Chapter 6

When the man first blocked my path in the alleyway.

The first thought that popped into my head was, “Oh no, this is bad.”

Like, maybe the guy I thought was a drug addict was actually a vampire.

Or that a horde of ghouls, rare even in this underworld, had suddenly appeared.

But honestly, none of that really mattered.

What mattered was how on earth they found me—me, who usually leaps over rooftops without leaving a trace.

“Hmm, as far as I know, there aren’t many working CCTVs around here… Magic? Or some other method I haven’t thought of?”

If my telekinesis had been exposed, it would be the worst-case scenario.

Nighthaven, a city teeming with all sorts of powerful beings and monsters.

And here I am, a little brat using telekinesis wandering around alone?

It wouldn’t take long for countless old-timers to come knocking, eager to welcome me with their probing questions.

With desperate hope, I rolled my eyes quickly behind the cloth covering me, scanning the area.

Then suddenly, beside the visibly angry huffing man,

I caught sight of a grotesque puppy-like creature, its muscles and innards exposed.

“That’s definitely… like the Corpse Hound I saw in the original work. The bloodhound that can track the scent of remembered blood from dozens of kilometers away. Hmm, which means…”

That ugly ring I had taken from the vampire man.

Mr. Greg said it was made from some kind of internal organ.

If that ring carried a unique blood scent, and if that scent had clung to me when I slept rough on the rooftop yesterday because I couldn’t find a place to stay?

“It makes sense. Of course, it’s not like I didn’t wash up on purpose…!”

At least that was somewhat comforting.

The thought of someone secretly watching my every move from the shadows sent shivers down my spine.

But if they only pinpointed my location through the scent of blood?

It was likely my telekinesis hadn’t been discovered.

Ah, I got worked up over nothing.

I lowered my mental guard a notch and looked at the vampire man in front of me more casually.

Now that I noticed, the man was quite a mess.

I swear I just gave him a light telekinetic flick on the forehead yesterday.

Yet somehow, his face was now swollen all over, and he’d even lost some teeth—it was a pitiful sight.

Did he trip dangerously down the stairs or something?

He looked more suited for a hospital bed than these back alleys.

“Damn it! Because of you, you! I lost the ring! Lost my father’s trust! Lost my subordinates! All of it, all because of you! My life is ruined because of you!”

The man clawed at his throat as if he had swallowed molten iron, screaming.

His emotions were so heightened that blood trickled from his eyes.

Well, details aside, it seemed like after getting beaten by me and losing his belongings, he got severely scolded by someone he called “Father.”

Apparently, that ring was quite an important item.

Even though it looked ugly, it probably held some significance among them.

But hearing his sob story didn’t stir much sympathy in me.

Serves him right for not living a virtuous life.

After all, those who fire guns should be prepared to get shot themselves.

By the same logic, bad people have no right to complain when worse people get revenge on them.

Who asked him to do bad things anyway?

“That’s that. I was on my way to grab food, but what’s all this?”

I was finally on my way to get a steak sandwich.

How disappointing to have a horde of ghouls ruin my appetite.

This guy wasn’t doing me any favors.

So with a bit more spite, I used telekinesis to grab the air in front of the shouting vampire man’s forehead.

“How annoying. Let’s finish this quickly and get going. If I hurry, they’ll sprinkle extra cheese on my meat.”

A quick detour: did you know the secret behind flicks?

If you try tapping your palm with just your fingers without using your arm, you’ll notice it doesn’t hurt at all.

The reason flicks hurt is because you use your thumb to apply pressure in the opposite direction, amplifying the force.

So, if I used telekinesis to grab two pockets of air separately, then pushed them against each other with tension while maintaining balance, and then released one side?

Behold—the telekinetic flick, something impossible with regular telekinesis alone!

*Smack!*

“Gwaaah!”

A sound like a chicken’s neck being wrung escaped the vampire man’s mouth.

The compressed shockwave hit the already bruised spot like lightning striking.

Still, vampires are supposed to be much tougher than regular humans.

This shouldn’t put his life in danger.

…Right?

“Grrrk?”

“Kyin?”

