Seoul Object Story
Chapter 58: Theme Park (9)

Bucheon Research Institute had gained quite the notoriety due to the infamous ‘Maker’ incident.

At that very place, Agent Black still continued his investigations.

Temporary research camps filled the parking lot of Bucheon Research Institute. And in one such research camp, Agent Black sat, engrossed in reading a newspaper.

On the front page of the newspaper was a photo showing a group of mannequins flying around, scattering some kind of bright glowing powder all over.

The articles detailed the recent phenomenon of grotesque mannequins with ugly faces flying around Seoul. The incident generated significant attention, not only warranting coverage on the front page but also spanning several other pages.

The mere fact that mannequins were soaring through the air, sprinkling bright glowing powder, was enough to captivate people. However, they went a step further by scattering leaflets with strange content written on them, pulling even more attention to them.

The contents of the leaflet were copied down to the T in the newspaper.

Yet, the problem was not in the promotional text, but rather in the map attached to the leaflet. According to the map, ‘Smile Theme Park’ would occupy a humongous area, encompassing a significant portion of Seoul.

As a result, the citizens of Seoul couldn’t help but wonder.

What will happen to the existing Seoul?

And, the people of Seoul, having already experienced the terror of the towering Steel Tower which boasted an enormous range, naturally came to a conclusion.

Seoul might really get destroyed once the ‘Smile Theme Park’ was built.

Fearful, many citizens prepared to flee the city before the park’s opening date as stated on the leaflet.

The blonde young lady glanced at the front page article Agent Black was engrossed in and spoke up.

“Ahjussi, will everything be alright? Even if almost all of Seoul becomes a theme park, we can’t give up on it, right?”

“Fortunately, it appears that the Object responsible for this chaos has been identified. They say it was an Object that was being contained at the Sehee Research Institute.”

“Then it might be resolved surprisingly quickly, huh?”

“Well, it is not that simple. The government’s previous attempts at removal were unsuccessful, so this time they plan to transport the Object to a location far away from Seoul.”

Currently, the association and the government found themselves grappling with a grave dilemma.

Thankfully, they had discovered the source of the leaflet incident—an Object known as the ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’.

To address the situation, they had four options to consider.

The first option was to evacuate Seoul entirely. However, this was deemed an absolute last resort due to the enormous financial losses it would entail.

The second option involved putting more people into the doll and monitoring for any changes. The outcome of this option was uncertain and carried the risk of side effects such as the expansion of the theme park.

The third option was to destroy the doll itself. Although this had already been attempted, the doll appeared to be capable of regenerating even when reduced to ashes.

The fourth option was to relocate the doll outside of Seoul. This was the option that was currently being considered, but its success was far from guaranteed.

After all, the Sehee Research Institute was already located beyond the boundaries of the theme park. Meaning, the doll’s location had no direct correlation with the future theme park’s position.

What if both the association and the government’s plans failed and most of Seoul was destroyed?

It was a scenario Agent Black didn’t even want to imagine.

***

“Hmm~♪ Hmm~♪ Gotta make this antenna squeaky clean~♪”

With a hum on my lips and a bounce in my step, I wiped the antenna jutting out from the ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’‘s head until it sparkled.

It didn’t really need to be done, but… In fact, it was the kind of thing they’d label ‘hazardous’ in big, bold letters. So I shouldn’t really be doing it.

Yerin, it’s very dangerous, so please, please don’t go beyond the line, okay?

But did that stop me? Nope! I made that antenna sparkle like a star every day.

The doll had grown humongous, now towering over twenty meters. There was a proposal to move it to the backyard before it got this big, but nope, they decided to knock down the walls instead.

Seoah unnie was very cautious, saying stuff like not poking the bear or smth. So, down came the walls, and up went the iron pillars, all so that our big buddy here couldn’t move easily.

There it lay, smack dab where the containment room wall used to be, just laying there all listless. It didn’t do its creepy cackle anymore.

Strangely, from time to time, its entire body would shudder and it would howl in agony, but why? Well, we didn’t know that.

Its hair had also fallen out as if it had been eaten by a rat, it looked like it suddenly had a mid-life crisis.

Then, out of the blue, an arm shot out from inside the doll’s mouth.

“Huh?”

What the hell?! I was totally stunned!

From the size of the doll, we all thought all of the death row inmates were dead, but I guess not!

I quickly slammed the emergency button on the table like a pro. Sirens blared, and soon enough, the police and the Institute’s employees rushed into the containment room and handled the situation.

The cops remained on standby, ready to haul the prisoners back to their cells, while the lab employees prepped their flamethrowers to fight against the doll in case it acted violently.

The employees of the Association who were preparing to relocate the Object also watched in anticipation.

