Chapter 81

The Golden Reapers had gathered together and formed a pyramid.

It was an adorable pyramid made by holding onto each other’s arms and legs.

Since they were hollow inside, it was closer to a shack than a pyramid, wasn’t it?

It was still unbearably hot in the desert, but when the Gray Reaper created shade with the Golden Reapers, it became quite tolerable.

The sole reason for the heat was that red moon shining in the sky above.

Though not as bright as a space heater used in winter, it emitted an intense heat.

Ah, it’s so hot. I feel like I’m going to die.

If only there was even a little bit of water, but looking around the desert, there was no sign of any water source.

The emotionless Gray Reaper lay next to me, flailing its limbs.

Like a child lying on a snowfield, except the difference was this wasn’t a snowfield but sand hot enough to cause burns.

“Reaper.”

Even knowing it wouldn’t understand, I still addressed the Reaper anyway.

The Gray Reaper, which had been lying down flailing, stopped its movements, turned its head, and stared at me blankly.

“Thanks for coming. I thought I was going to die.”

“Here, it seems incredibly vast, doesn’t it? Seeing nothing but the horizon 360 degrees around here in Seoul is something I never expected.”

“This is my first time dealing with an Object-related incident, and it’s really tough. To the point where I don’t want to go on business trips anymore. How does Director Lee Sehee keep handling these Object missions while constantly getting into accidents?”

I continued my monologue in front of the Gray Reaper.

The two yellow eyes of the Gray Reaper seemed wise, making it feel like it understood what I was saying.

Is this why Researcher Yerin Oh got hooked on the Gray Reaper?

Suddenly, the Gray Reaper looked up at the sky and began summoning more Golden Reapers.

Then, after making eye contact with me, it disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.

I hugged the many Golden Reapers that had appeared around me.

Strangely, I didn’t feel anxious.

It felt like the Gray Reaper had told me not to worry through its gaze.

I almost felt like I was falling for the Gray Reaper like Researcher Yerin Oh.

***

Amidst the noisy TV sounds, I quietly muttered my ever-present unease.

“Will everything be okay?”

A Golden Reaper comforted me by patting my cheek after climbing onto my shoulder.

The Reaper hasn’t returned yet.

I hope it went to save Unnie Seoah.

The area around Gangseo District shown on TV was chaos.

The Association was taking unprecedentedly swift actions.

Their proactive approach made me question if this was really Korea where I lived.

All sorts of bombs were exploding around the barrier in Gangseo District to break it down.

Requests for support from countries like the U.S., Japan, and China had already been made—something rare for the prideful Association that usually hesitates to seek foreign cooperation.

[This is breaking news.]

[A Gray Reaper has been spotted east of the Gangseo District barrier.]

[Could this incident also be caused by the Gray Reaper?]

On the TV screen, the scene showed the Gray Reaper punching transparent glass-like barriers effortlessly.

“So, the Reaper really was over there!”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

While the news anchor expressed concern, we felt relieved.

If the Reaper knew about Seoah’s danger beforehand and had arrived early…

With a light jam-jam punch, the Reaper suddenly punched a hole through the barrier.

[Ah? The Gray Reaper has punched a hole through the barrier!]

[That looks like the attack used against Hungry Ghosts.]

The moment the Gray Reaper passed through the barrier, its right arm was severed, captured on the broadcast.

“Ouch, that must hurt. What will happen to the Reaper?”

Yerin watched anxiously as the severed arm of the Reaper turned into yellow flames before dispersing into the air before touching the ground.

A fierce sandstorm erupted from the hole in the barrier, wreaking havoc in the surrounding area.

However, the Gray Reaper’s efforts were rendered useless in an instant.

The barrier quickly regenerated the hole.

The Gray Reaper hit the barrier again, then turned around and started walking away somewhere.

Simultaneously, the news screen changed.

[What was the Gray Reaper thinking when it did that?]

[The Gray Reaper is known for frequently exhibiting eccentric behavior, so perhaps this was another instance of that.]

The announcer and the panelist labeled as an Object expert began reviewing past incidents involving the Gray Reaper.

Since I wasn’t particularly interested in their stories, I changed the channel.

“Maybe people’s perception of the Gray Reaper will improve this time?”

“That would be great. Especially Seoah will like it.”

“Seoah unnie?”

“The research institute is short on funds, so she wanted to sell Gray Reaper models.”

In fact, Seoah wanted to sell all kinds of merchandise related to the Gray Reaper, but the plan fell through due to opposition from the Association.

