"Superpowers...! You're a True Ancestor!"
This wasn't surprising. Vampire Progenitors were surprisingly common.
When a vampire drank the blood of five other vampires, they awakened as a True Ancestor.
These Wild True Ancestors, born from cannibalism, were despised and hunted by their own kind, as any ordinary vampire could instantly awaken as a True Ancestor by drinking their blood.
"So you are. But are you really human? How can you deflect all my attacks? Those aren't human reflexes."
The whip-knife, which had been lying limp on the floor, retracted back into its compact form.
Extending and retracting it he seemed to control it with perfect ease.
The man swung his knife at me again, the blade extending like a whip. His skill in wielding two knives simultaneously was truly impressive.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Deflecting the knife-whip with my sword was easy enough. The real challenge lay in closing the distance. Whenever I tried to get closer, the curved knife would encircle me like a noose.
Damn. This is annoying. Should I take a risk and try something reckless? ...No. Let's keep it simple and quick.
I retreated, a maneuver that would have been difficult without my accelerated state.
"...Running away?"
"Who's running away?"
I pulled my smartphone from my pocket. I ended the game, returned to reality, and retrieved the items I'd stored in my inventory.
This process created a brief opening, but fortunately, the man was also readjusting his stance.
"...A revolver? You pulled that out of your smartphone? What kind of trick is this?"
"No tricks here. What you see is what you get."
I aimed the revolver at him. It was a Vampire Hunter's weapon. The revolver's bullets were silver, the Vampire's weakness.
Even a True Ancestor with superhuman abilities and supernatural powers couldn't escape the vulnerability to silver.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I emptied all six rounds from the revolver.
Just one hit. If I could land just one solid shot, he'd be like a mosquito sprayed head-on with F-Killer.
He moved with impossible speed, dodging every bullet. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the silver rounds scattered on the floor.
"Silver bullets... huh?"
"...Damn it, this bastard's too good at dodging."
"If you were shooting straight, I wouldn't be able to dodge everything. But you're just terrible at it. Even if I stood still, you'd only hit me with two shots at most. How can you miss so badly at this range?"
"It's my first time shooting a gun..."
"Even for a first-timer, you're hopelessly bad. Your swordsmanship is top-tier, but you have absolutely no talent for shooting."
"Ah. Yes. That's right."
I gave a casual reply and tossed a pin-pulled grenade at him.
"Holy grenade!"
This specially crafted fragmentation grenade was filled with tiny silver beads, making it lethal to vampires. I quickly retreated up the back stairs, moving out of the blast radius.
Boom!
The grenade exploded. I retreated back underground. Even for a monster like him, the space was too confined. With nowhere to dodge, he had no choice but to take the full force of the blast.
This isn't just any grenade it's a Vampire Progenitor grenade. Even a True Ancestor would suffer at least severe injuries.
But contrary to my expectations, he emerged unscathed.
He had expanded his knife's blade into a wall-like barrier, completely blocking the grenade's explosion.
"You can control not just the length, but the width too...!"
"Indeed."
He shifted his stance, his demeanor now completely different. The previously passive monster had become aggressively proactive.
"I intended to extract information while fighting you, but you're far more dangerous than I thought. Now, I'll kill you with my full power."
He's charging toward me, only slightly slower than I am with my acceleration. I have four minutes left of acceleration more than enough.
I unleash Jade Stream on him.
Clang!
His knife deflects my blade, about half of my attack getting through. But his combat instincts and reflexes are far sharper than I anticipated.
"What's this? A superpower... no, swordsmanship? To distort my sense of distance... I never knew such a technique existed. Fascinating."
He grins, clearly relishing the fight itself.
And I feel the same. It's not quite laugh-out-loud fun, but it's certainly engaging.
The ones upstairs were far too weak.
He's neither stronger nor weaker than me we're evenly matched. His physical prowess is slightly superior, but I have acceleration and the Youngcheon Style.
If he were overwhelmingly strong, I'd have fled immediately... but this level is manageable.
