Vampire (3)
While keeping a close watch on Jegal Seong-gyu with a surveillance mouse, I carefully examined the scene of the tragedy.
'These people recently received citizenship as the territory expanded.'
They were at the very edge of the domain.
People who had yet to receive proper supplies or relief aid.
Though they had been granted citizenship and entered my domain, they hadn't even realized that this place was supposed to be safe.
'What am I supposed to do with all these people?!'
Most of them were likely without family ties.
That was why I hadn't burned the bodies—just in case they had relatives somewhere.
'But how do I even begin to find their families? And if I do, how do I show them the bodies in this condition?'
Those who had received help from the relief teams not only understood the concept of the safe zone but had also been educated on earning money through monster hunting and using it at stores.
But these people were different.
They had survived against all odds, yet they didn't even realize they had made it into a monster-free safe zone.
'No… I can't even call it a fully safe zone anymore.'
A place where man-eating monsters could come and go couldn't exactly be called safe.
'I almost wish they would resent me instead.'
If that were the case, I could have resolved everything in an instant.
Just like how the heads of those low-tier vampires who tried to attack me had exploded.
As for Jegal Seong-gyu, whether it was a survival instinct or something else, he never displayed hostility toward me—even when I handed him a gun.
Perhaps the "Dignity Maintenance" skill had mentally subdued him.
'Ordinary monsters are eliminated as soon as the territory expands.'
The difference between Jegal Seong-gyu, those low-tier vampires, and other common monsters was that they were entities eligible for citizenship.
'So, while monsters are generally exterminated, those eligible for citizenship are only removed if they bear direct hostility toward me?'
It seemed the system was giving me a choice.
Among them, there had to be species that were useful—ones that didn't rely on humans as a primary food source like vampires did.
'Like Owen-ju's case.'
Strictly speaking, Owen-ju wasn't all that different from a vampire. When she transformed, her form resembled that of a monster more than a human.
The fact that my grandfather's wooden golem only reacted to Owen-ju was proof of that.
'Is the system allowing me to choose whether to accept beings like her?'
Considering the advantages I had gained from accepting Owen-ju, indiscriminately killing those like her would definitely be a loss.
But, as with everything in life, there were always drawbacks.
'How horrifying.'
The corpses, drained of blood and left ghostly pale by the vampires, were grotesque.
'If I had filtered out the vampires sooner, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.'
I resolved to take full responsibility for what had happened.
[Dabin.]
[Yes, Jaehyun?]
I explained the situation to Kim Dabin and sought her advice.
[How can we find the families of these people?]
But her response was brutally realistic.
[…Right now, there's no real way to do that. There's no remaining database for identification, and communication networks are down.]
[I see.]
[It's unlikely that any of our citizens are their relatives. If their families were close enough, they would have found them even before the territory expanded. At this point, it's safe to assume they were unclaimed individuals.]
She was completely right.
[Isn't there anything we can do?]
Kim Dabin thought for a moment before answering.
[First, we need to understand why these people had gathered here. Or, if any of them had identification cards, we might be able to find their registered addresses.]
If their addresses were nearby, there was a chance their families were still there.
[Thank you for your advice.]
[Don't be too disheartened.]
Clinging to even the slightest hope, I began searching through the belongings of the corpses.
'Absolute Vision.'
Rather than inspecting each body one by one, I used Absolute Vision to scan the entire area.
It was much faster.
Surprisingly, very few of them carried wallets or identification.
However, it was easy to figure out why they had gathered here.
A stockpile of food was stored in one part of the building, and there were traces of fires having been lit.
Signs of their daily lives were scattered throughout the area.
They had gathered here to survive.
Then—
'Huh?'
There were survivors in the building.
Huddled together in a dark corner of a room, trembling, were young children.
I immediately knew—they were the surviving families of the deceased.
At the same time, I realized that those who had died had fought desperately to keep these children alive.
Even at the cost of their own lives.
'Should I tell them?'
I hesitated.
Among the dead, some must have been these children's parents or relatives.
Should I inform them of their deaths, or would it be better to burn everything and tell a well-intentioned lie?
I didn't know.
Some of the children looked too young to even understand the concept of death. Should I really expose them to this cruel scene?
After much deliberation, I reached a conclusion.
Step, step, step.
I carefully arranged the abandoned corpses, laying them down properly.
It would have been wiser to use an invisible hand for efficiency, but I chose to do it with my own hands.
For those whose eyes were left wide open, I gently closed them.
"This is better than before."
Their faces looked more at peace now. At a glance, they could almost be mistaken for people merely asleep.
Then, I slowly walked toward where the children were.
Through the Absolute One's eyes, I could clearly see the fear in their faces as they listened to my approaching footsteps.
So, I made sure to move carefully.
I knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
"Eek!"
"Shh! Be quiet!"
A gasp and a hushed attempt to silence it came almost simultaneously.
They were trying their best to keep their voices low, but in the silence, even the smallest sound was painfully clear.
I spoke to them gently.
"Would you open the door for me?"
It felt as if I had become the big bad wolf from the tale of the Three Little Pigs, but I knew that wasting any more time would be meaningless.
"I'm coming in."
The door was locked in an old-fashioned way, but using the Absolute One's Door, I could open it as if it had never been locked at all.
