Seoul Object Story
Chapter 77: The Kkachisan Conference (3)

Late at night, a warehouse buzzed with activity, its bright lights a stark contrast to the dark, silent buildings around it.

Trucks lined up outside, their doors open and waiting for cargo. Workers carried paper boxes, moving in and out of the entrance in a steady stream.

Yet, despite the activity, the warehouse itself looked neglected. The walls were stained with age, the paint peeling off of it.

Rusty metal and pieces of wood rolled around on the floor as if they hadn’t even bothered to clean.

However, the scene inside was different. Men packed bundles of shiny Polaroid photos into pristine cardboard boxes, a stark contrast to the rundown warehouse.

“Oy! Move quickly!”

“We’ve still got tons of photos to pack!”

As soon as the boxes were full, they were swiftly loaded into trucks with the company name painted front and center.

That’s right, the Daily Object ran the warehouse. The photos being packed were of the ‘Dancing Penguin,’ an insanely popular product that was taking Seoul by storm.

At first, people were hesitant to buy something related to an Object. But as no issues arose over time, the product gained quite the popularity.

The fact that the ‘Daily Object’ branded itself as an ‘Object Specialized Media Company’ also played a role.

It reassured the public, making them think something akin to ‘Don’t these people take pictures of dangerous Objects on the front lines? So, they would’ve known if it was unsafe’.

To keep up with the high demand, an army of workers took photos of the penguin, packed them up and transported them all day long.

“Move quickly! This is a one-shot business! We have to sell out while it’s still popular!”

The warehouse was a strange mix of attributes. The building itself looked abandoned, a swarm of people hurried about, and the rows upon rows of colorful, luxurious paper boxes.

It was a strange place where nothing seemed to fit with each other, yet the strangest thing there was something else:

A penguin with glistening black fur, sitting calmly in front of a Polaroid camera twenty-four hours a day.

Caaaaaaw-!!!

Caaaaaaaw-!!!

Yet, the usually quiet black penguin started crying out of nowhere.

“What the? Oh for the love of god sake! Someone shut that thing up! It’s so loud!”

“Uh, boss… but how do we shut it up…?”

A man standing in front of the penguin not knowing what to do, asked the screaming boss with a confused expression.

“Ah, idiots! Just hit it!”

“But… There’s something strange about it. Doesn’t it look like the penguin is laughing at us? It seems dangerous…”

Another man who was busy packing boxes suddenly approached and struck the hesitant man on the head.

“Aigoo, this idiot… Sigh . Are you blind too? Can’t you see you’re delaying the photo session?!! Just hit the penguin’s head like this! See?”

Bam-! Bam-!

A dull, loud sound echoed. The penguin usually stayed still no matter what, so the man didn’t hesitate at all. But this time it was different.

Crunch-!

The man’s harrowing scream pierced the air, followed by the sound of breaking bones.

“Aaaahhh!!! My hand! MY HAND!!”

The man’s hand now had a hole in the shape of a penguin’s beak. His skin, muscles, and even bones were cleanly severed as if done by a machine.

“Y-You bastards! Ugh! Wh-Why are you just watching? Huh? Call an ambulance!!!”

Caw-! Caw-!

As the staff rushed to call an ambulance, the bloody penguin raised its head, laughing happily.

Caw-! Caw-! Caw-!

The cries grew louder as multiple penguin heads emerged from the scattered photos, their incessant cawing ringing out.

“C-crazy! This is madness!! Whose bright idea was it to do business using an Object?”

One of the men who was packing the photos threw all of them away and ran out of the warehouse. But his escape was immediately followed by a terrible scream.

“Aaaahhh!!”

It was the scream of the man who had fled, accompanied by a crunching sound, the sound of flesh being torn apart.

Those trying to abandon the shouting boss and flee, couldn’t help but freeze hearing such a sound.

Bloody penguins, covered in flesh and gore streamed in from the warehouse entrance.

Before the staff knew it, they were surrounded by the penguins. They could only shake in fear at the sight of the approaching penguins. Terrified at the prospect of their impending doom.

***

I was lying down in the warm and cozy containment room, nibbling on ice cream and feeling quite content.

Sigh.

As I watched the TV, every channel was buzzing about the black penguin attack.

Sigh… Those idiots at ‘The Daily Object’ had sold so many photos that the number of victims was staggering.

I don’t know… Should I feel happy that got a taste of karma? Or should I be sad that there was no one to take responsibility now?

After all, all the employees, including the president of ‘The Daily Object’, the wholesale and retail supplier of the penguin photos were gone now.

Their deaths became known pretty swiftly, as their corpses were discovered by an ambulance that was dispatched to a shabby warehouse.

Fortunately, the penguins were dealt with pretty quickly.

