Vampire (2)
"Pl-please… spare me…"
Thud!
Despite the tearful woman's desperate pleas, two sharp fangs mercilessly pierced her neck.
"Ugh… hngh…"
She had no strength left to resist—she could only stare blankly into the void.
All she could do was despair as she felt her blood being drained from her body in real time.
"So… cold…"
As a massive amount of blood was lost, her body temperature dropped rapidly.
Meanwhile, the vampire, who was drinking the very essence of life, grew stronger with every drop.
Before long, the light in the woman's eyes faded completely.
Thud.
"Heh heh…"
The low-ranking vampire, Jegal Seong-gyu, wiped the blood from his lips with satisfaction.
It was his first time successfully carrying out a large-scale hunt.
He was also intoxicated by his own newfound strength—strong enough to hunt more than ten people at once.
"Feast to your heart's content."
Jegal Seong-gyu looked at the lowest-ranked vampires clinging to the lifeless humans and draining them, a pleased smile forming on his lips.
'This place is a goldmine.'
It had been purely by chance that he obtained citizenship and set foot inside this safe zone.
At first, an invisible barrier blocked his path, but then it suddenly offered him something called "citizenship."
Without much thought, he accepted it—and when he entered the area, he was stunned.
'Everywhere I look… humans.'
Vampires thrived on human blood.
The more they consumed, the stronger they became, evolving in the process.
Naturally, the more humans, the better.
But the humans here weren't just plentiful; they were of remarkably high quality.
Compared to the ones he had fed on outside, the efficiency was several times greater.
Thanks to that, Jegal Seong-gyu had grown strong at an astonishing pace.
'I'm about to advance to mid-rank… just like him.'
The one who had discarded him, treating him like a useless weakling.
Soon, he would wield equal power.
'No, just being his equal isn't enough.'
He had to drink even more human blood—to surpass that bastard completely.
And he would make him pay for treating him like trash.
'A blood-soaked revenge…'
To accomplish that, not only did he need to grow stronger himself, but his entire faction had to become more powerful.
'One of them died, huh?'
As a low-rank vampire, Jegal Seong-gyu could control up to five lowest-rank vampires.
One had perished during the large-scale hunt, but that didn't matter.
Creating another lowest-rank vampire was no difficult task.
'This place is overflowing with humans.'
By the time he reached mid-rank, his underlings would also start evolving into low-rank vampires.
If they, in turn, spawned more lowest-rank vampires, his faction would experience explosive growth.
'After that, we'll devour every human in sight… then I'll go after him.'
By that point, his forces would be more than enough to overwhelm and annihilate his target.
The place where that bastard resided was practically devoid of humans.
That was why he had been cast out in the first place.
But this place… this place was nothing short of paradise.
A paradise overflowing with prey.
While he and his faction grew stronger here, that bastard was undoubtedly stagnating.
'I'll devour you.'
Imagining his blood-soaked future, Jegal Seong-gyu licked the remnants of blood from his lips.
At that moment—
Click.
"…?"
Suddenly, the door swung open.
A man stood in the doorway.
An uninvited guest had arrived.
At first, Jegal Seong-gyu didn't think much of it.
The man was just an unfortunate fool who had unknowingly walked into his death.
'Well, well. Walking to your own grave, huh?'
Without the need for an order, the lowest-rank vampires reacted instantly to the fresh, living prey.
"Kiieeek!"
"Kyaaah!"
Just before the lowest-tier vampires lunged at the man with hissing noises—
Thud!
The heads of the four remaining lowest-tier vampires simultaneously exploded.
'Huh?'
A heavy silence fell over the surroundings.
Without any warning.
Without any battle.
It took Jegal Seong-gyu a moment to process the situation.
His mind refused to comprehend what had just happened.
'What on earth just happened?'
He couldn't make sense of the series of events unfolding before his eyes.
'Did I really see that?'
But there was no denying what he had witnessed with his own two eyes.
The moment his subordinates showed hostility toward the man, their heads burst as if they had been judged by divine punishment.
Realizing this undeniable reality sent him into panic.
Terror consumed his brain.
'This… this is impossible!'
The one thing he did understand was that the being standing before him possessed power beyond his comprehension.
Revenge for his subordinates?
A blood feud?
Those thoughts had long since disappeared from his mind.
In the face of overwhelming power, his personal emotions meant nothing.
All that remained was a desperate desire to survive.
Still on his knees, Jegal Seong-gyu barely managed to open his mouth.
With every ounce of strength, pouring all his desperation into his voice, he forced out the words.
"Pl-please spare me."
The cries of the weak, which he had never heard when he was in the position of a predator, now came out of his own mouth in the same manner.
A feeble struggle to survive.
Jegal Seong-gyu was making the best choice available to him.
"Spare m—guh!"
Just then, he felt something grab his throat and lift him into the air. His feet no longer touched the ground.
He struggled, dangling in midair, but it was useless.
"How dare you…"
He saw the furious expression of the man before him.
In that moment, he instinctively understood.
There would be no miracle in which this man forgave him.
People say even a worm will squirm when stepped on, but resistance wasn't even an option for him.
A worm can struggle when stepped on by a human, but if an elephant tramples it, it dies instantly.
Jegal Seong-gyu gave up on everything and shut his eyes tight.
There was nothing left for him to do but accept the choice of the being before him.
"Hrk?"
Then, suddenly—
The pressure around his neck eased, and his feet touched the ground again.
He collapsed onto the floor, trembling, and looked up at the man.
The man spoke.
"From now on, answer my questions as honestly as possible."
Jegal Seong-gyu bowed his head and answered.
A quest window had appeared, warning that failure to answer sincerely would result in extreme pain, but he didn't care.
Defying the man before him wasn't even a consideration.
