A small parking lot behind the club.
Ian stood in the smoking room beside the parking lot, smoking a cigarette as he looked up at the moon hanging in the sky.
It wasn’t as though he was lost in sentiment. It was simply that the moon had been high in the heavens for quite some time, and yet the vampire hunters still hadn’t appeared.
“……Hoo.”
He exhaled cigarette smoke, took out his phone, and checked the contents of the text.
The location wasn’t wrong. A fairly large club in southern Gyeonggi Province. The standards for entry were rather high, making it famous among club regulars as a place with a good crowd, but a difficult one to get into.
Ian had never been to a club before, so he didn’t know how things worked in this industry, but even so, he didn’t think it was completely clean. If it had been clean to begin with, vampires wouldn’t have slipped in here.
At any rate.
He had arrived at the appointed place roughly ten minutes ago, and there were exactly five minutes left until the agreed time. They should have been showing themselves by now, but the hunters were still nowhere to be seen.
‘Don’t tell me they ran.’
The thought flashed through his mind, but Ian shook his head inwardly.
These were people who went around calling themselves vampire hunters. No matter what, they couldn’t be such idiots that they’d run with vampires right in front of them.
They were people guaranteed by the Cartel, so there should at least be a minimum level of trust.
‘If they don’t come, well, I’ll just go in alone.’
The amount set as payment was a whopping seven million won. It was a good opportunity, and he had no intention of letting it slip.
Just as Ian lowered his head and stubbed out his cigarette, the door to the smoking area suddenly burst open, and two men with their hats pulled low entered.
“…….”
“…….”
An awkward atmosphere settled inside the smoking room.
The two men stared hard at Ian for a moment, then took a cigar from their pockets, placed it skillfully between their lips, and cut off the tip. Then they lit it with a hiss.
“Sss…… hoo…….”
Thick cigar smoke flowed from their mouths and noses. Ian tossed his extinguished cigarette into the ashtray and sank heavily into a chair.
“You arrived right on time.”
Following Lee Seo-a’s advice, Ian addressed them in an arrogant tone instead of using honorific speech.
As if they had expected it, they slipped their cigars between their fingers and burst into laughter.
“You the mage participating in this vampire hunt? You look like a damn scholar.”
“Do you have a plan?”
Instead of continuing the conversation, Ian went straight to the point.
Apparently pleased by that, the older of the vampire hunters opened his mouth.
“There are fifteen vampires hiding in the club in total. Exactly one can disguise itself as a human. The rest are all vampires that live not by reason, but by instinct.”
In other words, simple monsters. Ian lit another cigarette and listened closely.
“First, we enter the club and identify where the vampires are hiding. After that, we deliberately cause a commotion and evacuate the civilians inside the club. Then we hit the vampires. That’s it.”
“Simpler than I expected. Who identifies their locations?”
“You do. I’d like you to use magic to figure it out. You can, can’t you?”
The old man’s sharp gaze swept over Ian. Ian didn’t avert his eyes. After thinking quietly for a moment, he nodded. Magic for locating mysteries was written in the grimoire as well.
“I’ll use magic in the restroom.”
“Good. We’ll also move around in our own way and find their locations. Be careful when you move. If they bite you, you’ll turn into one of them before you can do anything.”
The young man beside the old man spoke. He showed Ian the pistol tucked into the inner pocket of his coat and grinned.
“I’d rather not have to lay a highway through your skull.”
“……You worry about the strangest things.”
“As long as you’re confident. More importantly, take this.”
The young man tossed a pistol and a pair of sunglasses into Ian’s arms. Ian frowned at the heavy weight of the pistol and looked back at him.
The young man spoke while chewing on a peeled clove of garlic.
“It’s loaded with silver bullets. We met thanks to the Cartel, but in any case, at this moment, we’re brothers with the same goal. Protect yourself with that.”
“……Hoo. I won’t refuse. I’ll take it with thanks.”
Though he had unexpectedly been handed a real gun, Ian calmly checked the number of bullets in the magazine and pulled the slide.
Fortunately, the gun seemed to function properly. He hadn’t pulled the trigger yet, but at least it probably wouldn’t break down at a crucial moment.
He slipped the pistol into the inner pocket of his coat, straightened his clothes, and rose from his seat.
“Let’s get going. You’re not planning to just smoke here, are you?”
“Right, right. Let’s go. By the way, what should I call you?”
The old man asked. Ian thought for a moment, then gave a simple title.
“Call me Mage.”
“Good. Then call me Alpha, and that guy Beta.”
“Fine.”
That was the end of their introductions. The three of them went to the club’s front entrance and joined the line to get in.
A short while later, their turn came. The club guard checked Ian’s face first and immediately allowed him entry. He looked at Beta with a vague expression, then reluctantly allowed him in as well.
Surprisingly, the moment the guard saw Alpha’s face, he let him inside. Beta frowned as if displeased, but Alpha only chuckled and said nothing.
