Seoul Object Story
Chapter 327: The World at the End (8)

On a dark night without even moonlight.

The gazes of the Black Hungry Ghost, emitting a soft white light, and the Blue Reaper crossed.

The Blue Reaper should have immediately averted its eyes and hidden under the window, but it couldn’t look away.

‘Strangely, it doesn’t look dangerous. Is it because it’s an Hungry Ghost without teeth like the White Hungry Ghost?’

The Blue Reaper thought this as it continued to stare at the brightly glowing eyes of the Black Hungry Ghost.

Then the round shape of the Black Hungry Ghost distorted slightly and wriggled.

After wriggling like that, the Black Hungry Ghost weakly turned its head and slowly began to walk away somewhere.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“We’re saved!”

The pink girl, who had been completely frozen at the sight of the Black Hungry Ghost looking this way, collapsed in place as if all the tension had drained from her body.

But the Blue Reaper continued to watch the massive Black Hungry Ghost as it moved farther away.

‘?’

The Blue Reaper’s mind was full of question marks.

‘Why was it wandering around while looking so exhausted?’

To the Blue Reaper, the final gaze the Black Hungry Ghost had given seemed incredibly tired.

As if it might crumble at any moment, as if it might collapse at any second.

‘And why did it keep staring?’

The Black Hungry Ghost had kept staring intently at the Blue Reaper right up until it turned its head away.

Just as the Blue Reaper had done to it.

‘Did the Black Hungry Ghost feel something when it saw me too?’

The Blue Reaper was lost in these thoughts as it gazed endlessly in the direction the Black Hungry Ghost had disappeared.

“Now, let’s go to sleep!”

At that moment, the pink girl, who seemed to have returned to her usual expression now that all the tension was gone, clung to the Blue Reaper.

Seeing its Attachment Human like this, the Blue Reaper nodded slightly.

And it stuck itself to the cheek of its Attachment Human, who had collapsed onto the floor as if falling.

‘I hope tomorrow morning continues to be as enjoyable as today.’

The Blue Reaper closed its eyes as it nuzzled its cheek against its Attachment Human’s.

James Tower on the outskirts of Songpa District.

I was lying helplessly collapsed in the middle of a huge warehouse set up in James Tower.

‘No….’

‘This can’t be happening.’

At the end of my fallen gaze was the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor with its head tragically severed.

No matter how much I closed my eyes, covered them, or turned my head, I couldn’t banish the tragic sight of the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor from my vision.

I never knew seeing with my skin could be this heartbreaking!

Upon closer inspection of the Tyranno armor, I could see traces of it being cleanly cut as if by spatial slashing.

It was the spatial loss phenomenon that had been frequently occurring lately.

No matter how much I searched for the cause, there was no Object responsible - it felt like just a ‘natural phenomenon’, a catastrophe.

‘I can’t even find someone to blame….’

After all, there’s nothing more ridiculous than taking revenge on a natural phenomenon.

‘Mom, are you okay?’

At that moment, a Black Reaper that had followed me all the way to James Tower to play exuded its will with a worried expression.

‘Mom, cheer up!’

Following that, Golden Reapers and other Mini Reapers swarmed over and began to comfort me.

But such consolation couldn’t fill my endless sorrow.

As the Mini Reapers kept comforting and patting me, but I still looked upset, one Golden Reaper approached with heavy steps.

When it reached right in front of my nose, the Golden Reaper closed its eyes tightly, hesitated greatly, and stuck out its belly.

What could it be?

‘Y-you can turn me into a piggy!’

At that, the other Golden Reapers were extremely surprised and began to look at that Golden Reaper.

‘!’

‘!!!!’

And the other Golden Reapers also hesitantly stuck out their bellies one by one.

‘P-piggy is okay!’

The Golden Reapers had expressions like they might cry.

Do they dislike becoming ‘piggies’ that much?

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but smile a little.

Then I grabbed all the Golden Reapers who had stuck out their bellies and turned them into piggies.

‘Waaah!’

‘Nooo!’

The Golden Reapers who had bravely stepped forward all became piggies and sprawled out on the floor.

And seeing this, the Golden Reapers who had been hesitantly approaching were startled and began to run away.

‘Mom’s got her energy back!’

‘We have to run!’

‘Run away!’

I chased after the Golden Reapers who had survived by sacrificing their comrades.

Hehe.

The Tower at the End, model city of the Academy.

The pink girl had somehow climbed to the top of a high hill and was looking down at the city.

It was still a diverse and lively city model, even upon second glance.

“No matter how many times I look at it, it really seems like a city copied from one that actually existed.”

“If we keep climbing the tower, we’ll probably be able to see a real academy too, right?”

