Seoul Object Story
Chapter 75: The Kkachisan Conference (1)

Preparations for the upcoming event were in full swing at the Kkachisan Research Institute.

The ‘Periodical Conference of the Object Research Institutes,’ a significant gathering for the institute, was about to take place, and every detail was being meticulously arranged.

Agent Black moved through the event site with the steady gait of a veteran. He inspected the preparations, offering occasional assistance where needed. The work had started early, and by lunchtime, it was still ongoing. Only when the sun reached its peak and the work slowed down did Agent Black take a breather.

From the summit of Kkachisan, he looked down at the bustling city below. The panoramic view had a soothing effect on him, offering a brief reprieve from the relentless grind of his duties. Seoul had been in a state of constant upheaval, with the disbandment and re-formation of the Association as well as the numerous incidents that had plagued the city, all of it had burned him out.

From up here, the small, orderly buildings resembled matchboxes, and the roads, winding like ribbons, were sparsely dotted with cars that moved sluggishly, reminiscent of beetles.

The distant hum of car horns and engines, muted at this height formed a familiar backdrop, oddly comforting in its regularity.

“Ahjussi!”

The sound of small, hurried footsteps running up the stairs, drew Agent Black’s attention. A certain blonde young lady appeared, her face flushed with exhaustion, holding a leaflet about the upcoming conference.

“Look at this!” she exclaimed happily, thrusting the leaflet towards him.

The flyer detailed the conference schedule for each day, divided into Part 1 and Part 2, listing the topics for each presentation.

.

.

.

The blonde young lady with sparkling eyes, was very excited as she pointed to one of the topics of the presentation.

“They have discovered cases where people gain superhuman abilities due to the indirect influence of Objects!! Superhuman!!! Have you ever seen one of them, Ahjussi?!”

“I haven’t yet had the chance to meet any. However, since research shows their numbers are increasing and the fact that the government is actively searching for them, it’s only a matter of time before I do.”

As he spoke, a familiar image surfaced in his mind. It was of a friend:

The Yellow Detective.

He couldn’t be called a superhuman by the conventional definition, something like explosive growth in physical ability, which one of the presentations at this conference would cover. However, his intuition was almost in the realm of foresight, so he could easily be categorized as a superhuman.

“Who will be the first superhuman discovered in Korea, I wonder? Wait, could it be me? Heheeh~!” The blonde young lady lowered her head, giggling tremendously at the funny thought.

Actually, Agent Black had already received instructions regarding superhumans from the Association.

Well, there was no need to burden her with such dark details.

“More often than not, the changes are subtler than what we’ll hear about in the presentations,” he said, redirecting the conversation. “Look here.”

“Wow, so eventually all humans will become superhuman?”

“Yes. If this trend continues, it’s possible. But it’s hard to say how long it will take.”

After looking through the leaflet a bit more, the girl seemed to lose interest and handed it over to the secretary seated behind her.

“Ah, that’s right, Ahjussi”

“Hmm?”

“Did you know? There’s going to be a blood moon tonight. They say the moon will be all red.”

The girl said, clearly looking forward to seeing the moon tonight as she trotted back down the stairs.

***

Caw-!

Caaaw-!

A loud bird’s cry echoed through the quiet containment room shattering the calm. I looked around, my eyes landing on the polaroid photo that Yerin had given me, lying innocently on the table.

As I was busy watching the TV, I saw it—a black penguin’s head slowly creeping up from the photo. It popped up just enough to peek around, its little eyes darting about as if it were making sure the coast was clear.

Cute, right? It seemed to think I couldn’t see it because my back was turned. But, kek!! Silly Penguin! It had no idea I didn’t need eyes to know what was going on around me! Hehehehe!

I waited, grinning to myself. And just as it glanced the other way, I lunged forward and grabbed it by the neck.

Caaaawwww-!

Now, what is this penguin? And what’s this cheeky bird up to?

Hmm, I had a hunch it was a ‘harmful bird’ to humans. Can’t have that, can we?

So, without much thought, I tightened my grip and, using my phantom form overlapped my hand with its neck.

Poof—its head burst into pieces.

The poor penguin flopped around headless for a bit before it melted into a puddle of sticky, black goo. It smelled awful, like gross, old petroleum. Yuck!

I shook off the gooey mud with my phantom form and examined the photo again.

The penguin that was always so lively and dancing excitedly inside the picture was gone. What remained was a weird, creepy odd landscape staring back at me.

