Seoul Object Story
Chapter 49: Object Exhibition: Epilogue (2)

Plip-! Plop-!

I trod through the hallways of the research institute, looking for test subjects to experiment with my newly acquired ability.

There were quite a few Objects that I killed this time—the Golden Tree, the Yetis, and the incapacitated Objects that the Golden Reapers had drilled into.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t gained any abilities from Objects other than the Golden Tree.

I don’t know the cause, but some Objects didn’t give me an ability at all.

The standard?

Well, I did a lot of research a year ago to uncover it.

The more the Objects used physical abilities, the higher the chance of me not getting anything from it.

Could it be that my body couldn’t accept abilities that enhanced muscles, toughened skin, or strengthened hair?

Thankfully, I had managed to obtain the Sleep Inducement ability of the Golden Tree.

The ability allowed me to put anything or anyone to sleep, although I wasn’t entirely sure about its effectiveness.

As I strolled down the hallway, a sudden loud noise caught my attention.

Bang-!

It sounded like the impact of a palm against a table.

The source of the noise seemed to be the conference room of the Sehee Research Institute.

I slipped into my phantom form and sneakily entered the room. To my surprise, I saw someone I didn’t see often—Park Seoah, the deputy director of Sehee Research Institute.

She rarely came out of her office, making it difficult to catch a glimpse of her unless one deliberately went to see her.

Park Seoah was slamming the table while yelling with a furious expression on her face.

She rarely got angry, so just what in the world had happened to make her angry like that?

“Explain yourself! Researcher Oh Yerin!”

Park Seoah demanded, her hand resting on the table with two photos underneath it

One was a photo of Yerin secretly putting the Golden Reapers into her bag and smuggling them outside, while the other one was a photo of a bloodied Golden Reaper taken at the exhibition.

Yerin cringed, her face contorting in horror.

It seemed like she was being scolded for taking the Golden Reapers out without permission.

“How could a researcher even consider taking Objects out without permission?”

“I apologize,” Yerin replied, her spirit deflated.

In comparison, Sehee, sitting next to her, seemed unfazed by the situation.

“Director Lee Sehee!”

Sehee seemed to have been startled when her name was suddenly called.

“How is it possible that our surveillance system is so lax? How could an Object leave the premises of the institute so easily?! How can it be done with just one person deviating from the protocol!?!?”

“T-That’s because Yerin manipulated the CCTV….”

“Imagine a high-risk Object that absolutely needed to be contained, escaping by brainwashing Researcher Oh Yerin. Do you think you can get away with such a flimsy excuse? The Sehee Research Institute will be shut down and the director will be held accountable!!”

Sehee also wilted at the harsh words, mirroring Yerin’s state.

In truth, Yerin succeeding in sneaking Objects out of the institute didn’t make any sense. It was something that would have never happened in an ordinary research lab.

From Seoah’s nagging, it seemed that the repercussions were horrible.

Yerin would receive a pay cut and also be relocated. For the time being, she would have to work in the deputy director’s office.

Meanwhile, Sehee was assigned to do paperwork on behalf of the deputy director while she revamped the surveillance system.

Hearing those words Yerin and Sehee wore expressions of utter despair, akin to someone who had lost their country.

Wait, I forgot about it, but I need to test my Sleep Inducement ability…

***

With heavy steps, I made my way towards Reaper’s containment room.

To think I will be working in the deputy director’s office starting today…

It would become ten times more difficult for me to sneak out and visit the Reaper.

As I entered the containment room, the Reaper, lying on the bed, lifted the blanket and patted the space beside it. It seemed to be telling me to come under the blanket.

Woah! An invitation from Reaper!

Without a second thought, I ran over and dived into the bed.

Closing my eyes, I relished in the comforting sensation of the blanket that Reaper covered me with.

What the… yawn…I feel really sleepy all of a sudden.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

***

The test for the Sleep Inducement ability, using Yerin as the test subject, proved to be quite successful.

The ability could only be activated through contact, couldn’t be used on Objects, and only affected one person per activation.

All in all, the Sleep Inducement ability I gained this time around was pretty good.

It was perfect to make Yerin fall asleep when she became too much of a nuisance!

Since she wasn’t being a nuisance at the moment, I slapped Yerin’s cheek to wake her up.

Tap-! Tap-!

Yerin woke up faster than expected.

Hmm, it seemed that the ability was a bit lacking when it came to keeping people asleep.

“Ah, did I doze off?”

Yerin rubbed her eyes and turned to me, hugging me tightly as she started to complain.

She complained about all sorts of things like how she would be working in the deputy director’s office from now on, making it more difficult for her to sneak out and visit.

I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. After all, I played a part in the unauthorized transfer of the Golden Reapers, and since It was also thanks to Yerin that the Golden Tree situation was resolved, I felt like I should give her a gift.

