Seoul Object Story

Late at night, Seodaemun-gu.

Finally, the last people remaining in Seodaemun-gu began to leave the city.

Even those who had stubbornly stayed behind after hospital patients were evacuated quickly changed their minds when the Golden Reapers rushed in.

‘It’s dangerous here!’

‘Humans, run away!’

Some angrily slapped their cheeks.

Others tugged at cheeks with sad expressions.

Some clung to trouser hems, being dragged along.

Others put on cute, pleading expressions.

Everyone succumbed to the adorable persuasion of the various Golden Reapers.

Though Seodaemun-gu became enveloped in silence like a ghost town, there was still no sign of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper.

‘Where on earth could it be?’

The fact that I suddenly missed the missing Golden Reaper for no reason likely meant it was in a dangerous situation….

At that moment, a streak of golden light burst forth, cutting through the pitch-black night sky.

A golden comet-like beam of light.

At first just a tiny spark no bigger than a Mini Reaper, it explosively expanded to engulf all of Seodaemun-gu in a golden wave.

Shadows on the streets danced and flickered, and everything seemed outlined in a golden glow.

At the center of that sun-like light was a tiny lump of firewood, shaped like a Golden Reaper’s small fist.

And the moment that sun appeared, I sensed the presence of the missing Golden Reaper.

‘There you are!’

A small crack in the shape of a Golden Reaper’s fist.

Though the crack vanished instantly, it was no longer an issue now that I had observed its location once.

I stuffed both hands full of firewood and tore through space.

Recklessly, as if clawing in anger.

Crack.

With a sound like shattering glass, a suspicious space was revealed.

A distorted space where wishes swirled like a vortex.

A short-haired girl collapsed in the corner.

And finally, a Golden Cloak Reaper slowly falling with its fist still raised.

That girl with abundant-looking firewood was probably the Golden Cloak Reaper’s Attachment Human.

I leapt straight towards the Golden Reaper.

Looking up at me, the Golden Cloak Reaper smiled weakly.

As I fell, I easily tore apart the space trapping the Golden Cloak Reaper and embraced it in my arms.

‘Don’t worry. Mom is here.’

I sent that will as I poured firewood into the Golden Cloak Reaper.

I poured in firewood.

I poured in firewood.

I poured in firewood.

‘???’

It’s absorbing about 100 times more firewood than a normal Golden Reaper….

After feeding it plenty of firewood, the Golden Cloak Reaper regained consciousness and looked up at me with a small smile.

I patted it once, then placed it on top of my head before sending the collapsed girl to the Mini Reaper Garden.

‘Ready to fight!’

As I turned towards the kidnapper, I saw a man wearing a halo on his head looking at me with a strange expression.

That expression seemed to convey both hatred and longing.

[It’s already too late, byproduct.]

The moment those words left the man’s trembling lips, space cracked open as if shattering.

And rotting hands rose up from the cracks in space.

They were traces of desires, created from wishes but twisted and corrupted.

Those hands desperately reached out towards the man as if trying to grasp something they had yearned for over a long time.

And they began to wrap around the man’s body as if determined never to let go.

The man simply stared at the hands burrowing into his body.

Even as his flesh melted and fused with the hands, his expression was one of ecstasy.

[Finally… the great work is achieved!]

With his voice full of joy, the fusion was complete.

The man’s form was no longer human.

A grotesque shape with countless hands bursting through flesh, clenched tight.

And that form somewhat resembled the appearance of the ‘Old God’ nailed to the ground.