Chapter 1
Chapter 1
***
From the old Pro-10 speaker, the sound of a crackling radio flowed out.
In 21st-century Seoul, long after the day of ruin prophesied by Nostradamus had passed, a bartender in a quaint teahouse was carefully wiping old record platters with a cloth.
The speaker roughly reproduced the voice of an old Sinatra. Rain fell outside the window. The dim lighting was just enough to permit the sodium streetlamps illuminating the street to penetrate the inside of the shop. It was a peculiar bar where it would have been strange if business were good. But, in its own way, it was a place that had a quaint charm.
Dong…… Dong…….
The grandfather clock hanging on the wall began to let out a dull chime, announcing that it was 8 o'clock. And at the exact same time, the door opened and a man walked in through it.
The attire, glimpsed from within the black coat that enveloped his entire body, was unmistakably the vestments of a Catholic priest. Although alcohol is not forbidden, it was not a very common thing for a pious Catholic priest to visit a bar in person. Even more so if he was a young, silver-haired foreigner.
"For a spring rain, it's quite fierce."
He spoke thus and walked inside without even taking off his coat. For a foreigner, his Korean was surprisingly fluent and precise.
He glanced once at the bartender, then looked toward a secluded seat in the corner. On the sofa, which was obscured by a potted palm tree that didn't belong in a bar like this, there was a middle-aged man who was sleeping with a round beret pulled down low over his head.
The priest strode over and sat down opposite the man. That action, closer to that of an outlaw than a clergyman, was enough to draw attention, even setting aside his unusual appearance. But, whether fortunately or unfortunately, there was no one around except for the old bartender and the sleeping man.
"The night approaches. You shouldn't have time to be sleeping, do you?"
The priest spoke thus as he grabbed the sleeping man's table and shook it. At that, the middle-aged man took off his beret and rose from his seat, then sat right back down.
"Well, well. This is truly a surprising event. I thought you would be Korean because of your fluent Korean. As I thought, you really can't know a person over the phone."
<><><>
"I didn't come here to make small talk with you about my nationality. If you want to have that kind of chat, why don't you go to a phone room and do it. Rather than that, hurry up and spill where that bastard is. If you called me all the way here, he must be somewhere around here, right?"
He said that and looked out the window. The early spring rain was drumming against the window as violently as a monsoon. The man took off his hat as he spoke.
"He was in this vicinity, but I do not know of his whereabouts after that. He only left behind one spawn he had hatched, that is all."
"You don't know the bastard's whereabouts?"
"Yes. Instead, the spawn…"
The man spoke, smiling obsequiously. However, the silver-haired priest cut him off coldly.
"I have no interest in guys like that. If you don't know his whereabouts, then our deal is finished with that. Well then, I'll be on my way."
He said that and rose from his seat, striding out. At that, the man in the beret shot up in surprise.
"But they should know his whereabouts! No matter what anyone says, they are his children, after all!"
At that, the feet of the priest who had been striding away came to a halt. At the same time, as if the needle had reached the end of the old LP record, an unpleasant noise came from the speaker.
"You crafty bastard."
<><><>
A jet-black Corvette coupe slid its way out of the two-lane road that had all but turned into a parking lot. The silver-haired priest sitting in the driver's seat was passing quickly down the road, turning the steering wheel as if he were a professional car racer.
"That's quite bold. A car like this is bound to attract people's attention…"
"How many times do I have to tell you that it's none of your concern? If you really want to talk about something so badly, why don't you tell me about the place we need to go?"
He spoke thus as he drove the car. Hearing his words, the middle-aged man gave an awkward smile and began his explanation.
"That place is an illegal club made from a converted warehouse located on the coastal pier. It's a club under the Sangdong-pa, a place like a room salon that primarily retailed drugs, but from some point on, it became a Spawning Sanctuary and…"
"Spawning Sanctuary? In that case, there must be a lot of vampires there? And you people just stood by? It should have been quite profitable."
"The Sangdong-pa is an organization founded in the early 90s by its boss, Jeong Sang-dong; it's not large, but it is dangerous. We're not the police, so there's no need for us to recklessly pick a fight with them."
"How ridiculous. You're not afraid of vampires, but you're telling me you're afraid of organized crime gangsters?"
