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At the end of the slippery rectangular passage, they arrived at the waste disposal site.

There were dried blood, blackened bones, and a putrid smell all around.

“Ugh.”

The leftover substances stuck to the floor felt strangely mushy, making the situation even more unpleasant.

The silver-haired girl felt like she was going to vomit, but she lowered her body and hid among the waste.

Soon enough, the brown-haired girl followed her down and stuck close behind the silver-haired girl.

The brown-haired girl also wore a face that looked like she might throw up at any moment.

As they hid, various sounds could be heard.

The emergency alarm from the slaughterhouse seemed far away now, sounding faint rather than ear-piercing.

However, in contrast to the alarm, numerous footsteps were still echoing near the waste disposal site.

As the girls peered out into the darkness, they occasionally caught sight of people in human corps uniforms busily running around.

“Are those people all objects too?”

At the brown-haired girl’s words, the silver-haired girl turned her head, and the brown-haired girl with a gloomy expression continued to speak.

“Maybe there are others fooled like us?”

“Well, I don’t know….”

The silver-haired girl secretly thought they were all objects.

Looking at the massive slaughterhouse or the objects transformed into humans, it didn’t seem like they would keep humans alive.

However, she kept that thought to herself.

After all, the brown-haired girl had longed to be one of the human corps several times over.

Once the raucous sounds of footsteps faded away, the silver-haired girl slowly moved her legs.

Her destination was a sprout object that was bouncing and waving its hand from afar.

It was still a little suspicious, but it was a cute guide they had no choice but to trust.

*

Outside the facility, in a deserted place, the brown-haired girl and the silver-haired girl managed to reach this spot after escaping the facility.

Gasping for breath and looking back, they could still see the facility bustling with noise.

“Phew, we barely… escaped….”

The brown-haired girl sat against a wall, exhaling roughly.

Her clothes were torn, and her face was still filled with tension.

The silver-haired girl looked cautiously toward the facility, responding to the brown-haired girl’s words.

“Strange. Why did the pursuit suddenly stop?”

Then, the brown-haired girl looked at the silver-haired girl with a tense expression.

“You might be right. It felt like they let us go on purpose. Could it be a trap? No, but there wouldn’t be a reason to lay a trap, would there?”

As if in agreement with the silver-haired girl’s opinion, a hint of unease seeped into the brown-haired girl’s voice.

The two girls continued to ponder but couldn’t find a reason for their intentional release as mere ‘runaways’ with nothing to their name.

“Ugh, I don’t know! No matter how much it might be a trap, we have to keep running!”

With that, the brown-haired girl decided to shift the topic, suggesting they stop worrying over unanswered questions.

“By the way, I never expected to escape from the facility like this. What do we do now?”

The brown-haired girl was lost since the ‘facility’ had been her entire life and had no idea what to do from this point on.

‘A future where I can’t become a human corps.’

At that thought, the silver-haired girl stared blankly at something small in the corner and then replied.

“First, we need to get as far from the facility as possible. And I’d like to try going to the surface. They said the surface was destroyed, but I can’t believe that until I see it myself.”

“Then I guess we have to go in that direction.”

The brown-haired girl gazed at the enormous passageway far ahead.

It was a giant cave that probably connected to the outside world.

*

The blue waves of the Pacific gently caressed the massive hull of the ‘James Explorer,’ as I leaned against the deck railing.

The horizon stretched endlessly to meet the sky, and the sunlight sparkled and danced atop the calm waves.

I was aboard that famous ship, which was discussed oh-so-frequently in the news.

To be honest, I had no intention of ever boarding this ship.

They said it automatically hunted objects, so I had no reason to go along with it.

But I ended up coming here out of curiosity for the ‘James Explorer’ news that popped up every time I turned on the TV.

This ship looked just as it did in the news.

No, it was perhaps even more grand and magnificent.

The massive hull resembled a floating city.

Its shiny white exterior paired with golden decorations dazzled even more under the sunlight.

Given the ship’s luxurious white color, it felt more like a cruise ship than an exploration vessel.

Of course, that is, if you exclude all the high-tech equipment, antennas, and cannons set up all around.

Thud thud.

As I strolled slowly around the deck, I could see mini reapers playing cheerfully with attached humans in various spots.

