Seoul Object Story
Chapter 342: Orb of Wishes (6)

Seodaemun-gu, a space of fog and grid-patterned sky.

In such an alien place, the short-haired girl shouted loudly at the man slowly walking down from the sky.

“Grant my wish right now!”

The short-haired girl yelled while holding the orb high in the sky.

“You said you’d grant a wish if I collected 10 orbs…”

Strangely, it was only now that the girl was beginning to understand with her head.

“You said you could save my sister…”

She knew that a suspicious Object wouldn’t really grant wishes.

“You definitely said that…”

And she clearly recognized that it was strange to have believed the words of such a suspicious man, no matter how desperate she had been.

“Grant it right now. Please.”

But still, she didn’t want to give up.

Her sister.

The hope of saving her sister.

The short-haired girl, who had been shouting with her mouth wide open, suddenly clamped it shut and hung her head low.

And tears began to drip down from beneath the girl’s bowed face.

Seeing this, the Man with a Halo stopped walking and looked down at the girl with an expression as if seeing something curious.

[Are you doubting? A slight increase in resistance, how interesting.]

The Man with a Halo paused briefly, but then began to walk again.

[To design such a function into the Lead Doll from the start? Slight and useless. Typical of her, repeating meaningless attempts.]

The Man with a Halo was now completely ignoring the short-haired girl.

As if the girl’s words or actions no longer mattered at all.

The Golden Armored Reaper floating in the sky looked down at the crying short-haired girl for a moment with a sad expression.

Then it slowly gritted its teeth and looked up at the man with a fierce expression.

[Come. Byproduct of meaningless attempts. You’ll be suitable to decorate the end of this great work.]

At that moment, the Golden Armored Reaper emitted a brilliant light from its entire body and charged towards the Man with a Halo.

A long, trailing stream of golden light adorning the empty air.

The Golden Armored Reaper reached the man’s eyes in an instant at the speed of light, then collided with tremendous velocity.

Boom!

With a golden flash like a stun grenade going off, the man fell from the stairs in the air and was sucked into the downtown center full of mazes.

At that moment, a radiant light as brilliant as the sun began to pour out from the body of the Golden Armored Reaper high in the sky.

An intense light strong enough to burn away all the fog and erase all shadows.

And the Golden Armored Reaper, transformed into that light, plunged down towards the downtown where the man had fallen like lightning striking from the sky.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Again and again and again.

Flashing light and surging shockwaves.

Under the grid sky, the city that had been an exact replica of the original Seodaemun-gu was instantly reduced to ruins.

Crack.

Then, as if it could no longer withstand, cracks slowly began to form in the grid space.

At a time when moons of various colors had risen in Seoul’s night sky, a building in a corner of Seodaemun-gu showed unusual activity.

That building was a temporary situation room hastily prepared by James, but its interior was surprisingly elaborate.

Cutting-edge equipment lined the walls, and a large screen in the center flickered constantly, updating data.

In the midst of those facilities, James sat reading a report that had appeared on the monitor.

James’s eyebrows were drawn together towards the bridge of his nose, creating deep wrinkles, and his lips were tightly pressed.

As he read the report like that, James rubbed his temples with his fingers as if he had a headache.

The report James was looking at was from the American Object Association, related to the ‘Mass Cognitive Impairment Incident’ that had occurred in Seoul.

Originally, his intention was simply to find similar cases and develop effective countermeasures, but reality was far exceeding his expectations.

Under the fluorescent lights, James’s face looked pale.

As James’s eyes moved along the sentences of the report, his expression grew darker and darker.

Contrary to expectations, the report was not a simple list of similar cases.

It was a record of identical incidents, as if looking in a mirror.

“To think such an Object hasn’t been discovered until now.”

James shook his head in disbelief.

According to the report, almost identical patterns of incidents were occurring all over the world.

The number of victims was up to 11.

Probably there were just some people missing due to lack of reporting or accidents, but likely 11 victims occurred each time.

They all visited a specific place for no reason, and within 3 months, completely lost their cognitive abilities.

Moreover, the report contained records of similar incidents from decades ago, when the Object Incident had just begun.

An Object that has had such a widespread impact for so many years.

An ominous thought flashed through his mind.

‘If this is really the work of a single Object, it might be on a level similar to the Moon of the Snowfield or Nameless.’

James stood up, supporting himself on the desk, and walked towards the window.

The night view of Seoul came into his sight through the window.

“This time, the pattern has completely changed.”

James muttered, rubbing his chin.

In most countries, this phenomenon occurred only once and then ended.

