Seoul Object Story
Chapter 48: Object Exhibition: Epilogue (1)

The exhibition grounds were abuzz with rowdy soldiers, creating quite a ruckus.

Seeing the mess I felt even worse after regaining my consciousness. I thought I had simply lost consciousness, but when I woke up I realized that something terrible had occurred.

The soldiers made everyone who participated in the exhibition stand in a line and took their statements one by one.

Beside me, Yerin wore a sullen expression.

“Sehee unnie, the exhibition’s going to end here, isn’t it?”

“I guess so. With the number of body bags piling up, it seems there have been quite a few casualties.”

On one side of the exhibition ground, soldiers were solemnly placing corpses into body bags and transporting them elsewhere. It was clear that the exhibition couldn’t possibly continue after such a dreadful turn of events.

As I eavesdropped on the conversations around me, it became apparent that the death toll wasn’t the only issue—a considerable amount of valuable Objects had also been lost.

As the line slowly shrunk, it was finally Sehee Research Institute’s turn to be interrogated.

The interrogation was just a simple back-and-forth of questions and answers.

The soldiers simply asked if we had lost any of our Objects, had any of the lab personnel died, and so on.

There were also a lot of questions related to the golden tree.

The investigators from the government seemed to believe that the golden tree was at the root of the incident. It was quite understandable, considering that a never-before-seen Object had suddenly been displayed at an exhibition. It would naturally raise suspicions.

Once the soldiers had finished taking our statement, we were told to prepare for departure.

“When you are ready to leave, please submit your documents to the desk over there. You will receive a turn number based on the order of submission, and you can leave accordingly.”

Yerin, who was organizing her belongings at the lab booth, spoke in a sullen tone.

“…I didn’t even get a chance to show off the water deer pajamas.”

“Well, it’s unclear whether the Reaper would even be willing to wear the clothes…”

After all, the Reaper I knew had never worn any clothes.

Speaking of which, the Sehee Research Institute hadn’t lost any of the Objects we had brought.

The well-behaved ‘Cute Puppy’ remained safely tucked away in a corner of the booth, while the spirit cat was also unharmed. However, the blue lizard, who seemed to be good at attracting aggro, had its head eaten by something.

According to the data of the Central Research Institute, even if only its tail remained, the lizard would still regenerate. Thus, it would be fine if we only brought its lower body with us.

And the Gray Reaper?

It had been trodding around the area but had disappeared at some point. It had likely gone back to the research institute before us.

When it was our turn, we loaded our Objects onto a dedicated containment truck and sent them to the Sehee Research Institute.

The truck driver was the ever-so-reliable Kim Jungrwi.

As for the remaining researchers, we took our luggage and boarded the bus we had booked.

Once all the necessary luggage was loaded onto the bus, we left the exhibition grounds and made our way to the research institute.

Inside the bus, Yerin sat beside me, busy shuffling through the empty digital camera data.

“What are you looking for?”

“I had this feeling that I had taken some pictures, so I’m trying to find them.”

“But you never took the camera out, did you?”

“Yeah, I know, but… For some reason, I have this strong feeling of taking lots of pictures of the Reaper wearing the water deer pajamas, But I guess I’m wrong, huh?”

Yerin sighed, putting the camera back in her bag.

Well, something like that can’t possibly happen in real life, right?

And just like that, Sehee Research Institute’s brief participation in the first Object Exhibition came to an end.

***

The exhibition came to an end, outright confirming the existence of the ‘Curse of the Object Zoo’.

Exhausted, I lay down on my bed and stretched my hand toward the ceiling.

Clench-!

I clenched and unclenched my fist repeatedly, feeling an increase in the number of my abilities. It was because of all the Objects I destroyed at the exhibition.

But the most confusing part was the change in the Golden Reapers. Their lifespan, which used to be limited to a day, had increased considerably.

This was the first time that one of my acquired abilities had grown on its own. It seemed that the Objects killed by the Golden Reaper would become its own power.

The TV blared in the background, reporting on this elusive criminal who had robbed the exhibition grounds.

The News Channels were filled with stories about this criminal who was widely known as ‘The Maker’.

