Seoul Object Story
Chapter 343: Orb of Wishes (7)

Late at night, Seodaemun-gu was shrouded in darkness.

The night sky over Seodaemun-gu, where I had arrived chasing the missing Golden Reaper, was covered in clouds.

It should have been a time when colorful moons like Mini Reapers floated in the sky, but the moon was hidden behind clouds that appeared pitch black.

Strangely, the streets were terribly dark, and even the streetlights seemed to emit only a faint glow.

If I hadn’t been able to emit light from my eyes, I probably wouldn’t have been able to examine the streets in such detail.

I had rushed to Seodaemun-gu as soon as I saw the TV, even abandoning my plan to make a swirling white Hungry Ghost roast, but I couldn’t sense the presence of the missing Golden Reaper anywhere.

‘Where on earth did it go?’

I was certain the Golden Reaper had been here.

It was a presence clearly different from other Golden Reapers, one filled with firewood.

A presence I had never felt even in the Mini Reaper Garden.

‘Is it avoiding me? Or did we just happen to miss each other?’

I continued walking, following the trail of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper while pondering these thoughts.

And when I finally arrived at the last place where I had sensed the Golden Reaper’s presence, only emptiness greeted me.

An old bench in the park.

On it sat a lone paper cup.

A cup of coffee as black and dark as the current night sky, something a Golden Reaper would never dream of drinking.

The faint, lingering scent of bitter coffee brushed my nose before dissipating into the night air.

And in the corner of the bench where the coffee cup sat, cookie crumbs were scattered.

‘It was definitely here.’

I gathered my thoughts and turned my gaze away from the traces of coffee and cookies.

As I looked around Seodaemun-gu, it appeared like sleeping ruins.

Empty buildings and people still busily evacuating.

Despite the late hour, the streets were busy.

Cars were lined up, leaving Seodaemun-gu, and people were hurrying with their belongings.

Occasionally, I could see vehicles marked with the James Research Institute logo, suggesting they were also assisting with the evacuation.

Only the sound of engines from vehicles leaving the city echoed through the quiet streets.

The atmosphere was quite different from before.

In the past, even with daily incidents, only a small fraction of people would evacuate…

It used to take buildings being smashed in real-time, like during the Hungry Ghost incident, for people to flee.

It seemed that with fewer Object incidents due to the Golden Reapers, people had actually become more fearful of Object incidents.

Well, if they had fled and feared every incident back then, they would have had to run away 365 days a year.

Perhaps because of this, there were now hardly any human presences left near Seodaemun-gu.

‘It must still be nearby somewhere.’

I looked around once more.

My eyes, glowing like flashlights in the darkness, scanned the streets.

But I couldn’t sense the presence of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper anywhere.

Feeling somewhat anxious, I gripped space tightly with both hands and tore the sky apart.

The spatial slash ripped through clouds and sky, leaving ten intersecting scars in the heavens.

‘Hmm.’

Then, colorful moonlight began to shine down from the sky.

‘Wait. I’ll find you soon.’

I looked up at the moonlight, turning my determination into will and expressing it.

‘It hurts…’

But I won’t give up.

The Golden Armored Reaper slowly crawled along the ground with its severed arms.

‘I can’t see any way to win.’

But I absolutely won’t give up.

Firewood flowed like blood, endlessly pouring from the wounds.

I could see my Attachment Human, who had been crying, shouting at me with a startled expression.

But the Golden Armored Reaper’s damaged ears couldn’t hear.

I wanted to hear my Attachment Human’s voice more…

Up ahead, the Man with a Halo was looking down and saying something, but the Golden Armored Reaper’s broken ears couldn’t hear.

Surely he must be mocking me.

Saying I’m stupid, that I don’t know how to give up.

But the Golden Armored Reaper could never give up.

‘I absolutely cannot give up.’

The Golden Armored Reaper wasn’t as good at fighting as the First Sword.

It didn’t know how to do various things like other Mini Reapers.

It was clumsy at using abilities, not smart, not quick in movement, not good with senses.

So.

I won’t give up.

‘Because this is the only thing I can do well.’

As if responding to that heart, the firewood blazed up greatly.

Before I knew it, the severed arms and legs had regenerated, and I slowly began to run, planting my feet on the ground.

One step.

One step.

Even if slow, advance without stopping.

And at the end, like a comet of light!

The Golden Armored Reaper’s steps, which had been painfully treading the crumbled ruins, gradually quickened, and in the end, it transformed into a comet, emitting brilliant light from its entire body.

Because it was the least talented Golden Reaper.

The only thing it knew how to do was a strong and fast headbutt.

Just clenching its fist with determination and thrusting it towards the enemy in a charge.

Boom!

But it didn’t connect.

Still, it repeated endlessly.

Faster and faster, stronger and stronger.

Even if its physically immune body was crushed, it continued.

Under the latticed sky that looked like it might collapse at any moment.

