Chapter 11 – First Encounter

Re​a‍ɗ &o;&n; ​KaｔṚ​ｅa&d;ｉ​&n;gＣa​&f;e

It would have been great if I could go straight to Incheon Airport, but unfortunately, flights to Incheon were restricted due to the region’s circumstances.

In the original world, people used to joke about “Demonic Incheon,” but the author must have taken that joke to heart—because in this world, Incheon was a real demon realm.

Yeah. The demon realm where demons and monsters lived. To be more precise, it wasn’t that the entire region was the demon realm, but rather that multiple portals leading to the demon realm had opened up there.

Which, honestly, is pretty much the same thing. But still, gotta be precise with words, right?

It wasn’t always like that. They say the city collapsed in an instant due to the powers of some mysterious entity that suddenly appeared one day, but that was over twenty years ago in the story’s timeline. I wouldn’t know the details.

Anyway, Incheon had literally become a demon realm. It was no longer a place where humans could physically live.

Less than a year after that entity opened the portals, Incheon lost all its functions as a city and completely fell apart.

And yet, people still lived in the Incheon area. Quite a variety of them, in fact.

First, there were the soldiers stationed on the outskirts, making sure the monsters inside didn’t crawl out.

Second, there were the people who had been pushed to the edge with nowhere else to go—whether they were drowning in absurd debt, running for their lives after being relentlessly hunted down, or fleeing from someone’s grudge that they simply couldn’t escape.

Third, there were the criminals—because, of course, you always need criminals.

And fourth… Well. I don’t even know if I can call them residents.

The fourth group was made up of those who were strong enough to survive in the demon-infested Incheon but were so addicted to the thrill of battle that they willingly sought it out. Their brains were fried with adrenaline.

Were they all magical girls? No. About 30% of them were, but the rest weren’t.

Then what was the other 70%?

They were just lucky enough to be born with abilities thanks to their ancestry.

If you think it’s weird to have superpowered people in a magical girl setting, then what about vampires? That make sense to you?

The whole setting of this world was a chaotic mix, just like my identity.

China was ruled by the same First Emperor from the Qin Dynasty, who had been alive since ancient times and controlled divine beasts. Meanwhile, in Europe, Dullahans could be seen riding ghostly motorcycles down the streets.

In a world like this, having people with supernatural abilities wasn’t too strange.

Not just anyone got chosen, though. You had to have some special blood in your lineage, and even then, only a few among them would awaken their abilities. So they weren’t exactly common.

…Thinking about it, that’s kinda messed up. If you have a special ancestor, that means at some point, either they slept with a human, or a human… well. Yeah.

My head throbbed in a different way than when I met Radiant White.

“Does your head hurt?”

Narae saw me holding my head and seemed to think my vampire genes were violently rejecting something.

“What, planning to backstab me if I get weak? Keep dreaming, it’s not that. I’m just stressing over what to do if White finds out I lied to her.”

Since I said it naturally, Narae just clicked her tongue in disappointment.

That annoyed me, so I decided to take my living expenses in Korea from Narae’s bank account.

She whined, asking how much I was planning to leech off her, but when I reminded her that my expenses were cheaper than the price of her life, she had no choice but to go withdraw the money.

While Narae was off getting the cash, I took a short walk to sort out my thoughts.

Not just about what to do, but also about my current situation.

First of all—

Surprisingly or maybe obviously, my body was fine despite the air being filled with the stench of garlic and neon crosses plastered everywhere.

Even though my genes were suppressed, I still felt discomfort under sunlight. So gene suppression didn’t mean all weaknesses were gone—just that certain things never affected me in the first place.

Honestly, I had been worried sick about how I’d survive if I had allergies to garlic or crosses. At least that was one thing off my plate.

Now for the future… Thinking about the distant future was annoying, so I focused on what was right in front of me.

Housing and meeting the protagonist.

I wasn’t planning to stay in one place for long, and I wanted to hang around the main characters while I was in human form. So I figured I’d just get a cheap place near Incheon.

The protagonist, though—that was the real problem. That guy was suspicious as hell.

I get it. He was betrayed by the person he trusted the most, so it made sense that he had trust issues. But even so, it was a bit much.

…Though, considering I fell into both the second and third categories I mentioned earlier, I could kinda understand. Either way, it was really bad.

So I had to come up with a story that could actually convince him.

The problem was, I had no idea what kind of story could break through his paranoia.

Radiant White was known for her purity, and the protagonist had judged that she was useful in her own way, which is why he interacted with her.

But me? I had nothing. No social status, no real value. At best, I had some knowledge of the original story, so I could bluff a little…

So, maybe the only real option was to go for shock value?

Yeah, what the hell was I planning anyway? I should just pick a persona and make a scene. When I’m in human form, all I have are lies and attention-seeking.

It wasn’t much of a plan, but I trusted my ability to improvise.

I mean, I already fooled Radiant White with my silver tongue—surely, I could make this work too!

…Or so I thought.

Right up until a shotgun was pressed against my head.

