Seoul Object Story
Chapter 316: The Ash-gray Girl (8)

A little past noon, at James Tower.

Although the scorching midday sun was pouring in through the windows, the atmosphere in the ‘Temporary Situation Room’ where James was currently located was quite different.

On the ceiling of the situation room, a state-of-the-art air conditioner was installed, emitting a quiet operating sound like white noise as it drove away the heat.

The cool air from the air conditioner spread to every corner of the room, making it feel almost a bit chilly.

The temporary situation room was quite a spacious area.

Large monitors were lined up densely on the walls, with several computers placed nearby.

On the large screens covering the walls, a map of the Korean Peninsula was shining brightly.

Red dots were blinking on the map, all representing cities that had recently become ruins due to inexplicable disasters.

James, with a face worn out from fatigue, sat in a chair, carefully examining the collected information.

‘There are no clues.’

What James held in his hand was a report of the investigation results compiled so far, but all of them stated that no suspicious points could be found.

The fact that there were no clues to this extent meant it must be an Object beyond human comprehension.

It seems I have no choice but to inform the Gray Reaper about the existence of that apartment complex.

‘Should we organize a joint picnic with Sehee Research Institute and James Research Institute?’

‘Or should we plan to leak information about the suspicious apartment complex on TV again this time?’

Just as he had made up his mind and was about to call in the agents who had gone out for field investigation, the phones in the situation room started ringing frantically.

A James Research Institute employee who answered the phone reported in a loud voice.

“Abnormal phenomena have been detected at the target apartment complex right now!”

And photos taken by field agents started to be displayed on the monitor.

They were photos of apartments that could hardly be called completed, with only skeletal frames remaining, and unidentified black dust scattering about.

Starting with that phone call, all sorts of reports began pouring in.

“Mass migration of Mini Reapers observed!”

“Residents of the target apartments have turned into Objects, all stopping their actions and starting to crumble!”

And finally.

“Massive rift crossing the sky discovered! Appears to be the Gray Reaper’s ability!”

Even before hearing that report, James had been looking up at the sky through the wide windows of the situation room.

From one end of the horizon to the other.

Five streaks of rifts were tearing across the sky.

The scale of those rifts was considerably larger than before.

Strangely, their trajectory looked rough and violent, as if extremely angry.

“Instruct the field agents to evacuate from that location immediately at the fastest possible speed. The Gray Reaper has appeared.”

James turned his eyes away from the violently torn sky and issued orders to his staff.

And when he turned on the TV, the news was just beginning to broadcast breaking news.

In my hand was a small doll that the Plaster Doll had given me.

Judging by the familiarity felt from the doll, it was clearly one made by the Yellow Reaper itself.

However, there was something quite different about it compared to other dolls or doll clothes made by the Yellow Reaper.

First of all, strangely, it didn’t feel like an Object at all.

Even when I examined it closely, it didn’t seem like an Object at all.

And unlike other things the Yellow Reaper had made so far, it didn’t seem to have been given any special abilities.

Instead, this doll had a faint connection.

That connection, as if tied by an invisible thread, seemed to allow the Yellow Reaper to locate this doll’s position anytime, anywhere.

And fortunately, the reverse was also possible.

In a situation where the Yellow Reaper’s whereabouts were uncertain, getting hold of such a doll could truly be called a stroke of luck.

‘How fortunate.’

I firmly grasped the soft doll and began to extend my senses in the direction of the Yellow Reaper.

Had it been kidnapped, or simply run away?

Either way, I would be able to find the Yellow Reaper’s location through this doll.

If it was a kidnapping situation, it would be good to be able to rescue it quickly.

If it had run away?

Then I could play an enjoyable ‘prank’ fitting the situation, which would be really, really fun.

‘Found it.’

After tracing the connection linked to the Yellow Reaper, I was able to pinpoint its location.

In the crevice of a space filled with emptiness, that’s where the Yellow Reaper was.

Since the Yellow Reaper couldn’t touch the void even if it wore the First Sword Doll clothes, it must certainly be a kidnapping.

I slowly began to push firewood into my right hand.

As I did so, my grip gradually turned black.

‘How dare they kidnap our child!’

With such anger, I swung my right hand, which had been filled with firewood to its limit.

Swoosh.

From one end of the horizon to the other.

Five streaks of finger-shaped scars were etched across the sky.

Beyond the torn space, black emptiness swirled, and the false veil covering the apartment complex was also torn away by the aftermath of the large-scale spatial slash.

Numerous plaster dolls disguised as pedestrians simply stopped moving and fell over.

Crack. Crumble.

The sound of crumbling plaster that had fallen to the ground echoed loudly.

The apartment complex that had looked clean and sophisticated was completely transformed into ruins.

The beautiful pond and fountain were filled with rotten water, and garbage took the place of fragrant flowers.

And the screams of people who saw this eerie change began to echo here and there.

Ignoring all such trivial matters, I reached beyond space and picked up the Yellow Reaper.

The Yellow Reaper with its eyes closed as if asleep.

Unlike its usual self, the sleeping Yellow Reaper wore a natural smile.

