The two of them slowly walked toward the very small, now-uninhabited neighborhood below the factory.
It wasn't scary. If she ran into a human, the one who should be scared was the other party.
The girl felt a strange sensation as she walked, squelching, on the mud-mixed snow.
Until just a while ago, she had been taking pills and slitting her wrist in the falling snow to commit suicide, but now she had become a vampire and was leisurely strolling through a ghost town.
The girl opened her mouth.
"Tell me the rest of it."
Se-yun paused for a moment. It seemed like he was about to say something difficult.
"It's about you. I told you that you wouldn't die easily. That's because you are a special vampire."
Special?
"You are a 'Pure Blood'."
It was a word that sounded, for some reason, quite serious. Pure Blood.
"What is that?"
"A Pure Blood is different from an ordinary vampire. Their physical abilities are vastly superior."
The startled girl said.
"How did I end up like that?"
Se-yun pondered how to tell her so she would be a little less shocked, but there was no clever way.
"The one who bit you was not me, but a Pure Blood."
The moonlight was shining on the two of them, and not a sound could be heard from the empty neighborhood.
Was it because of the silence? The girl's large eyes seemed to be speaking in place of her closed mouth. But her mouth soon opened.
"I... I thought the person who bit me was you."
The girl was even stuttering. Se-yun felt sorry.
"The person who bit you is named Shin Tae-yang. He is the 'Last Descendant of the First Pure Blood'. Though now, the Last Descendant of the First Pure Blood has become you."
"Who is that person?"
The girl spoke as if lunging at him, but Se-yun's voice merely became calmer.
"Shin Tae-yang is our leader. My direct superior, you could say. He's the one who gives orders and is also the administrator. That kid has been active since the Joseon Dynasty. He became a Pure Blood during the Goryeo Dynasty, but they say he just slept straight after becoming one. And he woke up during the Joseon Dynasty."
"That kid?"
"Shin Tae-yang is twelve years old."
Shocking things kept happening, and the girl was losing her mind.
"I don't want to become something like the Last Descendant of the First Pure Blood! Why did he bite me, and not you?"
With the intention of calming the agitated girl, Se-yun placed both hands on her shoulders.
"Let go! Let go and talk."
The girl shook her shoulders roughly. However, he did not release the hands placed on her shoulders.
"You were on the verge of death. Even if I had bitten you, you would have just died. There was only one person who could save you, and that was Shin Tae-yang."
"So that's why he bit me!"
"You probably don't know what that signifies."
The girl burst into anger.
"Why do I have to know that? You guys did a useless thing. You didn't give a damn about my own intentions! I don't need to hear any more."
The girl, who had broken free from Se-yun's hands, turned her feet back toward the factory. But his voice from behind catches her by the ankle.
"I risked my life to save you."
The girl looks back.
"What?"
"I said I would die if he didn't save you. Tae-yang doesn't bite anyone, ordinarily. Pure Bloods can't be made recklessly, and also because his own power weakens if he bites someone."
The girl's fingertips tremble.
"Why would you do such a thing..."
As if it were no big deal, Se-yun said.
"As I've been saying, it's because I don't want you to die."
Now, it returns to the original question. What in the world was the relationship between the girl and Se-yun? Why was he trying so hard to save her?
"What happens if I refuse to become a Hunter?"
Se-yun comes to stand beside her. Fear was pooled in his eyes.
"The meeting about that will be held tomorrow."
"A meeting about me?"
"Yes."
The fact that vampires she didn't even know would hold a meeting as they pleased, deciding the girl's future, was extremely unpleasant.
"I'm going to attend, too. Since it's a meeting about me, I have to be there."
"You're right. But you can't attend."
"Why?"
Se-yun, stroking his chin with his index finger and thumb as was his habit.
"Because it's a meeting that only Hunters can participate in. You're not a Hunter yet."
"That's absurd."
"It's the rules."
A cloud covered the moon, but in the girl's vision, all objects were clearly visible. She felt as if she had become a nocturnal animal. The girl calmed her mind.
