"Ugh...!"
"Ah, damn it! Hey, rookie! If you're gonna puke, do it outside! If you puke here, you're dead!"
Detective Team Leader Oh Jeongjin's roar echoed through the apartment.
The young rookie, who had recently become a detective, clapped a hand over his mouth and bolted down the hallway, his face pale as death. Moon Ji-Hyeok watched the rookie's retreating figure.
A faint memory surfaced. He too had turned ashen when he first saw a corpse and couldn't eat meat for a while afterward.
This was something Moon Ji-Hyeok couldn't help with.
As a detective, you inevitably encounter far worse sights. Dismembered bodies are rare, but they exist. You have no choice but to overcome your initial shock and grow accustomed to them.
"You'll get used to it. Just like I did."
Moon Ji-Hyeok turned his gaze back to the crime scene.
The carnage in Room 603 of Building A at New Today Apartment.
Around 7 a.m., a man using the stairs for his morning exercise discovered a pool of blood in the hallway. The blood had seeped under the front door of Room 603 and pooled on the corridor floor.
It was now 8 a.m. Oh Jung-jin, Moon Ji-Hyeok, and the rest of the police and Forensic Investigation Unit had secured Room 603 and were conducting their investigation.
Six bodies had been found.
What stood out was that three of the victims had been killed with a long-bladed weapon, possibly a katana. One of them had been decapitated.
The other three bodies were discovered in the master bedroom. They appeared to be gangsters at first glance, and the evidence suggested they had been killed with sashimi knives.
"Ha... fuck. How the hell did they cut his head off so cleanly?"
Oh Jung-jin grimaced at the severed head lying on the floor. The cut was unnervingly precise.
This couldn't have been done with human strength. Even executioners, who specialized in beheading, rarely managed such a clean cut in a single stroke. It was equally unlikely that a guillotine or industrial cutting machine had been brought here.
"There's no way a human could sever a neck this cleanly with just their strength."
Watching Oh Jung-jin deep in thought, Moon Ji-Hyeok clenched his fist.
It's a vampire. With a vampire's strength... they could sever a human neck in a single strike.
What puzzled him was the condition of the corpses. There were no signs of blood-draining.
If blood isn't the goal, then what is...?
First, we need to identify this corpse.
"Team Leader, I've questioned the neighbors and identified the victim," Detective Park said, approaching Oh Jung-jin.
"Oh?"
"The owner of this house is Jang Seongmin. He's been living here for about a year."
"The one with the severed neck."
We already knew the victim's name. His wallet and smartphone were still intact.
"According to the neighbors, four people lived here together."
"...Four?"
"Yes. Their professions are unknown, but they often moved as a group. They never interacted with the neighbors and lived quietly without causing any trouble."
"Does anyone know what happened yesterday?"
"They don't know."
It was impossible to tell if they genuinely didn't know or were just pretending not to. Most people avoided getting involved in incidents.
"Was the remaining person a gangster?"
"Not the bodies in the master bedroom. He's described as a thug-like guy with bleached blonde hair and ear piercings."
"...Three dead, one alive... Anyone would suspect him. Arrest him."
"Yes, sir."
Detective Park immediately launched the investigation.
"Detective Moon."
"Yes, sir."
"Secure all nearby CCTV footage and dashcam recordings."
"Understood."
Moon Ji-Hyeok moved to comply. Even as he walked away from Room 603, he couldn't shake the feeling that the culprit behind this case was a vampire.
"Did the CCTV capture anything?"
Sitting at his desk, Moon Ji-Hyeok was reviewing CCTV footage on his laptop when Oh Jung-jin approached him.
"No, nothing particularly noteworthy. But there's one man who's caught my attention."
"A man who's caught your attention?"
Oh Jung-jin glanced at the laptop screen.
"Why is the image so distorted?"
Part of the screen was cracked.
"This is from the CCTV camera in front of the apartment building. I thought it was broken, but only the front of the camera is damaged. The footage is still recording properly."
Moon Ji-Hyeok manipulated the laptop to rewind the footage slightly.