What would she like, though?

***

Om nom nom.

A Golden Reaper was squiggling on the desk.

“Waaah!”

Reaper, who was listening to my complaints, suddenly summoned the Golden Reapers.

When I bought out a cake for the hungry little Reapers, they all rushed towards it.

They are so cute!

Quickly grabbing a camera I took a picture of them.

Although Seoah unnie had warned me that we could die if we took pictures of Objects carelessly, the Golden Reapers were good kids, so it should be fine!

A part of me wanted to take them home again, but I guess I had to hold back this time. Moreover, I had a feeling that if I took them, I would have another nightmare. It would be absolutely heartbreaking if the warmth of the Golden Reapers were to disappear while I slept.

There were a total of three squiggling Golden Reapers on the table.

One of them had managed to find its way inside of a cup of hot chocolate.

Looking at the amount of hot chocolate decreasing little by little, it was clear that it was drinking the chocolate, but why was it drinking like that?

Well, it doesn’t matter! Because it’s cute!

The other two were focused on the cake.

One hugged the crumb of the cake and ate it, while the other one nibbled on the leaves on top of a strawberry.

Why was it eating the leaves?!

I wanted to make it eat the strawberries properly, but whenever I tried to touch it, it would get angry, so I had no choice but to watch.

I kept taking pictures while laughing out loud.

I continued until Seoah, who was undoubtedly angry, came to get me.

***

The kidnapping case was reaching its final stages.

We had finally discovered where the kidnapped people were sold to.

With the information obtained from the Golden Horns broker and our tracking efforts, we were able to find their location—the Bucheon Research Institute.

It was clear that the client’s older sister had been sold alive to the institute.

To our dismay, when we arrived at the location, it was in complete ruin, unlike the information stating it was still operational.

It seemed that the owner had already shut down the business and fled.

However, I decided to still secretly infiltrate the abandoned research institute.

The building was in complete disarray, littered with trash, and the exterior walls were damaged to the point of exposing the rebar.

“Wow, this is a total mess.”

“Sunbae! Shhh! Keep your voice down. The famous ‘Maker’might be here. CO! VERT! AC! TION! Remember?”

Did she not realize that her whisperwas three times louder than my own voice?

Suddenly, a sound emerged from a distance—the sound of a vehicle approaching on the quiet road.

And it wasn’t just one vehicle; there were quite a few of them.

It seems we weren’t the only ones who had business in this lab.

It was only natural considering it was the hideout of the notorious ‘Maker’.

“Someone is coming,” I warned, turning to see my nervous junior clutching a sledgehammer. Beside her was Miss Hyejin, our client, who had followed us all the way here.

Soon, numerous vehicles arrived at the entrance of the research institute. From the first van, a group of people emerged, led by two people—one tall and one short.

It was a man dressed in a suffocating black suit and a young blonde girl.

Both were people I was familiar with.

“Buddy~ It’s been a while!”

“It has.”

“It’s been a while since I met you as well~ Young miss.”

The blonde girl just bowed her head gracefully, not uttering a word in response.

The tall figure was Agent Black who was affiliated with the Central Research Institute, while the blonde girl was Oh Muryong’s granddaughter, the president of the association.

Was he still the president now? Regardless, she was the granddaughter of someone high up on the ladder.

Behind the granddaughter, a figure appearing to be a bodyguard stood like a sturdy folding screen.

“We’ve come this far in search of the victim of the Golden Horns kidnapping incident. And what about you guys?”

“We have been tracking the Golden Horns Incident to solve it… but it seems like we are already too late.”

“I know, right? Let’s go downstairs quickly. Criminals always seem to love the basement.”

I suggested, taking long strides toward the building.

Agent Black ordered the employees who arrived later to seal off the surrounding area before following me into the building.

The interior of the lab was even more messy than the exterior.

Was this really a functioning research institute until recently?

As we descended the stairs leading to the basement, an ominous energy seemed to creep up on us.

The deeper we went, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Finally, after passing through the dark stairs, we reached the basement, and the source of the terrible scent of blood was revealed.

The containment rooms were splattered with blood, with scattered limbs and crushed body parts littering the area.

Just what did they do here?

What unspeakable experiments had taken place here? How could the containment rooms become this gruesome?

In a corner outside the containment rooms, blue-faced corpses were haphazardly piled up high, discarded like trash.

It was thrown away carelessly like trash.

“U-Unnie!”

Miss Hyejin called out urgently, rushing towards the heap of corpses.

Considering that the corpses all had the same signs of severed horns, they all appeared to be the kidnapping victims.

The client’s older sister, whom she asked me to find, was already dead.

“N-no! Unnie, no! Please! UNNIE!”

As the client’s sobs reverberated through the basement, the request to find her sister, whether alive or dead, reached its conclusion.