Ch.74The Second Change

Hwang-gu ran through the darkness. In her mouth was a pair of white panties, belonging to a child named Yuri, as she followed the scent.

“Huff, huff, huff!”

“Hwang-gu seems excited.”

“Hmm…”

How did Hwang-gu end up like this?

If she had never met me, she would have lived a normal life.

The guilt weighs heavily on me.

I gently embraced Hwang-gu’s nape.

“Haaah!”

Hwang-gu raced through the mountains, breathing heavily.

The child named Yuri must have gone down the mountain, as Hwang-gu’s path led toward the base.

Upon reaching the entrance to the mountain,

Hwang-gu sniffed around, tracking the scent again.

Leaving the mountain, she first headed toward an area of ruined houses.

Looking at the route, it seemed she was following the exact item farming path that humans used.

After walking for some time,

Hwang-gu, who had been moving with her nose to the ground, tilted her head in confusion.

“Whine?”

“Hwang-gu?”

“Sniff, sniff…”

Hwang-gu began circling around one spot as if something was strange.

It seemed the scent had disappeared somewhere in this area.

Hwang-gu couldn’t figure it out, even though she held the panties saturated with Yuri’s scent in her mouth.

There was no choice. I dismounted from Hwang-gu’s back with Aurel and began thoroughly searching the housing complex.

“Hmm…”

“Do you see anything?”

“No.”

“Sniff, sniff, sniff!”

Even with the three of us searching separately, the result was the same.

Answering Aurel’s question, I summoned my subordinates.

“Come forth!”

About 200 soft-looking girls appeared through the shadows.

They seemed to have decent posture, perhaps from Yeppi’s training during that short time.

“Everyone, find the human called Yuri.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

The girls responded energetically to my command.

Then about 200 pale girls scattered and began turning the collapsed housing complex upside down.

If that child Yuri had been hiding in the housing complex, they would have found her quickly.

After all, over 200 vampires were searching the area.

But Yuri couldn’t be found.

This meant she was likely no longer here.

I looked at Hwang-gu, hoping against hope.

“Sniff, sniff!”

Hwang-gu was still wandering around with the panties in her mouth.

It seemed certain that Yuri wasn’t here.

I called the girls back and climbed onto Hwang-gu’s back.

It was disappointing, but we couldn’t waste any more time.

It was time to head back.

Though unintended, I had taken on the role of leader for the vampires.

If I stayed away too long without saying anything to my kind, it could cause confusion.

Rumors might spread that I had fled in fear of humans.

“Let’s go!”

Clop- clop- clop-!

In the end, I had no choice but to return to Seoul riding Hwang-gu.

It wasn’t such a bad harvest since I had achieved my initial goal of increasing the number of subordinates.

***

Back in Seoul, I summoned Smooch and told her about the child named Yuri.

After listening quietly to my story, Smooch spoke with a strangely contorted face.

“Changed gender…?”

“Yes, based on the circumstances, it must be that kid. The one who inherited your ability.”

“W-well, that’s true… but changing gender… that’s just a waste of points…”

“How much does a Gender Change Ticket cost?”

“It’s not that expensive. Since it’s not an item that particularly strengthens the target. About 200 points per ticket…?”

Smooch seemed unable to bear the fact that those points were wasted, even though it was no longer her ability.

She stomped her feet on the ground, venting her anger.

“That kid must be out of their mind!”

While I was listening to Smooch’s complaints, a visitor arrived.

It was Firin, the girl who always carried a teddy bear.

“What brings you here?”

A clan leader had come to visit.

It must be something important.

I put Smooch back into the shadows and offered Firin a seat.

As I expected, Firin brought important news.

“The humans have started moving.”

“The humans?”

“Yes. I heard they’re heading up to Uljin.”

“Hmm…”

This was not good news. Though no noticeable changes had appeared yet, the world would begin to change around Uljin, where the Gorgon had been captured.

I wanted our vampires to move there too, but we couldn’t abandon the Blood Fruit Tree at Seoul Station.

“What are you going to do? It’ll be a huge headache if humans establish themselves in Uljin.”

“Hmm…”

I ran my hand through my hair at Firin’s words.

This issue seemed to require a longer discussion.

By the way, I wondered what had happened to the werewolves.

Thinking of Mulbitbaram who had abruptly left, I asked Firin.

“Have you heard anything about the werewolves?”

“Hmm… I heard they’re still gathering their kind, but they’re not coming together easily.”

