Chapter 59: Grade-School Kids Can’t Just Play Games
Chapter 59: Grade-School Kids Can’t Just Play Games
Nine blood clan Elders gathered around a round table.
All of the Elders, excluding the three whose whereabouts had been unknown for a long time, assembling like this was something that hadn’t happened in three hundred years.
At the center of the round table where the Elders sat was the replay of Japanese Discipline Knight Abe Yago’s memories.
The Twelfth Elder, a mental-type inherent-ability user, was projecting footage extracted from Yago’s memories into the air, showing it vividly to the other Elders.
“Ah!”
“That is—!”
Under bright sunlight, seeing Chae Seorin smiling brightly and charging toward Yago, the Elders cried out in astonishment.
“A day walker! Summon that Discipline Knight to the main council at once.”
The Third Elder, whose pale beard hung down to his chest, spoke urgently.
But the Sixth Elder, who looked like a young East Asian woman, clicked her tongue in irritation.
“Didn’t I explain this just now? She has already completed every mission and been released from her duty. The Elder Council no longer has the right to command her.”
“What does that matter! She’s just a child—if we tell her to come, she comes! How dare a mere Discipline Knight defy the Elder Council’s order!”
The hot-tempered Third Elder snapped.
“We already tried issuing a summons, but she refused. She said she won’t ever run into the Elder Council again, so as the price for finishing her mission, we should go find some guy called the ‘blue-eyed dokkaebi’ or something.”
“Blue-eyed dokkaebi? What’s that?”
The Fourth Elder asked the Sixth Elder, sounding puzzled.
“She said to find the one who turned her into a blood clan member and killed her family when she was human.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”
The Third Elder clicked his tongue as if displeased, and the Elders each sank into thought.
“First Elder. Do you know where the legend that the blood clan will gain freedom when a day walker appears came from? As I recall, you were the one who first said it.”
The Second Elder—a Black boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen—asked the First Elder, who sat in the central chair with his eyes quietly closed.
“That is a story I heard directly from our creator, the Progenitor. Just before he disappeared, he left those words with me as his last message, then vanished without a trace. He also said that when a day walker appears, he would reveal himself as well.”
The First Elder, who looked like a young handsome man, answered.
“The crafty human bastards granted us territory, and the moment they did, a day walker appeared in that land. This is clearly a good omen. A new opportunity is opening for our blood clan.”
The Third Elder spoke as if delighted, but the Sixth Elder replied curtly, displeased.
“We already agreed that it’s bait from the humans. Granting us territory? It’s a treacherous trick. Think of the humiliation we suffered during the Crusades when we fell for the humans’ scheme. No matter how careful we are, it’s still dangerous.”
With the Sixth Elder’s words as the spark, the Elders launched into a fierce debate.
They split into those excited by the hope that the blood clan—forced to live hidden away like the Third Elder—might finally be freed, and those who sided with the Sixth Elder’s insistence on caution.
The First Elder listened to their argument with his eyes closed.
As far as he knew, three or four of these Elders were traitors who had joined hands with humans.
He had spent many years digging into the other Elders’ backgrounds, but he hadn’t managed to catch a spy’s tail.
There were a few suspicious ones, but no solid proof.
When the human king notified them that he would “permit” the land called Korea to the blood clan and lift all restrictions within it, the Elder Council judged it had to be a trap.
So they ordered only ordinary blood demons to gather in Korea, while the blood demons’ main force remained in Europe to watch the situation.
However, now that the day walker—the Progenitor’s final prophecy—had appeared, everything changed.
Deciding it was no longer the time to only watch and feel things out, the First Elder opened his mouth.
“We will relocate the Elder Council’s main body to Korea. Just as the humans desire, from this moment forward we will occupy Korea and make it the territory of the blood clan. Finish what you’ve been doing, and gather in Korea within one month.”
“First Elder! It’s certainly a trap!”
The Sixth Elder shouted sharply, but when the usually kind and gentle First Elder looked at her with icy eyes, she broke into a cold sweat and shut her mouth.
“Has there been any investigation into this ‘blue-eyed dokkaebi’? It should be one of the second generation who was active in Joseon four hundred years ago.”
At the First Elder’s question, the Fifth Elder replied.
