Chapter 92

The corpse missing its head lay there, beyond it the entrance of the dark building gaping like the mouth of a monster.

KUHNG. KUHNG. KUHNG.

From within that building came thunderous footsteps echoing through the ground.

The scent of blood grew thicker with each passing moment.

Suddenly seized by an eerie atmosphere, I swallowed hard and gripped the Reaper’s hand tightly.

In the darkness, an ominous red light flickered.

That swaying light, syncing with the ground-shaking sounds, resembled the devilish gaze of a demon.

‘It’s fine, the Reaper is here with me.’

Despite this thought, my entire body stiffened with tension.

Emerging naturally from the shadows was the silhouette of a giant teddy bear robot.

Drenched in blood, the teddy bear loomed menacingly, half-obscured by the darkness.

GRRRRL.

With the metallic scraping sound, the front paws of the bear revealed themselves, covered in clotted blood that dripped heavily to the floor.

Even though it didn’t move, my breath quickened as if I were running.

Scary!

KUHNG!

And then, using one blood-soaked arm, it braced itself against the door and began revealing its full form slowly.

A scene straight out of a horror movie.

The bear paused momentarily before slipping back into the darkness.

“Huh?”

Why is it doing that?

Could it be… retreating?

When the bear disappeared into the shadows, the Gray Reaper’s eyes gleamed and they dashed into the building like lightning.

At times like these, they look just like a cat chasing a fleeing toy.

“Haha, hahaha.”

The sudden release of tension made the situation seem amusing, causing me to laugh uncontrollably.

Being with the Reaper really does make you feel safe!

***

A monster appeared.

The moment our eyes met, I realized.

The piercing yellow glow, cutting through to the core.

This was no ordinary monster.

Clenching my teeth, I had to put as much distance between myself and the beast as possible.

It’s okay.

It’ll be fine.

A monster like that wouldn’t bother with someone weak like me, right? If I just hide…

I hid in a dark room and barricaded the door.

To prevent any light from my eyes giving me away, I covered them and curled up as small as possible.

THUMP.

There was a knocking sound from the iron gate outside.

No, it can’t be… surely not.

TAP TAP TAP.

Again, the knocking continued from the iron gate outside.

As time passed, silence fell.

“…”

Is it finally gone?

“…”

Has it left now?

Uncovering my eyes and looking around, everything was exactly as it had been when I entered.

Phew, thank goodness.

TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP.

Just as relief filled my heart, the iron gate began knocking again.

Surely not.

Turning toward the sound, I saw a round hole pierced into the iron gate, and through it, the monster’s head protruded.

Its cruel smile seemed to scream, “Found you!”

‘No! I can’t die like this!’

Screaming inwardly, I threw open the opposite door and fled.

CRASH.

But I hadn’t run far before collapsing onto the ground.

Looking back, both my legs had been cleanly severed.

Beyond them, the monster approached slowly.

Using my still intact arms, I pushed my body backward.

To get as far away from the monster as possible.

GRIND GRIND.

But escape was impossible.

Even with fully functional legs, I couldn’t have escaped such a creature. Now it’s even more impossible.

Praying for an unexpected strike against the predator who wore a playful grin, I unleashed a powerful punch.

But the moment the punch connected, the monster vanished from sight.

Suddenly, my vision spun half a turn.

I saw my torso lying behind me.

My pathetic torso, missing its head and both legs.

Somewhere along the way, the monster had struck my head.

TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP.

And as my vision narrowed, I slipped into eternal darkness.

***

The fleeing teddy bear met its end.

The destruction condition for the bear was .

Though it might seem pitiful, I didn’t feel much sympathy.

Who could upon seeing the bear’s hands smeared with blood and entrails, its whole figure drenched in gore?

Would a man-eating tiger feel something like this?

As I stared intently at the bear’s snout, thinking it saw an opportunity, it suddenly raised its arm and brought it down on me.

An agility surprising given its previous sluggishness.

But I evaded lightly with Ghosting and severed the connection point between the bear’s head and body with the same ability.

Black slime oozed from the severed neck.

The same substance I’d seen in the desert.

Dark, smelly, and unpleasant liquid.

Unfortunately, the amount of the substance was too little.

Not enough to accidentally let slip past the Golden Reaper, whom I’d hoped for earlier!

Carrying this regretful feeling back to where Yerin waited, she greeted me with excitement.

“Wow, Reaper, you’re back?”

But upon seeing my expression, her face turned worried.

“Eh? Reaper, what happened? You look kind of down…”

Yerin poked my cheeks, wearing a concerned look.

