Chapter 40

A secret chamber hidden deep underground in the lab.

Inside this sealed narrow room, a man was panting heavily.

“Haaah… Haaah…”

For reasons unknown, the extremely tense man was drenched in cold sweat.

In fact, his condition seemed rather strange.

After all, the only things in the chamber were a desk with a notebook and a pen sitting lonely on it.

“Uh… I just have to write the name here… and you’ll let me go, right?”

The man asked in a trembling voice, but there was no response.

He slowly approached the desk and opened the notebook.

The opened notebook had a picture of a famous object pasted on it.

It was a picture of a “Cute Puppy.”

Underneath the picture, there was a simple blank line: [Object Name: _________].

Huffing and puffing, the man grabbed the pen with his shaking hand and began filling in the blank.

[Object Name: Dog__] he wrote before throwing down the pen and screaming.

“I can’t do it!”

At that moment, a loud beeping sound echoed through the chamber as a countdown began.

The man pulled his hair, deep in thought.

He picked up the pen… then put it down.

He sat back down… then stood up again.

His behavior clearly showed extreme fear.

As the countdown neared its end, the man tightly closed his eyes and finished filling out the form.

[Object Name: Dog47]

Phew…

When nothing happened after some time, the man opened his eyes and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Haha! I’m alive! I made it!”

He laughed loudly, looking truly happy.

“I survived!”

Standing up and stretching his arms to the sky, he looked genuinely joyful – though it didn’t last long.

[Image]

“Kyaaa! Wh-What is that?!”

A grotesque monster was staring at him through the window.

KABOOM!

The monster swung its arm, denting and warping the metal walls.

The transparent windows turned white, and the LED lights flickered pitifully from the impact.

KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!

The monster’s punches grew faster, and it seemed to grow larger.

The man hid under his desk, clutching his head.

He kept muttering “I will survive” like a mantra.

When the sound of tearing metal rang out, the monster’s punches stopped.

Slowly opening his eyes, the man saw that the monster had disappeared.

“Haaah…”

Thinking he was safe, he exhaled deeply.

But when he blinked and stood up, the monster was right in front of him.

Close enough to feel each other’s breath.

Startled, the man screamed.

“AAAAHHH!”

The monster’s sharp claws cut off his vocal cords first.

Then it severed his writing hands.

Then it chopped off his legs still seated on the chair.

And finally, it grabbed his head with both hands and crushed it.

Like venting its anger, it proceeded to tear apart the man’s corpse.

As the LED lights broke, the chamber fell into darkness, filled only with spreading blood.

The blood-soaked notebook also bore deep claw marks.

The object name section had been shredded beyond recognition.

***

The director looked at the blood-covered chamber with a bitter smile.

Even with specially made steel plates and glass, the chamber couldn’t contain the object.

“This has failed again. Getting the freedom to name the object is harder than expected.”

There exists an object that must be included on every official government report about objects.

The most influential object in the world.

An object that most people don’t even remember.

The director opened a government-issued report.

[This report is an official publication of the Object Management Association.]

[Do not make any notes or scribbles on this report.]

[Do not change the object’s name in this report.]

[Do not erase or add any text in this report.]

[This report was written by a ‘qualified individual.’]

[Object Name: None]

[Object Danger Level: Special]

[Management Possibility – Management Difficulty (High)]

[Management Method – This report must be shown to all humans who can read. Even those who cannot read must be made aware of its contents.]

[Rules* – Do not assign a unique name to the object. Do not attach numbers to the object’s name. When naming the object, use only ‘verified expressions.’]

[‘Verified expressions’ can be found in the attached documents.]

[Precaution 1 – If you break Rules*, you will be attacked by ‘None’ no matter where you are on Earth. There is currently no known way to survive this attack. Documents and videos are also targets of the attack.]

[Precaution 2 – This object cannot be given any name. It must always be referred to as ‘None’ or ‘noname.’]

[Removal Possibility – Cannot be removed.]

[All physical attacks are ineffective. No reported objects can remove ‘None.’]

[Isolation Possibility – Cannot be isolated.]

[Can appear anywhere on Earth. Multiple instances of ‘None’ have been observed during simultaneous appearance experiments. Appearances have been observed in physically inaccessible locations.]

[Banishment Possibility – Cannot be banished.]

[If Rules* are broken, appearances have been confirmed in all observable locations. Does not distinguish between air, ground, or water.]

[Additional Note 1 – If you close this report, you will forget about this object. This is one of its characteristics, so don’t be alarmed. However, fragments of memory from reading this report will remain, making you hesitant to name the object.]

[Additional Note 2 – If you do not forget, contact the Management Association. You are a ‘qualified individual’ who does not forget. Your abilities are necessary for this world.]

“This object is impossible to deal with no matter how many times I look at it.”

The director closed the report again.

“At least the gold-horn alloy steel plate delaying ‘None’s intrusion is encouraging. If we make it tougher, there might be possibilities.”

The director started planning the next experiment with the researchers.

The idea was simple: if a unique name could be assigned in a place ‘None’ couldn’t reach, ‘None’ would be destroyed.

Though it’s a goal that hasn’t been achieved yet.

***

Amidst the busy research institute, Yerin followed me around.

“What do you think of this, Unnie Sehee?”

What she held was a roe deer animal onesie.

Already having a headache, Yerin’s antics showed no signs of stopping.

“Yeah yeah, we’ll include that as a prop. I’ll tell Kim Jungrwi for you.”

“Woooh! Thank you so much, Unnie!”

Yerin went back to her seat with a bright smile.

If only I could live as carefree as her…

Rubbing my throbbing temples, I sighed deeply.

Lately, the research institute had been incredibly busy.

For one reason:

A command letter from the government.

[First Annual Object Fair]

The official-looking document fluttered in my hands.

To summarize:

[Recently, serious incidents involving objects have been occurring frequently in Korea.]

[Songpa sinkhole, Daejeon human meat restaurant, Seoul Forest pulsating, Central Research Institute dismantling, etc.]

[To reassure the frightened citizens, we’ve decided to hold an event.]

[Bring dangerous objects currently in quarantine from each research institute.]

[We will widely publicize that they are safely managed through a fair format.]

“Are these guys completely insane?”

The document was infuriating.

It was clear the government wanted to trigger another Central Research Institute incident.

If accidents occur while gathering dangerous objects for a large-scale event…

A cascade of objects escaping will create a hellish scenario.

Moreover, the insane planners gave even more absurd instructions.

[Sehee Research Institute must bring the special danger level object ‘Gray Reaper’]

Aaaaaah, they’re crazy.

They’re not in their right minds.

Why bring the Gray Reaper to an event promoting perfectly controlled objects?

Whenever it goes to a new place, it won’t stay still.

It’ll definitely wander around the fairground like a tourist.

I’d rather just bring ‘Cute Puppy’ or ‘Blue Lizard.’

But that wouldn’t work.

It’s hard to ignore government orders, and the Reaper would likely sneak along anyway.

Lost in various thoughts, I arrived at the deepest part of Sehee Research Institute.

The deepest isolation chamber of the research institute.

Unlike the hectic atmosphere of the research institute, this place always maintained a relaxed ambiance.

Inside, the Gray Reaper was lying on the bed eating snacks while watching TV upside down.

Seeing it rolling around restlessly, I could already foresee the future.

How is this the Gray Reaper?

This is more like a gray cat.