Seoul Object Story
Chapter 79: The Kkachisan Conference (5)

As I watched the rock hurtling towards me, I had a thought.

So, this is how I die, huh?

But then, out of nowhere, a golden light flashed before my eyes.

The Golden Reaper, who had disappeared somewhere, suddenly leaped in front of me and batted the rock away like it was a pesky little fly.

“Reaper!”

I shouted in joy, but the Golden Reaper remained solemn, staring at the devastated hall with a serious expression.

The heat was so intense that it felt like I was standing in a blast furnace, while the fierce wind whipped around sand and rocks all over the place.

The corpses of the researchers, pierced by rocks, lay scattered around, while the survivors huddled behind tables, trembling in fear.

The air reeked of scorched sand, mingling with the sweltering heat. I had no choice but to grit my teeth and hunch down, trying to avoid getting smacked by another flying stone.

The Golden Reaper stood tall(well, as tall as it could) in front of me, deflecting the stray stones that dared come close.

I always knew the Golden Reaper was strong, but seeing it in action? It was something else. I couldn’t even bear to think what might’ve happened to me if it hadn’t shown up.

Crack-! Craaaash-!

The sound of glass shattering echoed, making my stomach churn with dread. Whatever was happening, it was definitely not on the list of good things.

Suddenly, the Golden Reaper rushed towards me, latching onto my cheek just as—

Crash-!

The space around us ripped apart with a terrifying sound, revealing a massive red moon staring down at us through the torn space. And with it came a deluge of sand and scorching air.

The force of the sandstorm sent me tumbling down like a ragdoll. After what felt like an eternity, but was only a few minutes, the onslaught stopped.

“Ha…”

I poked my head out from the sand and gasped for air. My skin was a patchwork of bruises and cuts, but I was still breathing.

The Reaper stood beside me, looking at my injuries with a gloomy expression. It seemed genuinely at a loss about what to do.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry! These wounds are nothing! Well, they won’t kill me at least,” I reassured it, giving its head a gentle pat.

As I stood up, clutching the Reaper to my chest, I took in the sight before me. The Kkachisan Research Institute was gone, replaced by an endless expanse of desert.

Every grain of sand, every jagged rock, and each one of the swaying dunes was glowing fiery red under the dark sky. Above us, a vivid red moon cast its light, illuminating the area.

It was as dark as night, but the moonlight made everything unbearably hot, like I was being roasted under a giant heat lamp. The air was thick with heat, wrapping around me like a stifling blanket.

“Ha, it’s really hot here.”

Sweat poured down my face. It felt like being in a pitch-black sauna that had forgotten to include the ‘wet’ part. Or maybe like being stuck in a one-room apartment with an electric heater on full blast instead of lights.

All in all, it was an extremely unusual environment that would be difficult to experience on Earth.

The Reaper, worried at my state, stood on my shoulder and tried to fan me with its tiny hands, but the effort was more endearing than it was effective.

“Hah… Reaper. What do I do now? Sigh.” I sighed, patting the little reaper’s head in frustration.

Clearly, we were dealing with some kind of Object-related incident, so how do I overcome such a situation?

***

“Young miss, are you okay?”

Unlike Agent Black, whose body was covered in wounds, the blonde young lady was relatively unharmed.

“I’m fine,” she said, brushing sand from her hair and clothes.

Separated from her ten devoted secretaries, she should have been expected to show signs of anxiety. Yet, she remained calm.

“Forget about me, aren’t you the one who’s seriously injured though, Ahjussi?”

“I have sustained no wounds that would impair my ability to function.”

Agent Black also dusted off the sand, inspected his uniform, and began to move.

“For now, we need to move quickly and assess the situation. It may seem safe at the moment, but conditions can deteriorate rapidly. Thus, speed is essential.”

He gestured toward the highest dune around them and advanced in that direction. His voice dropped to a near whisper as he lowered his posture, moving with practiced stealth.

“Ahjussi, it looks like it’s nighttime now, but it’s really hot,” the blonde young lady remarked, wiping sweat from her brow.

Just the brief exertion had already drenched her in sweat.

“I share your concern. If the nights are this hot, the daytime will be unbearable. We should consider digging into the ground to find shelter before the temperature rises further.”

Reaching the top of the dune, they surveyed the vast desert below.

Scattered figures moved in the distance, and menacing Objects pursued them.

Among the Objects, the most formidable was an Object made of red sandstone cubes, intertwining and rotating relentlessly.

Each cube, roughly the size of a grown man, formed a roaming mass that moved with deadly intent. The combination of ten such cubes was not just imposing but lethally powerful.

Moreover, the Object appeared to be extremely aggressive.

It prowled the desert in search of people, chasing down any it found with unnerving speed and crushing them without mercy.

“Hiiiik!!”

The blonde young lady stifled a gasp as she saw a person being crushed by the monstrous Object.

Under normal circumstances, Agent Black would have covered her eyes, but the gravity of their situation required a different approach. He understood that exposing her to these horrors now might be better for preparing her for what lay ahead.

As she regained her composure, the girl, still pale but determined, spoke up.

“Let’s move quickly. We can’t end up like that, can we?”

Her words were bold, but he could see she was struggling to maintain her facade.

“We need to find shelter first. Moving any further in this heat is impractical. Waiting for the rescue team is our best option.”

