The surrounding Vampire Hunters reacted swiftly. They aimed their guns at the suddenly appearing Jeokgwang and pulled the triggers without hesitation.
They were prepared to sacrifice themselves and their comrades to kill Jeokgwang.
Too late.
They were already within Jeokgwang's attack range. Just before the bullets rained down on him, Jeokgwang withdrew his blade from Shin Daejun's neck and ducked low, moving with supernatural speed granted by his Acceleration Skill. No ordinary human could hope to keep up.
The crimson blade danced, slicing through enemies without mercy.
Even bulletproof vests proved useless. The blade's sharpness and Jeokgwang's superhuman strength rendered such defenses meaningless.
When the Jeokgwang's dance of death ended, corpses and blood lay strewn around him.
Jeokgwang swung his sword through the air, shaking off the blood that clung to the blade.
First, twelve. If there are up to six squads, I should be able to kill around seventy.
Such losses would be devastating for the Korean Black Cross Society, crippling their operations for at least a year.
Gi Hanjun, a Vampire Hunter and the Combat Division Chief of the Korean Black Cross Society, remained silent.
Ten minutes.
In just ten minutes, the Vampire Hunters had suffered near-total annihilation.
Six squads, totaling seventy-two members, had been deployed on the passenger ship. Now, only six Vampire Hunters remained alive, including himself.
Three Vampire Hunters remained to receive orders, including Gi Hanjun, along with the three survivors from the passenger ship.
The Vampire Hunters had suffered a devastating defeat.
We misjudged him from the start.
Jeokgwang was on a completely different level.
He was stronger than any Vampire True Ancestor they had ever faced. He possessed a formidable ability and was using it to its full potential, making him an incredibly difficult opponent.
Jeokgwang's ability to manipulate machines was an absurdly overpowered superpower in this era.
...That bastard is a mutant even among True Ancestors. He can even turn invisible.
Through the testimonies of the surviving Vampire Hunters, they learned that Jeokgwang could make his body transparent. He possessed two distinct superpowers.
A True Ancestor with two supernatural abilities an unprecedented horror.
Perhaps the Jeokgwang we're facing now is different from the one we fought before.
The thought had surfaced before.
Jeokgwang might not be a single entity but multiple individuals. The clown mask concealing his face served as the basis for this speculation. Gi Hanjun desperately wanted to believe it.
Whatever the truth... we're already finished.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Sixty-nine lives lost.
The excuse that Jeokgwang was stronger than they'd anticipated held no weight. Their deaths were his fault his foolishness, his immature commands.
As he recalled their faces, Gi Hanjun felt incapable of facing the future. Most of them had been his students, his disciples.
"I'll take matters into my own hands. At the very least, I'll take one of Jeokgwang's arms."
He knew there was no chance of success, but he couldn't back down now. If he did, he might actually put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.
I'd rather die fighting Jeokgwang.
But Gi Hanjun couldn't move.
Jeokgwang's voice crackled through his radio.
Good evening, Special Forces Commander.
The atmosphere at the Black Cross Society headquarters was grim.
They were receiving real-time updates from the field, and they had just learned the devastating news that sixty-nine Vampire Hunters had been killed in action.
This was a clear defeat for the Vampire Hunters.
Thank God! Thank God! Thank God!!
In her office at the Korean Black Cross Society headquarters, Choi Sunmi sat at her desk, covering her mouth with both hands.
To the casual observer, she appeared to be a beautiful woman struck speechless by the horrific reality unfolding around her. In truth, she was desperately trying to suppress a laugh that threatened to burst forth uncontrollably.
Ah! Miss Yujin...!
Choi Sunmi rubbed her thighs together as she thought of Sung Yujin. Beneath the desk, her pantyhose encased her lower body, but she wore no underwear. Ever since losing her virginity under Sung Yujin's orders, she had lived without panties.
Her vagina twitched, moist and throbbing with heat, yearning for its master to enter her. She craved the pleasure of sex, even at this moment.
Her hand slowly moved beneath the desk.
"Team Leader!"
Choi Sunmi froze. She glanced at the male employee who had called her and replied, "...What is it?"
"The Chief of Headquarters has requested assistance from the military!"
"...What?"
"It seems they plan to sink the passenger ship entirely with the military's help!"
"I see. Have we received any specific instructions?"
"No, not yet. Actually, I heard this information from a friend in another support department..."
"Just wait at your desk for now. There's nothing we can do at the moment."