Screeeech!
Before he could even finish his words, the Corvette came to a stop in front of the warehouse. Two burly men stood at the warehouse entrance, and the entrance itself was blocked with black glass. The parking lot was outside the building, and they even provided a service to place a cover over license plates.
"If you look behind the seat, there should be a case."
The priest spoke thus as he opened the door and strode out into the pouring rain.
"You mean this?"
The middle-aged man held up a long bag that was filling the back seat. It was a black case that looked like a small child could fit inside if only it were a bit wider, and its weight was also heavy, as if a person had truly been put inside. The middle-aged man clicked his tongue inwardly and took it out.
"It would have been nice if it were a guitar case, but it's not easy to find a guitar that big. A cello or a bass is too big."
The priest said that and strode toward the entrance. At that, the two men, who were clearly bodyguards, moved to block the way.
"Excuse me, but could you please show us your invitation."
"What the hell?"
The priest immediately feigned ignorance. At that, the bodyguards were instantly flustered. If these members of the Sangdong-pa were capable of conversing with a foreigner, they would be tour guides, not organized crime gangsters. They looked at each other, unable to hide their bewilderment.
"Ah, fucking hell. This isn't even Itaewon, but he's a real Yankee. We're fucked. Hey, do you know any English?"
"I'm sick to death of 'English.' Go get Gyeong-hyun. They said he went to college…"
However, before they could even make a move, the priest moved.
Thwack!
While one was distracted, he drove his fist into the man standing in front and struck the bodyguard next to him squarely on the jaw with a back kick.
"Uuuuugh…"
With a clean cracking sound, the two men collapsed. Their teeth were broken, and blood gushed out, staining the ground. The skill with which he had tidily dealt with gangsters who were known for being tough was anything but ordinary.
"Now then, shall we go inside?"
He spoke thus and received the case. The middle-aged man looked down at the fallen men in surprise.
"They're the kind of guys who pass out after taking a few hits. Nothing worth looking at."
He said that and went inside. The illegal club, made from a converted warehouse, was a long hallway with rooms packed tightly along it. At the entrance stood waiters wearing business smiles, but when the two men entered, they approached as if they were ready to pull out their own livers for them.
"Welcome. Is it for two?"
The priest immediately began looking around, surveying the waiters' attire. At that, the waiters were startled by his attitude and flinched back.
"Hmm~. It's not these ones either."
Just then, one of the waiters spotted the two bodyguards collapsed beyond the semi-transparent glass.
"Aaat! Chang-su hyung!"
"Wha-what is it?"
In that instant, the waiters wiped the smiles from their faces. It was a change of expression as fast as taking off a mask.
"This bastard!"
Smack!
But the priest's jab had already struck the waiter's face. His hand was so fast that even after completely crushing the man's nasal bone and retracting his fist, the one who was hit just stood there stupidly.
"Uwaaaaaaack!"
The waiter with the crushed nose finally clutched his face and screamed. The other waiters were startled and tried to surround him, but even that wasn't easy in the narrow hallway. Without the priest needing to lift his hand more than a few times, the waiters were laid out neatly in the hallway together.
"That's incredible."
"There's something else that's incredible. If this job turns out to be a waste of time, I plan on showing you that incredible thing, so you can look forward to it. The guys here are all human!"
He shouted thus as he kicked the door open and entered. It was a rather spacious room, not a typical private room, and inside was a large table, and the glasses on top of it were filled with dark red blood.
The gang members and a few VIP guests, whose cozy banquet had been disturbed, glared at the sudden intruder.
"What the hell are you bastards!"
"Bingo."
The priest said as soon as he saw them. The middle-aged man was startled and pulled a pistol out from his coat. The gun he drew was a Colt Government .45 ACP, one of the most common pistols in the world, but it was a rare sight in Korea where guns are not common.
"These bastards!"
Bang!
One of the gang members sitting at the table started to rise, but in that moment, a bullet slammed into his shoulder. The middle-aged man, who had been acting cowardly, possessed a skill uncharacteristic of him, as he had accurately shot the startled opponent.
