Chapter 70. The Man Who Came Looking for Her
“I saw a ghost yesterday.”
Chanhyeok hyung suddenly brought it up.
Then Lauren’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“A ghost? Where?”
When Lauren grew curious, Chanhyeok hyung brightened and continued excitedly.
“Man, I thought I was going to die from shock! Last night I was sitting here at the counter, and right there—right in front of that elevator—a ghost was floating up and down.”
“Floating in midair?”
At Chanhyeok’s words, Bella also showed interest.
“At first it looked like a man, but when I looked again it turned into a pitch-black human shadow! I screamed because I was shocked, and maybe the ghost got startled too—because it flew out through the front door and up into the sky!”
“Weren’t you dozing and dreaming?”
Bella seemed curious too.
I was getting a little stuck. I wanted to cut Chanhyeok hyung off quickly.
There’s no such thing as a ghost in this motel.
I would know best.
It’s just that when the energy that’s been gathered is suddenly drained away, a hollow, negative energy can clump a little, but you can’t really call that a ghost.
Ah… back when Cheolmin hyung’s junior hanged himself and died in Room 310, that room was also filled with negative energy.
But that still wasn’t a ghost.
At Chanhyeok hyung’s words, Chaerin trembled so hard other people could notice.
I didn’t know it, but Chaerin must be scared of things like ghosts.
When there’s time, I should tell her there’s no such thing as ghosts in the world.
But does it even make sense to explain that ghosts don’t exist to a vampire like Chaerin?
Just then, thankfully, Cheolmin hyung—who’d been looking at his phone—spoke up and changed the subject.
“Younger Brother, I think you should watch the news.”
Me, Chanhyeok hyung, Cheolmin hyung, Bella, Lauren, and Chaerin all huddled into the cramped motel office and turned on the TV news.
Breaking news: the President’s emergency address was beginning.
“Oh my—what happened?”
Hyeonyeong, Yuri, and Arin also peeked their heads into the office, and the cleaning team aiming to join the Isu Gang also craned their necks to see what was going on.
The office was too small.
“From this moment, we declare a national emergency across the entire Republic of Korea. I strongly condemn the terror acts of hostile forces attempting to throw our society into chaos, and I will respond decisively.”
At the President’s speech, Chanhyeok hyung tilted his head.
“Martial law?”
But the President’s next words denied Chanhyeok hyung’s guess.
“This measure is not the declaration of martial law using soldiers. It is the expansion of the authority of the police who are responsible for public safety in the Republic of Korea. This is a perfectly normal procedure of a democratic government, and it is an absolutely necessary action. Recently, in our Republic of Korea, terrorists whose identities are unknown—who have been administered genetically engineered enhancement drugs—have been committing indiscriminate violence and throwing society into turmoil. Therefore, I will distribute these enhancement suits developed by our Republic of Korea’s public security research institute to the police, and we will strongly suppress terror acts. Like the United States, we will strengthen the status of the police, and if necessary, we will mobilize all force to protect the safety of our citizens.”
At the same time as the President spoke, a police officer mounted on a human-shaped machine stepped forward at the podium and demonstrated by swinging a steel suppression baton in his hand. It looked like a machine with a marine soldier riding it from an old classic game, and the front was wide open.
“So does that mean the monsters that’ve been trending on YouTube lately are real? They said it was all misinformation!”
Arin—so busy cleaning she didn’t know what was going on in the world—spoke with wide, round eyes, but the people who knew about the monsters all fell into thought.
As for me, I felt a little stifled.
I’d already cleaned up all the monsters…
But I had no proper way to tell anyone, so all I felt was frustration.
At that moment, the machine equipment that was demonstrating on the live broadcast tilted and toppled over, then flailed on the floor, kicking its limbs.
The address venue instantly turned into chaos—screams and murmurs everywhere.
The President’s face, which had been wearing a satisfied smile, turned bright red, and the government officials standing in front of the podium panicked and tried to lift the machine back up, only to get smacked by its flailing steel limbs and go flying.
