A pension on Gwangalli Beach in Busan.

There was another group of vampires there.

The difference between the vampire group led by Ahn Sang-hyuk and this one was that there was not one leader leading the group, but rather five intermediate vampires each leading their own group, forming a council.

“The humans around here are all dried up now.”

“We can’t increase the number of vampires anymore. We’ll all starve to death at this rate.”

They were currently in a state of stagnation.

Survivor groups in the area had all been successfully suppressed.

Those who had been in Gwangalli were either killed by vampires or had become vampires themselves.

 

 

 

Oh Yeo-reum, the only woman among the vampires gathered, sighed as if lamenting, “That’s what I told Lee Joon-young. That he should stop foolishly increasing the numbers.”

“What?”

“Was I wrong? Isn’t this all happening because your people have been indiscriminately increasing the number of lesser vampires, huh?”

Lee Joon-young scowled at Oh Yeo-reum and opened his mouth.

“My methods were not wrong. I have achieved the most results among us—”

“Isn’t that just because you have a lot of numbers?”

“You–bitch!”

When Oh Yeo-reum spoke sarcastically, Lee Joon-young looked like he was about to rush at her.

“Stop.”

At this time, a middle-aged man who had been watching the meeting quietly with his chin resting on one hand intervened and stopped the two vampires.

“Hmm.”

“Be careful. Someday, I’ll crush that cocky jaw of yours.”

“What? You’re so full of yourself when you can’t even use your brain properly.”

Although they were still spatting, the atmosphere did not become as violent as before.

The other vampires continued the meeting without batting an eye.

“How about we take this opportunity to move somewhere else? Someplace with more humans than here.”

“That’s a good idea.”

However, the man who had mediated between Oh Yeo-reum and Lee Joon-young quietly shook his head and replied.

“No.”

Reactions followed immediately. 

“Why not? Jun-ho, why do you insist on staying here? Why don’t you want to leave? If we stay here like this, we’ll all starve to death.”

Their emphasis on Kim Jun-ho’s words came from the fact that he was the first vampire, like Ahn Sang-hyuk, to create this organization.

However, rather than ruling like Ahn Sang-hyuk, he wanted a horizontal relationship, so other vampires were free to express their opinions.

There was no response, and the man who had been shooting questions pounded his chest, “I’m so annoyed. Even though you were the ones who made us vampires and helped us live a new life, I can’t starve to death here without knowing the reason. I have to leave.”

At that moment.

“That’s not acceptable.”

A strange voice popped out.

“Who’s there!”

The man who had declared his departure turned his head towards the sound, when suddenly.

Pook!

“Ugh!”

A strange man who emerged from the darkness bit into his neck.

“Gulp, gulp!”

In an instant, the man’s blood was sucked dry, and he dried up like a mummy.

The vampire who had drained all his blood slowly pulled his mouth away from the man’s neck and made a brief comment.

“Hmm. It’s ripe.”

The intermediate vampires who had been watching the scene in a daze began to rage.

“This crazy bastard!”

“Kill him!”

Lee Joon-young, who was sitting right next to him, swung his fist at the strange man.

But.

Stab!

Lee Joon-young’s fist cut through the air, and the strange man’s right hand pierced Lee Joon-young’s heart.

In that state.

Pook!

The strange man sunk his fangs into his neck and began to suck Lee Joon-young’s blood just like before.

Another intermediate vampire, who had taken out a kitchen knife, quietly approached, watching the scene.

“Aaaagh!”

Taking advantage of the moment when the strange man was busy sucking Lee Joon-young’s blood, he aimed for the man’s back.

“Heup!”

Pook!

The kitchen knife plunged deep into the strange man’s back.

“Heh heh! Where do you think you’re sneaking—!”

However, he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Pssht!

The blood splattered by the knife rose up and penetrated through his throat.

“Gah! Urgh! Agh!”

Squelch!

The tentacles made of blood greedily devoured the man’s blood.

