Seoul Object Story
Chapter 62: Gyeyangsan Relief Camp (2)

The kitty slipped out of the burning building, its fluffy tail flicking as it dashed toward the west. Even as a maze-like city sprang up where ruins once stood, the cat continued to scamper ahead without a single moment of hesitation.

It darted through the dazzling and intricate city, not sparing a glance for the busy streets, the laughter of children, or the distant barking of dogs. Even though the city’s twists and turns were dizzying, it didn’t once pause at a crossroad.

To the cat, these streets that I knew nothing about, seemed to be as familiar as its own whiskers.

Just like that, I trailed behind the cat for hours. Finally, we arrived at a high ruin with a breathtaking view.

Meooooooow-!

The cat let out a triumphant meow, the sound brimming with a sense of accomplishment.

When I looked down, a familiar scene greeted me. It was a sight often shown on TV whenever they talked about the ‘Incheon Gyeyangsan Relief Camp’.

The camp always looked so chaotic and disordered on screen. Yet, standing there, it was a little different from what I had expected.

Even though the place was often described as a ‘Lawless Relief Camp’ on the TV, it appeared rather normal to me. Not at all bad enough to be considered lawless.

But there was something even stranger about the camp.

No one seemed to be around. Not a single soul in sight…

There really is no one.

The odd feeling only became even more severe as I stealthily followed the cat into the city.

Children running up and down dangerous staircases.

Laundry scattered across the narrow alleys, fluttering in the wind.

Young people sitting together, playing music in an alley.

Couples sitting on the alley wall, holding hands.

Shop owners calling out to passersby.

The city was alive with positivity and vitality.

Yet, something made me unsettled. The ‘Flame’ inside my chest stayed cold, not stirring at all. The subtle discomfort grew worse, gnawing at me.

The stupid cat didn’t seem to notice anything strange and just walked around the camp at a leisurely pace, looking for something.

Hmm, maybe it was looking for an adventure?

Well, the cat may not know it, but it was already on an adventure.

After all, even though they were acting like they didn’t care, those fake humans had their eyes fixed on the cat.

***

The midday sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting long shadows on the floor. The coffee machine in the corner burbled, filling the room with the rich scent of freshly brewed coffee. It mingled with the musty aroma of old wooden furniture and dusty books, creating the familiar, comforting atmosphere of the detective’s office.

Today, though, there was a bit of a buzz in the air, maybe because we were preparing for a business trip.

After double-checking my tools while looking at the pictures on the corkboard, I straightened my yellow suit, tucked away my pocket watch, and reached for the gas lamp on the shelf. Yet, as soon as I picked it up, a small scream came from behind me.

“Sunbae!! Did you go mad? Are you really going to take Watson with you?” Junior No. 1 asked, her face filled with disbelief.

Meanwhile, Junior No. 2, who wasn’t familiar with Watson, just looked at me curiously.

“Of course, I’m taking it. If I don’t, I’ll probably regret it later~” I said, lifting Watson to eye level with a grin.

Finally, I grabbed my revolver.

“A pistol!? Did you really go nuts, sunbae? Are you planning to start a shootout or something? I thought we were just meeting a client. And you know guns are illegal in Korea, right?”

“Look, I’ve got a feeling I’ll be in a sketchy situation and might need it. Haven’t you seen detective movies? The great ones always have a revolver on hand.”

Junior No. 1, clearly tired of me, checked her luggage again.

Meanwhile, Junior No. 2 piped up, “So, where are we headed?”

“Gyeyangsan Relief Camp,” I said, pointing to the article pinned to the corkboard.

It was time to see what all the fuss was about, the camp that had been controversial for some time.

***

The man grumbled, holding his nose as he descended the stairs leading into the basement.

“Hah… I can’t breathe.”

The walls were slick with sticky blood, making the stairs that led down to the basement reek with blood so much that it was difficult to breathe.

He had traveled to the ‘Incheon Gyeyangsan Relief Camp’ on a mission association, determined to redeem himself after a series of humiliating failures.

He had secretly tried to revive the Central Research Institute, but the plan failed disastrously. He had tried freeing the deputy director from the prison but that, too, had ended in failure.

Forced to concede that summoning the Director Object was beyond him, he had placed the deputy director in charge—only to find him later as a headless corpse.

While their plans for establishing a secret Central Research Institute were experiencing setback after setback, the unexpected discovery of the director was almost a blessing in disguise.

It all happened as they were tracking down the mysterious disappearances at the ‘Incheon Gyeyangsan Relief Camp.’ In this place that was being closely monitored by the government, appeared the elusive director who they had been looking for so long…

It seemed like luck was on their side.