At first, there were all kinds of rumors and conspiracy theories.

All kinds of opinions floated around after the Daily Object published their article. But as soon as a particular news broke, those stories faded away.

It was the news of the disappearance of the ‘Unbreakable Cube’.

Since it was quite literally an ‘unbreakable cube’, it couldn’t have been destroyed. Moreover, the Object was immobile, making the conclusion that it had been stolen inevitable.

The Unbreakable Cube’s value was beyond measure, so the consensus was that the whole incident had occurred because the criminal wanted to steal the cube.

However, opinions about the identity of the thief were quite divided. But the suspect was determined when the ingredients of the golden tree were revealed.

It was revealed that the golden tree was an Object made from golden horns.

Naturally, ‘The Maker’ became the prime suspect.

‘The Maker’, someone who created Objects using golden horns, had become the center of attention.

Honestly, there were a few more questionable aspects to the case, but they had already faded from public memory.

How did the soldiers, particularly the commander who led the blockade, die at the exhibition grounds?

Why were there so many dangerous Objects on display at the exhibition?

Those questions remained unanswered.

The TV only focused on ‘The Maker’.

I switched off the repetitive news and left the containment room.

I should put my newly acquired abilities to the test.

***

After escaping from the exhibition, the director of the research institute relocated his base of operations to an abandoned research institute on the outskirts of Gangdong-gu.

Since the incident was committed under the name of the Bucheon Research Institute, it was only a matter of time before it would be discovered.

In this new facility, the director started another experiment.

“Then, let’s begin the experiment.”

A loud beep pierced the air as the countdown began. The experiment was similar to the one conducted previously.

The only difference from the previous experiment was the inclusion of the ‘Unbreakable Cube’ nside the room.

Soon after, a resounding bang, akin to a heavy hammer striking an iron plate rang out throughout the facility.

‘Nameless’ had appeared and had started relentlessly pummeling the secret room.

Under the relentless assault, the room fortified by the cube showed its unyielding strength worthy of its ‘Unbreakable’ moniker. No matter how fast or how hard it was struck, the room firmly maintained its shape.

The loud sound of hitting the iron plate, which seemed like it would continue forever, stopped all of a sudden. And then, a completely different phenomenon unfolded.

A piercing, high-pitched sound reverberated throughout the institute.

It was an eerie noise, one that sounded like a blackboard being scratched mercilessly.

With that sharp sound, the finger of ‘Nameless’ slowly broke through the wall of the secret room.

It started with a finger, followed by the wrist, and eventually the entire arm.

With each passing moment, the sound grew louder, and the arm pushed further into the room.

Although the arm of ‘Nameless’ disintegrated like dust upon emerging through the ‘Unbreakable Cube’, it regenerated even faster.

Unfortunately, the secret room could not regenerate.

“Somebody, please! Save me! SAVE ME!”

The man trapped in the secret room saw the arm inching closer and closer toward him,

He covered his ears and screamed, repeatedly pleading ‘Save me’ over and over again.

Yet, just like the previous subject, the man’s pleas went unanswered.

‘Nameless’, now with its entire upper body inside the room, grabbed the man and slowly trampled him to death.

While ‘Nameless’ remained physically immune, the man died in slow and agonizing torment.

In the end, the man was completely obliterated, leaving only his blood staining the secret room.

“It seems like even the cube cannot stop it. To think that we even need to find a way to overcome its physical immunity… Let us stop the experiment for ‘Nameless’. It would be fruitless without a new approach.”

The director’s face contorted in anger as he declared the end of the experiment.

“At this point, I am uncertain if I can proceed with the research on ‘KR-897’.”

No sooner had the director spoken than blood spurted out from his chest.

“Oh my.”

A grotesque arm protruded from his chest, slowly tearing the director’s body in half.

Despite the blood pouring from his mouth and his impending death, the director appeared unconcerned.

“Researchers, take a day’s break.”

With those final words, the director of the laboratory was severed in two and breathed his last.

Meanwhile, the researchers shed tears of joy and danced upon the corpse of the director, who had died because he mistakenly said something he shouldn’t have.