The body of the intermediate vampire whose throat had been pierced quickly dried up.

At the same time.

Without even a chance to rebel, Lee Joon-young turned into a withered mummy and breathed his last.

“Tsk tsk. Hm, not bad.”

Clang!

The kitchen knife that had been lodged in the man’s back fell to the ground, echoing loudly.

“If you run away like rats.”

In an instant, a vein of blood stretched out from the man’s back and silently pierced Oh Yeo-reum’s back as she tried to flee quietly.

“Hiiiek!”

With a new scream, the man’s mouth curled up.

“You thought you could survive?”

“Please, I was wrong. Please spare my life… Gulp..”

But there was no mercy.

Squelch!

Similarly, Oh Yeo-reum dried up without even a proper rebellion.

“Hmm. Quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Kim Jun-ho, who had been watching everything until then, looked blankly at the strange man and spoke up.

“It’s been a while, Yeong-hoon nim.”

In an instant, Jeong Yeong-hoon, the monster who had devoured four of his comrades, smiled broadly and replied.

“It’s been a while. About a month?”

“…It seems around that.”

“Yeah. Have you been well?”

—

“Thanks to the power you gave me, I’ve managed to survive somehow until now.”

“I see. Good job.”

 

 

 

Kim Jun-ho asked calmly.

“Is it my turn now?”

“That’s right.”

“Is this why you ordered me to stay still here?”

“That’s right.”

Kim Jun-ho sighed heavily and pleaded.

“Please spare me.”

Upon hearing this, Jeong Yeong-hoon burst into laughter.

“Do you still not understand why I’m doing this?”

“I understand. Rather than going around finding and sucking the blood of humans one by one, the concentrated blood of intermediate vampires would be more helpful to you, right?”

“Oh, you know it well.”

Blood that had splattered out of Jeong Yeong-hoon’s body split into branches and approached Kim Jun-ho.

One of them turned into a sharp needle and stabbed Kim Jun-ho in the face.

A drop of blood flowing from the wound was absorbed into Jeong Yeong-hoon’s body through the blood vein.

“You seem quite smart. Then you must know even better, right? There is no way to survive by begging for life. It would have been better to come at me with all your strength, wouldn’t it?”

“I am not the type to engage in fights with no chance of winning.”

“Hehe. Interesting.”

Kim Jun-ho said calmly.

“At present, this organization has numerous lower vampires and lesser vampires. They may be more nutritious than ordinary humans, but I suppose there is no value in you hunting them yourself. Until you return, I will produce three more intermediate vampires.”

“I heard that the humans around here are scarce. How? Are you planning to leave here?”

“But the vampires are still here.”

He continued to explain.

“The vampires with the largest numbers are the ones led by Lee Joon-young. First, I will brand Lee Joon-young as a traitor and throw him to the rest of them.”

“…Keep going.”

“Those who have tasted the blood of their own fellow vampires will realize the efficiency of hunting their own kind. They will realize that it’s better to hunt down the same lower vampires than to hunt down dozens of ordinary humans. If left alone, they will naturally hunt and grow into intermediate vampires.”

Having listened to Kim Jun-ho’s explanation, Jeong Yeong-hoon burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! This is interesting! So that’s how you’ll live, even if it’s just for a few more days. What a truly remarkable guy. Kek.”

“If I prove my worth to Yeong-hoon nim, you can go to another place and continue your role as a farm owner.”

“Wow, were you thinking that far?”

“If you spare me, I’ll become the goose that lays golden eggs for you.”

“Hahaha!”

Jeong Yeong-hoon laughed hard for a long time, then he tilted his head 45 degrees and advised Kim Jun-ho.

“Just in case, if you’re thinking of somehow buying time to become like me, then get rid of that thought.”

“Higher vampires don’t start out as low-borns like you do: you have to be chosen by ‘him’. I was a higher vampire from the beginning, and no matter how much you struggle, you can’t become one.”

“…I’ll remember that.”

