Seoul Object Story
Chapter 82: The Kkachisan Conference (8)

A woman dressed in everyday clothes that did not suit the desert at all could be seen walking across the red desert.

She wandered through the desert with a child in her arms. The child’s face was flushed, and her breathing was weak and shallow. It was clearly the sign of a heatstroke.

The desert was devoid of even a single shade. The sudden disaster had driven many residents of Gangseo-gu into a dire situation.

The woman walked barefoot on the scorching sand. Despite the burning heat under her feet, she continued searching for shade or a sip of water.

All of a sudden, she saw a huge tent appearing in front of her like a mirage.

The magnificent tent made of long pillars and a wide canopy, stood out sharply against the wavy sand dunes. The shadows of the tents danced quietly as the fabric fluttered softly in the wind.

Under the tent’s shade, a bunch of fruits were laid out. There were lots of fruits on display, and all of them contained plenty of moisture like a watermelon.

The woman, in her casual clothes, ran towards the tent, hoping it wasn’t a mirage or a hallucination caused by her suffering.

As she approached, the tent’s shape became clearer, more real. Yet, the closer she got, the more uneasy she felt. There seemed to be people sitting under the tent, completely still, not moving at all.

As she entered the tent, her heated skin began to cool off. The temperature inside was so refreshingly cool that it was hard to believe that she was still in the desert.

“Oh! A guest has arrived.”

An elderly man, sitting closest to her, spoke. His face was full of wrinkles, and he held a large cane with both hands. His attire was adorned with dozens of jewels, overly flashy for the setting.

“Ah! Excuse me, my child seems to be suffering from a heatstroke. Can she eat some of this fruit?”

“If that’s the case, of course, I must help you. But, can you in return do a little favor to this lonely elder? If you promise to answer a simple quiz, I will give you as much fruit as you want.”

Despite his benevolent smile, something about his expression seemed awkward. But the woman was too desperate to notice.

“Y-yes! I promise! I’ll answer all your questions!”

She hastily agreed, then cracked open a watermelon and fed it to her child. The cool temperature also seemed to help, and the child started to get better.

Relieved, the woman sighed and ate a piece of watermelon herself. It was juicy and refreshing, leaving a strange, lingering taste in her mouth.

Yet the inexplicable taste of the watermelon seemed to wake the woman up from her reverie. Only then did she notice the oddities of the elderly man and the tent.

Objects!

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

As she looked up at the elderly man, his wrinkled skin turned to sand and fell to the ground. His voice faded, replaced by the sound of his teeth chattering in laughter. Then out of nowhere, skeletons holding swords appeared, lining up around him like a folding screen.

The elderly skeleton’s words echoed directly in her head rather than traveling through the air as a voice, it felt utterly dreary and malicious. Meanwhile, a strong stench of blood wafted from the swords held by the skeletons.

But then, something appeared all of a sudden, cutting through that evil atmosphere.

Plop-! Plop-!

It was a little golden creature? The woman had never seen anything like it before.

it must be an Object!

The tiny Object stood with its hands on its waist, staring down the elderly skeleton. At a glance, the little Object seemed weak, but the elderly skeleton’s reaction was unexpected.

The elderly skeleton took a step back, taking deep frequent breaths.

Then, golden faces appeared all over the tent, even on the fruits. Little faces popped up from under the table, behind pillars, and even the backs of the chairs. The woman found them cute, but the elderly skeleton’s reaction was the complete opposite.

Throwing away his stick, the elderly skeleton ran. What happened next was even more surprising, the golden Objects went after the skeletons and shattered them to pieces, their remains turned into dust scattering away with the wind.

After it was finished taking care of the nasty Objects, the little golden Object rushed to the woman’s as if it was hoping for praise. She stiffened at its sudden approach. Though it had saved her, she still felt uneasy.

After all, it was a cute-looking powerful Object, a combination that was very well known to be deadly.

Seeing her hesitation the Object’s expression turned sullen. It also shone brightly in a cute golden color and exuded a somewhat soothing smell.

As the woman looked closely, an unfounded feeling that it probably wouldn’t cause her any harm seemed to take over her mind. So, she carefully reached out her hand, and the Object jumped onto her palm.

Ah, this…!

Upon closer inspection, the little golden Object looked exactly like the Gray Reaper!

Startled, the woman threw away the Golden Reaper to the floor. It lay there limply, looking as if it had lost the entire world.

“Uh… sorry?”

Its expression looked so distraught that even the woman ended up apologizing.

She held out her hand again, and the Golden Reaper glanced at her before climbing back onto her palm, holding onto one of her fingers with its life.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t throw you again! I promise!”

As soon as the Golden Reaper stuck to her cheek, all the other Golden Reapers scattered in all directions.

Thus she was left with just one Golden Reaper, yet strangely, she felt comfortable.

***

In a cave filled with tension due to the sudden death of one of the people gathered there.

In such an atmosphere, researchers from Trinity drew everyone’s attention.

