Seoul Object Story

Sehee Research Institute’s employees, all decked out in lab coats, were bustling around, guiding the sudden influx of people.

“This way! Please move slowly! There’s no rush!”

Leading the way were the Golden Reapers, striding confidently, each step of theirs practically radiating cuteness.

Plop-! Plop-!

A trail of people followed behind the Golden Reapers, their steps much heavier but filled with a twinge of hope. These were the ones who’d just been rescued from their imprisonment at the Trinity Research Institute.

And their testimonies were something else…

The Trinity Research Institute was forcibly imprisoning people.

The researchers at the institutes could turn into monsters.

The Blue Reaper saved us.

The Gray Reaper sent us here.

I felt a shiver run down my spine when I heard those words. This was no ordinary situation. So, naturally, I reached out to both the association and the police.

When the survivors finally made it to the courtyard of the Sehee Research Institute, their legs gave out, and they collapsed, tears of relief spilling out.

Seeing this, the Golden Reapers dashed over, wiping away their tears and gently patting their cheeks.

Well, at least, that's what the adult did.

The kids, on the other hand, even when plopped into the unfamiliar Sehee Research Institute, just kept playing with the Golden Reapers they held in their hands.

The kids would smile, raise their hands, and—like clockwork—the Golden Reapers would do the same, mimicking their gestures with perfect, adorable precision.

According to the kids, if they grabbed the Blue Reaper’s arms, it would yelp and scurry away as if in pain. But the Golden Reaper? It didn’t mind at all. That’s why the kids liked them even more.

Well, the Golden Reaper was built tougher than the Blue Reaper. Although it looked like it could shrug off an elephant stepping on it, its grip strength was only as strong as a child’s…

“Sehee unnie! The Hungry Ghost has already broken through the third line of defense!”

Yerin pointed at the TV, her face unusually serious.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just evacuated everyone based on its expected trajectory? I don’t think anyone but the Gray Reaper can stop it…”

The TV blared with breaking news, the tone so urgent it might as well have been announcing a war.

[ The Hungry Ghost is currently tearing through the heart of Seoul. Reports confirm that even the third line of defense has collapsed. ]

The Hungry Ghost kept charging forward, obliterating every obstacle humans had thrown in its way.

Bombs? No effect. The steel barricades? Ripped apart like tissue paper.

And those barricades provided by the Trinity Research Institute? Utterly useless.

Hahahaha! Those slogans of theirs with the, < Barricades capable of stopping Hungry Ghost-level force! > was just… a joke, it seems… Fuck!

[ At this moment, the fourth line of defense is still under construction, but experts predict that the chances of stopping the creature are slim. ]

[ In recent weeks, research recommended downgrading the threat level of the Hungry Ghosts. However, the entity now rampaging through Seoul appears intent on challenging that assessment. ]

Honestly, the chaos started even before the Hungry Ghost escaped. A massive fissure had torn open the sky.

Sure, it was an incident big enough to be headline news, but it was quickly overshadowed by the far more immediate and terrifying reality of the Hungry Ghost escaping the sinkhole.

I hope that once the Hungry Ghost situation gets under control, people start paying attention to that other incident.

[ The Hungry Ghost has emerged from the sinkhole in Songpa-gu and is now advancing westward. ]

The news then showed the monster’s projected path. It felt as if they were tracking a typhoon, and right in the middle of it? The 'Trinity Research Institute'.

“As expected, the Hungry Ghost’s heading for the ‘Trinity Research Institute’, huh? Maybe it’s eager to challenge the Reaper to a rematch!”

Yerin, ever convinced the world revolved around the Gray Reaper, sprouted her theory that everything was gunning for the Gray Reaper.

While we were lounging around in the cluttered courtyard, an employee from the Sehee Research Institute approached me and reported.

“Director Lee Sehee! The Object Association has arrived at the main gate!!”

I sighed, dragging myself toward the front door.