Unlike her confident promise to help the vampires, it seemed things weren’t going smoothly.

Shortly after Firin left, a new meeting was held.

The topic was relocating the vampires in response to Uljin and the changes that would follow.

***

The next evening.

Vampires scattered throughout Seoul were summoned.

It was a choice made to block the humans’ advance rather than worry about the Blood Fruit Tree.

As for the Blood Fruit Tree, I could ride Hwang-gu to Seoul every evening to harvest.

Of course, vampires not belonging to clans might target the Blood Fruit, but it was an unavoidable choice to claim both Seoul and Uljin.

“Move out!”

The number of vampires gathered reached 1,200.

Adding my subordinates, it was about 1,400.

This number was possible thanks to the clan leaders who had been busy absorbing smaller clans.

The vampires’ advance began.

Since we needed to arrive before humans could take Uljin and establish proper defense lines, the vampires ran at full speed from the start.

The same was true for Hwang-gu.

Crackle-!

Hwang-gu, now able to wrap her body in lightning, raced down the road with her red fur flying.

Faint traces of lightning remained where she passed.

Having traveled this road before, Hwang-gu could reach Uljin without getting lost.

***

“Oh…”

Yuri looked down at her hands with admiration.

With her newly acquired ability, it seemed she could survive without belonging to a clan.

Yuri nodded as she observed what her hands had created.

A horribly torn fusion body corpse, and a werewolf lying on the ground, gasping for breath.

The werewolf had no arms or legs. Yuri had torn them off.

“P-please spare me…”

The werewolf squirmed on the ground, begging for his life.

He had been hunting fusion bodies nearby when he suddenly met with misfortune.

His arms and legs had been torn off by the small girl right in front of him.

When the girl first approached, he thought a lunch box had walked up to him.

To werewolves, humans were nothing more than food.

Yuri thought about her remaining cash points as she watched the werewolf squirming on the ground.

She had quite a lot when she first awakened her ability, but now she had used most of them.

Still, Yuri didn’t hesitate.

As her hand swept through the air, two small cards fell onto her palm.

[Race Change Ticket] and [Gender Change Ticket]

These items were less expensive compared to others, making them less burdensome to purchase.

The werewolf’s arms and legs had regenerated, but he didn’t dare think of escaping.

This human had casually torn off his limbs. If he tried to run, his neck might be ripped off next, so he chose to wait quietly.

Werewolves, vampires, and humans.

These three races would naturally fight to the death upon encountering each other.

But Yuri didn’t kill the werewolf.

She was curious about how her newly acquired ability would apply to other races.

To satisfy her curiosity, she threw a card at the werewolf.

Whoosh-

The first one used was the Race Change Ticket.

The werewolf, covered in fluffy fur, suddenly became an ordinary human.

“Huh, huh…?”

As the card activated, his gray fur fell away.

The werewolf looked down at his body in great confusion.

But the changes weren’t over yet.

Seeing the Race Change Ticket working properly, Yuri threw the remaining card.

Whoosh-

Thwack-

The quickly thrown card stuck to the forehead of the man who had now become human.

Yuri looked at the customization window that appeared before her and called up a preset.

It was a preset for a girl with the smallest build.

Flash-!

When the detailed settings were completed, the adult male transformed into a small girl.

“Huh, huh…”

The girl opened her mouth blankly, as if unaccustomed to the sudden change.

Yuri squatted down and spoke.

“What’s your name?”

“N-name… I am…”

“MangoBingSuDeluxe-“

The girl who was originally a werewolf mumbled her name blankly.

Yuri smiled brightly at those words and said,

“Do you want to be my little sister?”

MangoBingSuDeluxe sat on the ground and raised her head blankly.

The eyes of the girl looking down at her glinted dangerously.

If she refused, she would die.

MangoBingSuDeluxe had no choice but to nod.

***

“This is…”

Upon arriving at the entrance to Uljin, we discovered something very strange.

A curtain-like barrier spread widely around a tall pillar that rose high into the sky, covering all of Uljin.

Wondering if it was a barrier blocking entry, I slightly inserted my finger, but my soft finger went through the curtain without any resistance.

This meant it wasn’t a barrier preventing entry.

I quickly activated my Mystic Eye to check the information about this curtain.

[Safety Zone]

A safe space where fighting is not permitted.

PVP between users is prohibited in this area.

※Entrance fee: 1,000 credits per hour

The lazy god had started working.

Change had come to the world.