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I was surrounded by the Golden Reapers with a Ghost Cat perched on my lap.

Meow.

‘What? When am I going back to the Research Institute? Well, seeing the Director being dragged to the Research Institute Isolation Room might just push me to leave.’

The cat was throwing tiny punches on my belly, clearly annoyed by how late it was.

‘But hey, the detective seems to be trying to call someone, so it shouldn’t take too long.’

As I lay chatting with the cat, the detective and Junior reappeared in the open lot.

The detective approached the object known as the ‘Client’, while Junior came over to where I was lounging.

“Reaper, I’ve returned! Did you wait long?”

Junior slipped an arm under my armpits and lifted me up, cradling me in their arms.

They hugged me tightly from behind and pressed their cheeks against mine.

So annoying.

Since I had completely relaxed my entire body, Junior lifted me high.

“Wow, the Reaper is as flexible as a cat!”

Junior beamed, exclaiming, “Wow, the Reaper has gotten longer!”

Junior was happy, and I was fine with being cozy and getting a bit of wood to warm me up.

*

The open lot was less bustling than before.

The Client’s younger brother was asleep, and the Gray Reaper was being held limp by Junior.

The Golden Reapers, who had once made the place lively, were now curled up and sleeping like balls.

Despite sleeping, they seemed to maintain some vigilance around the Director’s body, scattered nearby.

Indeed, a few Golden Reapers were rubbing their eyes like they were sleepy but were keeping a watchful eye on the Director’s corpse.

Why do the Golden Reapers dislike the Director so much?

I approached the Client, who was guarding their younger brother, and handed over the Golden Heart.

“Ah… I see.”

Even without any explanation, the Client reacted as if they understood something.

“I felt something was off. The memories and scenery of the camp. It felt like I had no place there. It’s definitely the view I shared with my brother, but it was vague as if everything beneath my feet was crumbling.”

The Client gazed at the Golden Heart inside the glass bottle, stroking its surface.

“The camp before I sensed something strange was truly a happy place. It was a fake and an illusion created by the object, though. Poor but sharing meals and sleeping with my brother, and the residents were all kind. It was such a dreamlike time, but at some point, I started to feel alienated.”

The Client sighed deeply.

“I wish I could have remained oblivious… It was too comfortable and happy that I began to feel something was off. Just when I was struggling with that discomfort, my brother came and asked me for something. A simple request, but it would take a long time. I wonder if my brother knew that the camp and himself were fake.”

The Client returned the Golden Heart to me.

“After that, I made the request and ended up meeting the real younger brother. I’m the fake one. Please keep the heart, Detective. Somehow it feels right to do that. And I think I can pay the request fee soon, so please wait.”

With all the words out, the Client looked relieved and turned back to their younger brother.

Inside the bottle they accepted again, the heart continued to beat.

As they collected the glass bottle containing the heart and turned away, it felt like this request could be considered completely concluded.

Hmm, I suppose this counts as a happy ending for an incident involving an object, right?

*

The phone in the Research Institute office emitted a loud ringing.

“This is Sehee Research Institute.”

Senior Kim Jungloe answered the phone with a heavy voice.

It seemed to be something regarding the Incheon Gyeyangsan Temporary Camp. I wonder what’s going on?

Incheon and our research institute shouldn’t really have any relation.

As I watched the frown on the senior’s face deepen, it didn’t seem to be good news.

These days, any incidents brewing at our research institute…

The missing Gray Reaper!

The Reaper has been found, finally.

I felt an anticipation filling me like Pavlov’s dog hearing the bell.

I stood up quietly and started hovering near the senior who was on the phone.

Senior gestured for me to go back to my seat, but I persistently ignored them and kept eavesdropping.

Once the senior finished the call and stood up, I pounced at them.

“Senior! It’s the Gray Reaper, right? They found it at Incheon Gyeyangsan Camp?”

“Yeah, you need to prepare since you’re coming along.”

“Yay!”

I threw my hands up in triumph.

Finally, the Gray Reaper!

