Seoul Object Story

Late at night, Seodaemun-gu was shrouded in darkness.

The night sky over Seodaemun-gu, where I had arrived chasing the missing Golden Reaper, was covered in clouds.

It should have been a time when colorful moons like Mini Reapers floated in the sky, but the moon was hidden behind clouds that appeared pitch black.

Strangely, the streets were terribly dark, and even the streetlights seemed to emit only a faint glow.

If I hadn’t been able to emit light from my eyes, I probably wouldn’t have been able to examine the streets in such detail.

I had rushed to Seodaemun-gu as soon as I saw the TV, even abandoning my plan to make a swirling white Hungry Ghost roast, but I couldn’t sense the presence of the missing Golden Reaper anywhere.

‘Where on earth did it go?’

I was certain the Golden Reaper had been here.

It was a presence clearly different from other Golden Reapers, one filled with firewood.

A presence I had never felt even in the Mini Reaper Garden.

‘Is it avoiding me? Or did we just happen to miss each other?’

I continued walking, following the trail of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper while pondering these thoughts.

And when I finally arrived at the last place where I had sensed the Golden Reaper’s presence, only emptiness greeted me.

An old bench in the park.

On it sat a lone paper cup.

A cup of coffee as black and dark as the current night sky, something a Golden Reaper would never dream of drinking.

The faint, lingering scent of bitter coffee brushed my nose before dissipating into the night air.

And in the corner of the bench where the coffee cup sat, cookie crumbs were scattered.

‘It was definitely here.’

I gathered my thoughts and turned my gaze away from the traces of coffee and cookies.

As I looked around Seodaemun-gu, it appeared like sleeping ruins.

Empty buildings and people still busily evacuating.

Despite the late hour, the streets were busy.

Cars were lined up, leaving Seodaemun-gu, and people were hurrying with their belongings.

Occasionally, I could see vehicles marked with the James Research Institute logo, suggesting they were also assisting with the evacuation.

Only the sound of engines from vehicles leaving the city echoed through the quiet streets.

The atmosphere was quite different from before.

In the past, even with daily incidents, only a small fraction of people would evacuate…

It used to take buildings being smashed in real-time, like during the Hungry Ghost incident, for people to flee.

It seemed that with fewer Object incidents due to the Golden Reapers, people had actually become more fearful of Object incidents.

Well, if they had fled and feared every incident back then, they would have had to run away 365 days a year.

Perhaps because of this, there were now hardly any human presences left near Seodaemun-gu.

‘It must still be nearby somewhere.’

I looked around once more.

My eyes, glowing like flashlights in the darkness, scanned the streets.

But I couldn’t sense the presence of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper anywhere.

Feeling somewhat anxious, I gripped space tightly with both hands and tore the sky apart.

The spatial slash ripped through clouds and sky, leaving ten intersecting scars in the heavens.

‘Hmm.’

Then, colorful moonlight began to shine down from the sky.

‘Wait. I’ll find you soon.’

I looked up at the moonlight, turning my determination into will and expressing it.