Amidst Yerin’s worry, I felt a gaze.

Someone was watching us.

Not from an object but a human—just who could it be?

***

A secret space tucked away in the corner of the factory.

Various electronic devices lined the walls, their purposes incomprehensible to the average person, while multiple CCTV screens displayed feeds across one wall.

Two men watched these screens with serious expressions.

On the screen, the teddy bear lay shattered.

The watchers felt a chill imagining the severed bear head as their own.

“Indeed, this is a top-tier Object. A Level 2 wouldn’t stand a chance. The psychology of civilians dancing along to the Object’s dance is beyond comprehension.”

“Yeah, I found that baffling too. There’ve been several large incidents related to the Gray Reaper, haven’t there?”

While monitoring the pudding factory parking lot via CCTV and telescopes, the two men grappled with concerns over the sudden appearance of the Gray Reaper—an unforeseen complication.

The plan to isolate the factory and induce an accident had been meticulously planned over a long period.

But the unexpected arrival of the Gray Reaper necessitated changes.

“The Gray Reaper’s appearance means we need to adjust our plans. In the worst case, we’ll have to abandon one of our objectives.”

“Should we just recover the ‘item’ we’ve secured so far and retreat? The Client won’t like it though…”

After much deliberation, the stoic man reached a decision.

“We continue the operation as planned. Only the method changes. While an accident due to Object isolation failure would be ideal, we have no choice.”

He opened a long bag and retrieved a gun of imposing size.

It was a sniper rifle with a large scope.

“There are still other Objects remaining in the factory, but with the Gray Reaper here, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Installing the sniper rifle, the man scanned the parking lot through the scope.

“After eliminating James, we’ll need to take care of the Interpreter and Researcher as well. We’ll need to leave quickly after firing, so prepare the rest of the equipment.”

But his companion gave no reply.

“Hm?”

“Kuh… kuhk.”

Puzzled by his companion’s lack of response, the man looked away from the scope to find his partner clutching his throat, riddled with finger-sized holes, dying.

And behind him stood the Gray Reaper, glaring ferociously.

How did they find us?

Though flustered, the man acted swiftly.

In an instant, he drew his pistol and fired three shots at the Gray Reaper.

THUNG THUNG. THUNG.

Three bullets shot from a silenced pistol: two aimed at the torso, one at the head.

The man smirked confidently.

Made in America, specialized anti-Object rounds designed to incinerate even undead monsters.

White flames erupted from the bullets and began consuming the Gray Reaper.

But heedless of the flames engulfing their body, the angry-looking Gray Reaper approached and blew the man’s head clean off.

The roaring white flames soon subsided, leaving the Gray Reaper standing silently, scanning the surroundings.

***

The confined space reeked heavily of blood.

In a fit of rage upon hearing of Yerin’s supposed death, I eliminated everyone present.

Examining the area, there were no clues to identify the men or their affiliations.

These bad people needed to be rooted out, but it was disappointing.

The room contained various electronic gadgets that looked suspiciously suited for illegal activities.

Among them was one item that stood out.

This must be the ‘item’ those bad people mentioned.

An antique leather briefcase.

Its craftsmanship wasn’t particularly remarkable, but the material itself felt unusual.

Feels like an Object, yet not quite.

It seemed important, so I took it.

Then I broke through the wall and leaped back to where Yerin was.

Now that I’ve dealt with the observers, I need to save the pudding factory.

***

Lying in bed with his eyes closed, James suddenly sat up.

“It’s too quiet.”

Confused at first, the Interpreter soon realized something was amiss.

“You’re right. We don’t hear the sound of the bear demolishing the building.”

James glanced at his watch and spoke.

“They handled the steel bear less than an hour after calling? Something’s off. It doesn’t add up physically.”

“Then maybe they set another trap? Waiting for us to come out?”

James rose abruptly from the bed and approached the control room door.

“If they carefully planned a trap to eliminate us with high probability, there’d be no need for such tricks. Let’s assume some passerby took pity on us and came to help.”

Suddenly, James placed a finger to his lips, signaling silence.

“Can’t you hear something?”

Following James’ example, listening to the ceiling, faint sounds became audible.

[Pudding.]

[Pudding.]

The Interpreter’s face went pale.

“Surely not the bunny monsters?”

Simultaneously, pink robotic bunnies poured out of the control room’s vent.

[PuddING!!!!!!!]

They were adorable robots wearing chef hats, holding whisks and measuring spoons.

“Run!”

But upon seeing them, James and the Interpreter bolted out of the control room immediately, dodging the razor-sharp whisks and spike-like measuring spoons.