I had posed surrounded by attractive companions.
While the recording did not contain explicit nudity, the women were draped in sheer, alluring fabrics that left very little to the imagination, offering tantalizing glimpses of their inner garments.
"...Holy shit..."
Oh Jun-hyuk stared at the display with his mouth agape, undisguised jealousy radiating from his wide eyes.
"Every single one of them looks like a professional celebrity... and you're casually wrapping your hands around her chest..."
He swallowed nervously, his throat bobbing before he fired off a barrage of questions.
"Which establishment was this? How on earth did you manage to scrape together the funds for an elite parlor like that, and what was the final damage?"
"It was a private Gangnam spot that recently shut down following police raids. As for the money, do you honestly believe I blow all my savings on bottle service at nightclubs like you do? I pinched every coin for months specifically to treat myself to an extravagant debut once I awakened."
"You absolute bastard... how could you indulge in something like that without inviting me along?!"
"You were the one who explicitly told me never to call your phone past midnight because you were always occupied entertaining women."
"...That was back then, you idiot! You definitely should have called me for an occasion like this!"
"Perhaps next time we can arrange something, though seeing as I'm running low on cash and haven't scouted a new regular establishment yet, I can't make any firm guarantees."
"Tell me the truth, did you actually end up sleeping with any of them?"
"......"
I merely responded with a knowing, silent smirk.
"Damn it, I am so ridiculously jealous right now. Which one of the five did you take home? Was it the girl whose waist you were holding in the frame?"
"Yeah, that’s the one."
In reality, I had spent the night with all five of them simultaneously, but disclosing the full truth would have sounded far too unbelievable for him to swallow.
"Was it as incredible as it looks?! Tell me what it was like!"
"What do you think? Just look at how stunning she is in that clip. Her body was completely out of this world, and honestly, just reminiscing about that night is enough to make my blood boil again."
"...Fuck, I really need to experience an upscale salon at least once in my life."
"Keep in mind that commercial adult entertainment is strictly prohibited by statute, which means the staff will flatly refuse your advances unless you build proper rapport. You have to locate a reliable establishment first, and above all, you need substantial capital prepared upfront."
"Roughly how much are we talking about here?"
"Well... preparing about five million won should generally secure you a seamless after-service arrangement."
I was largely throwing out an inflated estimate off the top of my head, considering that my reckless expenditure sprees within the Playful Life scenarios had completely warped my perception of realistic pricing, where standard arrangements likely cost under a million won.
"...Five million won?! That is completely absurd! At that price point, I’d much rather take my chances working the dance floor at regular clubs."
His reaction was entirely reasonable, as dropping millions of won on a single evening of entertainment was something only an eccentric spendthrift like myself would consider normal.
"Setting that aside for a moment, do you happen to know of any reputable combat academies around the district?"
I redirected the conversation back to my primary objective, knowing that Oh Jun-hyuk possessed well over a year of active experience within the Hunter community.
"Training academies? Ah, you mean private Hunter martial dojos."
"Yeah, exactly. Since I experienced a relatively late awakening compared to my peers, I need to enroll in a top-tier martial academy to build my fundamentals as quickly as possible."
Hunter training academies were specialized dojos and conditioning centers where newly awakened combatants could receive professional instruction in practical techniques, often colloquially referred to as Hunter gymnasiums or martial halls.
They offered immense utility for low-ranking novices seeking structured guidance from seasoned combat veterans; however, the primary drawback was that their tuition rates were easily ten to a hundred times more exorbitant than standard fitness memberships.
"That’s a very smart move on your part. I actually attend one regularly myself, so why don't you just register alongside me? There are plenty of attractive female Hunters enrolled in the classes as well."
"Are you serious? What is the name of the place?"
"It’s called the Gangnam Tank Academy."
"...A tank academy?"
"Yeah, it specializes exclusively in training frontline tanking specialists."
A tanker was the frontline pillar responsible for absorbing devastating strikes from lethal monsters to protect the rear vanguard, making it an extraordinarily perilous and grueling role that was nonetheless indispensable to any balanced raiding party.
"...I appreciate the offer, but tanking definitely isn't the path for me."
My natural physical constitution was relatively modest compared to specialized vanguard warriors, and considering my registered public skill was Acceleration, attempting to endure heavy impacts on the frontline would be complete suicide.
"Right, you awakened an acceleration trait, which naturally positions you as a close-quarters damage dealer."
"I’m leaning toward swordsmanship to function as a frontline melee striker."
"Swordsmanship dojos are practically everywhere you look in the city, so what specific criteria are you looking for in a school?"
"I need a dojo whose curriculum actively maximizes rapid acceleration, maintains reasonable tuition rates... and perhaps features an attractive roster of female instructors?"
"Haha, you really are an irredeemable pervert, aren't you?"
Oh Jun-hyuk let out a hearty laugh, though he took the request quite seriously, well aware that my appreciation for attractive women matched his own.
"If your goal is capitalizing on raw acceleration and rapid blade trajectories, then the Yeongcheon Sword Hall is hands down your ideal match."
"The Yeongcheon Sword Hall?"
"Yeah. They specialize in teaching the traditional Yeongcheon Style, and their current deputy head instructor happens to be a smoking hot B-rank combatant whose figure could rival any high-fashion model."
"Now that sounds promising. If the instructor is that incredible, why on earth did you choose to train at a tanking gym instead of staying there?"
"Because their training regimen is downright barbaric, to the point where I packed my bags and bailed after barely two days. When I enrolled, there were three other male Hunters attempting the course alongside me, and from what I heard through the grapevine, every single one of them ended up quitting within a week."
Active Hunters were unable to endure even a full week of training?
My expression instantly stiffened, as I knew my own personality well enough to recognize that I fundamentally despised taking arduous, painful roads.
"...Do you have any alternative recommendations?"
"Sure, there are plenty of other traditional dojos around, though every single one of them is run by stubborn, leather-faced old men who love barking orders all day."
"......I think I will go check out the Yeongcheon Sword Hall first after all."
When given the choice between enduring harsh drills beneath the gaze of a striking beauty or taking lessons from sweaty, foul-tempered old men, the decision was glaringly obvious.
"Don't say I didn't warn you. The physical conditioning there is brutally exhausting, and even though the instructor is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, after spending half a day under her terrifying drills, you will start looking at her like a literal demon."
He broke into a broad, mischievous smirk, clearly ready to wager that I would end up running away before my first session even concluded.