"Y-yes."
He pressed himself flat against the ground, doing his best to beg for his life.
If there was even the slightest chance of survival, he was prepared to reveal everything he knew.
The man opened his mouth.
"How did you get in here?"
"That is…"
Jegal Seong-gyu, a low-tier vampire.
After hearing his entire story, I felt a headache coming on.
'So even non-human monsters can be accepted as citizens?'
When the system message granted citizenship, it didn't specify 'humans'—it simply said 'entities that meet the conditions for being accepted as citizens.'
I never imagined that could mean granting citizenship to monsters.
'And not just any monster, but one that preys on humans!'
The influx of citizens was still ongoing, even at this very moment.
In the past, when the numbers were small, I personally checked each one's information, but now that the influx had become massive, I had set the system to automatically grant citizenship to those who met the conditions.
It was a kind of automation.
Otherwise, I would have to personally approve new citizens even while working, eating, and sleeping.
But I never expected it to backfire like this.
I had thought the worst possible consequence would be the occasional troublemaker or criminal slipping in.
But now, a completely different level of problem had appeared.
'A vampire, of all things.'
I turned to him and asked,
"You were human before you were bitten?"
"Yes, that's correct. I was an ordinary human, but after being bitten by a vampire named Ahn Sang-hyuk, I became a lowest-tier vampire."
What shocked me the most was that the vampire before me had once been a normal human.
'That must be why he was able to receive citizenship.'
Anyway, now that a systemic loophole has been exposed, I couldn't just accept anyone recklessly anymore.
At the very least, the moment I accepted someone, I had to check their citizen information panel to confirm whether they were a vampire or not.
Not only that, but I also needed to recheck the information panels of all the citizens I had accepted so far.
"For the first few days as a low-tier vampire, your memories were hazy, and you only started to grow as a lower-ranked vampire by consuming humans, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
According to Jegal Seong-gyu, low-tier vampires were like beasts with nothing but instincts remaining.
At best, they had just enough intelligence to understand commands.
It was only at the lower-rank vampire stage that human self-awareness began to emerge.
"And the man named Ahn Sang-hyuk, who turned you into a vampire, was a mid-tier vampire, ranking higher than you."
"Y-yes. That's right."
Jegal Seong-gyu, currently a lower-rank vampire, had a level of 28.
That meant a mid-tier vampire would have to be at least a higher level than that.
'And if there are mid-tier vampires, that means there must be high-tier vampires too!'
I didn't know exactly how far their hierarchy extended, but at the very least, high-tier vampires had to exist.
Their levels were likely quite high as well.
"Where is that mid-tier vampire's base?"
"In an apartment complex in Daeyeon-dong."
"Got it."
Sensing that I was about to end the conversation, Jegal Seong-gyu desperately pleaded for his life.
"I-I can guide you to where he is! Please, deliver divine punishment to the one responsible for all of this!"
[Citizen Jegal Seong-gyu's loyalty has increased.]
His intentions were obvious.
He was desperate to survive, that much was clear.
Moreover, the way his trust and loyalty stats had been skyrocketing ever since he met me left a bad taste in my mouth.
'The loyalty of a monster that eats humans…'
It wasn't something I welcomed.
I had already gathered all the necessary information.
"If you want revenge that badly, why not do it yourself?"
Even if Jegal Seong-gyu was once human, as a lower-rank vampire, he was now just a monster that devoured people.
There was no way I was going to accept or spare him.
[Quest Assigned]
"Quest Assignment"
Quest Objective: Kill Ahn Sang-hyuk
Time Limit: 24 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds
Reward: A small amount of experience points
Failure Penalty: Death
"You don't need to guide me. Go and kill him yourself."
The time limit was 24 hours.
There was no way Jegal Seong-gyu, who was only a lower-rank vampire, could defeat Ahn Sang-hyuk, a mid-tier vampire.
This was basically a death sentence.
Realizing this, Jegal Seong-gyu spoke urgently.
"W-wait a minute! Then at least let me drink human blood! If I reach mid-tier, that bastard will be nothing—!"
"If you so much as lay a finger on a human, your head will explode on the spot."
Jegal Seong-gyu fell silent, lowering his head.
Seeing him so dejected, I decided to give him a sliver of hope.
I couldn't have him falling into despair and attacking innocent people.
'Open shop. Purchase M16.'
Bzzz—
Jegal Seong-gyu's eyes widened at the sight of the assault rifle and a set of 100 bullets appearing before him.
"I'm giving you a chance. A chance to take revenge on the one who made you like this."
He caressed the rifle and nodded.
"With this… With this, I can do it! I'll make it happen!"
"Do your best to wipe out every last vampire."
"Thank you!"
"Let me remind you one more time—if you use this weapon on anyone who isn't a vampire, I'll kill you immediately."
"I-I understand."
"Leave right now."
"Yes!"
Jegal Seong-gyu responded crisply and exited the building.
Left behind were the scattered corpses of people.
Half of them had died with their eyes wide open, filled with resentment.
Fwoosh
Just as I was about to burn their bodies, I hesitated.
'They must have families too.'
No matter how tragic their final moments, their loved ones deserved to see them one last time.
I dismissed the flames and used the Communication Ring to call Seo Ye-jin.
[Seo Ye-jin, there's a man I'd like you to track using your mice.]
There were three reasons for attaching Seo Ye-jin's mice to Jegal Seong-gyu.
First, to pinpoint the exact locations of the vampires.
Second, to ensure that the rifle in Jegal Seong-gyu's hands didn't end up with the enemy.
Lastly, to incinerate him the moment he tried anything suspicious.
'I need to assemble a team to exterminate these vampires.'
If creatures that fed on humans were lurking nearby, eliminating them was the only way to ensure the safety of the citizens.
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