I dashed back to my place and started getting ready to head out.

*

Hours after Junior No. 2 had called for people, many arrived at the Gyeyangsan Temporary Camp.

Of course, they weren’t police officers.

The police were still ignoring the incidents related to the Gyeyangsan Temporary Camp.

The first to arrive were the soldiers with a terribly tidy atmosphere.

Since they were sent by that black guy, they were probably soldiers from the Association.

I mentioned the black guy’s phone number to Junior No. 2 in case the police ignored our calls.

And sure enough, the police ignored our request, and Junior No. 2 asked the black guy for help.

Junior No. 2 explained the current situation to the black guy and successfully received proper support.

The soldiers sent by the Association pulled out metallic devices.

Portable isolation equipment for securing the object.

Tools they brought to collect the Director’s body.

The agents from the Association sent by the black guy were specialists in object collection.

Without a sound, they executed their tasks, exuding a professional atmosphere.

They entered the open lot in an orderly manner and began securing the Director’s corpse.

Meticulously scraping the ground, they were determined not to leave even a scrap of flesh behind.

Having gathered all of the Director’s remains, they exited the open lot in silence, just as quickly as they arrived.

“Wow, that’s what you call professionals, right? So different from amateurs like us.”

Junior No. 2 was in awe.

“Well, in my experience, such organized soldiers tend to die quickly.”

“No way.”

Junior No. 2 looked incredulous, but from what I’ve seen, it was true.

The more organized and rigid they were, the likelier they fell into the traps of the objects.

The Association often trained teams with such high-level training, and there’s a reason they did it often.

It’s because they all end up dead.

As soon as the Golden Reapers that filled the lot noticed the Director’s corpse was gone, most of them vanished too.

Those Golden Reapers, curled up like balls while sleeping, miraculously woke up as soon as the soldiers touched the Director’s body.

They stared intently as if watching the corpse being carried away.

Once they confirmed the body was safely out of the open lot, the Golden Reapers watching dissolved into thin air.

What arrived next was an ambulance.

The medical personnel transported the camp’s only survivor, the Client’s younger brother, Lee Taehoon, to a nearby hospital.

Of course, the Client, who refused to leave her brother’s side, followed as a caregiver.

After that, employees from the Association began arriving one after another to clean up the disaster-stricken camp.

And most importantly, the personnel from the ‘Sehee Research Institute’ who would take the Gray Reaper arrived.

*

The sight of the Gyeyangsan Temporary Camp from the window had a chilling atmosphere.

A desolate and quiet landscape.

It was clearly a village where people used to live, yet the ambiance resembled that of a prison camp.

Corpses were scattered all around the camp’s alleys.

“Senior, is this really the work of the Reapers?”

“No, I heard the Gray Reaper is not involved. In fact, the current massacre was apparently carried out by some cult organization from China. It’s difficult to gather information from overseas, so I can’t know for sure.”

Well, even if a Reaper did it, there would surely be some reason behind it, but I was relieved to hear that the reputation of the Reapers was not further tarnished.

In front of a large underground waterway, wide enough for trucks to enter, numerous vehicles were parked.

At the senior’s instruction to get off and proceed on foot, I quickly hopped out and started walking down the ominous waterway.

Red water flowed through the channel.

The overwhelming smell of blood surrounding me confirmed that the red liquid coursing through the canal wasn’t just polluted wastewater but indeed blood.

It felt like something out of a horror movie, dark and filled with the scent of blood, yet luckily, the atmosphere was not terrifying.

That was because there were so many Association employees traversing this channel.

A considerable number of them were moving blood-soaked chairs and tools outside or transporting bags containing corpses.

After walking through the long waterway, I arrived at an expansive open lot.

There were various people inside, but only one thing caught my eye.

The Reaper!

The Gray Reaper was lying down and sleeping, surrounded by Golden Reapers.

“Reaper!”

Upon hearing my voice, the Gray Reaper lifted its head with a sleepy expression.

The sleepy look as it rubbed its eyes was adorable!

 

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