World of Vampire Detective [14]

"Man… Life is so damn good. If only this were reality, it would be perfect. Heh!"

I muttered to myself as I staggered down the street in the early hours. After leaving the bustling entertainment district, the streets quickly became deserted.

Normally, I would have just found a nearby motel to crash into. For the past ten days, I've been bouncing between night bars and motels. But tonight, I was deliberately staggering down the street, pretending to be drunk. I must have drunk about five bottles of whiskey, but my mind was clear and my vision was sharp.

"Three of them. Two are following on foot, one driving a van."

The moment I left K-Flex, they started tailing me.

As far as I know, I haven't made any enemies in this world. Sure, there was that scuffle with the gatekeeper at Yeonghyejeong's place, but that's all settled. Chief Security Officer Park Chan-sung wouldn't let one of his underlings cause trouble.

The girls I slept with in the bars? I never forced them. I paid them well for their services.

"Sent by Kang Wook-sung? No, that old man wouldn't use such a sloppy method. Besides, we're still in a legitimate business relationship. There's no bad blood between us."

My mind was running at full speed, eliminating suspects one by one.

The worst-case scenario would be if my identity as a taker was revealed. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to operate openly anymore.

Could it be a vampire hunter from the Black Cross Society? Did they find out about the bus bombing? That seems unlikely.

"No, these guys aren't vampire hunters. They look like the gangsters from K-Flex."

Then I remembered the backpack I was carrying.

Money. Specifically, 3.2 million won in cash.

"Aha! It's the money. One of the gangsters must have seen me paying Madam."

3.2 million won. If they split it three ways, that's over 1 million each.

And it's all in cash. No wonder they were tempted.

"This is annoying. Should I start carrying cards instead? No, then I can't tip properly."

I decided to deal with them decisively. If word got out, other small fry would think twice before targeting me. The bigger players wouldn't bother with just 3 million.

I moved toward an alley without CCTV. It was a narrow space between two shops. All the workers had gone home, so it was a safe place to make some noise. The alley was littered with trash, indicating it was seldom used.

I expected the thugs to attack right away, but they didn't.

They only revealed themselves once we were deep in the alley.

Three of them, including the van driver.

Their weapons were a crowbar, a baseball bat, and a sashimi knife.

I focused on the guy with the sashimi knife. He was one of the gangsters I saw earlier.

"You're going to die here tonight, you bastard."

"...No introduction? Just going straight to the killing? Why not be honest? You want my money."

I casually dropped the backpack beside me. Two of the gangsters' eyes darted to it, but the guy with the sashimi knife kept glaring at me.

"The money's good, but you need to die, you fucker. Taking those photos?"

"...Oh! You saw that? Were there cameras in the room?"

Apparently, his goal wasn't the money. Then what was it? I thought for a moment and laughed. The only one who saw me taking photos was Ra-Young, who made a bet with me.

"Is this about Ra-Young? Were you her boyfriend? Lucky you. Hey, Ra-Young was delicious. Her pussy and tits were so tight."

"You son of a bitch..."

His grip tightened on the sashimi knife. He was trembling, ready to stab me.

The two underlings seemed unsure of what was happening, glancing between us. It was clear. The leader was this guy.

I sneered, waving my phone.

"I plan to fuck Ra-Young every day by blackmailing her. She's too good to eat just once. Shit... I'm so excited to think about it. When you slap her ass, her pussy tightens up so much."

"Kill him!"

The leader lunged at me, and the underlings followed, startled but determined.

I exhaled softly and clenched my fist, walking towards them.

"Die!!!"

The sashimi knife aimed for my abdomen. I planned to grab his wrist, twist it, and take the knife.

Thunk!

I managed to grab his wrist. Just as I was about to twist, a crowbar swung towards me. I had to back off quickly. Then a baseball bat came swinging, and I had no choice but to block it with my arm. If I didn't, it would hit my head.

Whack!

"…Fuck!"

The strength behind the baseball bat wasn't a joke. I think my right arm's bone had a slight fracture. Swallowing my scream, I quickly retreated.

I had thought three gangsters would be easy to handle. But the reality of the fight was different from my expectations.

"...Damn! These guys aren't ordinary."

If I were unarmed, I could have beaten them for sure. But they had weapons and weren't attacking recklessly. Their movements were coordinated.

"How many bastards like you do you think we've taken down?!"

The guy with the sashimi knife lunged at me again.

"Shit... This isn't going according to plan."

I dodged the sashimi knife, slashing through the air. One-on-one, I could easily win. The problem was that they weren't fighting one-on-one.

Whenever I focused on the sashimi knife, the other two would attack me like they were waiting for it.

I had fought goblins one-on-one but never faced multiple opponents, even in training. These guys, on the other hand, were well coordinated.

"If this continues, I'm going to lose. Fuck!"

The sharp sashimi knife slashed my right forearm, and blood soaked my shirt.

The wound burned, and I felt something draining from my body.

"…."

As the blood flowed, my mind cleared rapidly.

I saw the face of the guy with the sashimi knife. He was grinning with a sweat-soaked face.

"You shouldn't have messed with Ra-Young. We'll take your money and your phone too."

My face went blank. I charged at him.