The .45 caliber ACP round was a bullet with outstanding stopping power, and a tremendous amount of blood splattered behind the table. But he got up from his seat, perfectly fine. A human would never have been able to withstand that, and the fact that he stood up proved he was not human.
"Kyaaah!"
The vampires, revealing their true forms, all rose from their seats. But at that moment, the priest opened the case.
"I don't care what kind of party you bastards are having here. But to the heretic who sold you a false eternity…"
He spoke thus as he pulled a massive rifle out from within the case and fired it at a vampire that was charging directly at him.
KWAAANG!
With the explosive roar, not only was the vampire's torso blown to pieces, but the innocent other vampires behind it also met the same fate. The power of the bullet, as if it had not diminished even after piercing through seven heads, destroyed the opposite wall.
"I'm lucky today."
The priest said that and properly held the Beretta-M82A1. He had fired this hefty rifle like a pistol the moment he took it out of the case and blown the vampires to pieces. And with perfect accuracy, at that! He held the massive rifle and immediately began firing at the vampires.
"Kweeeeeek!"
"You son of a bitch! I'll make you vomit up your own intestines!"
The vampires charged, their fighting spirit ablaze, but the priest calmly focused only on his shooting.
<><><>
KWAAANG!
The priest, unleashing explosive roars with a calm demeanor as if he had come to a shooting gallery at an amusement park—every time a flame sparked from his muzzle, numerous vampires fell in rows. For someone using a gun longer than a fair-sized child in this narrow space, it was an unbelievable combat record.
"Kyaaaaaaak!"
"Wh-what are you doing!"
The young man, the only vampire to have survived, backed away, terrified. The priest approached the terrified vampire with his muzzle aimed at him and spoke.
"No, on second thought, I think I can get the answer even if only one of you is alive. Now, will you tell me? Where is the heretic who sold you a false eternity?"
The priest spoke thus as he drew closer. At that, the vampire backed away, waving his hand.
"W-wait! I don't know anything! I just took some kind of medicine that came down from above! At first, I thought it was Bacchus!"
In that instant, the priest lowered the rifle. The vampire's relief was momentary; with an explosive roar, his arm was severed.
"Kraaaaaaack!"
The priest held a Desert Eagle in his left hand and tossed the rifle to the middle-aged man behind him.
"Put it in the case."
"Um, these vampire corpses…"
"Do whatever you want. Wasn't that the deal from the beginning? You goddamn little rat."
"Yes."
Even though the priest insulted him, the middle-aged man, for whatever reason he was so pleased, immediately took out some kind of metal device from his coat. It was connected to a thick vinyl pack, and when he inserted the device into the vampire's corpse, blood began to collect inside the vinyl pack.
"Keeeeuuuuk!"
The vampire who had lost his arm was collapsed on the floor, screaming. In his current state of mind, he wished that even the police would come rushing in, but strangely, even though gunshots were ringing out, there were no signs of the police making a move.
"You don't need your arm to talk, do you? Right? Now, next up will probably be your left leg. If you don't start talking soon, the Action Express will be departing. It's a good chance to test your patience. Isn't it?"
He spoke thus and aimed his Desert Eagle .50 Action Express at the vampire's left thigh. At that, astonishment appeared on the vampire's face.
"You, you crazy bastard!"
Of course, the price for his cursing came back to him swiftly. With an explosive roar, his left leg was shredded to pieces. To borrow the priest's words, the Action Express(?) was a .50 caliber special magnum round, and in terms of lethality, it was no less than a rifle round.
"If you won't answer my question, then sucking your blood out like this isn't a bad idea either. Vampire. Once you get your blood sucked by a human, you might feel more like talking about that 'eternity' thing. Right?"
The priest said that and glanced to the side. Over there, the middle-aged man was excitedly inserting a blood collection device into the bodies of the fallen vampires and drawing out their blood.
In reality, there would be almost no pain, but there is no better intimidator than one's own imagination. This vampire was already struggling to endure the pain from the bullets, and he hadn't been a very patient person even when he was human.
Boasting of his own bravery in front of the mad priest and getting his body torn to pieces in return went against his principles.
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything I know. Please, just stop."
"Good. Where is he?"
"He said he was going down to Chuncheon two weeks ago. But I don't know if that's the truth. There's no reason for that bastard to trust us!"