 

Finding the protagonist in Incheon was easy.

When I confidently declared I was going there, they assumed Narae and I were just another pair of crazy thrill-seekers from group four and let us in.

They didn’t escort us inside, though. Apparently, they had no interest in dying. Instead, they chose to wait in what they thought was a “safer” spot.

Not that it was particularly safe.

I had tied up my hair so I could run more easily, but I didn’t bother pointing that out. If I did, she’d probably clutch her heart and faint.

Anyway, back to the story.

I quickly found where he worked. I had read the original story, so I knew what he did and where he lived.

Mengkkongi’s Errand Service.

A ridiculous name for a secret contractor agency that barely anyone in this hellhole knew about. But honestly, just using a name like that in this kind of place already proved he wasn’t normal.

And he really wasn’t normal. Not even close.

The reason I told Narae to withdraw a lot of money was so I could approach him under the guise of a client.

He wasn’t the type to form relationships normally, so I had to go in through a business angle.

That part went fine.

He barely reacted when I showed up, just mildly surprised that a woman was looking for him.

Even when I put a suitcase of cash on the table and tried to act like someone important, he didn’t show much interest.

I was afraid this would end as just a one-time transaction, so I tried pulling some attention by calling him by name—

“You look just like I heard, Kang Suhyuk.”

That… seemed to have pushed his berserk button.

Our protagonist, Suhyuk, immediately flipped the table, slamming me into the wall.

Then, from inside his coat—despite it being physically impossible to store such a thing in there—he pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at my head.

Yeah. I’m screwed.

“Who do you work for? Who sent you? And who the hell are you? Answer me!”

It hurt so much I thought I might have broken a rib, but Su-hyeok didn’t care. His aggressive stance made it clear he had no intention of letting up.

Right after thinking, “I’m screwed,” another thought crossed my mind—was he always this extreme?

I didn’t think he was this bad. In the original story, he wasn’t this…

…

Oh.

He only went easy on the magical girl because she was clueless.

So this is how he actually is.

Ah, if I had just thought about it for a second, I would’ve realized. Why didn’t I think for that one second? Damn it.

I held onto a sliver of hope that it might be a toy gun, but toy guns have orange tips, don’t they?

This one’s black.

Shit, it’s real.

If I make the wrong move, I’ll die right here. My body started trembling on its own. Why do things like this always happen to me?

…Well, they were all my fault, but still. This is too much. It’s so unfair!

As I sat there shaking in silence, staring at the barrel of the gun, Su-hyeok fired a shot at the ceiling.

Rather than a “bang,” the sound was closer to a “boom,” making my ears feel like they were going to burst.

“From now on, it’s live rounds. You have ten seconds.”

Oh. So that was a blank.

No wonder no dust fell.

But wouldn’t a blank at this range still kill me?

This guy is insane.

Should I take off my choker? Since he’s someone who teeters between being human and being a monster, I might be able to lure him in with that.

No, that wouldn’t be fun. Scrapped.

Telling the truth wouldn’t work—he already thinks I’m some kind of government agent or something similar.

“Five.”

Shit, I can’t think of anything. What do I say? Whatever, I’ll just wing it.

“Two…”

“Nightkin! Arad Familia! Elder Mirchey sent me!”

I clenched my eyes shut and blurted out whatever words I could remember from what Ilie had told me.

I wasn’t sure if it would work, but since my head was still intact, it seemed I had at least piqued his interest.

“…Nightkin? You mean vampires?”

He was still pointing the gun at me, but his voice had softened slightly. It seemed he was at least somewhat convinced.

“Yeah, the Children of Darkness!”

“If they’re vampires, why are they looking for me? And they only operate in Romania—how do they even know about me?”

I had suspected that meeting him in person would be a mess, but this was beyond expectations.

This is insane.

“You really thought you could keep hiding forever with those skills? Don’t tell me… No, it can’t be.”

“…So you were the one watching me back then.”

“Wha—How did you…?”

I don’t know.

It’s not like he’s only been tailed once or twice before.

But acting surprised here would make me more convincing.

“As you said, there are ways to know things. So, why are you looking for me?”

Still holding his gun up, Su-hyeok asked for my reason.

…If I made another mistake here, I’d end up with a bullet in my skull.

But I’d come too far to turn back now, so I decided to bluff my way through.

“The Elder wants to see if you’d be a good fit for the family. That’s why I came. I was interested in you anyway.”

Gathering all the confidence I didn’t have, I put on a show.

Finally, Su-hyeok clicked his tongue and lowered his gun.

“…Vampires, huh. Now even those kinds of things are after me.”

I wasn’t a vampire, but letting him believe it sounded like it could be fun.

…Still, I should probably clear up the part about me being a vampire.

Or maybe I should add another lie—like saying I’m some kind of mutant who can walk in sunlight.

“…I didn’t expect someone to greet me with a gun just for saying their name. Anyway, you should know mine too. It’s Sung Mina.”

Our first meeting was a bit violent, but…

Considering everything, I think it went pretty well. Right?