"Kyaaah!"
The children screamed in terror the moment the door opened, as if they knew of the existence of vampires.
I let out a bitter smile and greeted them.
"Hello? My name is Kim Jaehyun."
I introduced myself without taking a single step into the room.
Seeing that I kept my distance, the children seemed more willing to listen to what I had to say.
And then—
[Citizen Yang Hayoon's trust has increased.]
[Citizen Yang Hayul's trust has increased.]
[Citizen Seo Minwoo's trust has increased.]
[Citizen Lee Seojun's trust has increased.]
[Citizen Han Yejung's trust has increased.]
The moment the five children faced me, my Dignity Maintenance skill shone.
Perhaps my non-threatening demeanor reassured them because the largest girl among them cautiously spoke up.
"Who… who are you, mister?"
She was still just a small child—probably no older than an elementary school student.
"Hmm…"
I hesitated for a moment before responding in a somewhat uncertain voice.
"I suppose… you could call me a rescuer?"
"A rescuer? You mean the rescue team is here?"
The girl's face brightened, and another child chimed in.
"Unnie, what's a rescue team?"
"Um… they're here to save us."
"Really? Then we don't have to hide anymore?"
"Yeah!"
Their faces lit up in an instant, filling me with guilt.
"…Come with me."
I walked ahead slowly, listening to the sound of their small footsteps following behind me.
I hesitated when we reached the room.
I was still unsure if I had made the right choice.
Even after all my deliberation, I couldn't be certain.
And then—
"Mom!"
One of the children called out and ran past me.
"Wait…!"
Before I could stop them, the child had already seen inside the room.
Their face froze.
"…Mom?"
They didn't step into the room. Instead, they hesitated at the doorway.
"…Why is she sleeping there?"
Their voice was dark with unease.
They had noticed the unnaturalness of the scene—the disarray of the room, the splattered blood, the scattered objects I hadn't yet cleaned up.
It seemed as though, just from the atmosphere alone, they had an instinctive feeling that something terrible had happened.
However, that child was still too young to fully understand the concept of death.
At that moment, the girl who had first spoken to me, Yang Ha-yoon, looked at me with trembling eyes.
I couldn't say anything to her, and she hurriedly ran into the room, taking in the devastating scene with her small eyes.
Then, slowly, she walked toward one of the neatly arranged corpses.
"…Mom."
Yang Ha-yoon collapsed in front of the pale woman lying there and burst into tears.
"Hwaaaah!"
The eldest child's crying quickly spread to the others.
The children began to cry without even understanding why.
"...I'm sorry."
I couldn't bring myself to burn the bodies in front of the children.
If they saw the corpses being consumed by flames while believing their loved ones were simply asleep, the trauma could be even greater.
Although cremation had its purpose, it was not something the children should have to witness.
It would likely become a lifelong wound.
Even so, I let them see their families one last time.
Because I feared that, if they never got to confirm their loved ones' final moments, it would become a regret they carried for the rest of their lives.
"Grandpa! Wake up, Grandpa!"
It would hurt.
But I believed it was something they had to endure.
The harsh world they would have to survive in from now on would bring them countless wounds.
Still, they had to keep living.
"Hwaaaaah!"
I spoke to the crying children.
"Kids."
But they continued to sob.
"Your mom, dad, and grandpa… they're all going to heaven now."
I stored their bodies in the storage room.
Bzzzz—
Praying that they would leave in a way that looked far less painful than being burned, as if they were truly ascending to heaven.
"Mom! Dad! Where are you going? Don't go!"
Watching the wailing children, I couldn't help but question whether I had made the wrong choice.
Would it have been better to lie to them?
'I don't know.'
There were too many crying children for me to hold each one.
"Waaaah!"
"Hic… Mom."
"Grandpa… Hic."
Seeing the little ones, too young to even understand what had happened, crying as their tears fell like raindrops, my heart ached.
Fwoosh.
I set a flame where their bodies had once been.
Carefully, so it wouldn't be too hot.
For a while, the flames hovered near the children, as if comforting them.
"…Mom?"
If their souls truly existed, they were probably lingering here, watching over their children.
With terribly sorrowful eyes.
I tried my best to speak for them. The warm flames seemed to confirm that the children had finally stopped crying, then began preparing to leave.
"Ah!"
As the flames slipped out through a broken window, the children ran to it, gazing up at the sky.
Perhaps because of the mystical atmosphere, their sobs had completely ceased.
I told them an obvious lie.
"Mom and Dad will always be watching over you from heaven."
Or maybe, it wasn't a lie at all.
"So let's stop crying and show them how brave we can be."
One child wiped away their tears and pressed their lips together.
Their round little face was filled with determination.
They were the smallest among the five.
'I'm sorry, kids.'
I had forced them to grow up.
And they had accepted it without resistance.
At least, for now, none of them seemed like they would break under their grief.
All I could do was pray that their wounds would heal, even a little, as soon as possible.
'I will avenge your families!'
Through the eyes of the mouse controlled by Seo Ye-jin, Jegal Seong-gyu stood in front of an apartment complex, holding a rifle.
'There it is.'
It seemed they had arrived at the vampire-infested apartments.
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