Seoul Object Story -
Chapter 312: The Ash-gray Girl (4)
James Tower on the outskirts of Songpa District, Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor Assembly Factory.
In the tightly sealed assembly room, robot arms controlled by AI were efficiently assembling the Tyranno’s armor.
Hop hop.
The Golden Reapers had stealthily entered the assembly room using ghostification and were hopping around, watching with delighted expressions.
James was enjoying a rare moment of relaxation in the control room, looking down at the Golden Reapers skillfully dodging the robot arms as they observed.
A warm cup of coffee and a sweet dessert.
It was a sweet respite for James, who had been working tirelessly, cutting back on sleep to repair and improve the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor.
James’s Golden Reaper was also sitting on the table, nibbling on a cookie.
Of course, the Golden Reaper had tried to drink coffee too, but after a few attempts, it had given up entirely.
So James’s Golden Reaper report also contained related information.
<Sticks out tongue for about 1 minute after eating, dislikes it enough to curl its tongue.>
<Same coffee experiment conducted on 1,000 random Golden Reapers, but the same result was obtained.>
At the bottom of the report was a photo of James being swarmed by a thousand Golden Reapers giving him a scolding.
At that moment, news of a missing person case began to flow from the TV that had been playing in the background.
[On the 15th, an elementary school girl went missing. The CCTV footage obtained by the police clearly shows the girl’s expression as if she had witnessed something shocking.]
[The police traced the girl’s movements based on the CCTV footage, but at some point, her whereabouts became unclear.]
[As a result, the police believe this case may not be a simple disappearance but could be related to an ‘Object’, and have requested cooperation from the Object Council.]
The TV showed the image of a girl looking around in panic.
It seemed like a fairly common type of Object incident.
James was slowly sipping his coffee, trying to push the incident to the back of his mind, when suddenly a report he had seen recently came to mind.
‘Wait, this seems familiar…’
James rummaged through the pile of reports scattered on the table and pulled out an old report.
<Case Number: 2xxx-xxxx-xxx>
<Reporter: Kim Nam-su (Male, 45 years old)>
<Report Content: Mr. Kim Nam-su reported that he witnessed an ‘Object’ hiding near a road in Songpa District, Seoul, around 3 PM on x/x/2xxx. Mr. Kim was in extreme fear and showed strong conviction about what he had seen.>
- Immediately dispatched to the scene for investigation after receiving the report.
No traces of an Object were found at the scene.
Mr. Kim Nam-su quickly regained composure when he returned to the scene to confirm, and stated that his report was likely a misunderstanding.
At the request of the police, James Research Institute conducted a separate investigation, but again, no traces of an Object were found.
Conclusion:
- Based on the on-site investigation and additional investigation by James Research Institute, Mr. Kim Nam-su's report is deemed to be a misunderstanding.
No traces of an Object were found, and Mr. Kim himself corrected that his report was likely a misunderstanding.
Accordingly, this case is closed.
It seemed to be a report that had little to do with the girl’s disappearance.
‘But it’s in the same area, with similar panic-stricken behavior.’
James picked up the report with a serious expression.
It looks like this needs to be investigated.
---Near Songpa District, in a secluded Yellow Reaper hideout.
The Ash-gray Girl, reported as missing, was here.
She had been able to arrive unnoticed thanks to the power of the ‘Ordinary Passerby Doll Suit’ created by the Yellow Reaper.
Despite being a huge doll suit about 2 meters tall, it was an Object that contained powerful mental contamination to make one appear like an ordinary passerby.
It didn’t work on the Ash-gray Girl, but it was enough to deceive the Objects and humans in that apartment complex.
The Ash-gray Girl, who had arrived at the Yellow Reaper’s hideout without anyone knowing, still looked confused.
‘Was it all, all fake?’
‘Everyone living in our apartment, everyone I knew, and even our family were Objects.’
‘Even myself.’
The Ash-gray Girl, with empty eyes, was just pouring out her thoughts to the Yellow Reaper.
Her mouth was moving, but only creaking sounds could be heard.
A monologue that even the girl herself couldn’t hear.
‘The repetitive daily life, everything I thought I liked was fake… Were even my emotions not real?’
‘Then what’s the meaning of my existence? Why am I in this world? Is there no other life besides being someone’s puppet?’
But the Yellow Reaper could hear her clearly.
Because to the Yellow Reaper, the girl hadn’t changed at all.