“Among the second generation, Sophia, an inherent-ability user of the transformation type, and Johan, a reinforcement-type user, match the description and activity region. But coincidentally, both have had their traces cut off at present.”
“Have you tried tracking their whereabouts?”
“Sophia and Johan went missing while they were in conflict with Asia’s Red Dragon.”
At the name Red Dragon, the First Elder’s eyebrows twitched.
Of all things, the name of a force they could not oppose.
“If it was four hundred years ago, wasn’t that when the Eighth Elder disappeared? His eyes were blue as well.”
“The description is similar for the Eighth Elder too, but… you know this. He did not want to leave a successor. There’s no chance he suddenly left one behind in Asia. And he was a pacifist—he disliked harming humans. Given multiple circumstances, it won’t be the Eighth Elder.”
After the Fifth Elder’s answer, the First Elder collected his thoughts for a moment, then issued another order.
“For now, have the Ninth Elder, Tenth Elder, and Eleventh Elder go to Korea first and bring Chae Seorin. Let’s secure the day walker’s person first.”
When the First Elder—who had always hated moving while “waiting for something” more than anything—made a decisive call without hesitation, the Elders felt a subtle thrill.
Even the youngest Elder was an ancient being of seventeen hundred years.
For beings that old to feel excitement was not something that happened easily.
And because of that, no one in that room realized that the ones the First Elder suspected as traitors were being deployed to the day walker capture operation.
“Oh my, oh my… what happens if that’s pulled out?”
Lauren exclaimed while stuffing her mouth full of potato chips and chewing.
The sword embedded in the chest of a wolf that had lived a thousand years was pulled free, and the female lead started crying.
The male lead, who had been slowly fading, hugged the sobbing female lead and wiped her tears.
Watching that scene, the three women exclaimed—each for a different reason.
“They’re killing the male lead here? Is the writer insane?”
Bella frowned, grabbed a handful of the potato chips Lauren was holding, and shoved them into her mouth.
“No way. That would trash the ratings. They wouldn’t kill the male lead!”
Seorin peeled off the sheet mask covering her face and dropped it into the trash beside the bed.
Even if Korean dramas had recently been breaking away from typical narrative formulas, there was no way they would do something as reckless as killing the male lead.
But defying Seorin’s expectation, the drama’s male lead died, his soul rising up into the sky, and with the female lead wailing as the final shot, the drama ended.
“Ugh! What is this? Why did they ruin the ending like this!”
Bella threw the sheet mask off her face and snapped in irritation.
But Lauren’s eyes were wet with tears.
“What do we do? It’s so sad. I wanted those two to be happy.”
“How does a monster fall in love with a human? It’s nonsense.”
As she spoke to Lauren, Seorin paused the end credits and started searching for another drama.
Then Bella, making a strange expression, looked at Seorin and asked, “Why not? Humans and monsters can flirt, fall in love, and get married too.”
Seorin stared at Bella for a moment, then let out a small snort of laughter.
“Their lifespans are different! In a few years, the human gets old and dies anyway.”
Bella looked at Seorin like she was ridiculous and said, “You can totally tell Seorin’s never dated. You don’t know anything about men and women. Don’t tell me you’ve never even had a boyfriend once?”
At Bella’s provocative words, Seorin stayed expressionless, turned her head, and focused on searching for the next drama.
When Seorin didn’t react to her provocation, Bella lost her momentum.
Then she spoke to Lauren, who was still wiping her tears.
“Oh, right! Lauren. Do me a few favors.”
“Huh? Favors?”
They’d gotten closer watching dramas together sometimes in the same room, but there was still a clear internal distance. Bella suddenly asking for favors like this was out of nowhere.
“That kid playing games over there has to go to school, right? Do the paperwork, register Seorin as his guardian, and send him to elementary school too!”
At that, Dowon—who had been gaming hard at the computer—jerked in surprise and stared at Bella. The grade-schooler who had been focused only on games, never even thinking about school, looked like he was about to cry at Bella’s words about sending him to school.
“Korea has compulsory education through middle school! These days he’s only playing games! We need to send him to school.”
Lauren nodded in agreement at that.
But in her head, emergency warning lights were blaring.
The only person who knew Lauren was a CIA agent was Choi Cheolmin. Even the cleaning team—agents lower-ranking than Lauren—didn’t know her identity.