A total humiliation.
“Hah… seriously. What a mess. What are they even trying to do with some childish prank like that?”
Cheolmin hyung muttered as if he was stifled.
But I felt even more stifled.
I’d already dealt with the monsters by separating their upper and lower halves, but there was no way to tell anyone.
“The Third Elder has been extinguished.”
At the Grand Elder’s estate of the Spanish Blood Fiend clan, the old butler rushed in to report.
The Grand Elder, sitting by the window and staring at the sky as always, was startled by the news.
And for good reason: over the past two thousand years, among the twelve Elders—excluding three Elders whose whereabouts had gone silent—not a single one had died.
Even those three who’d gone silent were still alive somewhere on Earth.
But now, for the first time, an Elder had been extinguished.
This was a major upheaval for the clan.
“How was he extinguished?”
“After hearing that Chris—the Second Generation, blood kin of the Third Elder—had died, the Third Elder, who was in the Philippines, hurried toward the Republic of Korea. But not long after entering the Republic of Korea’s airspace, the Third Elder and two members of his bloodline had their heads pulled off. According to witnesses and surveillance footage, the identity of the perpetrator did not appear, and they say the necks were pulled out on their own.”
Hearing the report, the Grand Elder felt a chaotic emotion he had never experienced in all his long years.
As far as he knew, there was no one on this Earth who could harm the Third Elder without even showing themselves. Even the forces hidden by the rulers of the human race would need to reveal themselves, at least, to face the Third Elder.
“That’s not all. According to the words of this Elder, every Blood Fiend in the Republic of Korea was extinguished last night. Those extinguished include the Ninth Elder, the Tenth Elder, and the Eleventh Elder as well.”
“What? Then you’re saying four Elders were extinguished in a single day?”
The Grand Elder couldn’t hide his shock.
“The perpetrator—who? Who could possibly do that?”
“According to information from humans who cooperated with our clan, the opponent was a black human shadow.”
“A darkness- or shadow-type ability user?”
The Grand Elder thought that the only being who could kill four Elders and over a thousand clan members in a single night was the Progenitor. Or the King of Humans lurking in America, the Serpent of Europe, or the Red Dragon of Asia.
But those beings couldn’t move directly.
So the only one who could wield that level of power was the Progenitor of the blood clan.
“What happened to the Daywalker? Were they extinguished too?”
“The only surviving members of the clan in the Republic of Korea are Chaerin and the young Blood Fiend she is protecting. Aside from them, everyone else is dead.”
Just then, the butler frowned at his phone.
“They say that if any blood clan member sets foot on the territory of the Republic of Korea right now, they are extinguished immediately—or within a few hours. Just now, three blood clan members who were entering by ship were also extinguished.”
The Grand Elder said to the butler,
“Contact all clans and issue an entry ban on the Republic of Korea.”
The land they thought would become hope and paradise was becoming the clan’s grave.
What weighed on the Grand Elder’s heart even more was the ominous foreboding that this perpetrator might be the Progenitor.
“Try contacting Chaerin. If it’s her, she’ll know something about this situation.”
“Since she was freed from being a rules knight, she has not been taking calls.”
“Then send a messenger to meet her and return.”
“That is… since all clan members are being killed as soon as they enter Korea…”
At the butler’s troubled reply, the Grand Elder’s expression hardened.
“You will go. Meet her and find out the full truth behind this incident, then return.”
The butler realized that there was no other messenger suited for this task but himself, and nodded.
“Understood.”
“Younger Brother, how about beef for once today!”
6:00 p.m.!
A welcome text arrived.
Cheolmin hyung, who’d been busy running around, must have time today.
Come to think of it, he’d been busy hunting monsters I’d already cleaned up for him—if I’d known it would turn out like this, should I have cleaned them up earlier?
No…
Still, no.
Like I always say, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do everything.
I sprang up, floated in midair, showered, and put on my tracksuit.