“Everyone! Please pay attention!”

Could it be they had discovered something?

With that expectation, people turned their focus to the Trinity Research Institute researchers.

After all, as the best research institute in Korea, Trinity’s researchers weren’t known for talking nonsense.

Once the researcher felt he had garnered enough attention, he spoke loudly.

“We have deciphered part of the underlying structure of this Object. Let’s move for now so we can explain it further.”

The Trinity researchers led the people deeper into the cave. When they reached a spot with a huge stone statue and an altar beyond the large lake, they began their explanation.

“If you were to look at the wall here, you’ll see some letters engraved into the stone. We were able to interpret this text thanks to our ongoing research at the Trinity Research Institute. You all are really fortunate that we are here.”

Half of his words were praise for the Trinity Research Institute and half were the explanation of the interpreted text. And the interpretation confirmed Agent Black’s grim prediction.

The people who heard this nodded in agreement, finding the story plausible. It would be even stranger if a convenient oasis like this didn’t have such caveats.

“So there’s only one thing we need to do. We must not leave the cave and must chase out anyone who tries to enter.”

Then, the question-and-answer session began. The questions being asked were as diverse as the number of researchers who participated in the Kkachisan Conference.

The people asked various questions, from the reasons for hiding the information to the methods used for interpreting the text.

“Ah, since we are only junior researchers, we hope you understand we cannot talk freely.”

Of course, clear answers from the Trinity researchers were rare.

While people gathered and looked at the alien characters engraved on the wall, the blonde young lady was snooping around the altar.

“Ahjussi! There are a lot of bats painted on the altar! What does it mean, I wonder?”

“I’m not sure, either. Wouldn’t it be better to ask one of the researchers from Trinity?”

So, the blonde young lady asked one of the researchers with a bright smile, but his answer was a simple “I don’t know.”

“It cannot be helped since the interpretation is not yet perfect.”

“No, Ahjussi, I’m not disappointed because I didn’t get a perfect interpretation. It’s just that there’s absolutely nothing about the altar in the researchers’ interpretation, but no matter how you look at it, doesn’t the altar seem more important?”

She was right. Considering the size, scale, and splendor of the altar, it seemed more significant than the stone statues or the wall with the letters engraved on it.

*

Based on the Trinity Institute researchers’ interpretation of the Object, the people inside the cave began to chase away anyone who tried to enter.

“Get lost!”

They gathered tools that could be used as weapons, gave them to those acting as guards, and threatened anyone who tried to enter the cave.

However, the cave, a very striking landmark of the desert, attracted more than just a few visitors. And many of them were exhausted from the heat and dying of thirst.

Though they couldn’t enter the cave due to the threats, they gradually gathered in the shade near the cave.

Seeing them, the blonde young lady asked with concern.

“Won’t those people all of a sudden rush in?”

“That will probably happen soon enough. We need a solution. Even though they are having trouble entering because of the huge gap in our numbers, that gap will close pretty quickly.”

Meanwhile, the Trinity Institute researchers watched the arguing crowd with meaningful eyes.

***

Plop-! Plop-!

I was skipping through the desert, feeling the soft sand under my feet.

No matter how I thought about it, the condition was utterly ridiculous. It was just that silly! How were normal people, people who couldn’t see these ridiculous conditions like me supposed to figure out how to defeat this Object? Like how could they even get to the first step?!!

Questioning the stupidity of the killing condition, I was on a quest to find this ‘Red Skull’.

My plan? Have the Golden Reapers spread all throughout the desert to the center of it. If they are spread evenly across the desert then the middle of their spread-out pattern would also be the center of the desert! Hehe! Aren’t I smart?

Usually, the Golden Reapers didn’t listen to me very well, but this time, they were spreading out throughout the desert just like I wanted. Success!

Still, as I wandered around looking for the ‘Red Skull’, all I found were regular skulls. Ugh, so many skulls, but why are none of them red?!!

Instead of a ‘Red Skull’, I just kept finding more firewood for the flame in my heart.

Even though the ‘Red Skull’ seemed to be hiding from me, I often stumbled upon people carrying Golden Reapers on their shoulders.

“Heek! It’s the Gray Reaper!”

They were always scared at first when they saw me, but then they’d approach me with wide teary eyes.

“The Golden Reaper… You sent it to me, right? Thank you very much.”

Their emotions were a unique mix of fear and gratitude. I just gave them a blank stare while gathering some of that sweet, sweet firewood.

To my surprise, some of them even snuck up to hug me tightly. So annoying! But, khm, I had to put up with it. It was not because I liked it though, I hated it. It was just that I needed the firewood, no other reasons.

I had no idea when I’d find the ‘Red Skull’, though.

*

While I was busy collecting firewood and searching for the skull, I spotted something very suspicious in the distance.

It was a huge cave made of red rock. From afar, it looked kind of like a skull with its mouth wide open.

Hmm, isn’t that the red skull?