"What, you fuck? Charging at me now?"

He was confident in his victory.

I admitted it. I had been arrogant. I thought I was strong because of my high stats compared to ordinary people. But I was wrong.

One-on-one, maybe. Without weapons, maybe. Such assumptions were meaningless. Reality always mocks your expectations.

My eyes turned cold.

"No more holding back. You're dead."

The sashimi knife thrust towards me. The crowbar and baseball bat were timing their attacks from the sides.

I willingly sacrificed my right arm. With my left hand, I grabbed the sashimi knife's blade tightly. Blood flowed from my hand, but I didn't care. The knife was stuck. My physical strength was superior.

"...Kill him!"

"Yes, boss!"

"Die!"

I raised my right arm to block the crowbar and baseball bat. Enduring the pain, I kicked the sashimi knife guy in the groin.

"...!"

He couldn't even scream from the excruciating pain, and he collapsed. His grip loosened on the knife, and I took it with my left hand.

"Boss!"

"You fucker!"

"Full recovery."

I muttered quietly. Instantly, my right arm healed, and the pain vanished. With my stamina restored, I dove to dodge the crowbar and stabbed the guy in the neck with the sashimi knife, pulling it out swiftly. Blood gushed from his neck, and he collapsed.

"Chul-woo!"

I didn't stop. I sidestepped the baseball bat and repeatedly stabbed the guy's abdomen.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Ahhhh!"

After seven stabs, I slit his throat to make sure he was dead.

I turned around quickly. The gang leader, whose groin had been smashed, was still on his knees, trembling. The fact that he hadn't passed out yet showed his mental fortitude.

"Ugh... Urgh..."

He was groaning in pain, so I kicked his face. His head hit the wall hard, and he looked up at me.

"...Ah! F-Fuck…."

Only now did he seem to grasp the situation. Holding the bloodstained sashimi knife, I squatted down in front of him.

"Thank you."

"...What?"

"Thanks to you, I now know my place. But…"

I slowly pushed the sashimi knife into his shoulder.

"Arghhhh!"

"That's one thing. This is another."

I twisted the handle of the knife, making his screams louder. I had initially thought of torturing him, but seeing his face made me change my mind. Spending time torturing this bastard would just be a waste.

I plunged the sashimi knife into his solar plexus.

He trembled and died.

"Haa~"

I sighed and checked their belongings.

I learned their names from their IDs.

Ma Bong-chun, Park Chul-woo, Kim Dae-hyun.

"What do I do now?"

It was impossible to subdue three armed gangsters, so I killed them.

The problem now is the corpses.

The drama was still in its early stages. My goal of obtaining the 'Life Orb' was still far away. I didn't want to become a fugitive wanted for murder.

'I can't go to a bar while being chased by the police. They wouldn't even let me in.'

Thinking about women even in this situation made me feel a bit ridiculous, but that's just who I am.

After pondering for a while, I took out my smartphone and launched the [Play Life] app. To be precise, I opened the inventory.

[Inventory]

–

[Steel Sword]

[Workout Clothes]

"Oh, right. I had put the sword in. I should've taken it out and used it."

I sighed softly. I hadn't thought of it in that situation. Even if I had, I probably wouldn't have taken it out. I initially planned to subdue them without killing them.

"Wow!"

Just in case, I tried putting Ma Bong-chun's corpse into the inventory, and it worked.

[Inventory]

[Human Corpse]

[Steel Sword]

[Workout Clothes]

It seemed that since the corpse was no longer a living being, it counted as an item.

"Even if it's impossible with living people, small animals might fit. I'll have to experiment later."

I took Ma Bong-chun's corpse out again.

Dumping the body in reality wasn't an option. That would be the worst choice. If I had to bring the corpse into reality, it would be better to just leave it here.

"Should I dump it in another play world?"

That seemed like the best option. Without a corpse, a murder case becomes a missing-person case. A perfect crime starts and ends with completely hiding the body.

"...No. I'll handle it in this world. I don't want to dump it in another play world."

I didn't want to use another play world just to dispose of a body.

Moreover, I had the ability I conveniently called [Inventory]. With this, a perfect crime was just a matter of a little effort.

"I'll need to make preparations. Let's return to reality first."

[Ending Play]

***

[Calculating experience points]

[Relationship level with Kim Mi-ok is 2]

[You have gained 1 bonus point for reaching relationship level 2.]

[…]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[You have gained 17 points]

Back in reality, I first checked my body.

There was no smell of blood and no wounds. I paused the 'Vampire Detective' time and sat in front of my computer.

I'll think about the points later. First...

"How to dispose of a body. Search."

A list of bizarre murder cases appeared. Nothing useful. Clicking my tongue, I thought to myself.

'Two things come to mind. Dumping it in the sea or burying it in the mountains. Dumping it in the sea seems safer. But to dump it in the sea, I'd have to go to the sea.'

Just tie some bricks to it and dump it.

'…no, the sea is too far. I need to go to a night bar; there's no time to go to the sea.'

Thinking about going to the sea was a hassle.

'I'll just dump it in the Han River. As long as I don't get caught, it's fine.'

With the [Play Life] app, I was confident I wouldn't get caught.