The association had given the man a singular mission—recruit the director to the secret Central Research Institute.

As he followed the lead researcher deeper underground, the stench of blood grew overpowering. He could also hear an ominous, rhythmic thumbing, seemingly one of a heartbeat.

Thump-! Thump-!

It was as if countless hearts were beating in unison, creating a macabre symphony.

It was loud, too loud even, it was as if the air from their lungs was being pushed out, the vibration enough to vibrate the man to his very core.

They walked until they reached a cast clearing. There, in the center, stood the director.

“Welcome! Folks from the association whose names I don’t know!~” The director spoke with exaggerated gestures.

The man, wanting to get out of the eerie underground facility as soon as possible, ignored the director’s theatrics and cut to the chase. “Director, please return to—”

Clap-!!

The director interrupted him with a sharp clap of his hand.

“Hmm, if you’re from the Association, you probably know my name, right? Hmm? So, what is it? My name?”

“Huh? …I don’t know. And also aren’t I too young to know your name? Anyway, all the documents that had your name on them have been destroyed already. So it’s impossible to investigate.”

“…”

“Also you know right? Because of that ‘Nameless’, no one can call you by your name anymore! Your name can’t be recorded anywhere too.”

The director’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Director, no, ‘Maker’! Please return to the Central Research Institute. The current institute can support all the experiments you wish to conduct.”

“Name… Well, the name is trivial, right? Yes, of course! And returning to the Central Research Institute, huh? It’s good? No… not good! Why is it not good?”

As the director muttered to himself, something ominous prickled at the man’s instincts. He turned to leave, but before he knew it, two researchers appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his shoulders.

“Wha?! Wait! W-What are you doing!?”

The director approached, stopping only when he was inches from his face. Raising a sharp scalpel he asked. “Name.”

“What?”

“My name. What is it? What is my name? I’ve tested it. My name can be spoken. I tested it with ordinary people too, so I’m sure.”

“No, Never! Ah ah AHHHHH!”

The scalpel pierced the man’s eye, his scream cut short by the horrifying sound of metal slicing through flesh. As the scalpel was pulled out, the sphere in the director’s hand glowed with an eerie light.

He should have started to bleed profusely, yet somehow the bleeding stopped in an instant.

“Just say my name~ What are you so afraid of anyway? Do you think that the ‘Nameless’ will suddenly appear if you call my name?”

“Of course!!”

“Well, how about giving it a try then? Who knows, maybe I’m a parasitic Object inhabiting the director’s body. Wouldn’t it be okay to call the name of the host of a parasitic Object? Just like what you did to the ‘Black Butterfly’? Hmm?”

“No, that’s not possible! You are not a parasitic Object!”

“No, no, stop! NOO! STOP!! Ah! AAHHHH!! STOOOOPP!!! I don’t know! I really don’t know! I TOLD YOU I DON’T KNOW!!!”

Alas, the director did not believe the man.

***

“Hello there~ Nice to meet you. Do you happen to have a request for us?”

My senior, who had been loitering outside the police station all day, was spouting nonsense as usual.

“That’s what he said to me last time, right? Is that his go-to line?”

“Well, he probably thinks it makes him sound cool.”

Hush. Hush.

As I talked shit about my senior with my junior, the woman who seemed like a potential client stood up and grabbed the senior’s hand.

Ugh… Once again, his bizarre approach worked out somehow.

“Okay then. Let’s head to the ‘Gyeyangsan Relief Camp’ right now~”

Since it was a kidnapping case and we already had a location, there was no point in wasting time.

We arrived at the ‘Incheon Gyeyangsan Relief Camp’ by taxi soon after.

Contrary to our expectations, the place was bustling with liveliness and fun.

The children looked bright and cheerful, and the merchants seemed full of life.

Seeing the elderly folks playing Baduk and Janggi on the hillside, the place felt nothing like a scene of a kidnapping. There were so many people that it was impossible to avoid eye contact.

“Sunbae… Can a kidnapping really happen in a place like this?”

Senior furrowed his brows, scanning the area with a serious look.

“Sunbae?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Something feels off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

We just followed the client, who seemed very scared for some reason, to her place.

Soon we were there—a shabby, three-story concrete building with no parking lot—welcomed by a child and a woman.

“Noooonaaaaa!”

The little boy ran with his arms outstretched and tightly hugged the client’s feet. It was quite a cute scene, yet, the client’s face went pale and her body stiffened.

Huh? Why does she look like someone who had just found a cricket stuck to her leg?