“Haa…….”
And so, with Beta’s sigh sounding behind him, they entered the club.
“Waaaaaah!!”
The moment they entered, cheers and music loud enough to burst their eardrums assaulted them.
Half-naked men and women everywhere embraced one another and ground their bodies together. In the dim space, only small lights glimmered faintly.
“Move.”
Alpha said. Ian nodded and immediately headed for the restroom.
“Oh my, handsome. I’ve never seen you before. Is this your first time here?”
On the way, a woman spoke to Ian. Ian smiled softly and nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I knew it! There’s no way I would’ve missed a man this handsome! Baby, why don’t we go over there and talk for a bit, just the two of us? I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Ah, that sounds good. But I really need to use the restroom right now. I’ll just stop by for a moment and come back.”
“Mm! Come to table three!”
The woman planted a kiss on Ian’s cheek, then disappeared while swaying her hips.
Ian kept a smile on his face until she was out of sight, then the moment she vanished, he furrowed his brow and wiped the lipstick from his cheek.
He had responded as gently as possible because he didn’t want to cause an unnecessary commotion, but had he known this would happen, he should have just been firm from the start.
Ian let out a sigh and entered the restroom.
Inside, all sorts of people were sprawled in all sorts of conditions.
Ignoring them, he entered an empty stall and locked the door.
‘Summon.’
The moment he thought it inwardly, the grimoire appeared in his hand. Without hesitation, he used the magic written in the grimoire.
[Mystery Tracking]
[Identifies the location of mysteries within a 20-meter radius.]
[Materials: flesh of an anomaly, ether.]
As simple as the effect was, the materials were simple as well. Ian immediately took out the cube he had brought in his pocket and drew a magic circle on the wall with a pen.
When he placed the cube on top of it, rather than falling, the cube stuck fast to the magic circle and scattered a faint light.
With that, the preparations were complete. Ian immediately recited the incantation.
“Find them. The one who shall punish them is here.”
The magic circle vibrated once, and the cube melted away. At that moment, information about the locations of the anomalies flowed intact into Ian’s mind.
Rather than a sensation, it felt like newly realizing knowledge he had forgotten.
As if he had known where they were from the very beginning.
‘Three in the basement. Five inside the club. All of them curled up in boxes. Four are hiding in the pipes on the ceiling, and two are holding their breath in the staff lounge. These ones have already finished hunting.’
The location of the most important one, the vampire disguised as a human, was right in front of the DJ playing the music. Ian nodded and hid the grimoire behind the toilet.
[Wooong!]
The grimoire vibrated as if dissatisfied. Ian gave a bitter smile and stroked its cover.
“Sorry. Stay here for just a little while. I’ll summon you again soon.”
Perhaps because his sincerity had gotten through, the grimoire quieted down again. He stroked its cover a few more times, then opened the restroom door and stepped outside.
He wove through the still-packed club, searching for Alpha as he moved.
The old man was on the club’s second floor, leaning against the railing and sipping whiskey. When Ian approached him, Alpha immediately asked,
“The locations?”
“Three in the basement. Five inside the club. Four in the pipes on the ceiling, and two in the staff lounge. The one in disguise is right in front of the DJ.”
“Mm. The one in disguise is probably that blond woman standing over there.”
“Your basis?”
“The smell of blood.”
Alpha smirked and took a bandanna from his coat pocket, covering his face with it.
“No matter how much they try to hide it, that disgusting stench unique to vampires never disappears.”
“…….”
“Put on the sunglasses.”
Alpha said. Ian stood there with a slightly reluctant expression for a moment, then put on the sunglasses as if he had no choice.
His vision darkened a little, but this much wasn’t a problem. Ian looked at Alpha as he began pulling his hat low and asked,
“When do we start the commotion?”
“Now.”
Before Ian could ask again, a small sphere suddenly dropped from the second floor to the first.
It was a smoke bomb.
A smoke bomb infused with the scent of garlic.
Pshhhhh!!!
The smoke bomb burst with a pop and began scattering yellow smoke in every direction.
Beyond the spreading smoke, Ian spotted Beta throwing smoke bombs all over the place and let out a hollow laugh.
“Wh-what the fuck!”
“Kyaaaak!! It’s terrorism, terrorism! Everyone get out!”
At the sudden commotion, the inside of the club fell into chaos. The packed crowd began fleeing down the stairs, as if no one cared who went first. The club guards tried to get the situation under control at first, but once the smoke spread in every direction, they cursed and rushed outside.
Thanks to that, the only ones left inside the club were one mage and two vampire hunters.
And.
Kwaaang!!
“Gyaaaaak!!!”
Fifteen vampires.
“Hoo…….”
Ian summoned the grimoire and glared at the vampire that had dropped from the ceiling, pistol held in his other hand.
The club’s lively EDM sound, unique and pounding, beat its bass in time with his heartbeat.