Chapter 297

It’s been several days since contact was lost with the space station.

Alone in the cosmic outpost, a woman trembled in fear, cowering between the communication consoles.

The research on mental pollution from space had concluded, and she was supposed to soon return to Earth…

By now, she should’ve arrived on Earth and prepared to transfer to the James Tower in Korea.

“Why did I have to come all the way out here…?”

The woman once again raised the microphone nestled in her arms and spoke in a low voice.

“This is JamesSS, requesting response from Object Center. Abnormal situation at space station, priority code red.”

No matter how much she called out, only static responded from the comm console.

*kzzzzzkk*

At that moment, chilling sounds began echoing through the station.

It was the sound of the green plants that had overrun the station growing even more, warping its very structure as if counting down to some inevitable end.

The entire station shook violently, as if it would tear apart at any second.

*thud*

A noise sounded in front of the woman clutching the mic with her eyes tightly shut.

When she opened her eyes, she saw something familiar lying there – a small photo album sent by a friend working at the Korean James Tower.

Opening it, she found one photo inside showing her smiling friend holding a tiny golden object.

Even though they didn’t know what a camera was, the golden reaper gave a cheerful thumbs up.

“I wanted to see a golden reaper too…”

Her voice caught in her throat as tears blurred her vision.

After staring at the photo for a while, she raised the mic again.

“Object Center, this is JamesSS. Abnormal plant growth and animal activity detected. Team safety is compromised. Requesting emergency rescue. Repeat, requesting emergency rescue.”

But still, no response came to her trembling voice.

When she finally looked up, the control room looked distorted, with torn walls revealing the void of space outside.

“Haha…ha…”

But there was no expected air flow or changes visible.

“So it really is an object after all…” she muttered bitterly to herself.

As the sun disappeared behind Earth, casting the station into shadow, a bone-chilling cold swept through.

An ominous darkness enveloped the station, and creeping noises began echoing through the dark.

Something was coming.

Trembling in terror, the woman raised the mic again.

“Please save me… This is the space station… Please respond… Requesting emergency evacuation support. Repeat, requesting emergency evacuation support.”

“Anyone, please… Save me…”

But the transmission from the space station would drift forever unanswered through the cosmos.

***

In the sunny courtyard of Sehee Research Institute, I lay on soft marshmallows with my eyes closed.

The warm sunlight made me feel drowsy and pleasant.

The sound of a small TV played like white noise in the background.

[Breaking news. The American Object Association has announced losing contact with their space station.]

[Currently, remote observations show no abnormalities with the station. Domestic space experts believe it’s likely just a communication error.]

As I rested, mini reapers gathered on my stomach and started jumping around.

“Mom’s squishy!”

“Bouncy bouncy!”

They treated my belly like a trampoline.

Though I shouldn’t care about gaining weight, it felt weird hearing them call me squishy all the time.

“Waaaah!”

I suddenly sat up, surprising a golden reaper jumping on my stomach.

“Oh no! Mom’s angry!”

Catching one of the fleeing golden reapers, I started blowing firewood breath on it.

Golden reaper pork roast!

Despite struggling, the golden reaper couldn’t escape once caught – ghosting doesn’t work and it’s no match for my strength.

“Eek!”

No matter how much firewood breath I blew, the golden reaper showed no effect.

How much firewood breath does Yerin normally produce?

While I pondered this, the golden reaper carefully slipped away and fled to the mini reaper garden.

*woof woof* *bark bark bark*

I heard strange noises resembling hungry ghosts in the distance.

Looking over, I saw a white hungry ghost perched on the institute roof, covering its mouth and laughing.

Realizing I’d caught its eye, the ghost quickly disappeared from view.

“?????”

Have the red reapers been burning things too much lately?

Or has the white hungry ghost gone mad from lack of torment?

I slowly got up to chase after the fleeing ghost.

***

A taxi pulled into the quiet parking lot of the Object Research Institute complex.

Out stepped Cheong and the Italian siblings.

“Finally here!”

The younger sister stretched as she gazed at Sehee Research Institute.

“We’ve confirmed our visit. They said a guide will meet us at the entrance.”

Cheong checked her phone before walking toward the institute with an orange reaper floating above her head.

Immediately, the nearby golden reapers turned their attention to her.

“!”

Surprisingly, they swarmed toward her like ants to candy.

“Ack!”

“Still so popular with the mini reapers, huh?”

Cheong’s flustered comment drew an envious remark from the Italian sister.

“This never happened before. Why now?”

When the mini reapers started clinging to her legs, making movement difficult, a researcher rushed out.

This caused the reapers to disperse slightly.

“You must be the visitors. I’m Researcher Yerin Oh, your guide.”

Following Yerin inside revealed a surprisingly playful interior compared to the building’s exterior.

Researchers strolled around with mini reapers on their heads, candy baskets were placed everywhere, and mini reaper cutouts decorated the walls.

It hardly seemed like a proper research facility.

“Is it normal for mini reapers to swarm like this?”

“Well, without an attached reaper, mini reapers do tend to cling. Especially to newcomers.”

Yerin glanced at the orange reaper perched on Cheong’s head before continuing.

“Having an attached reaper but still drawing this much attention… you’re the first besides me.”

During their walk through the courtyard filled with mini reapers, Cheong noticed another oddity – TVs placed throughout the hallways, all tuned to news channels.

[A pack of 30 tigers has appeared near Gwanaksan Mountain in Gwanak-gu.]

[Local residents are shocked and terrified by this sudden development.]

[The Object Safety Management Council has begun investigating whether this tiger appearance is related to any objects.]

Passing by these screens, the group reached the courtyard.

“Wow!”

Cheong couldn’t help but exclaim at the breathtaking sight of golden reapers filling the courtyard, creating a magical atmosphere.

***

In a dimly lit room within James Tower on the outskirts of Songpa-gu, an online video conference was underway regarding the handling of the space station occupied by the green moon.

[Shouldn’t we just leave it alone until a proper solution arises?]

[Dealing with an object in space would cost too much, with no guarantee of success.]

[No, we need to handle it immediately! We can’t just leave it.]

Though there was agreement that the seven-colored moons needed to be destroyed by the gray reaper, most participants felt it could wait.

[If we need to destroy the green moon, we’ll have to send the gray reaper to space. Is that even possible?]

[Direct human intervention seems unlikely. Dealing with objects is hard enough, let alone in space.]

[Can we lure the gray reaper to the space station somehow?]

[Would it even be interested in an empty space station with no humans or anything else?]

The meeting dragged on without reaching any practical solutions.

Either the green moon would cause actual problems, or a revolutionary method to bring the gray reaper to the station would need to emerge.

“Damn…”

Frustrated, James closed his eyes in the darkened conference room as a golden reaper hovered worriedly above him, patting his head.