Seoul Object Story
Chapter 35: The Steel Tower (3)

Leap-!

I ran with nimble steps, leaping through the air.

Leap-! Leap-!

It didn’t take long for me to reach the main source of the mechanical zombies.

The distance was considerable, so I traveled by jumping around in my phantom form.

This adventure would have been much more fun if it weren’t for those pesky Ghost Hunters who kept chasing after me.

Whenever they found me slipping into my phantom form, their eyes widened, and they quickly chased after me like crazy.

It was odd, though. I was sure that some of them were chasing other ghostly Objects, but strangely enough, as soon as they saw me, they abandoned their Original targets and focused solely on me.

Fortunately, I was much faster than them, so I wasn’t too worried about getting caught.

Aghgh, just give up quickly and chase some other ghostly Object!

“Gaaaaah!”

The irritated shout of a Ghost Hunter echoed through the forest.

***

It had been quite a while since I managed to leave the Ghost Hunters in the dust.

Currently, I was quite far away from Seoul, so it felt like the climate and vegetation were changing little by little. Objects like those pesky Ghost Hunters were also nowhere to be found.

In a somewhat desolate-looking forest, I encountered a zombie slowly walking by. With a sharp thud, I pierced its heart, effectively killing it.

After dealing with several of those zombies, I got the hang of it. I learned that there was no need to pull the heart out when dealing with them. Simply destroying the heart would sever the connection between the Objects.

And what happened when the connection was broken? The Object would lose its regenerative power and disintegrate thanks to the Steel Tower.

Perhaps due to the considerable distance I had covered, the number of zombies I had dealt with was quite a lot.

Did I kill about 30 of them?

I had thought that the main body that was creating the zombies would be near the steel tower, but that was a huge misunderstanding on my part.

I had even gotten tired from continuously thinking ‘Ah, I have come this far already, I should be close to the main body then.’

Just where are those zombies coming from?

Lost in thought, I crossed over the old North Korean border.

***

“Then, I’ll go down first, Sehee Unnie,” Yerin said, quickly running down the stairs as soon as she finished her sentence.

The institute was in a bit of a troubled state, due to the aftermath of the Dobong-gu incident. Many of the employees who had gone out to investigate the signal from the ‘Cute Puppy’ had gotten caught up in the incident.

Was it a mistake to temporarily take charge of the ‘Cute Puppy’ in order to expand the research institute?

Fortunately, the employees who were caught up in the Dobong-gu incident were able to return safely, thanks to the efforts of Kim Jungrwi and several others.

From the rooftop, I watched as Yerin swung her fist and led the other employees towards somewhere.

She was on the rooftop with me just moments ago, yet she was already there. Truly, she was second to none in this institute when it came to being energetic.

The area around our research institute had become busier than before. As we were in a research complex with ample infrastructure, and since it was also located on the outskirts of Seoul, many people had sought refuge there.

Did that mean that this place was an optimal location—far enough from Seoul Forest, with sufficient infrastructure, and was not too far from Seoul itself?

“Hufff….” I sighed in frustration.

The Grey Reaper still hadn’t returned.

The Ice Throne of Dobong-gu had completely melted.

The Ice Soldiers had all turned to dust.

The disturbance caused by the Steel Tower, an even bigger problem that had spread fear and shock throughout Seoul, had also stopped.

Unlike the Ice Throne in Dobong-gu, where those responsible for destroying it were known, the pulsations of the Steel Tower stopped out of the blue.

No one even knew why it had started in the first place. Yet, it abruptly ended while everyone was still trying to figure out the reasons behind its occurrence. Now they were even more confused as to why it had ended so suddenly.

As a result, the residents of Seoul lived in fear, knowing that could happen at any time.

Yerin, a fan of the Reaper, jokingly suggested that it was actually the Reaper who had taken care of both the Dobong-gu and the Steel Tower incidents.

She believed that the reason it had not returned yet was because it had something important to do, and it would return as soon as it finished what it needed to do.

Hah, I really wish that was the case.

Because without the Reaper around, I feel somewhat lonely.

***

In the dead of the night, with visibility severely limited, a group of men gathered in front of an abandoned building.

“Huff…” A rough-looking bald man let out a frustrated sigh.

The bald man was frustrated with the current situation, having to go to a place where only a few people could go.

Once an employee of the Central Research Institute, the bald man now worked for the ‘Temporary Object Management Organization’.

He had only received one order: to solve the Golden Horn Incident before anyone else does, by any means necessary.

At first, he had believed this case to be unsolvable.

How on earth does one find traces of someone who had been kidnapped and taken to China?

