Seoul Object Story
Chapter 272: Free City Alliance (5)

Deep within the Free City Alliance, in the lawless zone.

Despite the cold rain, Qing could feel the intense heat from the melted concrete through the exposed skin above her thick mask.

The man leading the Scavengers looked nothing like a human.

He must have been human, considering the numerous Object grafts, but he had almost no human skin, nor even artificial skin made from Objects. He looked more like a robot.

Thick armor plating suitable for a tank.

A large-caliber heavy weapon seemingly impossible for a human to carry.

A beam cannon that melted concrete.

He was truly a monster whose entire body had been modified into weapons.

But a faint red light leaked from the artificial eyes serving as his eyes.

A red color mixed with ominousness.

Proof of psychosis.

He was a man who perfectly exemplified the fate of a mercenary who had overused Objects.

The monster-like man opened his mouth towards Qing’s group.

“I only want two things.”

The Scavenger leader, ‘Tank’, acted as if he had already won.

In fact, considering the numbers and the level of equipment, Qing’s group seemed to have no chance of victory.

But Qing’s group still hadn’t given up hope and was looking for a breakthrough while pretending to listen to the Scavenger’s words.

Qing hid behind the man and was scanning the monster’s Object data with a small terminal.

(Well? Think there’s a weakness we can target?)

The woman with the sniper rifle asked Qing in a low voice, using the monster’s demands for the pure human ‘Qing’ and the cargo they were transporting as background noise.

(There’s just one place we can target.)

Qing said, pointing towards the approximate location of ‘Tank’s’ heart.

Thump. Thump.

A heavy vibration strong enough to shake the ground.

In ‘Tank’s’ chest, instead of a heart, a mechanical device pulsed, emitting red light like a furnace.

(That device was made from the Object ‘Fire-Breathing Serpent’ that appeared two years ago. It’s said to be extremely unstable.)

Qing continued whispering in a low voice.

(But seeing as he’s survived for two years, we have to assume he stabilized it somehow. Provoking that device to explode is our best bet.)

However, the device attached near the heart was protected by extremely thick armor, making it no easy task.

It seemed impossible even with the man’s shotgun or machine gun, let alone the woman’s sniper rifle.

“Now, choose!”

‘Tank’ shouted, aiming the thick barrel of his beam cannon.

It was truly the moment of decision.

Qing’s group exchanged final glances.

They would likely die, but through their exchanged glances, they resolved to make a final stand.

But their resolve was rendered meaningless as the situation began to change rapidly.

The device attached near the monster’s heart began to emit an increasingly intense red light, then soon started spewing high-temperature flames.

Just as the beam cannon had melted the concrete, the flames originating from the heart began to melt ‘Tank’s’ body.

Neither the composite armor made of Objects nor the heat exchanger meant to cool it down were of any use.

“Wh… Why!”

The monster struggled desperately to survive amidst the agony of its melting body.

It tried to tear off the mechanical device attached to its heart with its giant machine-pincer-like hands, but strangely, it kept slipping, unable even to tear it off.

Moreover, as if the fire were alive, it was unnaturally melting ‘Tank’s’ hands and face first.

“N… No!”

The monster, writhing in agony, instantly melted away, leaving only glowing red molten metal.

Again? This time too?

Seeing this spectacle, Qing recalled what had happened last time.

That bizarre and mystical sight of the shotgun dancing in the sky.

But perhaps because this was the second time experiencing it, Qing quickly regained her composure.

The girl quickly grabbed her companions’ hands and shouted.

“Let’s run away quickly!”

Now was the chance, while the Scavengers were still stunned by the incomprehensible, bizarre situation.

Qing began to quickly lead her very bewildered companions away from the scene.

Surviving was paramount now, so they hesitated no longer and ran, looking only ahead.

Mini Reaper Garden deep within, snowfield.

I was still there, working on restoring the ice palace.

Eating pudding together, rolling around, and occasionally building the palace a bit when bored—it was leisurely work.

At first, it seemed they were building very diligently, but lately, they seemed to have decided to restore it slowly.

During this, a group of Golden Reapers approached and began projecting their will.

‘Sibling help!’

‘Need help!’

‘Weak sibling!’

Then the Golden Reapers stopped their work and began rushing off somewhere in a group.

Of course, I, the poor soul undergoing forced labor, had no choice but to go along.

The place we arrived at, the marshmallow plains, was filled with Blue Reapers.

Just estimating by eye, there were at least 1,000.

As I remembered, there were only 10 Blue Reapers, so at least 990 must be doll outfits.

Actually, even without counting, distinguishing the fake Blue Reapers wasn’t difficult.

The fake Blue Reapers looked like Golden Reapers at first glance.

The fake Blue Reapers were playing by throwing their hats like boomerangs or performing radical moves like windmills.

Moreover, some Golden Reapers took off the water-made dresses because they were uncomfortable.