"If there's anything you haven't said yet, say it all now."
"There's something you need to know. I told you that I rarely drink blood packs, right? I'll tell you when that is."
Gulping, the girl waited for the next words. Se-yun slowly moved his feet. The girl also walks alongside him.
"We have something called the 'Day of Impulse'."
"What is that?"
"For us, after becoming a vampire, the 'Day of Impulse' returns punctually at 90-day intervals. On that day, we do nothing and spend two days staying at home."
"What do you do at home?"
"It's not about doing something at home. We just wish for the impulse to pass."
Stopping her walk, the girl asked.
"What kind of impulse?"
"The impulse to drink blood."
The more she hears, the more ridiculous it gets. Didn't he say they don't suck human blood?
"That's why we just stay at home drinking blood packs. Because if we go outside and run into a human, there's no telling what might happen."
"The impulse can't be controlled?"
"We suffer from extreme thirst. Our minds become completely filled with the thought of wanting to drink human blood."
"What happens if you endure it without drinking blood?"
Se-yun spoke as if a doctor were diagnosing cancer.
"You don't age on the outside, but your organs age. Among them, the brain in particular ages first. Then, dementia comes."
It's a frightening thing. The girl, who had been gripped by fear, thought for a bit and then asked this question.
"Do Beasts also have the Day of Impulse?"
"They do. But Beasts are always addicted to the blood of animals or humans, so they've probably never experienced the thirst that the Day of Impulse brings."
"After 90 days, I'll also experience that thirst."
"Yes. And one more thing. There's something important."
The girl waited for Se-yun's next words.
"After the Day of Impulse passes, a Pure Blood gains one ability."
"Ability?"
"It's like a superpower, so to speak? For example, among the Pure Bloods of old, some could see great distances, and some could predict the very near future."
"I'll get an ability like that, too?"
"Yes."
"Does that kid, Shin Tae-yang, also have an ability?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"That, I can't tell you."
"Why?"
Se-yun, turning away from the girl.
"That, too, I'll tell you if you say you will choose the life of a Hunter."
The damn life of a Hunter. The girl thought it was infringing on her right to know. Would it even be possible to hear all of it before she died?
Tomorrow, a meeting of vampires would be held concerning her. And after 90 days, an immense thirst was waiting. Even though these were things happening to the girl, every single one of them disregarded her.
"What kind of people are those vampires?"
"There will be a day to meet them."
The girl spoke resolutely.
"No, such a day won't come."
"Don't be so sure about the future."
The two's footsteps naturally moved toward the factory. They said nothing to each other.
The girl was contemplating by what method and when she would die, and Se-yun was contemplating how to change the girl's mind, each lost in their own thoughts. Then, as if she had suddenly remembered, the girl asked a question.
"How strong is a Pure Blood?"
"Well, I don't know the details either. I know they are three or four times stronger than regular Hunters."
"Why are Pure Bloods stronger than other vampires?"
"The First Pure Blood is the god of the vampires."
"What?"
"Literally, a god. The reason we believe in the existence of a god is precisely because of the Pure Bloods."
The God of the Vampires. The Pure Blood is the proof that god left behind. It would have been nice if humans also had proof left by a god.
"Then where is the God of the Vampires?"
Se-yun's gaze was directed toward a distant place.
"Gone. That god is dead."
"Even a god dies?"
"The God of the Vampires dies. After dying, it's probably somewhere in the afterlife."
"Who killed it?"
"Humans."
To be killed at the hands of mere humans? A being that was a god? Se-yun answered the question that arose on the girl's face.
"That's why humans are terrifying. The reason we try to never reveal ourselves before humans is also because of that. If humans learn of the existence of vampires and Beasts, they will try to annihilate them all."
The girl didn't understand.
"You said Hunters save humans from the hands of Beasts, right? And at the same time, you're afraid humans will kill you?"
"The Hunters are composed of people who have lost loved ones to the Beasts. They are armed with vengeance and sorrow."