Even though they were as tough as steel, they didn’t have any type of physical invulnerability ability. A good hit from an armor-piercing bullet, and poof, they were done for.

Oh, I heard that some of those penguins scurried off towards Gangseo-gu. Will it be okay? I hope they don’t cause some kind of a problem.

This whole incident had the politicians buzzing about passing a new Object-related bill.

They seemed to be planning to set higher certification standards for anyone wanting to handle Objects.

Hmm, I really hope they make it tough enough to prevent another ‘The Daily Object’ type of fiasco.

Wait… if the standards get too high, wouldn’t that mean the Sehee Research Institute might not be eligible to handle Objects anymore?

Hmm, maybe they could set the bar just high enough for Sehee Research Institute to squeak by?

Hihihihihi…

I lazed around in the bed, savoring my ice cream, lost in my silly thoughts.

***

The Kkachisan Conference was a lot larger than I expected.

Despite its relatively small exterior, likely thanks to some kind of magic, Kkachisan Research Institute was surprisingly spacious inside.

Elegant chandeliers adorned the high ceiling, bathing the hall in a soft, pure light.

Rows of neatly arranged chairs stretched so far that their ends were barely visible, giving me an idea of the sheer amount of attendees this place could accommodate.

As I was representing Sehee Research Institute which was a somewhat small institute, I would have normally felt intimidated in this situation, but thanks to the Golden Reaper constantly tickling my palms I had some peace of mind.

I was forced to hide it in my bag, but it kept squirming trying to escape. So, I had no choice but to keep it in my hand and cover my hand with a book.

The Golden Reaper seemed to be happy with the arrangement as it kept writhing and moving around in my palm while smiling broadly.

Among the participants from numerous research institutes and government organizations present, certain participants stood out. Researchers from Trinity Research Institute, Korea’s top research entity, caught my eye.

Trinity Research Institute, formed by the union of three large research institutes, wielded significant influence with its vast scale and financial power.

The researchers affiliated with them were even proudly wearing lab coats with the Trinity Research Institute’s logo on them.

I understood their pride, since it’s the place where the best talent in the country gathered, and the wages they received were at a completely different level, but still, did they need to show off like that? It was off-putting, to be honest.

The strangest thing, however, was the Golden Reaper’s reaction.

The Golden Reaper who didn’t seem to care about what happened outside and always played in the palm of my hands no matter what was happening around it, suddenly stopped playing when I got closer to the researchers from Trinity Research Institute.

It then bared its teeth toward the researchers as if it was threatening them.

I guess the Golden Reaper hated braggarts and show-offs… Yosh! I have to be careful if I don’t want the Reaper to hate me.

***

I removed all the furniture inside the containment and stood far away from the Golden Reaper.

I was all set to test my newly acquired ability.

Okay then, here I go!

As I focused on the Golden Reaper, suddenly I felt a connection to it. Then, I quickly dove into that connection!

In the blink of an eye, I was standing next to the Golden Reaper.

Clap-! Clap-!

It gave me a little bit of applause, amazed by my sudden appearance.

Hehe! I gained this teleportation ability after killing that pesky bird. It used up quite a bit of my energy and I could only teleport to the Golden Reapers, but it was a fantastic ability, considering I got it by dealing with a lousy bird.

Just like how those pesky birds could travel through photographs, I could now travel using the Golden Reapers. Heheheheh!!

Hmm, now whenever I need to go to places that are too far away and inconvenient, can I just send a Golden Reaper there?

But to test the limits of this ability, I had to place one of the Golden Reapers that kept sticking to me, far away from me, which was quite tricky. So, the plan to send them ahead to places I wanted to go to while I lazed around seemed to be on hold.

Maybe someday… When I can command the Golden Reaper at will…

***

Late in the evening, at the quiet venue after the conference, Agent Black stood there, looking up at the red moon.

Sigh… In the end, the evacuation order was not issued until the day of the conference.

The higher-ups chose to ignore this seemingly “harmless” phenomenon, as it seemed to pose no particular risk. Well, it couldn’t be helped. After all, these days Objects appeared too frequently for everyone to fear them all.

In an era where Objects were as common as animals, a Cloud Fish could suddenly descend into someone’s house, while the Mirror Ball might just take over the National Assembly building while singing cheerful songs.

Fortunately, this latest phenomenon ultimately ended without causing any damage. But with incidents like these happening repeatedly, people had become numb to safety concerns.

That was also the case for the girl sitting next to Agent Black, shaking her leg and fiddling with a crimson bat.

The bat was as red as blood, a new type of Object that had suddenly appeared in the city.

Although it was clearly a dangerous Object, the girl wasn’t afraid, she was delighted instead.

“Look! A bat! And it’s the same color as the moon!”

Agent Black watched her, hoping nothing like the Mirror Ball phenomenon would happen this time.