For Bella to ask for this meant Bella knew who she was.
Lauren guessed that Choi Cheolmin, who was close to Bella, must have told her. Thinking of Cheolmin swearing with a serious face that he would never tell anyone, only to be this loose-lipped, made Lauren feel bad.
“And I’m trying to make an account on a Korean coin exchange, but the rules are strict. Pull some strings so I can deposit, withdraw, and trade freely under my identity. And while you’re at it, do the same for Kang-chan too!”
“Coin? Kang-chan?”
Lauren couldn’t understand Bella’s request.
Asking her to sort out the kid’s status and send him to school was understandable.
But asking her to remove usage restrictions on a crypto exchange account made no sense at all.
And Kang-chan too?
“Why Kang-chan? He doesn’t seem like the type who’d do that.”
“These days, the best asset investment is coin, no matter what! You have to save and invest even one more won while you’re young. Kang-chan has zero sense for money, so I’m going to teach him little by little and try it with him.”
Lauren found Bella’s explanation completely unconvincing.
But it wasn’t a difficult request.
If she contacted headquarters, it was something that could be done within minutes.
A few days ago, Bella and Kang-chan had gone together to high-end fine dining and come back. That day, there had been CIA undercover agents among the restaurant’s customers.
According to their report, the two had just eaten coldly as if they’d fought, and even during the trip, there was no notable conversation.
Kang-chan, the dopey motel employee, had even gone out in a tracksuit on his way to a date with Bella, a top-tier beauty, which suggested he didn’t have feelings for her. If the CIA hadn’t pulled strings, Kang-chan wouldn’t even have been allowed into the fine dining restaurant.
Lauren thought Bella liked Kang-chan.
“Okay. It’s not that hard. I’ll take care of it.”
At Lauren’s straightforward answer, Bella smiled sweetly.
“Thanks. If there’s something I can do later to repay you, I’ll help you too!”
Then she spoke toward Seorin, who was searching for dramas.
“Let’s watch that one! The story where the detective mom is a murderer! It looks fun!”
Seorin started episode one, and Lauren found herself genuinely curious about how Bella would “help” her.
“It’s inside.”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
Jaeho got out of the car while pushing internal energy into the steel pipe in his hand.
As one of the original sixteen of the Isu Faction who could now circulate internal energy after receiving direct instruction from Cheolmin hyung’s master, Jaeho wasn’t afraid of battle.
Rather, when a fight broke out, it was harder to be careful not to kill the opponent or injure them too badly.
After drugs vanished, Korea’s crime rate dropped for a while, then recently started skyrocketing again.
More vicious crimes were running rampant than before.
It didn’t show up in the media, as if the government were deliberately covering it up, so ordinary citizens didn’t know well—but Jaeho, who lived in the night world, was feeling in his skin that Korea’s public safety had gotten serious.
Even just in Seoul and the Gyeonggi region, dozens of people were going missing every day.
The police processed them as simple runaways, but the Isu Faction, with Cheolmin as its boss, suspected something brutal like an organ trafficking ring—or at worst, even a human-flesh trafficking ring—might be involved.
He’d heard it was even worse in the provinces where the Isu Faction’s eyes didn’t reach.
There were also ominous rumors that monsters that weren’t human were eating people.
Jaeho had mobilized his subordinates to a deserted factory where the guys who had kidnapped children were said to be gathered.
He was sure it was the work of the Japanese yakuza types that had been seen all over Seoul lately.
Twenty Isu Faction members got out of two vehicles and entered the factory.
Inside the dark factory, a single incandescent bulb on the ceiling dimly lit the interior.
Inside were three yakuza, and on the floor, several children’s corpses were already strewn about.
One of them was the child who had gone missing today.
The children’s throats were grotesquely torn open like they’d been ripped by a dog, and fresh blood was splashed all over the floor.
Even after seeing Jaeho’s group, the men didn’t look surprised at all—if anything, they chattered in Japanese and snickered.
“You bastards! I’m killing you today.”
Jaeho charged first, swinging the steel pipe, and the Isu Faction men joined in with shouts.
The pipe packed with internal energy held enough force to smash even a boulder if it hit cleanly.
As they faced the charging Jaeho, the yakuza’s eyes turned blood-red, and their fingernails sharpened like blades and surged out.