When Chanhyeok hyung said he’d seen a ghost at the motel, I’d been flustered.
That day, I was caught up in emotions and wasn’t careful enough.
My ability couldn’t be discovered by people.
What I wanted was an ordinary life. If people found out I was an esper, I might get dragged to some secret American lab and subjected to biological experiments.
Didn’t the U.S. military keep taking vampires away, the ones who’d turned into monsters just because some strange virus-like thing got into them?
When I came down to the counter, Lauren, Bella, Chaerin, the kid, and even Cheolmin hyung and Arin were waiting for me.
Seven people total!
Bold VVIP Cheolmin hyung was once again treating this many people to beef today.
Even if the world ends, I should take responsibility for that hyung’s safety.
We sat at two tables, and the moment the redness left the meat, we started eating the meat.
Bella, the kid, and Chaerin were especially fired up.
I snatched up a piece of meat Bella was about to take and placed it on Chaerin’s plate across from me.
Then I gave Chaerin the smile Chanhyeok hyung always practiced.
Chaerin’s face seemed to turn pale and dark…
Can someone’s expression look like that when they’re too happy?
Bella was glaring at me.
Feeling her hatred toward me made me feel good.
“Dowo-ni, how’s school life? Are you adjusting well?”
As the oldest, Cheolmin hyung asked the kid from Room 102.
“Yes.”
The rude kid answered without sincerity to Cheolmin hyung, who’d set up today’s feast, and stayed focused on eating meat.
With that tiny body, it was hard to understand how that much could fit inside him.
“Have you made any friends?”
Cheolmin hyung asked again without getting awkward.
Only then did the kid lift his head, look at Cheolmin hyung, and silently shake it.
“Why? Is someone bullying you? Our company has specialists who solve ostracism—should I send some?”
Cheolmin hyung really did run all kinds of businesses.
He didn’t look like it, but he worked hard.
Well… when there are so many people spending, someone has to earn hard.
“It’s not like that. It’s just that when I said I’m an orphan, nobody came near me.”
The kid said it like it was nothing, but everyone’s expressions turned strange.
Especially Bella—her expression looked bad.
It didn’t seem like a big deal, so I didn’t understand why everyone was reacting like this.
“Why are you an orphan? You have family right here.”
Bella snapped angrily.
“Why are we family? We’re strangers.”
At the kid’s cold answer, Bella shouted.
“If you eat together, you’re family! Go tomorrow and say you have lots of family! If there are guys who isolate you, ask this Mister Cheolmin here for those anti-bullying specialists!”
That kind of sudden ignition was impressive.
“It’s fine. I’m more comfortable leaving them alone because they’re annoying anyway.”
Whether Bella was outraged or not, the kid didn’t care and stayed focused on beef.
He really did know taste.
I snatched the beef the kid was about to take, placed it on Chaerin’s plate, and smiled at her again.
The kid frowned, and Chaerin turned her head away.
“What the hell is wrong with you since yesterday?”
Bella shouted at me.
Losing your composure because you’re ruled by emotion—Bella, that’s the beginning of your downfall.
I gave her a faintly twisted smile and said,
“Just eat your meat. Don’t mind us.”
Here, “us” meant me and Chaerin.
After finishing a hearty meal and walking back, someone blocked our path.
A foreign old man with a mustache that looked like it belonged in a comic.
Even to me—someone with no real interest in fashion—his suit fit was art.
Compared to that old man’s suit fit, Cheolmin hyung’s black suit was no different from my tracksuit.
Then Chaerin walked over to that old man and spoke in a language I couldn’t tell—Italian or Spanish.
“Someone I know came, so I’m going to talk for a bit and then go in. You all go ahead.”
“Come quick! I’ll save you ice cream!”
After Bella said that to Chaerin, she kept walking.
I felt uneasy.
He was an old man, but I didn’t like the idea of a man talking with Chaerin alone.
Even if I was using her as a tool to provoke Bella’s jealousy, I knew better than anyone that she was sincere about me.