Seoul Object Story

In the director’s office at Sehee Research Institute, Seoah and I were glued to the security CCTV footage playing on the monitor mounted on the wall.

The room was steeped in silence, broken only by the occasional rustle of pages filled with charts and diagrams being turned. But no matter how much I stared at the screen, the cause remained elusive.

Why on earth did the seemingly calm Glass Flamingo escape?

I glanced over at Seoah, breaking the silence.

“Why did it suddenly decide to bolt? I’ve watched this video a dozen times, and I can’t spot anything that might’ve provoked it. No attacks, nothing.”

Seoah responded calmly, her expression thoughtful.

“I did a thorough analysis of the Research Institute that quarantined it before Sehee Research Institute acquired it. I found some… suspicious factors.”

“Really? What did you find?” I asked, tilting my head slightly, my interest thoroughly piqued.

Seoah then pulled up a series of photos that looked like something out of a dystopian military thriller.

In the images, I saw an imposing structure surrounded by a thick reinforced exterior wall, complete with an explosive device that could blow at any moment and bury the containment room underground.

Wow, they really went all out, I thought, my eyes widening a bit at the sight.

“I think the reason for its escape is that our institute doesn’t have such a high-intensity containment room. It might’ve seen a chance to escape and got a little aggressive to make it happen. Just look at its behavior after it broke out—it headed straight for the stairs instead of attacking anyone.”

“So, you’re saying it pretended to be harmless when escape seemed impossible but decided to make a run for it when it saw an opportunity?”

I couldn’t help but feel a little offended, like the Object had decided we were an easy mark.

“Thankfully, that won’t be happening again.”

When I turned my gaze to the corner of the table, I saw a reliable and cute soldier standing with an upright posture. It was a Golden Reaper donning a helmet and spear made of water!

The combination of their confident stance and cute appearance made them twice as endearing in an instant.

After the Glass Flamingo incident, the Golden Reapers had somehow acquired helmets and spears and started patrolling the lab.

There was one in every containment room.

One in every office.

A bunch of them trotting cutely down the hallway.

And plenty of them standing guard by the puddings in the break room.

To us, they were undeniably cute. But for the Objects, it was a different story. Whenever the Golden Reapers were on patrol, the aggression of the other Objects dropped significantly.

The employees who frequently encountered the adorable Golden Reapers were also thrilled!

We’d officially become the safest—and most content—research institute in the world.