Ch.16Mystic Eye Opening

“Eek!”

“Gasp…!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu looked quite startled by the recent explosion.

They were sitting flat on the ground with their mouths hanging open in a daze.

I narrowed my eyes and scanned the surroundings.

Someone had set a trap at the entrance while deliberately leaving the scent of human blood.

The intention was obvious from the situation.

They were probably waiting for vampires or werewolves to arrive.

The situation wasn’t good. Among the scents wafting around, there was nothing human.

A coldly settled wind.

The only thing mixed in it was the terrible lingering smell of gunpowder.

I hurriedly helped Hwang-gu and Aurel to their feet.

“Lady Charlotte, this is…”

“That’s right. It’s the work of human users.”

I nodded in response to Aurel’s words.

If this wasn’t the work of humans, then whose could it be?

Neither vampires nor werewolves had skills like bomb installation.

Of course, even if they did have such skills, they wouldn’t likely use them.

Swoosh-

At that moment, the direction of the wind changed.

As the information carried by the wind changed,

I, Aurel, and Hwang-gu all sniffed the air and tensed up.

It wasn’t just one person.

Two, no, at least three.

Humans were surrounding us.

How long had they been in the area?

From the beginning? Or after the explosion?

One thing was certain—this situation was very bad for us.

And as if to confirm my thoughts, a quiet flash erupted from the distance.

Flash-

Pak-!

A small light burst forth first, followed by the delayed sound.

Not a loud firing sound. The muffled sound of a silencer.

The moment I recognized the light, I moved my shadow.

Swooosh-!

As the shadow writhing beneath my feet spread toward Aurel’s front,

a human user’s sniper shot flew in.

Thwack-!

With a dull sound, the flash scattered.

What scattered beneath it was the blurry form of a bullet.

The sniping had begun.

And it was aimed at Aurel, the weakest among us.

Even though all three of us would appear as small girls from the outside, they specifically targeted Aurel first?

I’m not certain yet, but perhaps the enemy has some means to see our strength as numerical values.

Paat-!

At that moment, another firing sound was heard.

As the muffled sound of the silencer dispersed, a sniper shot flew in from the opposite direction.

This time targeting me.

The moment I sensed danger, my shadow naturally rose to protect my body.

Just as the widely spread shadow curtain received the new attack—

Chwaaak!

The shadow burst apart the moment it received the flash.

The flash that penetrated the shadow barrier grazed my arm as it passed.

Tsssssk-!

A chilling sound followed immediately.

I looked down at my arm, suspecting the worst.

The wound from the sniper shot was bubbling.

As if it had been exposed to sunlight.

“Silver bullets…?”

I muttered blankly while clutching my arm.

Ordinary bullets can hardly cause significant damage to vampires.

For my skin to boil like this, the human opponents must be using special silver bullets.

[Silver Bullets]

Anti-monster bullets manufactured by humans.

They boast excellent performance against vampires and werewolves, and even show some effectiveness against fusion bodies created by combining the two.

The appearance of silver bullets meant that a consumable shop existed.

I bit my lip and rushed with Aurel and Hwang-gu into the gap between buildings.

“Ah! The bicycle! Lady Charlotte!”

This is no time to worry about bicycles.

I shook my head while embracing Hwang-gu, who was trying to dash out.

After struggling briefly, Hwang-gu sniffed the air and then calmed down.

Was it because we were hidden in the gap of a collapsed building where snipers couldn’t get an angle?

I could sense the human scents moving.

Aurel and Hwang-gu were also sniffing, as if tracking those scents.

Tssssk-

I looked down at my arm, which was emitting pure white smoke.

Even though it was just a graze, the wound wasn’t regenerating.

That’s how threatening silver bullets were to vampires.

If this were a game, I would have drunk a potion registered to a hotkey and ignored it…

Of course, I did have potions now.

I reached into my shadow’s mouth and took out a red potion, pouring it over the wound.

My arm healed instantly.

As my arm became smooth without any scars, Aurel, who had been watching nearby, touched my arm joyfully.

“Thank goodness! There won’t be any scars!”

Ignoring Aurel, I pulled out a katana from within my shadow.

The black blade, painted pitch-dark, melted into the darkness as if absorbing the moonlight.

The number of humans confirmed by scent was four.

Of those, two were confirmed to be snipers.

Now we had to move too.

We couldn’t just sit here taking hits just because they outnumbered us.

Besides, they had initiated sniping against us when we hadn’t even shown any intention to attack.

I absolutely couldn’t let this slide.

“Aurel.”

“Yes!”

“Hide somewhere suitable. If it gets dangerous, escape by transforming.”

“Understood!”

“Hwang-gu.”