Perhaps in a time before Objects existed and the world was relatively safe, it could have been possible. But in these trying times, when people are often found dead in the middle of nowhere, even in a country like Korea, where security was comparatively tight?

However, he quickly realized that his initial thoughts were mistaken.

An agent from the ‘Temporary Object Management Organization’ had discovered the whereabouts of the Golden Horn. And the bald man had arrived at this place in advance to claim the agent’s achievement as his own.

After all, the order that he received was to solve this case before anyone else.”

With a dissatisfied expression, the bald man nodded and ordered his men to enter the building.

All of a sudden, the ominous hooting of an owl rang out.

According to the records left by the agent, the traces of the Golden Horn smuggling had gone cold within this research institute. And, thanks to that, he ended up having to walk into this ugly abandoned building late at night.

“Is this really a research institute that was still operational even a few days ago? Did we come to the right place?” The bald man picked up a piece of broken concrete and muttered.

According to the records, the dilapidated building in front of them was a functioning research laboratory until recently. However, it now looked like an abandoned building, exuding an eerie presence.

Crack-!

In the silence of the abandoned building, the sound of shoes crushing hard glass being crushed echoed like thunder.

In the terrifying atmosphere that could make even the bravest person shudder, a strange sound suddenly emerged.

It was the whimpering and crying voice of a woman, accompanied by the scratching of walls.

The men instinctively turned their heads in every direction, searching for the source of the voice, but it was nowhere to be found.

The situation was so scary that all the men wanted nothing but to flee, but they managed to suppress their fear with reason. Running away would only lead to a reality even more terrifying than their current predicament.

Swallowing their dry saliva, they went deeper into the abandoned building.

In the background, the haunting cries of a woman and the unsettling sound of her fingertips being crushed continued to play.

“Heok!”

One of the men gasped in surprise as blood started flowing from the wall.

Those words were written on the walls in blood.

The bald man kicked the fallen employee and ordered him to move forward quickly.

“It must be some kind of Object. Just look at it. It’s probably something that can only scare us. Keep moving!”

His attitude displayed a callousness that could only come about from knowing that his boss was far crueler than these petty scares.

If they truly didn’t want to die, shouldn’t they at least feign death?

The men finally reached the stairs leading to the basement, which was full of ominous traces.

Charred corpses.

And a faint voice murmuring in their ears.

To make matters worse, no matter how much light they shone on the entrance to the stairs, it remained shrouded in darkness.

The abyss-like stairs seemed like they were the gateway to hell itself.

Terrified, the employees found themselves paralyzed, unable to move forward.

“You idiots. I’ll go first, so just follow my lead.”

The bald man chuckled at the frightened men and descended the stairs without hesitation.

But as he began his descent, flames suddenly erupted before him.

“Keok!”

Simultaneously, someone began to strangle the bald man.

He found himself suspended in mid-air, yet there was no one in front of him!

Struggling for breath, he squirmed and flailed his arms as much as he could.

Soon the fire spread throughout his body, engulfing him in its searing embrace.

The men, who had been cautiously following behind the bald man, were overcome with terror at the sight and quickly ran away.

Soon, the bald man’s screams came to a stop.

The abandoned building, where the desperate screams had come to a halt, once again succumbed to its usual eerie silence.

***

Hmm.

This place was definitely not Korea.

I had crossed several rivers on the way here, could one of them have been the Yalu River?

Looking at the hideous remnants of modern civilization, such as concrete and asphalt, my current location seemed to be outside the area of influence of the Steel Tower.

Fortunately, I had discovered the whereabouts of the main body that kept sending the zombies. It was the abandoned concrete building in front of me. Since, the building itself was not an Object, the Object must be inside.

As I stood in front of the building, I heard the ominous hooting of an owl.

Standing in front of an abandoned building in the darkness of the night, gave me an eerie feeling.

Furthermore, I couldn’t detect any presence from within the building.

Stepping over shards of broken glass, I entered the building, only to be greeted by a peculiar sound nearby.

When I turned my head, I saw a ghost with a contorted expression, desperately scratching the wall.

!

Woah, this is my first time seeing a real ghost!

It was one of the things I looked forward to the most after gaining the ability to see ghostly Objects.

Do humans really become ghosts when they die?

It was a question that I definitely wanted to check.

Yet, to my disappointment, I had never come across a ghost.

At least, I hadn’t before this very moment.

But here, in this place, there was a ghost! Why can I only see ghosts here?

Leaving behind the weeping ghost and its frantic wall-scratching, I pressed forward.

Can I see other ghosts too?

With such hopeful expectations lingering in my heart.