Hunter, Thank You For Your Blood Donation!

Suddenly, a powerful force clamped down on his neck, threatening to snap it in half. Si-wol gasped for breath, struggling in a panic.  

 

Si-wol thrashed with all his might, and to his surprise, Citrus, despite being a pureblood, seemed to struggle, likely weakened from a prolonged lack of blood. Finally, to subdue Si-wol’s resistance, Citrus dragged him by the neck and threw him onto the living room floor. 

“

Ugh

!

Gahhh

!”

Freed from Citrus’s grasp for a moment, Si-wol scrambled to his feet to escape. But another attack came swiftly.

“

Aaack

!” An unbearable pain shot through his left thigh, sending him tumbling back onto the floor.

“

Heuk

…

heuk

! I-It hurts…” Tears streamed down Si-wol’s face as he looked down at his thigh. Citrus’ finger was buried deep in the center of it, transformed into a sharp, weapon-like shape. The pain intensified as it seemed to have gone all the way through to the backside of his thigh.

“…I-I’m sorry.

Ugh

! I’m so sorry!” Si-wol blurted out his habitual apology. 

For a fleeting moment, Si-wol briefly entertained the thought of fighting back. But it was quickly extinguished, suffocated by the oppressive aura radiating from Citrus. 

It was only natural, he supposed. He’d lived his entire life as a vampire under the thumb of purebloods.  He was always beneath them, a lowly half-breed, never daring to even consider defiance. Resistance was a foreign concept, a word that didn’t exist in Si-wol’s vocabulary.

“And what exactly are you sorry for? Hmm?”

“

Hicc

…  B-Because… I invited you… as a guest on the show… and I-I said I’d give you the viewer’s blood…

Hicc

!  I-I lied…”

“

Ah

— Damn it, you lying, good-for-nothing, half-breed bastard. Still trying to hide things from me?”

“

Aaaargh

!”

Citrus twisted his fingers deeper into Si-wol’s thigh, causing blood to gush profusely from the widening wound. Si-wol writhed in agony, convulsing uncontrollably from the pain.

“You thought you could fool me, didn’t you? But if you knew what I found in that room, you’d want to bite your lying tongue off right now.”

Citrus pulled something out and shoved it in front of Si-wol’s face. He tried to focus on it, but his vision was too blurred with tears to make out anything more than a hazy shape. It looked like some kind of rectangular, thin card. 

Si-wol hastily wiped away his tears and opened his eyes again, finally able to see what Citrus had found in the room.

“

Heuk

…?!”

“Yes. That’s the reaction I was waiting for.”

“

Ahh

…

ahh

…”

Si-wol was speechless, only able to whimper in resignation. It made sense. What Citrus held out was Yi-eon’s hunter license.

 

「Where did you get that?」

「This? Ah… I was trying to hang up your coat, and it fell out of your inner pocket. What is it, anyway?  It doesn’t look like an ID card…」

 

Si-wol waved the hunter ID at Yi-eon as he asked him about it. In response, Yi-eon answered in a nonchalant tone.

 

「It’s a hunter license. Like an ID card among hunters.」

「Ah…」

「Give me that.」

 

Yi-eon held out his hand. But Si-wol hid the license in his grasp, shaking his head. 

 

「Can’t I take a quick peek?」

「No. You can’t.」

「W-Why not? I’m curious…」

「Why do you want to see it?」

「Well, it looks like it has a picture of you from a while back on it…」

「Give it back.」

「J-Just a second! Just a little peek! N-No, I promise not to look at the photo and just focus on the other details!」

「Are you kidding me?」

「

Eut

! Ah, wait! Just ten seconds—no, five! Fine, one second!」

 

Si-wol dodged Yi-eon’s hand and retreated to a corner of the room. He curled up tightly like a ball, hiding Yi-eon’s hunter license against his chest. Yi-eon looked ready to pry it away by force, but seeing how desperate Si-wol was, he quickly gave up.

 

「…Stubborn as always.

Huuu

, fine. Just make sure to put it back where you found it.」

「Okay!」

 

That was the first time Si-wol had seen Yi-eon’s hunter license. 

In the slightly faded hunter’s license, Yi-eon appeared younger but with eyes even more intimidating than now, exuding an aura that made it unmistakably clear he was a hunter.