"...Yes."
The male employee turned to leave, looking somewhat disappointed.
Choi Sunmi knew he had feelings for her. Of course, she paid him no attention. He was intelligent, but his family background was ordinary. Besides, her body and mind were currently dominated by Sung Yujin.
I need to contact Miss Yujin right away!
She secretly sent a text message.
A reply came almost immediately.
Sung Yujin: Oh? Got it.
Sung Yujin: By the way, you're at your desk in the office right now, right? Film yourself masturbating and send it to me.
Sung Yujin: Pen masturbation, lol. You better get wet.
Sung Yujin was acting as if nothing unusual was happening, as if the current crisis were someone else's problem.
Choi Sunmi unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
Of course Sunmi wouldn't be flustered by something like this.
Choi Sunmi picked a suitable pen from the pen holder a thick, three-color ballpoint pen.
Sunmi... Haaah.
***
After climbing up to the Captain's cabin, I tied the Captain and crew members with rope and forced them to kneel in a line against one wall. When they refused to listen, relying on their numbers, I simply killed one as an example.
The once-fierce sea dogs turned into docile puppies before the barrel of a gun.
Vrrr.
My smartphone vibrated. Checking it, I saw a message from Choi Sunmi.
'Using the military to sink it? Hmm... Is that even possible? Are they going to launch missiles? Or mobilize the navy?'
To be honest, I was highly skeptical.
'But... there's a chance, isn't there?'
The Vampire Hunters had suffered near-total annihilation. The Headquarters Chief of the Black Cross Society must be furious beyond reason.
This was a drama world where bomb attacks were commonplace. Sinking a passenger ship couldn't be entirely ruled out.
'And the government knows how dangerous I am.'
If I truly went berserk, it would be a nightmare for them. They might even think it better to eliminate Jeokgwang along with the passenger ship, considering the future.
"I have the Gill Breathing Skill. I can just dive into the sea."
I could simply submerge and move underwater. If necessary, I could even buy an oxygen tank in the real world and bring it with me. With a spare Illusioner, escaping the passenger ship would be a piece of cake.
"But that would be too boring."
I retrieved two drones from my inventory, both items I had acquired from the Code: XTK world.
I launched the drones into the air. As their wings whirred, I was amazed by the complete silence. Each drone was equipped with a camera that automatically filmed me.
I opened my smartphone and navigated to a website called LX Play, a live-streaming platform with over a million concurrent viewers.
[Hacking successful.]
[You can hack LX Play for 21 minutes.]
I started my broadcast, hastily naming it "Jeokgwang's Happy Halloween!"
This alone isn't enough.
I forced all ongoing personal broadcasts on LX Play to relay my stream, making it mandatory viewing. My broadcast would also appear on the site's main page.
While the hack was running, I didn't need to check the chat log on my smartphone. The chat log was visible in the corner of my vision, and I could control it as I pleased.
The chat log, as expected, erupted into chaos.
- ??
- ?
- ???
- What's going on?
- Hey! Chief! We've got a broadcast malfunction!
- Why is someone cosplaying as Jeokgwang on screen?
- Suddenly, all the other channels are doing the same thing. LX must have been hacked! ???
- "Jeokgwang's Happy Halloween"? Could it really be Jeokgwang?!
- Who else would hack LX if not the real Jeokgwang?!
- It's him!
- Is that really Jeokgwang?!
- It's Jeokgwang!
- Jeokgwang-nim!
- Jeokha!
The chat flooded with messages.
Only a few users were cursing me. Most seemed to view me as a dark hero with supernatural powers. My earlier rescue of the people trapped in the container had clearly made a positive impression.
I picked up the radio. I had taken it from the Vampire Hunter after killing him, originally intending to eavesdrop on their communications.
[Hacking successful.]
[Radio access granted for 17 minutes.]
"Good night, Special Forces Commander."
> Jeokgwang?
> Are you trying to mock us?
"I might be a little. But that's not the main point. I hacked into something and found out something huge. Your Headquarters Chief is planning to sink the passenger ship with me, right?"
> Sink it? What kind of nonsense is that?!
> Wait a minute! How did you find out about this?! Did you hack into the Chief of Headquarters' phone?!
> Don't tell me you knew all along!
"Enough with the chatter. Tell your Headquarters Chief the passenger ship is turning back to Incheon Port. It should arrive in about ten minutes. I don't believe the sinking story either. It's logically impossible. Even if the military were deployed, it would take them at least several tens of minutes to get here. Your boss probably just lost his temper and started spouting nonsense."