With deliberate caution, Agent Black and the blonde girl set out to locate a safe place, navigating the hostile terrain with measured precision.

***

Was it wrong to move around so carelessly?

Well, if you ask me, getting chased by soldiers made of red sand wasn’t exactly on my agenda today.

If it weren’t for the Golden Reaper, I’d probably be, well, dead by now. Thankfully, my trusty little guardian was busy slicing and dicing the sand soldiers tailing us.

The Golden Reaper charged at the closest sand soldier, and with a swift, golden arc, decapited it. The headless soldier crumbled back into harmless red sand with a satisfying thud.

But before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, another soldier materialized from the scattered grains. Talk about persistent. No matter how many times the Reaper killed them, they just kept popping back up like some twisted game.

“Haa… Haa…”

I spat out a mouthful of gritty sand and gasped for breath. The heat was sapping my energy faster than a leaky faucet, and I was starting to feel dizzy.

This was not good. Not good at all.

I felt like I was on the verge of passing out.

At some point, the Golden Reaper had returned to my shoulder, looking unbothered as always. If only I could be so cool under pressure.

Just when I thought, ‘Well, this is it,’ the relentless chase came to an abrupt end.

“Huh?”

I took a deep breath and glanced back, half-expecting another wave of sand soldiers. Instead, I saw them retreating. They were giving up? Just like that?

“Woaaah! We survived! Right, Reaper?”

I plopped onto the sand, patting my little savior. But the Golden Reaper didn’t join in my celebration.

Wooong-!

A low, ominous vibration thrummed through the air.

The Golden Reaper leaped forward, and the sand exploded outward in a chaotic spray. I was sent tumbling like a ragdol, helpless against the swirling storm.

When I finally stopped bouncing around, I lifted my head and peered through the settling dust. There, hovering in the center of the blast zone, was an Object made of red rock cubes, clumped together in a chaotic mess.

At its heart was a red glass bead, large and glowing, obviously important to anyone who saw it.

The Golden Reaper rushed towards that red sphere that was the size of a human head.

But before it could reach it, the red rock cubes closed in on me. They moved slowly, but to my exhausted eyes, they were like speeding bullets. The rocks were far too big for the Golden Reaper to block.

Just as I braced myself for the worst, the red rocks halted and crashed down in pieces. At the same time, a sound like the shattering of glass echoed through the air.

Thud-! Thud-! thud-!

Chunks of the red rocky cubes fell all around me.

When the dust finally settled, I saw the red sphere lying there, split in two.

Ah, so that was the Object’s weak spot, huh?

But lying there, on the sand beside the shattered sphere, was the Golden Reaper, motionless.

“Reaper!”

Panic gripped me as I sprinted toward the Golden Reaper. It just lay still, eyes closed, with one of its arms missing.

H… How?

From the wound where the arm had been torn off, golden flames dripped like blood.

“No… No! What do I do? What do I do?!”

Desperately, I pressed my hand over the wound, but the flames slipped through my fingers as if they were incorporeal and vanished into the sand.

***

When the Golden Reaper finally came to, the first thing it saw was Park Seoah’s big, teary eyes.

It wanted so much to reach out and wipe away those tears, but sadly it had no free hands remaining.

With its one remaining hand, it did its best to squeeze the wound on its shoulder. The flame inside its heart was nearly depleted, and it needed to keep the rest from slipping out if it didn’t want to fade away entirely.

“Reaper! A-are you okay?”

The words were just a jumble of sounds to the Golden Reaper. It couldn’t really understand them, but it felt the warmth and concern behind them. And the soft, gentle hand stroking its head made it feel her love even more.

The Golden Reaper fought through the pain and managed to give Park Seoah a big, brave smile. To the Golden Reaper, she was the most important person in the world, and it wanted to show her everything was going to be okay.

But seeing that smile only made Seoah’s tears fall faster. She could see the Reaper was hurting, even though it was trying so hard to be strong for her.

Bang-!

Suddenly, another Object made of red rock burst onto the scene with a loud crash. Seoah’s face twisted with worry.

But the Golden Reaper just beamed at her, its eyes twinkling with mischief and a touch of stubbornness.

It turned and charged at the new Object, its small figure brimming with determination.

Don’t worry! I still have one arm left!

***

The situation was dire.

The Golden Reaper had dashed out with a bright smile, but we were heavily outnumbered.

The enemies had a numerical advantage, and Reaper had lost one of its arms and looked extremely tired.

It felt as if it was one breeze away from being blown away, like a candle in front of the wind.

In such a bleak moment, when my knees gave out and the sand felt like it was about to swallow me whole, something shifted in the hazy distance.

A silhouette, standing maybe a meter tall, with long, flowing hair, emerged from beyond the dust. Just its presence alone seemed to have instantly changed the atmosphere.

Should I say that I felt a surge of hope and relief when? It was like finding an oasis after being stuck in a desert for a long time.

Before I could fully process what was happening, the Golden Reaper, who had just charged at the enemy with a bright smile, was suddenly back in my arms. Its lost arm was miraculously restored, and it looked far more lively than just a moment ago.

Then, to my utter astonishment, more Golden Reapers appeared, popping up from the small figure’s shadow. The Golden Reaper’s expression, which had been tense all this time, finally softened as well.