Ugh, just thinking about what new headache the association was about to dump on me made my brain hurt.

*******Looking up at the sky, I was greeted by a sky split into five parts.

Even after all I’d seen—after countless encounters with the arcane and the inexplicable—this was a sight new to me.

Maybe it was because this world interacted with Objects differently than mine did, but the flow here… it felt off.

They were hopelessly ignorant about Objects. Yet, oddly enough, I sometimes wondered if that ignorance might be the right approach after all. At the very least, this world still held onto the fragile pretense that people could live normal lives.

“Unnie, what are you doing today?”

“Since I have all the ingredients now, I will create a guardian to protect us.”

"Guardian?"

My sister tilted her head, curious about the unfamiliar word that had just escaped my lips.

“It will be completed soon. Just watch.”

I forced a smile, stroking her head.

Before me lay an array of colorful stones, carefully placed on a bed of finely ground soil.

“This stone is the core of the guardian. If I were a more skilled alchemist with better materials, its colour would be less complex, but this is the best I can manage.”

As I poured various reagents onto the soil and stones, a faint light began to seep from them.

"Woooaaaaah!"

My sister’s eyes widened in amazement. The stones, so diverse in color, emitted a spectrum of light, a miniature rainbow in the palm of my hand.

The soil, exposed to the light, clumped together, slowly forming a cute shape.

It was an unidentified creature, roughly the size of a large dog, with short legs like a frog’s and a wide mouth. Brightly colored spots covered its body, and a glowing bait dangled from the top of its head.

“This is a guardian, an alchemist’s eternal companion. However… it’s not quite on the level of the solid color Guardian or the white Guardian.”

“Hmm? Unnie, I think I have seen it somewhere before… Where was it…?”

Her words were puzzling but before I could ask further, she dismissed the thought with a shout of ‘Eh whatever! I can’t remember!’ as her serious expression relaxed.

“The guardian will protect us from now on, as long as this stone remains intact.”

The creature stumbled around at first, like a newborn learning to walk. But once it found its footing, it began to dash around the Seoul forest with excitement.

I squatted down and gave the guardian a few pats.

"Yes!! The Hungry Ghost!"

Her sudden outburst caught me off guard.

“Umm, no… it’s a little different. A mini Hungry Ghost without any creepy tentacles?”

I couldn’t make sense of her words, and my expression must have shown it too… Sigh… Her mind worked in ways I could never fully grasp.

*******It felt heavy.

Not that it actually was, but, you know, it just felt that way.

Right now, a bunch of Blue and Golden Reapers were clinging all over me. They were everywhere—on top of my head, on my shoulders, and even tangled up in my hair.Sigh these gremlins…

The Golden Reapers were all snuggled up, flashing their bright smiles.

And the Blue Reapers? They were shouting, < Mom is warm! > as they clung even tighter.

Since calling just the Blue Reaper could have been dangerous, I’d brought in the Golden Reapers to act as bodyguards. But, sigh, this happened before I could even get them to do what I needed.

Oh well. Everyone who might’ve caused trouble had already been sent off to the Sehee Research Institute, so what was the harm in letting them have a little fun?

To comfort the hurt Blue Reaper, a whole crowd of Golden Reapers gathered around, hugging it close.

The Blue Reaper tried to duck and make a run for it, but it couldn’t quite manage that with the Golden Reapers’ bright, determined smiles holding it in place.

Guess they didn’t get along as well as I’d hoped.

I giggled, plucking one of the Golden Reapers off the Blue Reaper and holding it up.

It squirmed, reaching back toward the Blue Reaper, but finding that futile it turned to look at me and flashed that same bright smile.

They were just so cute, so I couldn’t resist the urge to play a little prank on them.

Too bad I didn't spot any black slime to “accidentally” drop them into.

Since the Golden Reapers didn't like it when I picked them up and tossed them around, I set this one gently on my shoulder instead.