‘With its eyes closed, it looks a bit like a Golden Reaper.’

Except for the chubby belly.

I examined it with my eyes for any injuries while poking its belly fat with my finger.

Judging by the softness of the belly fat, it doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.

I threw the seemingly unharmed Yellow Reaper into the Mini Reaper Garden and immediately teleported to where the culprit who had kidnapped the Yellow Reaper was.

A closed space that felt like the Mini Reaper Garden.

There was an Object there that exuded an alien atmosphere.

It was something that felt quite similar to the Green Jade Person.

An extremely old human, and a human who had become an Object.

However, unlike the Jade Person, this one was still about 10% human.

A blackened halo.

A white robe.

Red flowing from beneath the robe.

Blackened skin.

And black flowing down like an ‘Old God’.

It didn’t look like me at all, but the more I looked at it, the more it had an ambiguously similar atmosphere to me, which made for an unpleasant appearance.

The moment the Ancient One absorbed all the white sand beach into himself, space itself began to collapse.

The central building, which could be considered a part of his body, was cut in half, and through that gap, a violent trajectory slashing across the sky could be seen.

That trajectory exuded a feeling very similar to the traces left by the ‘God’ that the Ancient One had seen a very long time ago.

Flicker. Flicker.

As a result, space itself became unstable, causing the Ancient One’s perception to flicker unstably.

Like a broken fluorescent light.

And the moment the final darkness came and it brightened again, and the moment the building that had been split in half reattached itself.

Like a ghost, and as if it had been there for a very long time, the ‘Gray Reaper’ appeared before him.

[I see. I have failed.]

The man, looking at the Gray Reaper that suddenly appeared before him, let out an alien voice.

If he had even one more minute, he could have erased his traces and escaped.

How strange.

According to his calculations, even if the Gray Reaper searched for him with all its might, it shouldn’t have been able to find him this quickly.

But when his gaze fell on the doll in the Gray Reaper’s hand, he could understand it all.

‘I was too excited. I wasn’t thorough enough.’

Now the Gray Reaper’s yellow burning eyes were clearly capturing the man.

Once captured by those eyes, there was no more escape.

No matter how much he tried to run, it would be useless.

Then.

Even if it was destined to perish without reaching God.

How close had he come to the realm of God?

How far had the ability that imitated God reached?

And whether he could surpass the ‘Degraded God’, he would clash to find out.

As the Ancient One swung his hand, flames infinitely resembling those wielded by the ‘Old God’ blossomed from both his hands.

The blood-red flames that started from both his hands began to burn the entire space.

And the flames clung to the body of the ‘Gray Reaper’, who had been blankly watching the red blazing flames.

Crumble.

At that moment, one of the Gray Reaper’s arms turned into dry mud and fell off, then turned to ash.

The Gray Reaper made an expression as if it had seen an interesting trick, then instantly regenerated its arm and clapped once.

‘Revolution!’

With the sound of applause, Red Reapers began to spring up from thin air and started to devour all the flames created by the man.

The moment he confirmed this sight, the Ancient One extended his hand forward and clenched it tightly.

Then space crumpled and created a black dot.

A black dot that sucked in everything.

The Gray Reaper looked at the black dot, then with a slightly surprised expression, grasped the air in the same way.

Kyuu.

At that moment, space distorted and a large black sphere appeared, beginning to suck in everything.

It swallowed the ceiling and floor, whatever made up the space, and even the black dot he had created.

And the Ancient One began to unleash all of his abilities.

Probability Manipulation.

Time Reversal.

Spatial Slash.

Space Control.

But none of them reached the Gray Reaper.

The only one that had a possibility was Time Reversal, but it was neutralized with the appearance of the Sprout Reaper.

[Indeed, I couldn’t reach it. Then….]

The Ancient One began to pour all his energy into the incomplete halo as a last resort.

Then the broken halo began to shine with an ominous black light.

As that light grew stronger, it gradually began to take the form of a complete halo.

Finally, as the halo took on a complete form, a black flash filled the space.

It was a black flash that erased everything, just like the Gray Reaper’s ‘Eye’.

The moment the flash filled the space, a tiny white light flickered faintly in the torrent of that black light.

And that white light, like a flame burning paper, began to grow in size, consuming the black flash.

White flames devoured the black, scattering like flower petals.

As all the flash disappeared like that, dazzling white flames began to envelop the entire space.

Like a pure white snowstorm covering the vast universe, the white flames flickered endlessly, illuminating the surroundings.

Amidst that overwhelming radiance, the flames writhed and moved dynamically as if they were living beings.

And in the center of that dazzling white flame vortex, the Gray Reaper stood majestically, revealing its presence.

Blackened skin.

Red cracked fissures.

A brightly shining halo above its head.

To him, that appearance looked extremely unstable, but felt very similar to the form of the ‘Old God’.

But there was nothing in the place where the Ancient One had been.

[Ah, yes. That power. I wanted to possess such divine power.]

Instead, an alien but slightly envious voice lingered in that place for a moment before disappearing.