A golden comet plunged down towards the man.

[You won’t give up? That attitude resembles that woman exactly.]

But the trajectory made of light couldn’t penetrate the barrier surrounding the man and was deflected.

Simultaneously, the armor enveloping the Golden Reaper’s body shattered and scattered into the air.

Still, the Golden Reaper gritted its teeth and regained its posture in mid-air.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Watching the Golden Reaper repeatedly collide and fly away, the man spoke.

[This transparent wall is a barrier made by infinitely layering space.]

[A barrier created by compressing infinite space can never be broken by such methods.]

It was a habitual statement, believing that someone who understood sufficiently wouldn’t do such a foolish thing.

And if it was recklessness born from not understanding the gap, he believed it could be resolved through explanation.

But the Golden Armored Reaper didn’t respond.

It just clenched its jaw tightly and flew in like a comet.

[I’ve said too much unconsciously, even though I know you’re not her.]

The man muttered, recalling the blue-haired girl who endlessly sought methods despite knowing the impossibility.

[Then.]

Snap.

As the man snapped his fingers, space began to distort around the Golden Reaper.

Space containing the ruins of Seodaemun-gu rose like pillars, and mirror-like ruins appeared in the sky as well.

And it began to surround the Golden Reaper in layers of cube-shaped spaces.

It was an infinite prison created by endlessly connecting spaces.

[Watch the achievement of the great work from there.]

And as the man spread his palm towards the sky, space shattered and a new space began to appear behind it.

A world where a massive ring of light radiated brilliance.

A world where temples soared into the sky as if to pierce it, built to enshrine a new god under that halo.

And it was a world designed like an antlion’s pit to devour everything.

As that world appeared, shimmering orbs began to gather towards the man from the sky.

“Ah!”

The orb that the short-haired girl had been preciously holding was no exception.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The Golden Armored Reaper was continuously throwing punches at the prison that confined it.

But it was useless.

It was a prison that the Golden Armored Reaper’s abilities could never break.

‘It won’t break.’

Turning its gaze outward, it could see a massive world twisting into a funnel shape.

And above that funnel, wishes flowing from the orbs gathered and merged to create a massive current.

That enormous flow of wishes was streaming into the harmful Object, gradually filling its interior.

‘This is bad.’

The Golden Armored Reaper didn’t fully understand what was happening, but it had a feeling that if left alone, something terrible would occur.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

But the fists of the Golden Armored Reaper, shining like a comet, couldn’t break the space that confined it.

‘I can break space, but I can’t break it.’

If it had been an ordinary isolation space, it could have broken it like when rescuing its Attachment Human.

‘There’s no time.’

The Golden Armored Reaper, throwing punches at the spatial prison, looked a bit anxious.

It wasn’t because the firewood inside the Golden Reaper’s body was slowly disappearing bit by bit.

The Golden Armored Reaper turned its gaze with a worried expression.

There lay its Attachment Human, collapsed unconscious, with white thread-like substances slowly being sucked away.

‘My Attachment Human will die.’

The Golden Armored Reaper suppressed its anxious feelings and tightly closed its eyes.

‘All I can do is gather my strength and swing my fist.’

The Golden Armored Reaper began to channel all the firewood in its body into its fist.

Then its fist started to emit light like the sun.

And the Golden Armored Reaper’s armor began to transform into firewood, one piece at a time, gathering into its fist.

‘It hurts.’

Forcibly containing such a massive amount of firewood inside its body, it felt like it might explode at any moment.

‘But it’s okay. Not giving up is my strength.’

As all that firewood concentrated in the tiny Golden Armored Reaper’s fist, a brilliant light gathered so intense that the surroundings became invisible.

And the Golden Armored Reaper slowly began to raise that fist towards the sky.

As if that fist weighed a thousand pounds, it gritted its teeth and slowly raised it.

What I can do.

Is just to gather my strength.

And swing my fist.

Thus, the Golden Armored Reaper extended its fist as high as possible, as if to strike the sky.

Just doing that left it completely exhausted, feeling like it might collapse at any moment.

On the verge of collapse, the Golden Armored Reaper released one last small will.

‘Punch.’

Then the firewood gathered in its fist became a beam of light that shot up towards the sky.

Startled by the sudden flash, the man wearing the halo was surprised, but it didn’t significantly affect his consciousness.

The Golden Armored Reaper’s all-out punch had only created a tiny Golden Reaper fist-shaped hole in space.

It was just a small hole that would be restored instantly.

But the moment that small hole was restored, a thunderous roar that shook the world rang out.

The space that had been maintaining its form solidly began to ripple violently, then the sky tore open and colorful moonlight began to pour down.

And through that roughly torn gap, the Gray Reaper leaped in.

Watching this scene, the collapsed Golden Armored Reaper released a small will and closed its eyes.

‘Finishing Move Mom Punch.’