Into the Creations

The protagonist of the drama 'Vampire Detective', Moon Ji-hyuk, one day gets attacked by a vampire progenitor in an alley on his way home from work and becomes a vampire. However, he doesn't become the kind of vampire commonly depicted in popular culture.

"In this world, vampires look no different from humans at first glance. During the day, their bodies feel heavy, but they can still move around. They're not completely incapacitated."

At night, they exhibit physical abilities that surpass those of humans. While they do feel a thirst for blood, they don't necessarily need to drink it to survive.

"Moon Ji-hyuk investigates to become human again and eventually learns about the Orb of Life."

To spoil the drama's ending, Moon Ji-hyuk does become human again. It's a happy ending.

"But in this world, it's a bad ending. Because I plan to take the Orb of Life for myself."

I checked online articles to figure out what point in the timeline we were at. This was quite important. My plan was to lay low in the beginning, gradually start intervening in the middle, and then steal the Orb of Life in the later stages.

- Second victim in the 'Don't Ask' attack case!

- Police: "We're doing our best to investigate." Still the same old line.

- The incompetent guardians of the people! Citizens of Seoul tremble in fear.

- Where did the victim's blood go?

"This is… the starting point of the drama."

Moon Ji-hyuk becomes a vampire as the fifth victim. Meaning, he's not a vampire yet.

"...Should I just become a vampire myself?"

If I became a vampire, I'd gain a superhuman body. But I quickly shook my head. The drawbacks outweighed the benefits. Besides, even if my avatar became a vampire, there's no guarantee that I, in real life, would become one too.

I pondered what I should do.

"...Should I just kill off the vampire hunters in advance?"

The vampire hunters appear around the middle of the drama and are the antagonists trying to kill Moon Ji-hyuk. On top of that, they're also after the Orb of Life. It's obvious they'll be a hindrance later on.

Even if I can't eliminate them entirely, I feel the need to at least weaken the vampire hunter faction to some extent.

"The vampire hunters could become my competitors for the Orb of Life."

After much deliberation, I decided to reduce the number of vampire hunters to some degree.

After all, this is a fictional world. There's no need to feel guilty.

"Everything is for my sake."

The hacking session ended.

I reached out and grabbed the mouse, then opened hidden files and documents. They were locked, but I had already figured out the password through hacking.

"Why collect evidence of corruption among lawmakers? Planning to go into politics?"

I chuckled.

It seems the hacker Kang Eugene has a bit of a sense of justice.

"Can I use this for blackmail? No, that might be too risky."

Kang Eugene had been collecting evidence of corruption among high-ranking public officials. CCTV footage, document manipulation evidence, and the like.

I later realized the reason. It wasn't some cheap sense of justice—it was for money and as a safety net. He was gathering dirt for leverage.

"If I sell this to other politicians, I could make a fortune."

Politics is ultimately a battle. Knowing the corruption of a rival politician means knowing their weakness.

I skimmed through the materials indifferently and got up from my seat at 9 PM.

Sitting around like this was making me antsy. No, not just antsy—I was getting horny. But I didn't want to jerk off after coming all the way to this fantasy world.

"Might as well hook up with an actress. Wait, are they even actresses in this world?"

It didn't matter.

***

The first place I headed to was a bank. More specifically, an ATM to withdraw cash.

"Not bad for a genius hacker. Who would've thought he had over 300 million won?"

I grinned and patted the bulging pockets of my jacket, which felt like they were about to burst. I had 50 million won in cash.

"What an idiot. Money isn't meant to be hoarded—it's meant to be spent."

I don't know what the hacker Kang Eugene's goals were, but from my perspective, he seemed pretty foolish.

Kang Eugene is 22 years old. Very young. At that age, you're supposed to live it up, not save for retirement. Of course, that's just my personal opinion.

"I could take this money back to reality… but it might be treated as counterfeit."

But with a little thought, there's a way. I could convert the money into goods and take them back. For example, I could buy gold with this money, store it in my inventory, and then sell it in reality.

