Vampire (4)
From the moment he blatantly hunted people in the area, it was clear that Jegal Seong-gyu was a man with no regard for consequences.
Tudududu―
Jegal Seong-gyu charged into the apartment complex, firing his gun wildly whenever he spotted a vampire.
He had only been given 100 bullets, yet he wasn't even using short bursts—just continuous fire.
'Is he insane?'
I had heard that even low-class vampires had intelligence comparable to humans, but judging from this, maybe they were even dumber.
"Kiiieeek!"
Jegal Seong-gyu cleared out the lowest-class vampires guarding the entrance with his gunfire and stormed inside without hesitation.
'Are there fewer vampires than I expected?'
But that wasn't the case.
"Kraaaagh!"
As soon as he entered the first-floor hallway, a swarm of the lowest-class vampires lunged at him.
Tudududu―!
"Die!"
Jegal Seong-gyu unleashed a barrage of bullets, emptying an entire magazine.
He had already killed close to ten vampires, which was quite the result considering his reckless shooting. It was likely because they were tightly packed in the corridor.
Click! Click!
"Damn it!"
Realizing he was out of bullets, Jegal Seong-gyu didn't bother reloading. Instead, he extended his claws.
"Kyaaaah!"
His claws pierced the heart of a low-class vampire that had been staggering from gunfire.
'This guy is insane!'
Seeing him continue to fight in close combat, it wasn't hard to guess why the vampire who had turned him—Ahn Sang-hyuk—had abandoned him.
"Argh! Let go of me!"
In hand-to-hand combat, Jegal Seong-gyu only managed to take down two of them.
And one of them had already been weakened by gunfire. That meant he had actually taken down just one with his own strength.
Before long, as more vampires swarmed him, he was subdued.
"Storage Room Detention"
His gun and magazines were immediately confiscated.
"Let go of me, you bastards!"
As Jegal Seong-gyu struggled, a woman approached him, her heels clicking against the floor.
"I was wondering who was causing all that noise, and it turns out to be you, Seong-gyu oppa."
"Yeah, it's me, you fing bh!"
The woman let out a deep sigh and said,
"Oppa, do you even understand why you were abandoned?"
"What?"
"It's because you're stupid. Just look at yourself right now. You couldn't even handle a few lowest-class vampires. You can't even take care of yourself, yet you waste precious resources."
"Graaah!"
As Jegal Seong-gyu screamed in frustration, the woman exaggeratedly covered her ears.
"Ugh, so loud. But wait, weren't those gunshots just now? Didn't you barge in here with a gun?"
She scanned him up and down, but his weapons had already disappeared into storage. There was no way she could find them.
She then beckoned one of the lowest-class vampires that had been shot by Jegal Seong-gyu and inspected its wound.
"You were shot, right?"
"…Yes," the vampire answered in a slow, dull voice, nodding.
Turning back to Jegal Seong-gyu, the woman asked,
"So, where did you hide it? The gun."
Ptooey!
Jegal Seong-gyu spat in her face.
Her expression turned cold as she gave the order.
"Kill him."
At her command, the lowest-class vampires lunged at Jegal Seong-gyu, sinking their fangs into him.
"Gaaah!"
That was the end of Jegal Seong-gyu.
[Citizen Jegal Seong-gyu has died.]
And then—
"Krrrk… Krrr…"
One of the lowest-class vampires that had bitten him suddenly started trembling violently.
"Hm?"
The woman tilted her head in curiosity.
"What? Was he in better condition than I thought? I didn't expect an evolution."
The vampire's body swelled up, turning red, before releasing a thick, white steam and shrinking back down.
"Search the area for any guns."
The female vampire looked down at the scene, expressionless, then sniffed the air.
"What is that smell?"
At that moment, I used the Ring of Communication to speak to Seo Ye-jin.
[Ye-jin, get ready.]
Get Ready to Cut the Connection.
Whoosh!
Flames flickered, and the gas filling the hallway reacted.
Boom!
Not only were all the vampires gathered there wiped out, but even a mouse hiding in the corner was caught in the blast.
Squeak—!
With the mouse's final death cry, the situation came to an end.
[You have hunted a Low-Rank Vampire (Lv. 18).]
[You have hunted a Low-Rank Vampire (Lv. 18).]
[You have hunted a Lesser Vampire (Lv. 28).]
***
Notifications about the hunt flooded in.
'They were much closer than I expected!'
If I leveled up soon and my territory expanded, it was highly likely that their area would be included.
'If it weren't for Jegal Seonggyu, I wouldn't have even known they existed.'
Not knowing about the vampires' presence, I might have granted them citizenship without a second thought.
Judging by the scale, their numbers seemed quite significant.
The thought of dozens of vampires roaming my territory with citizenship sent chills down my spine.
'It's a relief I found out in time!'
I planned to exterminate them before they became part of my domain.
There was no need for anyone else to step in.
Now that I knew their locations, eliminating them wouldn't be too difficult using Seo Yejin's mice and Yoo Hyerin's poison gas.
[Ms. Seo Yejin. Ms. Yoo Hyerin. Please come up to my room.]
After summoning them through the Ring of Communication, I got up from my seat.
Choi Hyungjun, who had been sitting quietly beside me, spoke.
"Leaving already?"
"Yes. Please take good care of the children."
"Don't worry."
For now, I had entrusted the rescued children to Choi Hyungjun's household.
At the moment, his wife, Park Hyewon, was busy washing the children in the bathroom.