The enemy maintained his distance, wielding his knife like a whip. This was clear evidence that he feared my swordsmanship, the Youngcheon Style.
...That ability. It's really annoying.
The knife suddenly extended or retracted without warning, leaving no room for complacency. The moment I lost sight of it, the elongated blade would undoubtedly coil around my body.
Should I use that? I never thought I'd need to.
Youngcheon Style: Swallow Dance.
My movements shifted. Previously, I had been focused solely on closing the distance at maximum speed, causing me to hunch slightly. Now, my spine straightened, my shoulders relaxed, and my stance widened.
I move with a dance-like grace. Though the raw, aggressive edge of my earlier movements is gone, a hidden sharpness lies beneath the surface of my fluid motions.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Deflecting his knife strikes, I slowly close the distance.
"...Hmm?"
The man seems flustered as he swings his knife again. The speed of his strikes increases, but I evade or parry every one.
Swallow Dance is a technique focused entirely on evasion and defense. It demands absolute concentration on footwork and body movement, resulting in a dance-like fluidity.
Jin Seyong might be able to use Swallow Dance for offensive maneuvers as well, but I haven't yet reached that level of mastery.
Before I realize it, I'm standing right in front of him.
"This is absurd..."
My blade sliced through his body. Staggering, he swung his knife at me. I ducked under the massive, club-like blade and retaliated with another swing of my own.
My sword severed his leg, slashed his shoulder, and plunged into his heart.
"Gah!"
He collapsed to the ground. Even then, he tried to swing his arm, so I stomped on his wrist with my sneaker.
"Just checking... do you know the safe's password?"
"49685817361."
"...Oh. I didn't think you'd actually tell me. That's a lie, right?"
"The password is real. You'll still need fingerprint and iris scans. You can't move the safe alone, and even if you try to destroy it here, it'll take too long. By then, reinforcements will have arrived and turned you into a pincushion."
"Heh heh."
I couldn't help but laugh at the dying man's earnest babbling.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just... it feels like the heavens are on my side."
[Hacking successful.]
[You have two minutes to hack the safe.]
Click.
The massive safe door swung open.
"What?!"
"Fingerprint recognition or password it didn't matter. I was just asking."
I swung my blade, severing his neck. He'd seemed to be planning a counterattack, trying to extend the hidden blade in his pocket. I'd anticipated his subtle movements early on.
I kicked his corpse aside and turned to face the safe.
It was nearly half the size of my actual studio apartment.
Storing the entire safe in my Inventory was impossible. The Inventory's capacity was limited to items I could physically carry. No matter how large an object was, if I couldn't lift it, it wouldn't fit inside. I'd confirmed this before. Conversely, even bulky items that I could carry would be stored.
I still remember the sheer wonder I felt when I managed to store a massive 5M-long styrofoam box in my Inventory.
"Whoa..."
Stepping inside the safe, I let out a gasp of awe.
The safe wasn't just filled with cash. There were artworks like paintings and ceramics, as well as jewels and gold bars. The stacked bills were in both Korean won and US dollars.
"Wow, look at all these 1kg gold bars! Over 200 of them!"
I didn't know the exact price, but I remembered seeing on TV once that a 1kg gold bar cost around 60 million won.
"Gold bars need to be sold in the real world. I should start thinking about moving out of my studio apartment soon."
As I packed up the items, I considered how to use them.
First, I'd move to a luxury officetel. Having grown accustomed to Hera's place, I found myself increasingly drawn to such upscale residences.
I'd stash the jewels for now and convert the dollars to Korean won. I had no plans to go to America.
As for the artwork... I'll have to go see Kang Wookseong.
Since these were stolen goods, I couldn't sell them openly. Even if I had to take a loss, it would be safer and more convenient to entrust them to a professional broker.
After gathering everything from the safe, I got into the Mercedes parked in front of the village hall. The car keys were near the front door, so I didn't have to search the corpse.
"Making money is this easy! Hahaha!"
As I drove out of the village, I stuck my hand out the window and flipped the bird at the CCTV camera. I hoped Kim Chunseok would see this and fly into a rage.
