Seoul Object Story
Chapter 293: Doll Expo Aftermath (1)

Everything over, Seoul sunk in silence.

When the sky hidden by the Color Universe showed itself again, the cloud meat flying around was the first to shine white in the sunlight.

Light rising from the horizon, starting with cloud meat, passing through skyscrapers, gradually moving down.

As the sun peeked over the horizon, sunlight fully seeped into Seoul.

Warm sunshine lit up building walls hidden in darkness, revealing last night’s devastation in Seoul.

Buildings collapsed and roads wrecked like a powerful earthquake hit.

Streets lit by sunlight looked empty of people, a quiet atmosphere like time had stopped.

In that quiet ruin, the huge purple foreign god’s remains burned white, lighting up places the sun didn’t reach.

Gray Reaper, who was in front of the foreign god until recently, vanished somewhere like dissolving into air as soon as it felt the situation was over.

Ah!

Mother ran away!

Mini Reapers who wanted to celebrate victory with Mother looked a bit disappointed that she disappeared.

Mini Reapers gathered near the foreign god’s corpse spread out again, starting to breathe life back into Seoul.

Like a heart pumping blood to every corner of the body, mini Reapers spread to every nook and cranny of Seoul.

Thump thump sounds echoed through quiet streets.

Thump thump.

Mini Reapers walked thump thump through streets everyone was too scared to come out to, letting people know harmful Objects were gone.

It’s safe now!

Mini Reapers entered rooms where people were hiding and sent bright-faced intentions.

Humans couldn’t hear those intentions, but they could understand the situation just from mini Reapers’ actions and bright expressions.

Mini Reapers sensed human emotions and found hidden humans.

Same for places with no way out, like isolated underground parking lots.

An underground parking lot not just blocked by building debris, but completely collapsed.

“Cold…”

Someone miraculously survived in a gap made by huge concrete debris.

In endless darkness without a speck of light.

A building on Seoul’s outskirts where people rarely come.

Plus, legs trapped under fallen debris, a desperate situation with death approaching.

A Golden Reaper’s head popped boing in front of such a person.

The Golden Reaper’s gentle light wasn’t blinding even to someone in darkness.

The Golden Reaper’s sun-like scent and bright smile made even despair fade away.

The Golden Reaper clenched its fists as if to say ‘hang in there a bit more’.

I’ll save you soon!

Though no words were heard, somehow it felt like the Golden Reaper was comforting them.

Whether people hiding in tall buildings or underground parking lots, mini Reapers poked their heads in and gave reassurance to humans.

An upscale residential area in central Seoul.

While mini Reapers were busy rescuing humans in other areas, a sense of emptiness hung around Oh Muryong’s mansion.

Maybe because people living here evacuated long ago, it was quite quiet with almost no mini Reapers in sight.

Plus, maybe because it was completely smashed by a huge rock, it felt like a lonely ruin.

In that lonely ruin, the blonde girl slowly walked.

Almost no buildings left and no roads, but the blonde girl headed to her destination without getting lost.

A cave-like gap where sturdy walls and smashed rocks leaned against each other perfectly.

That was the blonde girl’s destination.

A thick petroleum smell and sticky blood scent wafted from that gap, but the girl stepped in without hesitation.

Walking a bit into that shallow gap, hate-filled muttering started to be heard.

“Ah, ah ah. Granddaughter.”

“This can’t be. This can’t be.”

In that darkness was Oh Muryong, hands on a sphere that had lost all power and melted.

“It doesn’t end like this! Never!”

Oh Muryong’s eyes gleamed, full of red madness.

As the blonde girl slowly approached, Oh Muryong looked up.

Oh Muryong stared at the blonde girl for a while as if recalling forgotten memories, then spoke.

“Ah, granddaughter, you came. This old man is badly hurt, could you help me up?”

Hearing those words, the blonde girl approached Oh Muryong with an expressionless face, and Oh Muryong smiled with ecstasy.

Unable to hide his expression, he looked like he was shouting ‘Just a bit more, just a bit more!’