They claimed it might dilute the caution towards Objects.

***

The oasis in the red desert.

The Black Agent’s sense of unease kept growing stronger.

There were mainly two reasons for this.

The first reason was that the number of people staying inside the cave was increasing.

Fortunately, the cave was spacious enough to rival modern large structures, so it wasn’t a problem, but the fact that the number of people was increasing itself was problematic.

If this cave was an Object that lured people, the more people there were, the more dangerous it would become.

The second reason was the newly discovered ominous structures inside the cave.

Tall stone altars.

They were grotesque sculptures of humans and animals.

And the walls were covered with inscriptions, like warnings.

But since the Black Agent had never seen such letters before, he couldn’t decipher them.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

A sudden scream came from the cave entrance.

“Uncle, something terrible happened!”

At the entrance, the Black Agent was greeted by a pale blonde girl and a man screaming in pain with his legs cut off.

And at the cave entrance, loomed a giant statue moving unnaturally.

The massive statue that decorated the cave entrance was alive and moving!

The blood-covered statue was gnawing on the man’s leg with its stone mouth.

The statue spat out something after chewing on the man’s leg.

It was the man’s leg—now a mangled lump of bone and flesh.

The man, both legs bitten off, was left abandoned at the entrance and eventually died without receiving any treatment.

The statue scanned the people at the entrance with its gaze, then returned to its original position atop the cave.

Phew.

After taking a deep breath, the Black Agent approached the shocked people and asked,

“What exactly happened?”

“He, he said this place was a trap and that we should escape quickly once our strength was restored.”

The man’s companion, clearly terrified, had gone completely pale.

“I suggested we rest a bit longer, but… he insisted on checking outside first… and then… he went out and…”

“I see what happened. This seems to be an Object type that attacks those who try to leave.”

As the Black Agent suspected, this place was indeed a trap.

If it was merely a trap that prevented people from leaving, that would have been fortunate, but considering similar statues had been found inside the cave…

No matter how much he thought about it, a good ending didn’t come to mind.

***

Inside the large cave where the Black Agent was stationed, two Trinity-affiliated researchers were secretly gossiping.

“Team Leader. When we went deeper, we found the ‘characters’ that the Director mentioned.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go take a look.”

They slowly moved toward the deeper parts of the cave, mindful of others’ gazes.

“These are quite impressive.”

Looking at the red-lit statues and the starlit lake surface, the team leader of Trinity Research Institute marveled.

The red moonlight shining through the hole in the ceiling illuminated the interior of the cave mysteriously.

Next to the towering statues bathed in red light, the characters mentioned by the researcher were carved.

“I’m still at a low stage of evolution, so I can’t read them properly.”

“I won’t be able to fully read them either, but let’s give it a try.”

The team leader’s eyes bulged as he stared intently at the wall with the characters.

Thick black veins popped out on his thumbs, and his eyes grew so large they started cracking his skull.

The team leader began carefully reading the characters on the wall with his fingertips.

“Hmm, this ruin is safe until 100 people gather. Should we block anyone else from entering?”

“To some extent, we could persuade them.”

As the team leader read further lines, the blood vessels in his bulging eyes started protruding, looking like they would burst at any moment.

“There’s another way to escape. If we offer a living sacrifice, one person, it’ll work.”

The eyes that seemed ready to burst immediately shrank back to normal size, and the team leader let out a painful groan.

“Damn, I’m dying. We need to increase my evolution level faster so I can use my power more naturally…”

The veins that had bulged out from the team leader’s eyes disappeared, and his enlarged eyeballs returned to their original size.

“First, let’s convince the fools not to let anyone enter this ruin. And if that becomes difficult, we’ll use the other escape method.”

“Human sacrifices would be harder to persuade them with, right?”

“You’re being naive. Of course, we’ll kill everyone here and escape alone when offering the living sacrifice.”

“Ah, well, with our powers, that shouldn’t be too hard.”

The laughter of the Trinity Research Institute researcher echoed softly.

***

It won’t break.

No matter how I pound on the wall, the barrier remains steadfast.

The destruction condition for the barrier is <Destroy the main body.>

An endlessly regenerating barrier until the main body is destroyed.

If the regeneration speed was slower, I could destroy it heavily and evacuate Seoah, but the regeneration speed was incredibly fast.

Looking up at the sky, an alien-like large red moon appeared.

That must be the main body.

I started staring at the red moon with my ‘eyes.’

<Place the red skeleton at the center of the desert, set it on fire, and dance on it.>

It’s long.

And what’s this strange condition again?