The ghouls and the Corpse Hound tilted their heads at the sight of the collapsed man foaming at the mouth.

Both were mindless creatures driven purely by instinct.

Confused by the sudden collapse of the one controlling them, they seemed unsure what to do.

If the man stayed down, they’d likely wander off in search of blood and flesh, driven purely by instinct.

Though not particularly strong individually, their sheer numbers could cause chaos before they were subdued.

“Troublesome. I’ve grown quite fond of this place over the past month.”

After double-checking that no one was passing by, I decisively threw off the cloth covering my body.

How many days had it been since I last felt direct sunlight?

Even the faint light filtering into this deep alley stung my eyes momentarily.

“Krrk!”

“Kyik!”

All the ghouls and hounds turned their heads toward me.

As far as I knew, corpse monsters loved living humans, especially women or children.

My unattended, bouncy skin made me look like a young girl—an irresistible delicacy for them.

The ghouls, who had been trying to sneak out of the alley, stopped and began drooling as they turned back inside.

What a foolish choice.

If they had just run straight in the opposite direction, they might have tasted the sweetness of life once more before dying.

“If they’re already dead corpses… I don’t need to hold back, right?”

I exhaled deeply.

Then, I unleashed my full telekinetic power, dominating the entire space of this back alley.

Stronger and more refined than when I first reincarnated a month ago—this was my telekinesis at maximum output.

“Keh?”

The ghouls tilted their heads, puzzled by their sudden inability to move.

Some tried to wiggle their bodies to reach me, but once caught in my grasp, escape was impossible.

*Kwak, kwajjijik.*

Starting with the ghoul closest to me, their heads slowly began to twist clockwise.

Of course, human bodies aren’t toys like Legos.

The heads of the ghouls, based on corpses, began falling off one by one from their necks.

*Thud, thud, thud-thud-thud.*

The ghouls’ heads rained down like drops of rain.

“Ki, kieek!”

*Krrch!*

Finally, the last ghoul and hound became headless.

I retracted my telekinetic power, pulling it back from the alley.

The weakness of ghouls lies in separating their heads from their bodies.

You might say, “Isn’t that obvious?” But considering how resilient ghouls are, even with holes in their bodies, separating their heads was a surprisingly effective strategy.

“Oh well, might as well tear them apart until they die. It’s easier than messing with their whole bodies.”

“Hoo, still… this takes a lot out of me. I should be careful about using max power depending on the time and place.”

Does telekinesis drain mental energy? My head was throbbing significantly.

It felt like solving ten difficult math problems in a row and being mentally exhausted.

If I kept using it nonstop, it seemed inevitable that its power would diminish.

“Well, guess it’s time to go. Some passing janitor will clean this up.”

I took one last sweeping look at the back alley filled with headless corpses.

Fortunately, since ghouls are semi-dried corpses without flowing blood, the alley wasn’t too horrifying.

If these were real humans, the place would already be drenched in blood.

In a way, it was lucky they were ghouls, despite the lingering smell of corpses.

Using telekinesis, I retrieved the cloth I had thrown far away and wrapped myself in it again.

The familiar stuffiness and slight musty smell returned.

“Hiding my appearance and identity was the right call. I knew something like this would happen someday.”

Once again, I silently praised my past self.

Stepping over the fallen ghouls, I approached the exit.

Suddenly, the collapsed vampire man caught my eye.

“Hmm, I’d rather not get ambushed again.”

If he has any learning ability, he won’t let the same thing happen twice.

I skillfully tore his clothes with telekinesis.

Then, I tightly bound his arms and legs by weaving the fabric multiple times.

Next, I picked up a nearby ghoul’s head and made it bite his shoulder before tossing him out of the alley.

Anyone in the underworld could easily recognize the ghoul’s bite.

Seeing that he remained unharmed despite being bitten, they’d quickly realize he was a vampire.

“Vampires increase their numbers by injecting blood, so they usually have a lot of enemies. This way, they’ll figure something out themselves.”

This should be enough.

I was satisfied with the tidied-up scene.

The ghouls were all dead, there were no witnesses, and I had dealt with the guy who came to harass me.

Case closed! Perfect resolution—no need to worry about second or third waves.

