Chapter 71

The dark and murky underground lot, heavy with the scent of blood, suddenly changed its atmosphere.

Creepy camp residents who kept referring to the client by a different name.

A client who couldn’t even remember their own name.

People losing their minds and lunging at us.

Suddenly appearing ninjas.

Mysterious researchers lurking deep in the underground sewers.

Clearly, it was a string of dangerous and bizarre situations—but everything changed when the Gray Reaper showed up.

It all became bright, cheerful, and squishy.

It turned into a happy playground where adorable golden reapers were bouncing around!

Even on the shoulder of Detective Sunbae, who was lazily smoking a pipe in the corner, perched one golden reaper.

The golden reaper poked Detective Sunbae’s cheek, seeking attention, but Sunbae just seemed annoyed.

Over there, Hammer Sunbae was hugging the Gray Reaper and rolling around happily.

Cats and golden reapers alike flocked together, creating an overwhelmingly cute atmosphere.

Someone was petting the emotionless Gray Reaper while golden reapers swarmed around them, clinging affectionately.

Hammer Sunbae’s face beamed with pure joy!

Even the unconscious younger brother of the client had several golden reapers worriedly nursing him—but strangely, none were near the client themselves.

Could it be… is the client actually an Object?

Are they only friendly to humans and ignore everything else?

So they only show friendliness toward humans, huh? But this is actually a very dangerous sign.

It’s common knowledge that the more Objects seem friendly to humans, the more dangerous they are.

Clearly a dangerous situation…

But despite knowing I should stay cautious and keep my distance, I couldn’t bring myself to do so with these adorable little guys.

They’re just too darn sweet!

I looked down at the golden reaper clutching my finger tightly.

The warm, squishy cuteness in my hand—it felt like meeting a long-lost family member, evoking a deep sense of familiarity.

Anyone who isn’t charmed by these creatures must have something seriously wrong with them.

When I pulled out a lollipop from my pocket and offered it, the golden reaper eagerly grabbed it with both hands and started licking.

Lick lick.

As I slowly pulled the candy away, testing them, the golden reaper stuck out its tongue playfully—so dang cute!

But after playing around too much, the golden reaper started glaring at me.

Looks like they got upset.

Still, once I apologized by gently patting their head with my fingertip, they immediately broke into a wide grin.

Ah, I want to take one home.

I want to raise one as a pet.

Can I sneak one into my pocket and smuggle it out?

Trying this idea, I attempted to stuff a golden reaper into my pocket—but it failed miserably.

No matter how quietly I placed them inside, they’d wriggle back out and cling to my skin.

Eventually, the plan to smuggle one in my pocket was scrapped.

There’s definitely a way to make it work—I just need to think harder.

***

After putting away my pipe, I approached the anxious client.

“Don’t you want to check on your younger brother?”

“Uh… I can’t get close. It’s too scary.”

The client’s expression clearly showed instinctive fear.

I’ve heard before that Objects are afraid of the Gray Reaper.

Could it be that the client themselves is an Object, making the golden reapers uncomfortable?

Even ignoring that possibility, it’s still pretty terrifying.

While the golden reapers showered me and the juniors with endless affection, they were completely cold toward the client.

Imagine if some random object appeared, brutally slaughtering everyone except you—and it ignores you entirely?

That would be pretty damn scary.

I walked over to the chair where the client’s younger brother sat and gathered up all the golden reapers clinging to him.

Thankfully, once I picked them up, they obediently transferred to my shoulders.

Though now they were pulling at my hair and climbing all over me, asking for attention—but I could deal with that.

Finally, the client was able to hesitantly approach their younger brother.

“Taehoon! Taehoon!”

The client clung to their sibling, checking on his condition.

“Taehoon! My brother, are you okay?”

“Heh heh, it’s my sister…”

From the mouth of the young man, who looked well over 30, came childish, slurred speech.

I watched the reunion from a distance as Junior No. 2 approached and asked,

“Sunbae, what exactly is going on here? Who’s the client, and why does the younger brother look so… big?”

I handed over the dossier I had tucked away.

“First off, the younger brother checks out—he’s 35, so that part’s fine. The problem lies with the sister.”

A woman who was originally over 165 cm tall had shrunk down to barely 120 cm. Clearly not normal.

As her height decreased, so did her clothes and shoes shrink disproportionately—this wasn’t ordinary.

“You’ll see if you check the documents, but this younger brother ‘Lee Taehoon’ doesn’t have a sister. So the question remains—who exactly is this client?”

“With her shrinking height and inability to recall her name, she’s probably an Object?”

“Further investigation is needed, but it seems like the entire camp population might consist of the same type of Object.”

Checking my phone, I found no service was available.

“I need to go outside and call for backup. We need to clean up this scene, and the younger brother’s mental state seems off.”

Even though the medical records didn’t mention anything unusual about the younger brother’s condition…

Maybe torture caused this? We’ll need the hospital to confirm.

***

After instructing Junior No. 2 to call the police and an ambulance, I dragged Junior No. 1 away from playing with the Gray Reaper and began searching the underground facility.

“Why are we searching the underground facility now, Sunbae?”

Having been interrupted mid-play, Junior No. 1 seemed a bit grumpy.

He’s gotten way too attached to the Gray Reaper—could it have some kind of mind-contaminating ability?

“There are things that don’t add up, so let’s investigate beforehand, before the others arrive.”

While I wasn’t completely sure yet, there were certainly questionable aspects.

“Especially since our client isn’t human but an Object. Better to be prepared.”

“Huh?”

Strange camp, strange client.

We’ve uncovered almost nothing concrete in this case so far.

Down below, an ominous heartbeat echoed continuously.

Using the heartbeat as a guide, we wandered through the maze-like corridors beneath.

This corridor was horrifying.

Torture chambers everywhere.

And in each chamber lay the bodies of camp residents we recognized.

From the friendly butcher to the landlady.

It was clear the residents had been brought here by the director.

Passing room after room filled with torture devices, we eventually discovered a new section.

A peculiar, large, and pristine room.

A room with golden hearts hanging from the ceiling like chandeliers.

Thick rubber tubes resembling blood vessels poured crimson liquid everywhere.

“So this is the core of the ‘incident’ at this camp.”

“Most of these hearts don’t look healthy.”

True to Junior No. 1’s observation, most of the hearts were damaged.

Each pulse expelled fragments of gold, scattering shards across the floor.

Many hearts had already cracked and ceased functioning.

Given the state of the remaining ones, it seemed likely they’d all stop beating within a day.

“This one.”

Among the many broken hearts, one remained perfectly intact.

I carefully collected it.

“Why are you taking that heart? Souvenir?”

“It’s probably the client’s heart, so I’m grabbing it ahead of time.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you already know the camp residents and the client are Objects? Seeing all these hearts hanging here, what comes to mind?”

“Um… it’s creepy?”

I sighed at Junior No. 1’s cluelessness before continuing.

“Aha! So these hearts must be what created the camp residents!”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense…”

“As you saw on the way here, the bodies of tortured camp residents. That means there’s one corpse underground and another above ground with the same face. Doesn’t that seem odd?”

“Oh, so these hearts here must be what created the fake camp residents above ground?”

Junior No. 1 finally caught on to my line of thinking.

“Exactly. So let’s grab the client’s heart before the association arrives.”

After sealing the heart in a glass bottle and storing it safely, I stood up.

“Well, let’s deliver ‘this heart’ to the client.”