The pink girl giggled as she looked down at the metal fragment clutched in her hand.

That metal fragment was a small badge with an intricate design.

An elaborate replica made by carving pipes.

This badge was worn by all the pipe statues of academy students.

“Someday, I’d like to see the original of this badge in person.”

<You will be able to see it!>

The pink girl, who had gained a lot of motivation from the model city of the academy, turned her head towards the layer tower with a determined expression.

“I wonder who made this model city?”

“Why did they make it?”

“The city seems to be sunken in like a basin. I guess that city was really made by digging into the disc that forms the layer.”

The pink girl and the Blue Reaper chatted about irrelevant topics as they climbed the stairs leading to the layer tower.

After passing through an even more rickety layer tower, the pink girl set foot on a new layer.

“We’ve arrived!”

The rickety tower seemed to have been a bit challenging even for the girl who could skillfully climb pipes, as she looked quite proud.

<May your fatigue disappear!>

The Blue Reaper held a towel made of water and wiped the sweat from the pink girl’s brow, using magic to relieve her fatigue.

The new layer they had arrived at had a somewhat different atmosphere.

A pure white cylindrical building visible in the distance.

And an elaborately decorated road leading to that building.

The pink girl caught her breath as she slowly walked down the straight road towards the building.

On both sides of that road, something colorful and round was piled up in heaps, creating a unique atmosphere.

Like a flower garden, from red to purple, in all colors of the rainbow.

“What on earth could this be?”

The pink girl picked up one of the things piled by the roadside with a curious expression and examined it.

A round body.

Short limbs and tail.

Eyes that somehow looked pathetic.

And human white teeth densely packed inside its mouth.

What was piled up all along the road were the corpses of Toothed Hungry Ghost.

“!!!”

<Toothed Hungry Ghost!>

The pink girl was startled by the somewhat creepy-looking teeth and threw the Hungry Ghost away in shock.

“Ah, that surprised me. But don’t these guys look a bit like that long black one?”

The Blue Reaper nodded its head vigorously in agreement.

What had looked like road decorations turned out to be the corpses of grimoires.

The pink girl felt somewhat creeped out as she walked quickly towards the building.

The massive entrance had no doors and was wide open, and where the building’s name should have been, only traces remained as if scratched by sharp claws.

The pink girl looked up at those traces before slowly entering the building.

“Huh?”

As she stepped inside the building, the pink girl felt a sense of déjà vu.

A space with white walls stretching on, covered in hanging frames.

Perhaps because it so closely resembled the exhibition hall in the academy, it felt as if she had been to this place before.

There were no chairs placed like in the exhibition hall, but this was clearly an exhibition space.

However, unlike the academy’s exhibition hall which displayed mirrors, this place had some kind of journal entries framed and on display.

<….>

<Five hundred and thirty-first attempt. There was some progress. The moment when the sun doesn’t rise was most effective.>

Similar, incomprehensible entries were hung in frames after that as well.

The pink girl read some of these journal entries before tilting her head in confusion.

“Could it be some kind of alchemy experiment? I’m not sure.”

The pink girl ignored the difficult-to-understand journal entries and continued moving forward.

“!”

As she kept going, she came upon a slightly strange space.

The layout of the space itself was ordinary.

A large, round room that was sunken, requiring stairs to descend into.

Pure white walls decorated to display exhibits.

Stone pillars installed to prevent approaching the walls.

And on the opposite side from the pink girl, there was an identical set of stairs and a door.

But the floor rippled with black liquid, and nothing was displayed on the walls.

Instead of frames, the walls were covered in traces of being violently scratched by sharp claws.

<Where are you?>

<Cold.> <Hungry.>

<Lonely.> <Why only us?>

<When are you coming?> <When will you come?>

The walls were filled with phrases desperately searching for something.

Even the ceiling was densely covered with to the point of excess.

“What on earth is this place?”

<….>

The Blue Reaper also tilted its head, seeming not to know what was going on.

The pink girl felt like she shouldn’t step on the black liquid, so she began crossing by stepping on the slightly protruding stone pillars outside the liquid.

In a circular path following the pillars along the wall.

After crossing the sea of black liquid like that and opening the door at the end of the stairs, she saw someone standing on the other side.

A neat uniform similar to the alchemist academy uniform.

A sharp knife at the waist.

A large hat with crisp edges on the head.

And in its hand, it held a round orb emitting white light.

[Ah, a guest has arrived.]

That figure turned its head while directly implanting its will into their minds like a grimoire.

As it did so, its face was gradually revealed.

Pathetic dot eyes and a large mouth.

The face revealed as it turned its head was identical to the ‘Hungry Ghost’ that had been lying dead in heaps outside the building.