Seoul Object Story

I squatted down near Ahjussi and stared blankly at the scorching red desert. The sun was so hot it felt like my face was burning!

Before I knew it, the entrance to the cave was already crowded with people.

“Can’t you at least take one more person in? Please let me in!!”

“No! My child! You don’t have to let me! Just please let my child in!”

So many people were begging to be let inside. It was kind of heartbreaking.

I turned to Ahjussi and asked, “Can’t we let in, like, just up to ninety-nine people on a first-come, first-served basis?” But he shook his head and said it would be difficult. And if Ahjussi said it was difficult, it probably meant no way.

I plopped down on a flat rock and watched the crowd while resting my chin on my hands.

“You! That hundred-person limit or whatever, could it just be something you guys made up?!”

“Hah! If interpreting the whims of Objects was that easy, then why are there so many research institutes around!”

“Try interpreting it again! Just look at the size of the cave. It can easily fit about a thousand people!”

People were getting really angry and flocked to the entrance, looking like they might storm in any second. It was kind of scary.

Also, was it even such a big deal? I mean, inside or outside the cave, all of us had the really important stuff—water and shade—already. So, why were they so desperate to get in?

Even the corpse of the man with the severed legs was just lying there, right at the entrance. I suggested that we should clean it up, but the adults said it was better to leave it as a warning or something. Yikes!

Ahjussi was sweating buckets, carrying back and forth pails of water and handing them out to the people at the entrance.

Hmph! I wished he would pay me even half the attention he was giving them…

“It’s starting to reach the limit,” one of the Trinity researchers mumbled softly.

“?”

Huh? What limit? What’s he even talking about?

I looked back out of curiosity, but the researchers had already disappeared.

Meanwhile, the angry finally backed off, and Ahjussi, taking a break, looked super worried.

“Ahjussi, is there something wrong?”

“The shade outside the cave is almost full. If any more people gather, there will be problems.”

“Limit?”

“Yes, miss. We have reached the limit.”

Oh, so that’s what the researchers meant!

While I was happily chatting away with Ahjussi, the cave’s atmosphere suddenly changed.

“Heeek!!! Monster!! There’s a monster!!!”

A hideous-looking monster could be seen crawling across the ceiling, staring at us with its creepy eyes. Seeing the monstrosity I squeezed Ahjussi’s hand tight.

Long whip-like arms, huge strange-looking eyeballs, blue skin with bulging black veins. It was so scary!

“What… is that?”

“Why wasn’t there any mention of something like this appearing in their interpretation!”

Faced with such a situation, the people started panicking out of fear.

Meanwhile, the monsters on the ceiling, licked their lips, as black saliva dripped out of their mouths.

Are they looking for something?

Krrrrrrrrr-!

The monsters made this low, creepy howl, almost like they were laughing.

“Young miss, please be careful to not make any noise and follow me,” Ahjussi said in a low voice.

I felt safe because he was so calm, unlike everyone else. Ahjussi and I moved to the center of the cave quickly and quietly.

“I can’t see the two researchers from Trinity,” Ahjussi said, looking around.

“Yeah, I also haven’t seen them for a while. Maybe they went deeper into the cave?”

“Even if that’s the case, we need to stay alert. Two supposedly sentient monsters and coincidentally two missing researchers. It’s suspicious.”

Being with Ahjussi was calming. Even in this scary situation, I wasn’t that scared because I was holding Ahjussi’s hand.

Scrrrk-! Scrrrk-!

The monsters crawled across the ceiling like cockroaches, then all of a sudden jumped down and blocked the entrance. At the same time, Ahjussi practically dragged me deeper into the cave.

“Aaaahhh!!!”

Screams echoed behind us, along with the sounds of blood and flesh being splattered.

Taking a look back, I saw the monsters swinging their whip-like arms and slicing people into pieces.

We ran towards the altar beyond the lake, but it was a dead end.

We were cornered and the monsters caught up to us in no time.

Ahjussi shouted at the monsters, “Why on earth would the researchers from an institute like Trinity do something like this?”

“Huh? Ain’t that obvious?” The monster spoke human language! Just as Ahjussi suspected, they were the researchers from Trinity!

But then, the talking monster got hit by the other monster. “Ah, team leader. Why did you hit me like that? I feel sad…”

“Huh?! Why did you open your mouth like that? What if someone heard you?!”

It was a little slurred, but they were definitely speaking the human language.

“Nah, I counted. We’ve killed them all. Who’s even left to hear?”

“Why can’t you use your brain a little?! Someone could come in from the outside. I told you to be careful, didn’t I?!?!”

The leader monster, turned to us and continued.

“You don’t need to know our motives. Oy, kill them.”

As if on cue, the other monster’s whip-like arm shot toward me at breakneck speed.

Even though death was near, it felt unreal.

I heard a loud crunch and saw lots of blood being splattered. But Ahjussi was there, holding me tight.

“Ah… Ahjussi…”

I lost consciousness, feeling a sharp pain in my stomach.