 

「Lee Si-wol.  How long are you going to stay there? Come out here.」

 

Just as Si-wol started to regret his curiosity, startled by the intensity in Yi-eon’s eyes, he was brought back to reality by Yi-eon’s voice calling him from outside the room. 

 

「Hurry up.」

「…Y-Yes! Coming!」

 

Pressured by Yi-eon’s urging, Si-wol had hastily placed the hunter license somewhere and left the room. 

Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember putting it back in Yi-eon’s coat pocket. He must have forgotten all about it. And thanks to that, Citrus had discovered the existence of Yi-eon, the hunter residing in his house.

“Does Ryu Je-mun know?  That you’re in cahoots with a hunter, betraying your own kind?”

“N-No…”

“Well, had he known, you’d be dead by now.” Citrus sighed, brushing aside the hair that had fallen over his face. “So, when is that fucking hunter supposed to arrive?”

Si-wol’s mind raced at the question. Should he tell the truth, that Yi-eon would be arriving soon, or should he lie? He couldn’t decide, especially knowing he’d likely face Citrus’ wrath either way. 

“I can see the wheels turning in your head. Just spit it out.”

“A-At eleven o’clock……”

Citrus glanced at the clock on the wall after hearing Si-wol’s response. There were only ten minutes left until eleven.

After checking the remaining time, a smile spread across Citrus’ face. Si-wol froze, eyes widening in horror at the sight. The implication behind that smile sent chills crawling down his spine, every hair standing on end. 

Then, Citrus’s twisted lips stretched wider, revealing his teeth in a chilling grin.

“That gives me plenty of time to kill you and escape.”

“…

Heugh

?!”

Shhhk

! With a rough tearing sound, Citrus withdrew his needle-like fingers from Si-wol’s thigh. Blood gushed out like a fountain, momentarily blinding him. Through the crimson spray, Si-wol saw Citrus transforming his hand, fingers morphing into sharp blades.  

Citrus chuckled, a predatory gleam in his eyes. 

“You know what? There’s actually one more way to kill a vampire besides ‘silver’ and ‘sunlight’.”

Instinct screamed at Si-wol, and he instinctively raised his hands, scrambling backwards on the floor. 

Fortunately, thanks to the regular intake of Yi-eon’s blood, his pierced leg was beginning to heal, albeit slowly. Hoping Citrus wouldn’t notice, he bent his leg and started to inch back, dragging himself with his arms.

However, Citrus was faster. He was already approaching, his hand dripping with Si-wol’s own blood. 

“S-Stay back!  Don’t come near me!”

Citrus grabbed Si-wol’s ankle in a flash. Both of them were vampires suffering from blood deficiency, but Citrus, with his superior genetics, was far stronger. Powerless, Si-wol was dragged back across the floor. 

“I was going to be nice and explain it to you before you die, but you had the audacity to try and run?”

“D-Don’t…  Please don’t…

heuk

! I’m… I’m sorry…

heuk

!”

Si-wol trembled, his body weak and helpless as he watched Citrus’ every move. 

The wounds on Citrus’ hand had rapidly healed. Traces of blood remained on his palm where it had pierced moments before. He pressed it against Si-wol’s open wound, grinding it into the raw flesh.

“

Aaargh

! It hurts…!”

“Bear with it. Pain is a blessing you can only experience while you’re still alive, so enjoy it while you can, yeah?”

“…

Heugh

?!”

“Remember what I said? There’s one more way to kill a vampire besides silver and sunlight. This is it.” 

Citrus continued with a sinister grin. “When vampires mix their blood, it creates a conflict, drastically reducing their abilities. Their strength, their healing, everything.” 

“…

Heukk

..”

Citrus’ words were proving true as Si-wol felt his own strength draining away. The thigh wound that had been healing quickly now refused to close and continued bleeding profusely. His pain tolerance was crumbling, his life force seeping out of him like sand through his fingers.

“If your heart gets punctured while you’re in this state…, what do you think would happen?”

“

Argh

,

heuugh

! P-Please don’t do it. P-Please spare me—”

“Shut up! You brought this upon yourself by whining for mercy as a half-breed. Fuck! Had you just played dead quietly, you wouldn’t have to die in such agony.”