Se-yun averted his gaze and looked into the distance.
"But at the same time, we must avoid becoming the targets of humans. Humans will not tolerate an immortal existence stronger than themselves. The moment they conclude we are a threat, they will try to annihilate us."
The girl harbored disbelief at those words.
"Isn't that a hasty judgment?"
"You must have seen the evidence of that while you've lived."
The girl shook her head.
"To sacrifice their lives for people who might kill them."
The two of them had arrived at the factory clearing before they knew it.
"The reason you don't understand is because you're not a Hunter yet. Once you take that job, you'll understand why we do this contradictory work."
The girl thought to herself.
'No, I'll never know.'
The girl thought that she was approaching death, day by day.
She didn't know how she would die. But she would die. She had no intention of living on as a human or as a vampire.
Their gazes cross. With that, they bade farewell. The girl went inside the factory without a word. Se-yun, who had been following the girl's back with his eyes, also enters the warehouse.
The day would soon break. The morning is their hell, so they must hide within the shade.
The girl lay on the bed, retracing the situation she was in.
It felt as if her mind was being led to a very distant place. Something was pulling the girl.
It felt like her body was hanging high in the air. The girl was looking at the humans walking on the ground.
There, she could see the girl from her time as a human, walking. Was it an out-of-body experience?
Or was her current self looking at her past self?
The girl, who had been floating in the air, slowly descends to the ground. And she is sucked into the body of her human self.
The girl was currently on her way home after school finished. Going to school was hard, but coming home from school wasn't just plain good, either.
She had no attachment to anything. School disliked her, and home abused her emotionally.
There was a book she wanted. But she had no money. So she naturally started going to the library.
When she's at the library, her mind is at ease. It is the place that comforts her the most. She reads a book until the library closes, and when she goes home, she takes out the side dishes and rice, eats, then does the dishes and goes to sleep.
If she ate with her family, she would get indigestion, so she had to eat alone.
The library's reading room closed at 8 o'clock. The girl comes out of the library, matching the time.
"Huh? Hey."
It seemed like she heard someone calling, but it was probably her imagination. There was no one here who would call the girl.
"Heeey."
Someone grabs the girl's shoulder from behind. She looks back.
"Ah, you..."
It's a familiar face, but who is it? She's in my class, but I don't know her name.
"It's me, Hyeon-jeong. Yu Hyeon-jeong. I sit behind you, behind you. Did you come to the library?"
"Uh... yeah."
Hyeon-jeong's face was full of smiles.
"Fancy seeing you here. I'm on my way after my hagwon (cram school) finished and studying at the library for a bit. Are you on your way after studying, too?"
She hadn't studied, but she didn't want to drag the conversation on, so she just gives a vague answer.
"Yeah."
The two look at each other blankly. The girl's face was expressionless, and Hyeon-jeong was still smiling.
"Hey, me and Hye-yeong, you know my deskmate Kim Hye-yeong, right? And Gyeong-eun from our class are going to a karaoke for just an hour before going home. Do you want to come too?"
The girl's whole body goes on high alert. But whether she knows this or not, Hyeon-jeong was waiting for an answer.
"With me? Why?"
She had asked this before she even realized it.
"What do you mean 'why'? It just means let's hang out together. Everyone will be happy you're coming."
Her eyes widen without her realizing it. Hyeon-jeong bursts out laughing.
"Hahaha, why are you so surprised? If anyone saw your expression just now, they'd think I was shaking you down for money."
The laughter was transmitted to the girl. The girl was surprised to find herself unconsciously laughing along.
"Want to go to karaoke?"
"No, I have to go home."
"Well, can't be helped then. Bye."
Hyeon-jeong waves her hand and moves her feet toward where her waiting friends were.
How many hands reached out to the girl had she let go of?
She returns to the home that does not want her. And the girl did not want that home, either. And she thinks.
'An end to all of this will come.'
A tear, which she thought had dried up, flows down her chin.
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