Well, that’s no fun! Now the photo’s useless!

I tossed aside the photo away and left the containment room.

The hallway outside was cool and bright, a nice change from the cozy containment room. Both had their charm, but right now, the fresh air felt just right.

Plop-! Plop-!

As I made my way down the empty hallway, I heard some voices up ahead.

Turning the corner, I spotted Seoah and Sehee.

Seoah? Outside her office? Woah! What’s the occasion?

***

After leaving the director’s office with Seoah, we strolled down the hallway of the research institute.

It had been a while since we had a proper chat—probably since the whole ‘Golden Reaper Illegal Transfer’ fiasco. I figured this was the perfect chance to catch up, and maybe I could squeeze some gossip out of her! Hey, a girl can hope!

“So… You know, the Golden Reaper that was in the break room has disappeared. Where did it go off this time? What do you think Seoah?”

“…”

Silence. Even though I had thrown an ice-breaker at her, Seo-ah didn’t even respond. She just kept walking, sweat dripping from her forehead… Wait! Hmm? Why’s she sweating? Is she hurt somewhere?

“Whoa, you’re sweating buckets! If you’re not feeling well, you really shouldn’t push yourself to attend the conference. Honestly, I was thinking of ditching it anyway.”

“No. It’s better for us to participate. The association also wants us to be there,” Seoah replied, her voice shaky but firm. She seemed to be set on going to the upcoming ‘Kkachisan Conference’.

Actually, I was the one who was supposed to go, but Seoah volunteered in my stead. Well, it was fine by me, cause I didn’t really want to go there anyway.

Conferences were great and all, but one filled with talks about financial soundness and bureaucratic mumbo jumbo? Hard pass.

The truth was that I was trying to wiggle out of it. I mean, why sit through a snooze-fest when there are far more exciting stuff? But Seoah decided to go in my stead.

Seoah insisted she’d manage, and prepare on her own. Now, that’s adorable! When she has zero experience with these kinds of business trips!

Hehehe!! So who better to give her a crash course than me? As her dependable senior and someone who often goes on business trips and field trips, I should kindly share my know-how with her!

***

After leaving the Director’s office with Director Lee Sehee, we walked through the hallway of the Sehee Research Institute.

Our steps echoed softly, a reminder of the silence around us. All of a sudden, Director Sehee mentioned the Golden Reaper and I nearly felt my heart jump. I kept my expression neutral, praying she hadn’t figured out I was the one who’d “borrowed” it. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have.

She then switched gears, rattling off a list of precautions I should take during business trips.

Her advice sounded helpful at first, but then I suddenly realized…

Sigh, seems like Director Sehee has forgotten.

Most of the “advice” she was giving me was stuff I told her long ago! They were the precautions I’d emphasized to avoid all those Object-related mishaps she seemed to attract like a magnet.

The problem was that, despite my best efforts, she hardly ever followed what I told her!!

Every single time… Every single damn time, she goes out she gets caught in a kidnapping, a lockdown, or caught by the freaking association or something!

And now she was trying to give me advice? Me? That too advice I had given her?

Ah, shit… The more I thought about it, the more absurd it became.

“Hehe! Just follow my tips and you don’t need to worry about getting kidnapped!” she declared with a smug expression on her face.

I gave her a flat, disbelieving look. Did she still not see the irony? Oh, she seems to get it now.

The Gray Reaper, who had appeared out of nowhere was also staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“D-don’t look at me like that!” she stammered, her eyes rapidly switching between me and the reaper. “I remembered… I just remembered who told me those…”

“AHH!! I mean, I’ve been kidnapped so many times, so I should know, right?!!!”

Her earlier bravado fizzled out, leaving her sullen and pouty.

***

A few days before the Kkachisan Conference opened, a large and bright blood moon appeared in the sky. The problem was it wasn’t just a one-night spectacle—it showed up the next night too. However, it seemed to be confined to the Gangseo-gu area.

The young lady was thrilled by the strange sight. Still, no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was in no way a good omen.

I had written a detailed report on the persistent red moon and submitted it to the association.

But, bureaucracy being what it is, it would be quite some time before they responded.

Time we didn’t have.

We needed to act swiftly and respond as quickly as possible.

“Hehe~! Ahjussi! Ahjussi! Do you think the red moon will appear again tonight?”

“Umm… Young miss, how about we stay indoors at least while the red moon rises?”

Shake. Shake.

The young lady insisted, shaking her head with a bright smile.