"Or I could just rob a jewellery store and take all the goods back to reality to sell."

As long as I have the Play Life app, I'll never have to worry about money.

"The Play Life app is the ultimate ability."

Humming a tune, I got into a taxi.

"Take me to Young Hye-jeong."

"Young Hye-jeong?"

The taxi driver asked again. Not because he didn't know, but as if he was genuinely surprised I was going there.

"Yes. Young Hye-jeong."

Young Hye-jeong.

In this world, it's the name of a high-end hostess bar known only to those in the know. Fortunately, the taxi driver seemed to know it and started driving without further questions. He didn't seem like an ordinary taxi driver. If he hadn't known, I was prepared to name a nearby department store.

"I'm so excited."

Young Hye-jeong is a place that appears in the drama. In other words, real-life actresses play the hostesses here. Naturally, my goal was them.

Also, Young Hye-jeong is one of the top 0.1% most exclusive hostess bars in South Korea, frequented by politicians, corporate executives, and the like. Even Moon Ji-hyuk, the detective, gets involved with it a few times in the drama.

"Sir, have you been to Young Hye-jeong often?"

The taxi driver asked. Since it's a place ordinary people can't enter, he seemed curious.

I chuckled and said, "Just drive properly, will you?"

"..."

The driver seemed offended, but I didn't care.

When we arrived, the fare was nearly 20,000 won. I casually tossed him a 50,000 won bill and got out of the taxi. I didn't care about the change.

"Wow."@@novelbin@@

I looked at a building in the heart of Gangnam. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary office building, but in reality, it was Young Hye-jeong, the most exclusive hostess bar.

The first floor was just a café. A decoy. Since politicians frequented the place, they were thorough about this kind of thing.

The second floor was office space. Empty. I knew this from watching the drama. The real Young Hye-jeong starts from the third floor and has over 200 employees.

I passed the café and took the elevator to the third floor. I chuckled when I saw the CCTV camera on the elevator ceiling.

"I heard politicians use secret passages instead of stairs or elevators."

I wanted to use the secret passage too. But since it was only mentioned in the drama, I didn't know where it was.

Ding!

The elevator doors opened to reveal the main entrance of Young Hye-jeong. The entrance was closed with an iron gate. I opened it without hesitation.

Creak!

The door opened, and a burly man in a black suit sat on a chair, scowling. With a scar on his face, he gave off a clear "I'm a gangster" vibe.

I chuckled as I looked at him. I remembered how he got beaten up by Moon Ji-hyuk later.

Annoyed by my laughter, he spoke in a low voice.

"This place is off-limits. Get out."

"Since when does a doorman tell guests to leave? Isn't this Young Hye-jeong?"

Behind him was a wooden door. Unlike the iron gate, it had a more traditional design. A wooden door that probably cost over a million won. The real entrance to Young Hye-jeong.

"...Guest?"

The burly man scrutinized me openly.

"Hmm."

I looked down at myself. I was wearing shabby jeans, a hoodie, and an outdated jacket.

I admit. My outfit didn't match the exclusivity of Young Hye-jeong.

But since when does a guest's attire matter? What matters is the money they have. I was slightly annoyed.

"Weren't you taught not to judge guests by their clothes? What's his name, Stove Jobs, dressed comfortably too."

"You mean Steve Jobs."

"A gangster acting all educated. Don't you get jokes?"

"Anyway, you can't pass."

The burly man glared at me with wide eyes.

I smiled faintly, but inside, I was irritated. I didn't come here to wrestle with this punk.

"Fine."

I replied indifferently and tried to walk past him to open the wooden door.

Thud!

The burly man grabbed my left arm.

"I said you can't pass. Turn back. This isn't a place for you."

He spoke with utmost seriousness.

"…Tch!"

Slap!

My right hand struck the burly man's cheek. His body swayed, and as he was about to collapse, he gritted his teeth and swung his right fist at me.