Golden reapers splashed around in the pool while happily holding onto attached humans’ fingers.

Black reapers transformed into big hats blocking attached humans from sunlight.

As I wandered past the mini reapers playing with the attached humans, I felt a bit strange.

There seemed to be more mini reapers than humans, somehow.

Moving closer to the deck railing to peer down at the sea, I noticed the black reapers clinging to the railing.

And when I checked the lifeboat hanging nearby, it was filled with golden reapers like little chicks.

“Uh, mom!”

“Mom!”

I tossed all the bothersome golden reapers off into the Pacific, claiming I was bored and wanted to play, before heading down into the deck interior.

The mini reapers swarming were no different inside the deck or cabin.

When I peered out the window, a golden reaper was gleefully laughing outside, eyes sparkling.

A soft golden light spilled from between the stairs connecting the deck and interior.

Of course, it was presumably a golden reaper smiling brightly while hiding, so I didn’t bother to check.

“Hm.”

The James Explorer was more like a mini reaper theme park than an exploration vessel.

As I roamed around, I suddenly spotted a strangely small cabbage.

Why on earth is there a cabbage?

When I approached to check, the cabbage on the table turned out not to be a cabbage at all, but a green reaper.

A green reaper nestled comfortably asleep inside a mini cabbage.

“Oh, right. There was a steamer in the dining area.”

Seeing the cabbage green reaper reminded me of an amusing prank I once pulled.

It was the prank where I stuffed a golden reaper inside a bun steamer.

Of course, the golden reapers lounged inside like it was a sauna, leisurely nibbling away at the steamed buns.

I had a feeling it would yield a funny reaction if I put the green reaper in the steamer, so I picked up the cabbage green reaper and headed to the dining area.

I arrived at the dining area and opened the steamer.

Then, I found three dumplings and one orange reaper sleeping peacefully with a comfortable expression inside.

‘….’

I froze in disbelief for a moment when suddenly an announcement echoed throughout the ship.

[We are issuing an emergency alert.]

[An unidentified island has appeared in our navigational path. Repeat, an unidentified island has appeared.]

[There is a high possibility that this is an object, so all research personnel must immediately move to the emergency assembly point.]

[This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.]

*

In the dark cave illuminated by fake starlight, two girls with silver and brown hair stumbled forward.

Extreme fatigue painted their faces, and their clothes were stained with dust and sweat.

“Are you okay?”

The brown-haired girl asked, looking worriedly at her friend beside her.

The silver-haired girl nodded her head weakly.

“Yeah, just a bit tired.”

The two girls paused for a moment, catching their breath while remaining alert to their surroundings.

Their eyes were filled with fear and vigilance.

The experiences of the past few days had taken a toll on their minds.

“I still can’t believe it.”

The silver-haired girl said in a small voice.

“To think that everyone in the city was fake too.”

The brown-haired girl nodded her head.

“I still remember that shop owner. He was really such a cheerful guy… to find out he was an object….”

The two girls fell into a moment of silence.

The world they had known was crumbling at an alarming pace.

Life in the underground facility.

The soldiers, the last bastion of humanity.

The ‘humans’ they met during the rare permitted outings.

All of it had been a colossal deception.

If it hadn’t been for the little guide during their difficult journey.

Without the sprout reaper by their side, the silver-haired girl might have collapsed entirely.

Suddenly, a bizarre sound echoed from deep within the cave.

The two girls instinctively lowered their bodies.

“We have to go.”

The silver-haired girl said, pulling the brown-haired girl’s hand.

“Our destination is right in front of us. We just need to hold on a little longer.”

The brown-haired girl nodded and lifted her head.

Before the girls, there loomed an enormous passage that could only be described as massive.

The cave that had not been accessible to the facility’s children.

A cave that they assumed would likely lead to the surface.

“There it is.”

“If we get through there, finally….”

[Watch out, human!]

But before their conversation could end, a sprout reaper’s warning filled the air, as fog began to envelop them all around.

The thick fog was so dense they couldn’t even see each other next to them.

In that moment filled with fog, a man stepped out of the mist.

Even with the thick fog, oddly enough, the man’s figure was clear.

“The lost sheep is struggling with hope, huh?”

He was a man whose back was hunched, as if always in a bowed position.

 

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