“N-No!”

With the last ounce of strength he could muster, Si-wol thrashed wildly before his body gave out completely.  

Then, by some miracle, his ankle slipped free from Citrus’ grasp. The blood coating Citrus’ hand must have made it slippery.  

“You little—!”

Si-wol hastily flipped over and crawled toward the front door with a burst of desperate energy he’d never felt before. In no time, he reached the entrance and stretched his arm to grab the doorknob. All he had to do now was unlock it and escape.

But fate, it seemed, had other plans. 

“

Aghhh

!”

“

Ha

, you’re as slippery as a rat.”

Citrus yanked Si-wol back by the hair, muttering curses under his breath, as he raised his other hand. The moonlight streaming through the open window illuminated the sharp tip of something metallic, casting an eerie glow.

“Die like the half-breed you are.”

Shhhk

—

A sickening sound pierced the air behind Si-wol. Slowly, with a look of disbelief on his face, he lowered his eyes to gaze at his chest. Citrus’ sharpened fingers had pierced through his left side and protruded sharply out front.

“Fuck, I missed. Hold still, will you?”

For a moment, Si-wol had thought Citrus had pierced his heart. It seemed he had aimed for it from behind but missed slightly. But though his heart was spared, the blood vessels were not. 

“

Kkh

…

heugh

.

Cough

.”

Citrus retracted his hand, ready to strike again. Even if his heart remained untouched, he was doomed. Without his healing ability, the blood loss alone would kill him.

Si-wol’s heavy eyelids fluttered shut. His body screamed in agony. He sensed that whatever remained of his vampire instincts was desperately trying to heal him.

However, it was futile. Even with his body in peak condition, it would’ve been a losing battle. In his weakened state, it was a lost cause.

‘So, this is it…  This is how I die.’

Strangely, a sense of peace washed over him as he resigned himself to his fate. It was better than struggling in vain, clinging onto a hope that didn’t exist. 

‘If I had known… that I’d die a meaningless death like this… I would’ve rather died by Yi-eon-ssi’s hand.’

At least if he had died by Yi-eon’s hand, the man who had always looked him straight in the eye, it wouldn’t have been such a lonely, insignificant death. At least with Yi-eon, there was a chance that he might remember his death and not forget him. The thought of living on in Yi-eon’s memories could’ve provided comfort and made this passing less painful.

‘Ah…’

And he hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye to Yi-eon-

ssi

… 

A faint smile touched Si-wol’s lips as a fleeting memory surfaced in his fading consciousness—a hand gently caressing his cheek. He reassured him not to worry because Si-wol was stronger than he thought himself to be. He was the only human who had ever reassured him like that, who had worried for him at all.

Jin Yi-eon

. 

But the memory was quickly swept away by the overwhelming dizziness caused by his blood loss. His vision blurred, his senses fading. He could feel his body collapsing, but he couldn’t even tell if he was lying down or face down on the floor anymore. 

‘It’s cold…’

Suddenly, a chill ran through his body. Even as his senses dulled, he could feel the temperature plummet around him. It must have been due to losing so much blood and his body cooling down rapidly.

As his consciousness slipped further away, he thought he heard a sound. A voice calling out repeatedly, distorted and muffled, like static. And somewhere within that sound, he thought he heard his name.

But he must have been mistaken. He had lived in solitude for hundreds of years, so this was surely nothing more than his loneliness playing tricks on him… conjuring up the pitiful illusion of someone desperately calling his name as he lay dying.

Yes, that had to be it. 

 <Hunter-nim, Thank You For Your Blood Donation!> Volume 1 End.Hello, everyone! It's Eica here~ Thank you for taking the time to read my translations.I apologize for being absent for a rea~lly long time and for the future sporadic updates. My classes and busy schedule have made it difficult for me to translate at a faster pace.Despite my shortcomings in translating, I hope each and every one of you will have a great time reading this.If you come across any mistakes, feel free to comment below or reach out to me on Discord.You can support me on Ko-fi, and I would appreciate it if you could rate this on NU. I value your feedback, and even though I may not respond, please know that I read and eagerly anticipate each and every comment.Once again, thank you, everyone! Happy reading!