"This man?"
The man was wearing a suit, his posture remarkably refined. However, the cracked portion of the screen completely obscured his face. With no distinctive physical features, identifying him would be exceedingly difficult.
"Yes. For some reason, I have a strong feeling this man is the culprit."
"A hunch?"
"...Yes."
Moon Ji-Hyeok nodded slowly. That's right. It was just a hunch.
"Detective Moon, you know we're not fortune tellers, right? Even if this guy looks like the culprit, we need a valid reason. Without evidence, it's just a false accusation. And honestly, he doesn't even look like the type."
Oh Jung-jin tapped the monitor with the back of his hand.
"There were at least two perpetrators. The gang members think they killed him somewhere else and moved the body here. The severed pipes around the corpse suggest there was a struggle. I have no idea how they cut through the pipes and decapitated him... but it's beyond what one person could do alone."
What if it wasn't a person, but a vampire?
The word "Vampire" nearly slipped out of Moon Ji-Hyeok's mouth, but he suppressed it. He couldn't say anything that might arouse suspicion in Oh Jung-jin, who knew nothing about vampires.
Oh Jung-jin was not someone to be trusted.
"And look, this guy isn't carrying anything. Not even a knife, let alone a sword. No bag either. Unless he's got some kind of magic pocket, there's no way he's the culprit."
"..."
Moon Ji-Hyeok thought differently.
What if this man was a True Ancestor vampire? What if he possessed a supernatural ability to conceal objects?
No. That's too far-fetched. There's no evidence he's a vampire, and it's unlikely a True Ancestor would orchestrate such a crime.
Moon Ji-Hyeok shook off the distracting thoughts.
While he trusted his instincts, he couldn't rely on them alone to conduct an investigation. He eliminated the man on the screen from the list of suspects.
"Ah, right. Jang Seongmin's identity has been confirmed. Turns out he was running an illegal sports gambling site. The thug we caught today said Jang had 4.8 billion won stashed in his closet. But as you know, not a single penny was found. I bet this whole mess is about the money."
"...So it all comes down to money after all."
"No surprise there. Money's always at the root of crime. And those three gang members were from the Baewon Group. Remember that bloodbath in the alley last time? They were the ones who left it."
"Wait, hold on. Isn't something off here?"
"Definitely. They were reported missing, and then their bodies just turned up today. The Baewon Group's boss is denying any involvement, and even the room salon where they worked claims to know nothing."
"I heard the blood in that alley belonged to four people. Did the DNA analysis reveal any information about the fifth person?"
"They said he was a healthy man in his early twenties. Judging by the amount of blood, it's clear he was stabbed. Detective Park checked nearby hospitals, but there were no records of any young men in their early twenties seeking treatment for stab wounds."
"Were the gang members killed just yesterday?"
"Yeah, that's what the Forensic Investigation Unit said. They were still fresh. There were no obvious signs of torture, but Ma Bongcheon's testicles were ruptured. Dying a eunuch... poor bastard."
"Another gang captured and imprisoned them? No... there's no reason for that. What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know, man. The deeper we dig into this case, the weirder it gets. It defies all logic. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the culprit turned out to be a magician."
"...Maybe he really is a magician."
"What's gotten into you, man? Just investigate this properly, gather the evidence, and hand it over to the Special Unit."
The Special Unit.
More precisely, the Special Investigation Division. They handle extraordinary cases.
"Another case for the Special Unit? The Mummy Case was transferred to them just recently. Do we really have to hand this one over too?"
"What can we do? The higher-ups ordered it. This kind of thing is their specialty."
Moon Ji-Hyeok easily predicted the common thread among the cases being transferred to the Special Unit:
Vampires.
Any case the Special Investigation Division suspects involves vampires is almost always handed over to the Special Unit.
"Get everything organized and sent over by today. Include the CCTV footage. If you don't, they'll raise hell again."
"...Yes."
Moon Ji-Hyeok barely managed to reply, feeling utterly powerless.
As just a detective, there was nothing he could do.
If there's nothing I can do as a detective... I'll have to act on my own.