Just as I was about to head home to launch the vampire extermination mission, I ran into Yang Hayoon, who had just finished showering alone.
"Uncle? Where are you going?"
There was a hint of unease in her eyes.
Even though we had only just met, she was already afraid of being left behind.
It must be because of what she had been through.
I spread my hands wide like a clown and grinned.
Then—
'Open the shop. Purchase chocolate!'
Like a skilled magician, I summoned a chocolate bar from thin air and handed it to Yang Hayoon.
"I'm just going to work for a bit."
She took the chocolate and looked up at me.
"Oh, right. Since you're in the rescue team, you have to go save more people."
"…Yeah."
I patted her head and reassured her.
"I'll be back soon."
At that moment—
"Sis, my name is Choi Nayun! What's your name?"
Choi Nayun stepped up and approached Yang Hayoon first.
"Oh, me? I'm Yang Hayoon."
"I want chocolate too!"
This time, Choi Seoyeon chimed in from the side.
Watching Yang Hayoon surrounded by the younger children, I spoke.
"You can take care of them, right?"
A faint smile appeared on Yang Hayoon's face as she nodded.
"Yes!"
"I'm counting on you."
Leaving the children in Choi Hyungjun's care, I returned home.
While waiting for Seo Yejin and Yoo Hyerin, I meticulously checked the citizen database one by one.
I needed to make sure there weren't any vampires hiding among them.
Seo Yejin was the first to arrive.
Using the Absolute's Eye, I checked on Yoo Hyerin and saw that she was still working at another public facility, meaning it would take her some time to get here.
Click.
As I opened the door, Seo Yejin entered the house as if it were second nature.
"Excuse me for intruding."
Seo Yejin checked my face as I sat on the sofa and cautiously asked,
"Jaehyun-nim, do you have something on your mind?"
Since there was still some time before Yoo Hyerin arrived, I decided to talk to Seo Yejin.
"I was checking the citizen information window. You saw it just now too, right?"
"Yes. Who were those people? They didn't seem like ordinary citizens…"
"They're monsters."
"What?"
I explained to Seo Yejin, whose eyes widened in surprise.
"You saw them drinking blood at the end, didn't you? They're vampires."
"But wasn't that man a citizen? I remember seeing him start from within the territory."
"I just found out about this myself, but it turns out that vampires can also be granted citizenship."
Seo Yejin mulled over my words before asking again,
"Are you saying that humanoid monsters like zombies or ghouls could also obtain citizenship?!"
"I'm not sure about that yet."
There had never been any zombies within the territory before.
"However, that man's case is a bit special. He was originally just an ordinary human, like us."
"What?"
"So I think that's why he was able to obtain citizenship. Even though he was turned into a vampire after being bitten, he was still a human before that."
Seo Yejin, who had been listening intently, asked,
"Isn't that the same for the zombies we saw in Nampo-dong? They were human once too…"
Hearing her reasoning, it did seem possible that they could also be granted citizenship.
"And that's the headache. What if there are still vampires somewhere in the territory feeding on people right now…?"
I had been randomly checking the citizen information window, but ever since I revoked the automatic citizenship system, I was already overwhelmed just trying to keep up with new citizens entering in real time.
With the population nearing 30,000, it was becoming difficult to remember if I had checked a person before just by their name.
That's when Seo Yejin spoke up.
"When I first received my citizenship, you forcibly teleported me here, right? Couldn't you do the same thing?"
It wasn't that I hadn't thought of it.
There had been times when I used emergency quests to provide first aid or teleport people here when they were unconscious due to malnutrition or dehydration.
'But teleporting just one person costs 30 million won.'
As the territory expanded, the cost of bringing people from the outskirts kept increasing.
If I had to move even a thousand people, it would cost 30 billion won.
'It'd be better to spend that money on curing status ailments instead.'
If I could improve their dehydration and malnutrition and just supply them with resources, they could survive on their own.
The same went for explaining the system of stores and monster hunting to people.
In the past, I had assigned quests directing people to find Kim Dabin, but with the current population explosion, that method was no longer feasible.
'Instead of using quest assignments, it'd be far better to increase the number of relief team members!'
The current relief team operated by giving simple system explanations to capable individuals while directing those in need of rescue to the medical team.
But due to chronic manpower shortages, they couldn't keep up with the constantly increasing population.
'And I definitely don't want people to know that I can set death as a penalty.'
No one would be comfortable knowing I had the power to kill them at any time.
'This is a real headache.'
It wasn't just because of vampires—I had struggled with similar issues many times before.
I had considered assigning everyone a quest where harming a citizen would result in penalties, but that was too extreme.
If someone labeled you as a "potential criminal," how would you feel about them?
'The public would turn against me.'
I didn't want to stir up unnecessary unrest.
'In any case, my involvement is inevitable.'
But there were limits to what I could do alone.
I couldn't afford to focus on just this issue.
'It would be great if there were a way to distinguish the nature of the citizens.'
Just then—
[A being that meets the conditions for citizenship has approached near your home.]
[Would you like to offer them citizenship?]
The moment I disabled the automatic citizenship system, that ominous message had returned.
Letting out a small sigh, I checked the information of the incoming citizen.
'No issues. Offer citizenship.'
The moment they accepted—
[The number of citizens has reached 30,000.]
[As the population has reached a certain threshold, the "Achievement System" has been unlocked.]
A new feature had emerged—one that could help resolve this crisis.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : http://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]