Seoul Object Story
Chapter 89: The Pudding Factory (1)

In a gloomy factory hallway without a single light source except for some blinking red lights, stood iron pillars that looked like well-painted ribs.

“Huff-! Huff-!”

Nothing had changed at all since I entered the factory, yet it became harder and harder to breathe, and my anxious mind made all the structures in the factory look terrifying.

It was like the whole place was closing in on me, squeezing tighter with every step I took. My chest tightened, and nausea churned my stomach. The more I ran, the more out of breath I became.

The unpleasant smell of petroleum wafted through the hallway. At first, I dismissed it as just a typical factory odor, but now I realized it was something worse. That stench was a warning, proof that this factory was tainted with something horrid.

I threw the ‘Anti-Object Suppression Shield’ to the floor. I needed to run faster, and that piece of metal was only slowing me down.

“I shouldn’t have taken a request from such a suspicious foreigner!”

I remembered the man who had promised a large sum for this job. He was strange, wearing odd clothes, but the money had blinded me. Now, I regretted every second of it.

The lonely sound of my footsteps echoed through the hallway, a reminder that I was utterly alone. My colleagues, who had been with me, were gone, their pained faces etched into my memory.

A parking lot came into view. Beyond it, I saw the shimmering mirage of freedom.

Finally!

The escape was so close.

As long as I passed through that parking lot, I could make it out.

The Objects that had taken over the pudding factory didn’t seem to leave the premises for some reason.

Hope surged in my heart, and I swore that if I made it out, I’d never do something this reckless like ‘Object Retrieval’ again.

But that hope was crushed before I could act on it.

“Ha, hahahahaha.”

A dry, bitter laugh escaped my lips, echoing through the empty parking lot.

There, standing in the middle, was one of the Objects.

One of the Objects that occupied the pudding factory.

A massive teddy bear made of iron, towering at least 2 meters tall.

It was a monstrosity, nothing like the Objects described in the reports.

The teddy bear moved its grotesque face and rattled, as if it were laughing at me.

Was it not me who had escaped? Had it just let me escape, in order to toy with me? The realization sank in like lead.

My legs, which had been fueled by the hope of survival, turned to rubber. I crumpled to the asphalt, the weight of despair pinning me down.

The teddy bear’s eyes flashed a fierce red light, and a cruel glint appeared in them as if saying that hunting prey that didn’t put up a fight was no fun.

The Object charged at me with a ferocious expression, its steel fist striking my head with a brutal force.

The very last thing I saw was an endless amount darkness of swallowing me up.

A man with black hair, blue eyes, and a height of over 190 cm glanced down at the smartwatch on his wrist.

“Hmm, it’s dangerous. By now, all the ‘Object Retrieval Experts’ who abandoned us should have died.”

“Y-you! You speak Korean so well! T-Then why!! Do you even need an interpreter?! Why on earth?” A Korean man, his face contorted with anger, shouted.

But the foreign man just responded with a calm expression.

“That? That’s just because I’m a genius. One day is more than enough for me to learn an unfamiliar language.”

“That’s not what I mean!! Why did you even hire me as an interpreter when you speak Korean so well?” The interpreter, visibly frustrated, pounded his chest.

The foreign man wagged his finger from side to side.

“That’s because I came for business, silly, not holiday, Mister Interpreter. When doing business, it’s just good manners to have an interpreter who is fluent in the local language.”

The interpreter squatted on the floor, despairing.

“Ah!! Why did I accept this job?! I should have been suspicious from the moment I saw the employer wearing weird clothing.”

“Aw~! Don’t be so upset. Just remember next time to avoid suspicious interpretation jobs that promise a large lump sum in advance, okay?” The foreign man patted the interpreter on the shoulder with a serious expression.

As the interpreter had noted, the foreign men’s attire was unusual. Stylish sunglasses perched on top of his head, and a full-body, swimsuit-like outfit that covered even the soles of his feet, complemented by a smart watch.