“One, two-! One, two-!” chanted the employees, their shouts echoing through the lab. They shouted to coordinate themselves as they yanked the hand sticking out of the doll’s mouth.

And soon, the inmate, having been pulled out of the mouth of the doll, lay sprawled on the floor.

As soon as I saw her, I quickly ducked behind Seoah unnie.

It’s that scary tattooed lady!

But as I peeked from behind Seoah unnie, she seemed… different. Less edgy. She didn’t give off the same sharp aura as before. Maybe she had gone through too much of a hell inside the Object?

“Seoah unnie, doesn’t she seem, like, way chiller?”

“It certainly seems like she’s mellowed out a bit.”

Soon enough, they slapped cuffs on her and made preparations for her ride back to the prison. Once she testified about what she experienced inside the Object and underwent another trial, she’d be free.

Watching her answer the police officers’ questions, I could clearly tell that she had changed.

When I no longer felt scared and finally came out of my hiding place, Seoah unnie teased, “Not hiding anymore, Researcher Oh Yerin?”

“Hehehe. Umm, she doesn’t feel scary now at all, so it’s okay!” I answered while scratching my head.

It’s not every day you see someone’s aura do a 180. It’s so strange!

After a quick investigation, they dragged her out of the institute, her chains clinking all the way to the prison transport vehicle parked at the entrance of the research institute.

Before she was pushed onto the bus, the woman gazed up at the sky for a while.

Is there something in the sky?

I wondered, craning my neck. But all I saw was the quite ordinary full moon, shining in the dark night sky.

***

The containment room of the ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’ fell silent after all the death row inmates left. Without the police officers who wandered around from time to time, It felt several times larger than before.

“Oh, you are here too, Sehee Unnie?”

“Yeah, I just… felt like I should come.”

As I arrived at the containment room, I saw Yerin who was already there. Work hours had long since ended, but for some reason, something about this place, held me here, my feet refusing to leave the research institute.

Yerin, the Reaper’s self-proclaimed number-one fan, probably felt like that too.

Cackle-!

Cackle-!

The doll, that had moments ago, vomited a living, breathing death row inmate, was now taking labored breaths.

It was a sign. The doll would die soon.

Just listening to its breaths gave off that kind of feeling.

And when the doll dies, the Reaper would return. Or so we hoped. But…

What if the Reaper doesn’t come back?

The thought never crossed my mind. No… I couldn’t even consider the possibility.

The containment room, devoid of people, was so quiet that the faint buzz of the artificial lights became background music.

Then, unexpectedly, that mind-numbing silence was shattered by a sound reminiscent of sand sifting through an hourglass.

The towering doll, all twenty meters of it, began to crumble into dust.

Like the wind blowing in the desert, the sound of sand being scattered echoed in the silence.

“Reaper is back~!”

A surge of joy rushed through me as a familiar, warm, yellow light emerged from the midst of the swirling sand.

As if by instinct, Yerin and I plunged through the cloud of dust, our arms wrapping around the Reaper in a tight hug.

And this, I don’t know why, but the Reaper hugged me back.

***

The ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’ had met its end.

“Seoah, the aftermath is yours to manage.”

Director Lee Sehee left those words, offloading a stack of disappearance reports and assorted tasks onto me before disappearing under the guise of “other pressing matters”.

Once I was done with the bulk of the work, my curiosity led me to seek out Director Lee Sehee’s whereabouts.

I found her in the special containment room, designated for the highly volatile Object known as the ‘Gray Reaper’.

To top that off, she was asleep.

Reviewing the CCTV footage provided clarity on what exactly happened.

The screen displayed Director Lee Sehee and Researcher Oh Yerin entering the containment room.

Initially, there seemed to be a disagreement over the handling of the Gray Reaper.

After arguing for a while, they seemed to come to a consensus—Researcher Oh Yerin would attend to the left side, while Director Lee Sehee would manage the right.

As researcher Oh Yerin started massaging the Reaper, Director Lee Sehee followed suit. Their actions were methodical, the massage was administered in three parts, focusing separately on the Reaper’s fingers, toes, and cheeks.

The institute’s database had noted the Gray Reaper had a habit of falling asleep when administered a massage, and predictably, the Gray Reaper fell asleep instantly.

When the two masseuses confirmed that the Gray Reaper was asleep, they immediately moved toward the Gray Reaper’s bed.

Since they had finished the maintenance work, according to protocol the researchers should have left the containment room.

Yet, they remained and fell asleep alongside the Gray Reaper.

It was a clear violation of the institute’s containment protocols!

According to the protocol, they should be dragged out of the room.

However, stimulating a sleeping Special grade Object was also against the protocols.

So, I had no choice but to leave them be…

Instead, I took out a notebook from my pocket, its cover inscribed with the title—