I rose from the bed, still infused with the woman's sweet scent.
My body felt stiff. Yesterday, after writing about our legendary night, I didn't go back to the motel but came to Hera's house for a post-coital session with her.
My life as a "Vampire Detective" was truly a sexy one.
Should I sleep at Miyeong's place tomorrow?
I maintain sexual partnerships with several women. When their desires build up, they seek me out, and I visit them occasionally for intimate encounters.
Among them, Hera was the most frequent partner. Her libido was far stronger than I had anticipated.
Hera is at Younghyejeong, so I'm the only one home.
Bang.
I opened the refrigerator, grabbed a can of soda, and walked over to the sofa.
Hera lives alone in a luxurious apartment that's larger and cleaner than most hotels.
I turned on the TV just as the 7 o'clock news was starting.
- This morning, an explosion occurred in a residential area of Seoul. The fire spread rapidly, engulfing five nearby houses. Three people were killed and four were injured. Thanks to the swift action of firefighters, the blaze was quickly contained. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, but an LPG gas tank explosion is the most likely explanation.
"Ah, this is that episode."
The fire reported on the news was actually arson. The arsonist is a vampire a lunatic who sets fires purely for amusement.
The airing of this episode marks the beginning of the drama's mid-season. Moon Ji-Hyeok captures the vampire arsonist and learns that Cantra, a vampire organization, possesses information about how vampires can become human.
"And the arsonist gets killed by a Vampire Hunter."
Simultaneously, this episode serves to highlight the danger posed by Vampire Hunters to the audience.
- Early this morning, gunshots rang out at the Museum. Police explained it as a gang conflict and declared they would not tolerate armed gangs. The Deputy Police Commissioner advised Seoul citizens to avoid going out at night as much as possible...
"What?"
My eyes widened in surprise.
The Museum battle.
This episode isn't supposed to air until later, not now.
The police explained it as a gang war, but in reality, it was a battle between vampires and vampire hunters.
"...Fuck."
I cursed under my breath.
This was the fuse that would ignite a full-scale war between vampires and vampire hunters. And that fuse had already been lit, set to explode within days.
Unbeknownst to the citizens of Seoul, the night was becoming a battlefield.
I expected the story to deviate somewhat, but this... it's happening too fast.
At this rate, in the worst-case scenario, the Flower of Life, which bears the Life Orb, might never reach Korea. That would be a true catastrophe.
What went wrong? Was it killing Jang Seongmin? No... that can't be it.
That happened just the evening before yesterday. There's no way that incident could have had such an immediate impact.
"...Bus terrorism."
That was the only explanation.
The incident had drawn Vampire Hunters to Seoul, and the Black Cross Society was scouring the city with bloodshot eyes, determined to find the perpetrators.
They must have stumbled upon the vampire coven near the Museum during their search.
Normally, the coven wouldn't have been discovered so soon, but the bus terrorism had clearly enraged the Black Cross Society.
Damn it. If the vampires cower now... the Flower of Life might never reach Korea.
The Flower of Life was currently in the possession of a high-ranking member of Cantra, a vampire organization. He was scheduled to bring it to the Korean Peninsula soon to absorb its vital energy.
But if the Black Cross Society was making a scene in Korea? No sane vampire would risk coming here.
It was a shame to waste the spiritual energy of the Korean Peninsula, which had been dormant for three centuries, but it was better than letting the Vampire Hunters steal the Life Orb.
My plan was to intercept the Flower of Life when it bore the Life Orb fruit, before Moon Ji-Hyeok could get his hands on it.
The Flower of Life must exist on the Korean Peninsula.
After agonizing over this for more than thirty minutes, I abruptly stood up.
"I need to thin out the Vampire Hunters considerably."
I retrieved an item from reality one I had obtained through a random draw.
A white clown mask with a red mouth and nose. A green star adorned the left eye area, while a blue cross marked the right.
Attached to the mask was a curly red wig. Overall, it had a rather childish design.
Devil's Clown Mask
A clown mask imbued with demonic power.