“Yes!”

“You…”

I trailed off as I looked at Hwang-gu.

Seeing her crouched down with gleaming eyes, she seemed to be anticipating my orders.

To be honest, I was worried.

What level was Hwang-gu?

How strong was she?

Could I trust her enough to give her orders?

Of course, judging by the power of the punch she threw at me, she must be at least level 15.

But even so, worry is worry.

“What should I do?”

“Protect Aurel.”

In the end, I decided to keep the two together.

Hwang-gu nodded confidently at my order.

It felt like entrusting something important to an unreliable puppy.

“Hmm…”

After checking on the two girls one last time, I leaped out from the half-collapsed wall.

A faint shadow wrapped around my body, aiding my movement.

I glided through the darkness-covered ruins.

To keep Aurel and Hwang-gu safe, I needed to draw all attention to myself.

I jumped up onto a building.

As if emerging from a pool of shadow.

The shadow that had been wrapped around my body stretched out and settled down.

I sighed.

The moment I revealed myself, I felt hostility from all directions.

I had to face four opponents alone.

As long as I couldn’t count on Aurel and Hwang-gu’s strength, that would certainly be the case.

Escape wasn’t an option either.

There was no way I could escape with Aurel and Hwang-gu while having snipers with silver bullets at my back.

It was time to give it my all, unlike before.

Thwack-!

At that moment, I heard the firing sound again.

This time I didn’t block it with my shadow.

The moment I recognized the light and sound.

My body moved on its own.

As I swung the katana in my hand widely.

The shadow’s blade descended upon it.

The katana’s blade extended, and a black crescent was drawn toward the straight-shooting flash.

Swoosh-!

A precise sniper shot aimed at my head.

The flash split in two directions along the crescent.

At that moment, as if half the world was split, my view of the world divided into two.

My left eye burned.

Not because I was attacked, but because I had used a special skill.

[Mystic Eye Activation]

Whoosh-

Blue particles rose from my left eye and scattered like flames.

Suddenly, the scent of blood was carried by the wind.

I raised the corner of my mouth, sensing the emotion contained within it.

It seems they were quite surprised by the technique I had just shown.

But I was also secretly surprised.

Because [Mystic Eye Activation] wasn’t originally a skill with this kind of performance.

[Mystic Eye Activation], a skill that only vampires who had reached level 20 and cleared an epic quest could use.

The skill was simply supposed to be a buff that increased the character’s stats.

It wasn’t supposed to be a skill that changed the very way one sees the world.

I covered my right eye with my hand and looked around.

I viewed the world only through my left eye with the Mystic Eye activated.

A world enveloped in blue light.

There was no problem recognizing objects.

However.

[Stone]

It’s a stone.

[Collapsed Building]

Traces of a building.

[Weed]

Nameless grass.

Not edible.

The amount of information coming through the Mystic Eye was excessive.

This wasn’t ordinary information. As if looking at item information in a game, detailed information about everything around me poured into my head.

I lowered my gaze to examine the katana in my hand.

[Matte Katana]

Level Requirement: 0

Attack Power +15

Durability 92%

A katana commonly available in shops.

It has a matte finish.

This was no different.

Information about the katana was transmitted to my mind as if directly importing a game interface.

At that moment, a red line was drawn over my body.

A marker predicting where an attack would come.

I had read this red marker earlier and moved accordingly.

Thud-!

Thwack-!

Two gunshots rang out dully.

I moved lightly.

Since I already knew the direction of the sniper shots, my movements were relaxed.

Gliding across the building top as if riding the shadow flowing beneath my feet.

At that moment, two white flashes grazed past my body.

I turned my head to look in the direction the sniper shots had come from.

[SlayerChunSam]

Level: 15

Race: Human

Health 100%

Mana 72%

Emotional State: Fear, Excitement, Anger, Tension

It felt like looking at character information in a game.

I could even see the status of the equipment they were wearing.

It was so absurd I wanted to laugh.

This time I turned my head in the opposite direction.

I wanted to check the information of the other user who had fired at me.

[82YearOldKingNosik’sLastStri]

Level: 18

Race: Human

Health 97%

Mana 40%

Emotional State: Fear, Excitement, Tension, Panic

Another information window appeared.

The username, cut off at the 14-character limit, appeared exactly as shown.

The Mystic Eye that recognized the opponent displayed their outline clearly.

It meant hiding behind buildings was useless.

I spread large wings behind my back.

Flap-!

At that moment, a swarm of black bats rose from beneath my feet.

Flutterflutterflutter-!

As the swarm of bats scattered into the air.

I kicked off the ground and charged toward the sniper, 82YearOldKingNosik’sLastStri.