Wow. Now I get why people rave about foreign cars.
Having driven a bit, I could tell it was superior to domestic cars in every way.
Heh. This is fun.
The mountain road was winding, but I maintained 70 km/h, relying solely on the headlights to guide me down. While others might struggle, my reflexes made even this dangerous mountain driving manageable.
A single mistake could send the car tumbling over the edge or crashing into a tree. Or maybe even rolling all the way down the slope.
"That's what makes it thrilling."
I focused as intensely as I had during my earlier sword fight with that Vampire Progenitor bastard.
Screech! Thump!
As I rounded a curve, something darted out and slammed into the car. It was unavoidable. The dark night, combined with the sudden appearance on a mountain road curve, left me no time to react.
"Fucking hell!"
Startled, I slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car.
"Goddamn it! Roe deer bastard!"
The roe deer lay dead, its leg and neck mangled, tongue lolling out. I grimaced fiercely.
They said Gangwon-do roe deer were particularly reckless.
This isn't just reckless, you fucking idiot.
The front of the car was badly crumpled. I clicked my tongue sharply and climbed back into the driver's seat. I decided to slow down because of the roe deer.
The car had only traveled about thirty seconds when the engine suddenly died.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
I turned the key to restart the engine, but the car remained stubbornly silent. It must have been damaged by the Roe Deer earlier.
After a few more attempts, I finally got out of the car. Hacking was on cooldown and unavailable.
It's too late to go back up... I'll have to walk down.
Fortunately, the mountain path wasn't too long. A short walk downhill would bring me back to the car I'd driven up in.
"Fucking mosquitoes. I want to catch them all and burn them alive. And those Roe Deer bastards? I'll hunt them down and tear them apart. ...Goddamn it."
Halfway down, I got so pissed off that I bought a real-world bicycle, brought it over, and rode the rest of the way down.
I'd originally wanted to buy a motorcycle, but I didn't have a license.
As I pedaled downhill on my bicycle, I spotted a roe deer.
I pulled a pistol from my inventory and unleashed a barrage of shots at the deer.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Flames erupted from the muzzle as spent casings clattered to the ground. I fired all seventeen rounds in one go, but not a single bullet hit its mark.
"...Tch."
Part of the problem was the deer's nimble dodging, but my abysmal shooting skills were equally to blame. Just as that vampire bastard had said earlier, I had no talent for marksmanship.
"Ugh. What am I even doing? This is ridiculous."
The post-nut clarity hit me hard, and I decided to ignore the deer and move on. Today was a good day, and I could afford to be generous with a mere roe deer.
But the damn deer didn't flee. Instead, it turned to face me and grinned.
This wasn't my paranoia. It genuinely smirked, a mocking grin that seemed to laugh at me.
"You little bastard!"
I finally had to pull out my K-2 Assault Rifle, a weapon steeped in Korea's ancient traditions.
It was night, and we were deep in a densely wooded forest. The Roe Deer turned out to be surprisingly fast. I only managed to bag the creature after emptying five magazines.
Exasperated by my truly abysmal shooting skills, I let out a deep sigh and pulled out my smartphone to store the rifle in my inventory.
[Condition met.]
[You can now unlock the 'Shooting' trait.]
[Spend 30 points to unlock the 'Shooting' trait?]
[Yes / No / Later]
"Of course I need this!"
I instinctively went to unlock the trait, but when I saw I only had 12 points, I chose to later.
It costs three times as much as the Youngcheon Style.
The reason became clear with a moment's reflection.
The Youngcheon Style trait is limited to Martial Artists of the Youngcheon Style.
However, Shooting encompasses not only firearms but also any act of firing or shooting something. This means Shooting has a broader range of applications than the Youngcheon Style.
I need to gather points quickly and unlock that trait.
His mood brightened. He'd earned money, caught a roe deer, and now he was just a few points away from unlocking the Shooting trait.
A hum escaped his lips involuntarily. The mosquito buzzing around him was annoying, but he could afford to be generous.
Until he encountered that damned roe deer again.