I glanced at the chat window.
- What's going on?
- Who are you talking to on the radio?
- That looks like a police radio.
- A passenger ship sank?
- ???
- What's happening?
"I understand. People make mistakes. But it's still annoying, you know? Makes me wonder if I really did something wrong."
Jeokgwang, you're too dangerous.
The order and peace of Seoul are crumbling.
If we could kill you by sinking a passenger ship... even sinking the ship would be worth it.
Seoul will become a vampire city, just as you intended.
"Ah, right. I'm broadcasting live. It's the age of one-person broadcasts, you know? I thought I'd give it a try."
...What did you say?
"Wow, I never thought the police would think of something like that. Sinking the passenger ship and me together... But they do know about the people on board, right?"
Silence. It was the right choice. In this situation, exercising the right to remain silent was better than saying anything unnecessary.
As the saying goes:
"Silence is gold! Heh heh heh."
Silence is golden.
I grinned at the camera hovering in the air. Even if that guy wouldn't engage with me, plenty of others would.
Through my hacking skills, I could see the broadcast footage. On screen, the bloodstained Jeokgwang was grinning grotesquely. It was a truly bizarre sight.
"Hello, everyone! Sorry for the late greeting! I'm Jeokgwang!"
- It's real! The real one has appeared!
- What the hell is going on?
"Jeokgwang, please explain."
"Today, we annihilated a Chinese human trafficking ring. We slaughtered those who captured Koreans, intending to sell their organs and enslave them as sex slaves."
The chat room froze for a moment. But soon, messages began flooding in again.
- Human trafficking? Good riddance.
- Serves those bastards right.
"The police were completely clueless about the human trafficking ring. Honestly, I was quite disappointed. But we couldn't exclude them from such a critical operation, could we? So I deliberately caused a ruckus from Hongdae all the way here to bring them along. It was quite thrilling, actually."
- Jeokgwang-nim, I heard you're a psychic?
- Show us your psychic powers! I heard you can pull objects out of thin air.
- Subspace ability!!
"It's not psychic powers, just a parlor trick. Like magic. I can pull things out of my smartphone, like this."
I retrieved a revolver from my inventory.
"What do you think? Pretty amazing, right?"
- ...That doesn't look like magic at all?
- Psychic powers pretending to be magic ??.
- Is that a real gun?
I slowly approached the captain, who was bound to the wall.
"The police knew nothing about the Human Trafficking Ring. They were clueless even after over fifty people had gone missing.
You planned to sink me with the passenger ship? Did you know there are twenty children on board? Children the Human Trafficking Ring kidnapped. Were you planning to kill them too?"
I stretched the truth a bit.
It was the Headquarters Chief of the Black Cross Society, not the police, who had made the slip of the tongue in the first place.
"It must have been a slip of the tongue. I'll believe that. But you need to do your job properly. If it weren't for me, the Human Trafficking Ring would have succeeded. If you'd done your job right, I wouldn't have had to get involved in the first place."
I aimed the camera at the captain. The old man kept his head bowed, desperately avoiding the lens. The crew around him did the same.
"This captain collaborated with a Chinese human trafficking ring. I want to ask you, Captain: how much were you paid?"
"..."
The captain didn't answer. I kicked him in the face.
"...Ugh. ...Spare me."
"How much were you paid? Answer properly, and I'll spare you."
"...800 million."
"Ah, I see. 800 million."
I turned the drone camera toward the ceiling.
Bang!
The revolver spat fire, and crimson blood splattered across the ceiling.
"Oops, my mistake! My finger just slipped. Well, what can you do?"
I stepped closer to the drone camera, my face filling the screen.
The chat window remained silent, the viewers frozen by what I had done. Occasionally, a few hateful messages would flicker across the screen.
"That's all for today's broadcast, fellow Koreans! Jeokgwang has taken care of the evil Human Trafficking Ring, so you can all enjoy Halloween without worry! Happy Halloween!"
After ending the broadcast, I turned to face the crew.
Twelve crew members stood before me.
Among them were likely some who had taken bribes alongside the Captain. If I spared these men, could the police ever uncover the criminals?
After a moment of deliberation, I decided to kill them all.
The guilty will go to hell, and the innocent to heaven. That's how it works, right?
A gunshot rang out.
For the record, I was an atheist.