The strands of blood that had come out of Jeong Yeong-hoon’s body slowly returned.

“Kek.”

Jeong Yeong-hoon, who had been giggling for a while, hinted.

“I’ll be looking forward to it, farm owner.”

With that, he disappeared into the darkness again.

Kim Jun-ho didn’t move for a long time after he left. 

He sat there as if time had stopped, staring silently into the darkness.

Drrrk.1Chair scraping against floor noise.

Kim Jun-ho finally got up from his chair and searched the bodies of his dead colleagues.

His face, which had been expressionless all along, distorted like a demon.

“…You bastard.”

With eyes full of anger, he dealt with the bodies of those he had raised as vampires himself.

Crack.

He gritted his teeth and thought to himself.

‘I wonder if he would have made that expression before he died.’

The fact that the man had spared him was nothing more than a whim.

Confident that no matter what he did, Kim Jun-ho would not be able to do anything.

‘It’s annoying.’

As Kim Jun-ho vowed to get revenge, Jeong Yeong-hoon was already deciding on his next destination.

“Hmm. Where was it? I think it was some apartment complex.”

…

It took less than Ha Dong-geon’s party to gather.

Thanks to Kang Deok-su and Kim Geon’s depression, Room 2901 had turned into a den of alcohol and garbage. I briefly explained about the vampires there.2These sentences don’t really fit together but it really is written this way. Essentially, Kim Jae-hyun met Ha Dong-geon’s party in Room 2901 to brief them, even though Room 2901 had turned into a garbage den.

“…That’s why I’ve called you all here.”

Ha Dong-geon, after hearing everything, asked.

“Are they still there?”

“Yes. They haven’t shown any signs of movement yet.”

I was still monitoring them using the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes.

Thanks to Seo Ye-jin’s mice taking full control over the sewers of the apartment complex, it was possible to see through their movements clearly.

“With your skills, you should be able to clean them up without any trouble.”

The highest-leveled individual there, Ahn Sang-hyuk, was only a level 38 intermediate vampire.

They couldn’t possibly match Ha Dong-geon’s party, all of whom were at least level 40.

Honestly, for their party, this was no different from a walk in the park.

“Ms. Ye-jin’s mouse will guide you to the apartment complex where they are at. It’s closer than you think, so you’ll arrive soon.”

Even if there were any unforeseen circumstances, most of them wouldn’t pose a threat to them.

“One thing that worries me is that they were once humans.”

Ha Dong-geon calmly answered me.

“But now they’re just monsters that prey on humans.”

“…Will you be okay?”

As someone who had confronted Jegal Seung-gyu, a lower vampire, I knew very well.

‘They look no different from humans on the outside.’

It felt strange to kill them with gas explosions or poison mist, even though I knew that they were cruel monsters who saw humans as prey.

Ha Dong-geon’s party probably wasn’t much different from me in that regard.

‘The more you kill, the more used to it you get.’

I was even more worried because they were already suffering from trauma. 

“Are you really sure?”

Ha Dong-geon seemed to notice my worry and looked straight at me, saying carefully, “I understand what you’re worried about, Mr. Jae-hyun. But I think this is a process we must go through to live in this changed world.”

“What?”

“We don’t know how many more cases like this there will be in the future. Not monsters that resemble humans, but times when we must kill real humans. When that time comes, I won’t hesitate.”

Ha Dong-geon said with a pale smile.

“Think of this as a dress rehearsal for that time. It’s okay. If I get mentally broken by this, I’ll just take a break again. I think drowning in alcohol like these guys isn’t a bad way to cope.”

He spoke in a tone full of conviction. 

“Don’t worry too much. Neither I nor my party members are so weak. Even if our spirits are broken in the middle, we’ll get up again. Just like today.”

I replied with a wry smile.

 

 

 

“I was worried for nothing.”

His determination was clearly conveyed.

“I’ll leave it to you again this time.”

It was the return of the Ace Party.