If it had been the same in Korea, it probably would have been buried among numerous bizarre Object phenomena without attracting much attention.

Why has the pattern changed now?

An Object phenomenon that used to occur only once in one region is now happening for the third time in Korea.

This suggested two possibilities.

Either Korea was special, or this particular time was special.

James let out a deep sigh.

Both cases seemed likely to develop into something big.

James hesitated for a moment.

Was what he was thinking now too far-fetched and exaggerated?

But he soon steeled his resolve and called for his secretary.

And he ordered a large-scale broadcast about this ‘Cognitive Loss Incident’.

The secretary looked surprised for a moment, but soon nodded and left the room.

James watched the secretary leave and muttered softly.

“Things related to Objects have always, no matter how absurd they seemed, tended to become reality.”

James muttered like that, then began to slowly examine the report once again.

Deep within Sehee Research Institute, the Gray Reaper isolation room was exuding its usual cozy atmosphere.

White wallpaper, soft lighting, and most importantly, a large, fluffy bed!

It was a soft and comfortable bed that you sank into as if submerged in water when you lay on it.

In fact, it might feel a bit too warm, this squishy bed, but the snack in my hand was making up for that.

Om nom nom.

I was slowly munching on milk shaved ice brought from the snowy plains of the Mini Reaper Garden, deeply nestled in the fluffy blankets while watching the large TV mounted on the wall.

Yes, this was the heaven I wanted.

But there was one problem with the isolation room paradise I had created.

It was a problem that arose when the Object Association disappeared.

‘There hasn’t been any interesting news lately.’

Just ordinary news and boring conversations of people on screen, no different from usual.

I missed the days when the Association caused outrageous incidents every day.

As I was dozing off slightly while enduring the boredom, a faint sound brushed my ears.

Peeking out with my toes slightly extended from the bed, I could see Mini Reapers approaching carefully.

Tip-toe, tip-toe.

It was the Blue Idol Reaper and Golden Reapers slowly walking on tiptoes.

‘Mom is sleeping.’

‘Hehe.’

For some reason finding it funny, the Golden Reapers were quietly giggling.

The Blue Idol Reaper, for whatever reason, was even wearing the ‘Halo of Word Spirit’ upside down as it slowly followed behind the Golden Reapers.

Curious about what these children were up to again, I pretended to be asleep with my eyes closed.

The Golden Reapers, who had approached near me, carefully examined my state, then wriggled up onto my face and even lifted my eyelids.

‘Mom is really sleeping.’

‘Now’s our chance!’

Come to think of it, those Golden Reapers look familiar, but my memory is a bit hazy.

The Blue Idol Reaper, receiving the signal from the Golden Reapers, raised its microphone with a very tense expression.

[Be-]

[Be…]

The Blue Idol Reaper’s Word Spirit was still full of hesitation.

By the way, what kind of Word Spirit could start with ‘Be-‘?

As I was thinking about this and that, the Blue Idol Reaper finally completed its Word Spirit and shot it towards me.

[Please become a Pig!]

‘!!!!’

Aaagh, an unfilial Word Spirit.

I was so startled that I jumped up from the bed, but it was too late to avoid the Word Spirit.

Paching.

But the Blue Idol Reaper’s Word Spirit shattered without any effect the moment it touched my body.

‘Ah!’

‘Mom woke up!’

The Golden Reapers tried to run away the moment I got up, but they couldn’t escape my angry Pig Beam.

‘No!’

‘Waaah!’

The Blue Idol Reaper was so startled by my sudden rising that it couldn’t even run away and was just trembling.

When such a Blue Idol Reaper met my eyes, it smiled awkwardly with a slightly uncomfortable expression.

Hehe.

I smiled back, then immediately shot a Pig Beam.

[Pig….]

The Blue Idol Reaper touched its chubby cheeks with a shocked expression and muttered telepathically in depression.

Kyuhihi.

And behind it, the White Hungry Ghost was laughing at the Mini Reapers who had turned into pigs.

Just as I was thinking about how to torment that insolent White Hungry Ghost, meaningful words began to flow from the TV.

[According to James Research Institute’s announcement, the current ‘Mass Cognitive Ability Loss Incident’ in Korea is….]

[Accordingly, the Object Council has declared Seodaemun-gu as a danger zone….]

[Even the Golden Reaper that seemed to have entered Seodaemun-gu has disappeared….]

Normally, this would have been news I’d think was finally interesting, but with the addition of that last line, it became an entirely different story.

‘A Golden Reaper is missing????’