Thump!

I lightly blocked his punch with my left hand. It stung a little. That's all. I swung my right hand again.

Slap!

Blood splattered from the burly man's mouth.

Slap!

I hit the other cheek.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

The sound of slaps echoed. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth, and his cheeks swelled to the point of bruising.

My current physical abilities were stronger than an average person's but weaker than a hunter's. I'd say I'm somewhere in between. And with that, it's not hard to subdue an ordinary person.

I could easily handle two or three of these burly men. Any more than that, and it might get tough.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"You…!"

As the burly man was getting slapped, he pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed at me. I grabbed his wrist with my left hand and twisted it.

Crack!

"Agh!"

I caught the falling knife and stabbed it into his thigh. As he was about to scream again, I slapped him to shut him up.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

'Should I kill him? …How dare he, a mere character, not know his place.'

Just as I was contemplating murder, the wooden door opened, and a man stepped out. Dressed in a suit, he looked better than the burly man, but his menacing aura remained.

"Sir."

His voice was polite.

"We were in the wrong. Please forgive us."

I recognized his face. I couldn't remember his name, but he was likely the security chief of Young Hye-jeong. His real identity was probably a gang underboss.

I lowered my hand.

"Tch! My clothes are ruined."

The burly man's blood was splattered all over my clothes. At least my jacket was fine.

"We apologize. If you wish, we can have them cleaned. Or we can compensate you for the cost."

"Forget it. They're just cheap clothes anyway."

I walked past him without stopping. He didn't try to stop me.

Entering Young Hye-jeong, I approached the counter. A man in a suit sat there, his gaze filled with fear as he looked at me. I glanced at the counter and saw a CCTV monitor.

The main entrance, not the secret passage, had CCTV cameras installed.

"W-Welcome. How may I assist you?"

His voice trembled. I chuckled and said, "The most exclusive room. Three hostesses. I'd like to request specific ones—do you have a list?"

"H-Here you go."

He handed me a luxurious list.

I skimmed through it and was impressed. Truly worthy of being called Korea's top hostess bar. There were over 130 hostesses, all above average in looks. They could pass as celebrities.

'I want to have them all.'

I quickly shook off my regret and selected the three I had decided on beforehand.

Two actresses and one former member of a disbanded idol group. Of course, that's in real life. In this world, they're just hostesses.

"Raika, Hera, and Mi-young. These three."

"S-Sir, these three are our top hostesses… T-The price for requesting them is quite high."

"How much?"

"Our top hostesses only enter the most exclusive rooms. The room fee is 20 million won. The request fees for Raika, Hera, and Mi-young are 5 million won each. Fortunately, all three are available today. Normally, you'd need to make a reservation in advance to request them, but… we'll make an exception for you."

"Thanks."

I pulled out a wad of 50,000 won bills from my jacket pocket. I had grabbed them hastily, so counting them would take some time, but fortunately, the man pulled out a bill counter. It seems there are quite a few guests who bring cash.

'Well, using a card leaves a record. Politicians probably prefer cash.'

After some time passed, I followed the security chief, who introduced himself as Park Chan-sung, upstairs. It was a different elevator from the one I had taken earlier.

The room was extravagantly luxurious. Everything was top-notch. The TV, sofa, table, wall decorations. The crowning touch was the chandelier on the ceiling.

"Since this is a last-minute request, we need some time to prepare. It should take about 15 minutes."

"That's fine. I can wait."

"Thank you. If you need anything, please press the call bell."

"Sure."

Just then, a man entered and handed a suit wrapped in plastic to Chief Park.

The chief politely handed the suit to me.

"What's this?"

"Your clothes were stained with blood. This is a gift from us as an apology."

"Hmm… Well, if you're giving it to me."

I accepted the suit. He bowed politely and left. I was alone in the room.

"My clothes were uncomfortable with the bloodstains, so this works out."

Without hesitation, I took off my clothes and changed.