I sprawled out on the floor to relax, gazing up at the sky. That’s when I noticed that the sky was torn into five pieces.

Oh, right. I’d torn them apart earlier.

I hadn’t even realized I could pull off something like tha, but I’d done it before I knew it, all because I’d gotten so mad.

Now that I knew how to do it, I could probably manage it again. But, ugh, it required way too much firewood, so it wasn’t exactly a trick I wanted to use often.

As I lay there, savoring my brief moment of respite, the Golden Reapers started acting like a bunch of startled meerkats.

They all stared in the direction of the Research Institute.

Is there something there?

Their senses were sharper than mine, so if they sensed something, it was probably real.

With a sigh, I got to my feet and headed toward the lab.

*******Deep within the Trinity Research Institute, the director of the Third Research Institute stirred as a violent alarm pierced the oppressive silence.

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a scene drenched in darkness, punctuated only by the eery glow of red emergency lights. The power system had clearly failed, leaving the institute bathed in an eerie crimson.

[ Object-releasing procedures are currently in progress. All remaining personnel inside the Research Institute, please evacuate. ]

A cold, mechanical voice blared throughout the facility, indifferent to the panic it was meant to inspire.

“Object releasing procedure? How quaint. I don’t recall authorizing such nonsense…”

He rose from the bed with a grace that belied the monstrous power now coursing through his veins. A quick check of his physical state only deepened his grin—he was flawless.

The absorption had succeeded beyond his wildest expectations.

An infinite wellspring of power rolled within him, threatening to overflow. The sensation was intoxicating, a sense of omnipotence so profound that it bordered on divine.

“Physical immunity? Such a quaint ability, and yet, how utterly delightful.”

He spoke to himself as if to an old friend, relishing the sound of his own voice. With this power, he could tear the Gray Reaper apart limb by limb, savoring each moment. The Hungry Ghost? A mere child’s plaything in comparison.

His smile widened, dripping with anticipation, as he slipped into his pristine lab coat.

The corridor outside the recovery room was bathed in ominous shadows, no they were darker than the darkness itself, devouring even the brightest of lights.

And within them, ugly, twisted tentacles writhed and slithered, an extension of the monstrous will that now guided his every step.

*******As I continued walking in the direction where the Golden Reapers were all staring, I found myself at the crumbling mess that was the Trinity Research Institute.

Haha! What a sight! Ruins, chaos, and shadows everywhere—it was like someone had thrown a huge tantrum.

It still looked perfectly fine from the outside, but inside, oh no, it was a whole different story.

The once neat walls and floors? Shattered to pieces! Clearly, something very interesting had gone down here.

The floor was all dark and spooky, like a black hole trying to gobble up all the light. And even when the light tried its best to shine, those sneaky shadows—totally breaking the laws of nature, by the way—just kept growing, getting darker and darker.  Sigh… Naughty shadows!

From that inky pool of darkness, these weird tentacles would occasionally pop up. They would wriggle around everywhere, grabbing Objects that looked like they’d escaped their containment chambers. They were totally up to no good!

Sigh. The poor Objects didn’t stand a chance—the tentacles just yanked them into the shadows and… well, let’s just say they weren’t coming back out.

They also made some weird sounds, it was all crunchy and *squishy—*like someone was munching on the bone and flesh. Gross, right? But what really made me wrinkle my nose was that stench. Yuck!

I could feel an unprecedented level of malice coming from the shadows. And almost all of it was directed towards humans… I had never felt malice of such tremendous intensity.

The presence of tentacles seemed to be twisting and distorting the space itself. It was as if reality itself was struggling to accept the existence of such an entity.

So, this Object must be at the very least comparable to the Hungry Ghost. Hmm, was the Trinity Research Institute hiding a Hungry Ghost-level Object all this time? Suspicious…

But instead of worrying, I found myself grinning instead.

It’s been ages since I stumbled upon something this strong. Finally! A proper challenge!! So fun!!!

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