“Now, let’s go grab that sandwich. Using telekinesis like that made me hungry.”

I leapt lightly and climbed back onto the rooftop.

Bounding from building to building, I headed toward the sandwich shop.

A cheesy steak sandwich awaited me.

*

The underworld of Nighthaven is vast.

This is because Nighthaven itself boasts an unprecedented scale.

Greedily overeating often leads to indigestion.

Thus, various organizations ruling the underworld had no choice but to divide the outer zones among themselves.

The western outskirts were remnants of a time when Nighthaven aggressively expanded.

Buildings were hastily erected without much thought, leaving traces of the past.

Structures clung uncomfortably close to each other, and the disorderly placement of buildings made proper roads nearly impossible.

Thus, another name for the western outskirts of Nighthaven was the Western Labyrinth.

It was truly a concrete prison.

“So, what happened? You said vampires and ghouls showed up. I was so shocked I ditched a meeting and rushed over.”

“Miss Wang Qian. That is…”

In this Western Labyrinth, the Black Jade Society, a beastman organization from China, had firmly established its territory.

A rabbit-eared beauty, a core member of the Black Jade Society, and a lizard beastman hurriedly entered a narrow alley.

“What is this…?”

“When we arrived, it was already like this.”

What Miss Wang Qian saw was the sight of ghoul corpses rolling around the alley.

There were no signs of battle on the walls or ground; the ghoul corpses lay cleanly decapitated, creating an unreal scene.

“W-Wait a minute. I’m not following. So… who just dumped these ghoul corpses here? It doesn’t seem like anything happened.”

“No. There’s a witness who saw a group of living ghouls moving through this area.”

“Then was there some group we don’t know about? Pixies? Mercenaries? No, the alley is too narrow for many people to fit…”

Miss Wang Qian furrowed her brows deeply after touching the walls and ground.

It was narrow. The alley was so tight that it was almost miraculous the ghouls managed to squeeze in.

At most, three people. No, considering the number of ghouls, even two would be pushing it.

Interrupting her tangled thoughts, the lizard beastman spoke.

“I think this was done by a single person. If many people had come and gone, they would have been noticed.”

“That’s absurd! Are you saying someone just walked in here and effortlessly ripped off all the ghouls’ heads without resistance? What, are they the Mercenary King or something?!”

The legendary Mercenary King, whose lightning-fast strikes went unnoticed until after the fact.

Such an unrealistic scene could only be created by someone of that caliber.

Miss Wang Qian screamed, her long ears standing upright.

But the lizard beastman, unfazed by his superior’s outburst, calmly responded with a steady voice.

“Miss. There’s an interesting saying in this world. When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

“Haa, but still, this is…”

“This is too much…”

Miss Wang Qian instinctively pulled at her hair.

Though ghouls appear laughably weak on the surface, their inability to feel pain and their resilience unless decapitated made them troublesome monsters that ordinary members couldn’t handle alone.

So the sudden appearance of dozens of ghouls was headache-inducing enough.

But now, some insane monster roaming around stronger than that?

This wasn’t just a headache—it was the kind of situation that made her want to cry.

Perhaps understanding her distress, the lizard beastman offered a bitter smile and words of comfort.

“Still, there was a bound vampire next to the ghoul corpses. We can ask him for details once he wakes up.”

“Aha, so the vampire was tied up too! Thanks! Now I’m even more terrified of that monster!”

“Haha…”

Clearly, it wasn’t comforting at all.

Miss Wang Qian leaked a despairing voice, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

If ghouls were considered elite-level organization members, vampires, even the weakest ones, were at least high-ranking executives.

And not only were they defeated, but also restrained and bound?

How strong was this person?! Why here, of all places?!

Miss Wang Qian’s long ears twitched painfully.

“One interesting rumor I heard recently. They say something strange has been wandering the labyrinth lately.”

“Grrr… strange?”

“Yes… something like a ghost, I think.”

The lizard beastman spoke as if sharing a fascinating fact.

This marked the moment the concept of a “ghost” was strongly imprinted in the Western Labyrinth—and beyond, in all of Nighthaven.

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