Of course, each time, a very angry real Blue Reaper would appear and hit the Golden Reaper’s head repeatedly with its staff.

The sight of the Golden Reaper glumly putting the clothes back on each time was a bit funny.

As I watched these children struggling with discomfort, a trial befell me too.

A Blue Reaper doll outfit large enough for me to wear appeared before me.

Ugh.

The Blue Reapers with sparkling eyes, begging me to wear it.

The situation of being caught destroying the Golden Reapers’ ice palace.

Just this once.

Due to the combination of these two, I grumbled but had no choice but to put on the Blue Reaper doll outfit.

Once even I put on the doll outfit, the thousand Blue Reapers began to form a circle.

And one Blue Reaper began to embroider large characters in the sky.

<World’s Largest Mom Golem!>

<Golem!>

Then, a giant water golem, seemingly 3 meters tall, appeared in the center of the Blue Reapers.

Following that, numerous Blue Reapers’ character strings continued.

<Giant Mom!>

<Truly giant Mom!>

<Giant!>

All were character strings filled with the wish for the water golem to become larger.

Ah, could it be?

After obtaining the blue giant, the Blue Reapers had been gathering frequently to try and make a giant golem.

It seemed they intended to borrow the Golden Reapers’ power to make a golem as large as the blue giant.

Well then, I can’t just stand by either.

Infusing plenty of firewood, I embroidered a character string.

<Grow bigger!>

No sooner had my character string burst forth than the water golem instantly grew to the size of the blue giant.

Wow!

Mom strong!

Then numerous Blue Reapers clapped and rushed towards me.

Being clung to like this by Blue Reapers, who always kept their distance, felt a bit different.

And among the clinging Blue Reapers, some real Blue Reapers were stealthily hidden, hugging me too.

Their extremely shy expressions while pretending to be fake Blue Reapers clinging were a bit cute.

Mini Reaper Garden, Marshmallow Plains.

The most important Object in the marshmallow plains is probably the white Hungry Ghost.

Though the white Hungry Ghosts always look like they’re lying down comfortably, they actually have many jobs.

They are snacks for hungry mini Reapers.

They are beds for tired mini Reapers.

And they also play the role of lowering the aggression of the ferocious Gray Reaper.

If the white Hungry Ghosts weren’t there, the mini Reapers would probably suffer more pranks.

And now, one more role was being added.

The role of lowering the aggression of the Orange Reapers, who had become increasingly ferocious, reaching the level of the Gray Reaper.

At that time, an Orange Reaper, floating leisurely around the mini Reaper garden as if searching for a target to prank, discovered a white Hungry Ghost.

It was a white Hungry Ghost smiling happily, basking in the soft light of the warm marshmallow plains.

Like Mom, like daughter, perhaps.

The Orange Reaper also suffered from the disease of wanting to torment the white Hungry Ghost when seeing its smiling face.

Watching the white Hungry Ghost’s expression, the Orange Reaper chuckled, then began a steep dive.

Like a hawk flying through the sky, it plunged towards the white Hungry Ghost’s belly fat.

“Kyuhinghing!”

Along with that, a mournful cry echoed.

The Orange Reaper began to devour the white Hungry Ghost’s plump belly fat as if intending to eat it all.

And in the spot where the Orange Reaper left after finishing its feast, only a wretched white Hungry Ghost, with half its belly fat devoured, lay sprawled with an aggrieved expression.

Free City Alliance, alleyway.

Qing continued running down the alley, even though her lungs felt like they would burst.

Qing wanted to throw off the mask that made breathing difficult right away, but she had no choice but to endure.

If Qing, a pure human, ran without a mask, not only her trachea but also her lungs were likely to be damaged.

Moreover, the fact that she would be eaten alive if caught by Scavengers was also a driving force keeping her running.

“Qing! Stop for a moment!”

At that time, the woman who had been following behind, blocking the Scavengers’ line of fire, grabbed Qing’s shoulder and continued speaking.

“Something’s strange.”

Seeing the woman put a finger to her lips and look around, Qing also tried to breathe as quietly as possible and began observing the surroundings.

Perhaps because the rain had stopped, Qing’s breathing echoed loudly in the alley.

It’s too quiet.

It was definitely strange.

No matter how suddenly their leader died, it was too strange that the Scavengers still hadn’t shown any action.

Gulp.

Qing swallowed and slowly lowered her stance.

And Qing’s group began to slowly look around, standing back to back.

At that moment, a Scavenger flew out from the alley they had just passed, as if hit by something.

The man, sprawled on the ground covered in blood, spotted them and reached out his hand with a desperate expression.

“H… Help me…”

But before the group could react, an H-beam fell from a nearby building and accurately pierced the man’s heart.

Thud!

Blood spreading from the heart.

And the Scavenger being torn apart with a crunching sound.

What on earth? What’s happening?

Something floated into view before the group, frozen in shock.

!

It was an ominous furball, splattered with blood here and there.