“And, you’re being too harsh calling this multi-purpose costume designed by this genius, ‘James,’ suspicious. This outfit was specially made for coming to dangerous Korea, you know? It’s perfect from both a design and anti-object defense perspective.”

James grabbed the interpreter’s shoulders and pulled him upright.

“I told you not to be too upset, didn’t I? I wholly intend to fulfill my responsibilities as an employer. Since you were not hired to be my bodyguard, I assure you that you will not die before I die.” James said with a refreshing smile.

Of course, given the high probability that both of them would die, it wasn’t very comforting.

One of those camp-folding seats was installed in the back of the car. Even though It wasn’t as soft as a bed, I still rolled around in it because it was comfortable in its own way.

Yerin had installed it for me, saying it was for long-distance driving, and I was super satisfied with it.

It was a cozy little spot filled with all sorts of breads and snacks. But of course, there was no pudding in the piles. After all, I only eat pudding from one brand nowadays!

Right now, I was heading towards the sea in Incheon, to the factory of that very pudding brand, hehe!

Actually, I was planning to just leave on my own, but Yerin asked me to go with her, so here we are.

“Reaper… From what I heard, that factory in Incheon produces pudding using Objects! The United States has already reached the stage where they can make industrial products using Objects. When will such a thing be possible in our country? Hah…”

Yerin was looking up information about the factory while waiting for the traffic light to signal to turn green.

Honestly, this was surprising information to me, since I was planning to just storm into the factory and destroy all the Objects there.

They made the pudding with Objects? Then, I can’t just destroy all the Objects!

I was thinking of unleashing a swarm of hangry Golden Reapers who were ferocious because they couldn’t eat the pudding anymore, but I guess that wouldn’t work. Sad.

The blonde young lady, who led a completely nocturnal lifestyle, looked up at the sky and said, “Ahjussi… Look, the red moon is up.”

She had a pouty expression on her face as she spoke.

“It’s such a shame because it’s a completely different moon. It doesn’t have the warmth of the sun or the gentle embrace of sand. It’s just a moon that exists and can be seen. Is this the intention of the one who destroyed the original red moon?”

Turning her gaze from the sky, she gently stroked the hair of the sleeping Agent Black. He had already fallen asleep, knowing he’d be busy starting tomorrow morning.

The blonde young lady felt a little sad because their schedules were so different. But there was nothing she could do, it would inevitably happen often until the red moon rose again and she could stand under the sun.

She wanted to recreate the red moon, but the heart that was supposed to guide her wasn’t giving her any direction yet.

The sky was itchy?

It was something that humans could never feel.

Can you believe it? To think the sky would be itchy!

As I lay in the car and looked up at the sky, I saw the culprit—The red moon that had been destroyed was floating up there, looking all cute and small compared to the Earth’s original moon.

I knew it as soon as I saw it.

That moon… It was mine.

I seemed to be feeling this way because I had destroyed the red moon.

I’ve destroyed loads of Objects so far, but this was the first time I experienced something like this. Not only did I get an ability from it, but I also seemed to be suffering from some side effects.

“Reaper. Reaper! We’re in trouble. T-There are two moons in the sky! Will this place become a desert too?”

Yerin, who had just discovered the red moon, suddenly made a fuss. She hurriedly turned on the radio, trying to get some more information.

All the channels were talking about the ‘Red Moon’.

Everyone was freaking out about some kind of a desertification crisis, but from my perspective as the owner of the red moon, it was just a bunch of gibberish.

Sighing at how all those radio people were, I patted the unnecessarily anxious Yerin’s shoulder.

Maybe because we left late, it was already late at night when we finally arrived near the factory.

The area was crowded with people who looked like the concerned parties.

Hmm? A dangerous Object had taken over the factory, so was it okay to make so much noise near the factory like this?

While Yerin went off to chat about useless stuff with the concerned parties, I took a walk and looked around the factory.

There was an unpleasant stench wafting from the factory, it was the very same unpleasant stench that I smelled back in the desert.

Hmm… Why do I feel like I would end up accidentally summoning the Golden Reaper again this time?