Just before reaching a distance where Oh Muryong could touch her, the blonde girl stopped and looked down at him.

“Grandfather!”

Though her expression was stiff, her voice was cute and affectionate like the blonde girl from granddaughter days.

But that stiff expression was hidden by the backlighting in the cave, invisible to Oh Muryong.

“Why, why, why are you like this?”

Distorted expression and urgent voice.

Unlike the blonde girl, Oh Muryong couldn’t hide his impatient emotions.

“Which number am I?”

A cold voice, unbelievably different from the affectionate tone just moments ago.

Hearing that, Oh Muryong clicked his tongue and said with a twisted expression.

“I’m sorry. This old man did everything wrong. Can’t you forgive me?”

Hearing those words, the blonde girl let out a laugh that sounded like crying.

The blonde girl walked thump thump to Oh Muryong and grabbed his face.

“You don’t know which number, right?”

But Oh Muryong had no intention of answering the blonde girl’s question.

“Got you!”

Like a drug addict finding drugs, he just tightly held the blonde girl with grotesquely twisted arms.

“No, do you remember granddaughter’s name?”

“…”

“You never called us by name even once.”

As that sad voice flowed from the girl’s mouth, red flames began to rise from the blonde girl’s entire body.

Oh Muryong, starting to burn in purifying flames, screamed in pain.

“S-stop!”

“Name. Name. Name?”

Oh Muryong, gradually turning to ash and disappearing in the purifying flames, couldn’t recall his granddaughter’s name until the end.

Just at the last moment.

When even the red voice faded away due to death.

He realized just one thing.

That all the clones were incredibly kind, like real granddaughters.

Just that Oh Muryong himself was never satisfied.

[Grandfather!]

Recalling the bright smile of the first clone, Oh Muryong died in regret.

In the always comfy Sehee Research Institute containment room.

I was in Yerin’s arms, eating snacks and watching TV.

Om nom nom.

Though Seoul was so wrecked that TV and radio broadcasts barely worked, recovery was happening faster than expected.

With so many broken buildings and dead people, I thought recovery would take a year.

Plus, proper TV news channels were increasing.

Public institutions like the Object Association seemed to be functioning pretty well, as quite interesting stories were flowing from the TV.

[After the ‘Association Doll Rampage Incident’ in Seoul, recovery work is still in full swing.]

[Due to this incident, the Korean government decided to disband the ‘Korean Object Association’.]

[Instead, a new organization for Object safety management, the ‘Object Safety Management Council’, was launched.]

[Since this incident was caused by ‘dolls’ directly developed by the Association, the Object Safety Management Council will be a completely different organization from the existing Association.]

[Unlike the disbanded Object Association, this council seems to focus on Object safety management and regulation instead of operating research facilities.]

[Mr. Hwang Geum-cheol, elected as council chairman, stated, “We will focus on safety management without following the overgrown Association’s footsteps.”]

[Meanwhile, moving the capital was also mentioned along with the Association’s disbandment, but it’s currently on hold due to various practical issues.]

On TV, a middle-aged man holding a large gold-decorated staff was speaking passionately.

Wow, the Object Association is finally gone.

Wonder if this Safety Management Council born in its place will be a decent organization?

Well, it can’t be worse than the Association, right?

While I was thinking this, Yerin, who had been feeding me snacks one by one, shoved her phone screen in front of my face.

“Reaper, look at this.”

The internet article Yerin showed had a photo of a wrecked building attached.

<Object Association Secret Research Facility Collapse, Large-scale Damage Feared>

<An Object Association secret research facility was confirmed to have completely collapsed due to the Association Doll incident.>

<With the whereabouts of numerous dangerous Objects in containment inside now unknown, concerns about secondary damage are also being raised.>

<Meanwhile, evidence suggests the infamous criminal ‘Maker’ also escaped in this accident.>

<In response, the Object Safety Management Council announced, “We are tracking Maker’s whereabouts in cooperation with the police and will do our best for citizens’ safety.”>

Maker, huh.

A name that feels like I should remember, but can’t quite.