Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Drinking Blood is Embarrassing, But It's Helpful
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Meanwhile, in the alley Baek Do-hyun had left behind.
As time passed, Yubyeol-ha clutched her trembling chest and finally managed to steady her breathing.
"Haa... haa..."
Her entire body was drenched in sweat.
The panic-induced seizure soon subsided, and she came back to her senses.
Yubyeol-ha bit her lip hard and slammed her fist into the ground.
"Fuck..."
It felt like she'd just woken from a vivid nightmare.
The illusion she'd witnessed moments ago was the most horrific event of her life.
A memory from when she was just ten years old—one she desperately wanted to erase from her mind.
The tragic past where she could only hide in the wardrobe and watch helplessly as the humanoid beast devoured her beloved parents alive.
Yubyeol-ha's life had changed completely after that incident.
The bright, cheerful girl had become a vengeful ghost consumed by hatred.
Perhaps because she inherited the blood of her Class 2 Hunter parents, the unusually bold Yubyeol-ha had started investigating their deaths even as a middle schooler.
Thanks to a stroke of luck, she uncovered the truth: her parents had been Class 1 Hunters.
And that their deaths were meticulously orchestrated by the "monsters" who formed the 21st Century Secret Society.
After realizing the full truth, Yubyeol-ha swore to herself that she would become a Hunter and dismantle the 21st Century Secret Society with her own hands. She awakened as an S-Rank Psyker and enrolled in Arcana.
"I'm still..."
Yubyeol-ha had relentlessly strived to kill every monster in the world.
The crude scars hidden beneath her training clothes. Hands rough with calluses, unfit for a girl her age.
Even while other cadets and students enjoyed their youth, she cut back on sleep to study and train.
To gain the power to kill monsters.
To earn the authority to order their extermination.
To unlock every ounce of her potential, she sacrificed all her time.
She took pride in that. But today, in this alley, that pride shattered into pieces.
Even knowing it was an illusion, witnessing her parents being torn apart by the humanoid beast had left her as powerless and terrified as she was back then—unable to do a thing.
Pathetic.
Everyone praised her endlessly as prodigy material for top Hunter status.
And yet she'd boldly sworn to kill all monsters... only to be paralyzed by a mere trauma from the past.
"Fuck!"
A deep self-loathing welled up from within.
She spat curses in a voice thick with frustration and squeezed her eyes shut.
'The only thing I have to say to you is this: I'm not your enemy.'
Yubyeol-ha halted her self-recrimination.
Her ragged breathing settled once more, and she fixed a cold gaze on the traces Baek Do-hyun had left behind.
She had entered the fight fully prepared to kill him.
In the end, she'd lost to Baek Do-hyun, so her life was his to claim.
But he hadn't killed her.
What was his angle?
He'd just admitted to killing four of his own allies with his own mouth.
There was no reason to spare her.
Yubyeol-ha stared at the note on the alley floor, lost in thought.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Back at the basement apartment from the alley, I flopped onto the bed.
I closed my eyes to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come no matter what.
An intense thirst unlike anything I'd felt before was tormenting me.
Even chugging several liters of water did nothing to quench it—in fact, it only grew worse as time dragged on.
I headed to the bathroom and checked the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot red.
Drool poured from my mouth like a rabid dog, and my whole body shook like a junkie in withdrawal.
My throat was parched.
I needed to quench this thirst right now.
If I didn't, I felt like I'd smash everything in the house and storm outside to do... unspeakable horrors.
That's when I caught a faint scent.
It was sweet, wafting from the fridge.
Like a man possessed, I yanked open the fridge door and grabbed one of the red containers filling the space without hesitation.
It was a blood pack. I tore open the plastic and gulped down the liquid inside.
Slurp, gulp gulp.
One blood pack down the hatch, but the thirst lingered. So I ripped open four more right there and drained them in one go.
I wiped the red liquid trickling down my chin with the back of my hand, and the thirst finally ebbed away.
With the thirst gone, my mind cleared.
Seeing the empty blood pack wrappers on the floor, I finally registered what I'd done.
I'd drunk blood.
"Bloodlust, huh..."
It hit me anew: I was a vampire.
Since possessing this body, I'd naturally sensed how a vampire's physiology differed from a human's.
The most glaring difference was in eating.
I didn't feel hunger.
Taste buds existed, but I had zero need or desire for food.
Of course, eating food led to bowel movements like a human, and drinking water produced urine, so the digestive system was there.
Anyway, no hunger or thirst meant a vampire's energy came from blood, as I'd just experienced with that "bloodlust."
I tossed the torn wrappers into the trash.
With the thirst sated, I felt the human equivalent of being well-fed and rested—fully satisfied.
The fatigue weighing me down was gone; my body felt refreshed. Even the wounds from Yubyeol-ha had healed without a trace.
Blood was a vampire's vital sustenance and cure-all.
I'd planned to crash right away, but now I felt like moving a bit.
I powered on the computer in the room.
Then I opened the browser and typed in a site address.
Yesterday, while scouting the basement for info, I'd naturally zeroed in on the computer.
The room was tiny, so it didn't take long.
Anyway, Baek Do-hyun's basement had a PC, and in the 21st century, computers are a top necessity—no question.
They'd ceded ground to smartphones, but still the pinnacle of inventions for modern leisure, culture, and work.
The 21st Century Secret Society monsters lived in the modern world.
Whether they admitted it or not, humans ruled Earth. To hide among them, even monsters had to adapt to human ways to some degree.
The story often hinted that monsters mimicked human fashion, lifestyles, hobbies, and more.
So, they'd likely ditched analog docs for digital.
Financial transactions, taxes—all handled by computers these days. Electronic files stored on them...
With that in mind, I checked Baek Do-hyun's PC, and sure enough...
I found a shady site.
[www.SecretSociety.com]
Typing the address brought up a prompt: Enter password.
No password, no entry.
Password.
What could it be?
I leaned back and pondered.
Yesterday, I'd hit the same wall.
I pulled out my smartphone.
Contacts had exactly three numbers: "Asshole," "Doctor," and "Han Cheong-ah."
"Asshole" was Aria Blood von Direwolf from the 21st Century Secret Society.
"Doctor" was likely "Kim Seung-jun" based on the business card in the basement.
"Han Cheong-ah" was the one I'd swapped numbers with this morning.
Hmm.
Should I call Aria...?
No need to overthink—just ask her, and it'd be solved instantly.
Yeah, she could spare a site password.
I dialed "Asshole" without hesitation.
Moments later, the call connected.
"Hello."
"Hi. It's Dracula."
"What is it, Dracula?"
"Trying to log into the site after a while, but I lost the password note. Could you tell me?"
Haa, a sigh came through the phone from Aria.
"Who knew you had such a scatterbrained side."
"Sorry..."
"It's '1225.' Don't call for something like this again."
"Got it. Thanks. Have a good night."
Click. Call ended.
Why had Baek Do-hyun saved such a nice person as "Asshole"? Baffling.
Alright.
Time to check out the site.
I entered "1225" without a second thought.