‘Who on earth created us? Who is the creator who made everyone? Why were we born?’
Because to the Yellow Reaper, the girl had never ‘spoken’ in the first place.
‘Am I really alive, or am I just a doll pretending to be alive?’
The Yellow Reaper took off the Golden Reaper doll suit it had been wearing to play cute, poked out its head, and sat on the girl’s shoulder.
‘It’s okay. You’re real.’
The Yellow Reaper patted her cheek, conveying its sincerity to the girl.
The Yellow Reaper’s will didn’t reach the girl as a voice, but its meaning was being conveyed.
‘Is that… so.’
Shedding black-stained tears, the Ash-gray Girl slowly drifted off to sleep.
---Free City Alliance located in China.
I set foot in the city of Mini Reapers and Roll Cake Humans after a long time.
There was only one reason.
It was because of the ‘real’ Tyrannosaurus that the Green Reaper had created this time.
The thing is, the Tyranno was too big to raise at the Sehee Research Institute.
But it didn’t fit in the Mini Reaper Garden either.
A Tyranno living in Fluffy Marshmallow Land would be better off looking like a ghoul.
The Tyranno I created with my poor imagination lacked detail, so it didn’t feel out of place…
But the Tyranno created by the Green Reaper, an expert in biological creation, felt too out of place.
It felt like displaying a real angler fish next to a white ghoul.
So I decided to create a dinosaur park in a suitable place and raise it there.
The first candidate was Seoul Forest, full of forests, grass, and living nature!
But after careful consideration, Seoul Forest had many problems.
After all, there was the ‘Steel Tower’ that was strangely crumbling!
If I put the Tyranno in Seoul Forest, I had a strong feeling it would end up torn to shreds.
So I chose the ‘Free City Alliance’, where Mini Reapers were wandering around in abundance and seemed relatively easy to manage.
I decided to create a huge dinosaur park in one part of the city.
Opposition?
There was no way such a thing could exist in this city.
Hehe.
As I wandered around, I could see Mini Reapers and Roll Cake Humans moving about, constructing the dinosaur park.
With their unique Object physical abilities, they were working several times faster than normal humans.
And in the corner, Mini Reapers and Roll Cake Humans were gathered, taking a break.
“I wonder where Cheong is now?”
“Well, last I heard, he left Korea and was heading to Japan. He said he was going to visit a research institute where a Golden Reaper is the director.”
I could see a man with four arms and a tall woman surrounded by Mini Reapers, chatting.
On the woman’s shoulder sat a Black Reaper, poking her cheek.
‘I want snacks too!’
The woman smiled slightly, took out a snack, and popped it into the Black Reaper’s mouth.
Everyone looks happy.
Those guys seemed quite joyful even though they had turned from humans into Objects, even into Roll Cakes.
Is it because they were the kind of people who used to replace parts of their bodies with Objects from the start?
Anyway, a dinosaur park in an Object punk city.
I’m quite looking forward to it.
Hehe.
---James was reading the arrived report with a serious face.
<Interim Report on the Death of Informant ‘Kim Nam-su’>
- Informant 'Kim Nam-su' has been confirmed dead recently.
Cause of death is presumed to be an ordinary accidental fall.
However, connections with other cases have been discovered.
Similarities found with the deaths of construction company executives that occurred previously.
Common point in that all causes of death are presumed to be accidental.
Further investigation needed.
In-depth investigation into the circumstances of informant 'Kim Nam-su's death planned.
Additional investigation plan to be established to understand the connection with the deaths of construction company executives.
As this appears to be a socially close and meticulous Object incident, utmost care will be taken to maintain confidentiality during the investigation process.
<Date: x/x/2xxx>
<Author: James Research Institute Special Investigation Team>
‘This is a much bigger deal than I thought.’
What James found most concerning was that the incident location was ‘Songpa District’.
To have gone undetected even with Mini Reapers swarming around.
It must undoubtedly be a very powerful Object.
Moreover, during the investigation, James had discovered similarities with another case.
The so-called Small City Annihilation Object Incident.
It was a case where a perfectly fine town would turn into ruins overnight.
The common point was that there was always one or two people who claimed to have seen a ‘monster’.
And that informant would invariably suffer an ‘accidental death’.
<Gangwon H-myeon, instantly due to Object phenomenon….>
<Downtown area of Chungbuk D City in ruins…. Residents’ whereabouts unknown.>
James stared at the clipped articles and let out a deep sigh.
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