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A loud bang echoed through the Central Research Institute.

With the tremendous sound, it pierced straight through a desk and crashed into the wall.

If it had been ordinary concrete, the impact would have been enough to break through, but the research institute’s outer walls, composed of the Object, remained unscathed without a single crack.

The Hungry Ghost that had slapped me away with its tentacles was now licking its large tongue and scanning for other prey.

It was an Object with an unappealing appearance, its huge body dripping with thick mucus and drooling from its cavernous mouth, but I got back on my feet and charged at the Hungry Ghost.

A wrestling match with a 100-fold weight difference.

Still, I had no choice but to charge in.

This was my monster, so I had to stop it.

If I irresponsibly ran away, it would only mean a wrongful death for the employees trapped in the institute.

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand the conditions for the Hungry Ghost’s destruction.

I didn’t prefer this method, but since I couldn’t kill it, I decided to try incapacitating it in another way.

If all its tentacles were severed, wouldn’t that be similar to killing it?

*

It was a hellish workplace where the threat of death coexisted daily, but compared to the current situation, it felt like paradise.

The Hungry Ghost was running around trying to eat people, while the Gray Reaper was desperately targeting and charging at it.

The closed Central Research Institute had transformed into a battlefield.

All the higher-ups who should have given orders had vanished, and the Hungry Ghost, a sight rarely seen except in documentaries about events from thirty years ago, suddenly made its appearance.

It was the Gray Reaper, as famous as the Hungry Ghost, who saved me as I fled from the latter.

It was a clash between the most infamous and dangerous Object from thirty years ago and the current most infamous and dangerous Object.

The Gray Reaper charged in boldly, but then was sent flying without resistance.

Could the Gray Reaper not stand up to the Hungry Ghost? Just when I thought that, the Gray Reaper sprung back up and charged at the Hungry Ghost once more.

Again and again and again.

It looked as though it was trying to leap in to save us, who were cornered in a pinch in the institute.

Despite knowing it was impossible, the situation tricked me into thinking so.

The Gray Reaper charged, and charged, and charged, still continuing to charge.

It seemed like the Gray Reaper would continue to suffer unilaterally.

Just when everyone thought that, a twist occurred suddenly.

The situation where the Gray Reaper was being overpowered flipped abruptly.

As always, the Gray Reaper’s charge was the same, but with a booming sound, the Hungry Ghost’s agonizing scream reverberated throughout the institute.

The Hungry Ghost’s large eye exploded as if hit by a bomb, and green blood poured out ceaselessly from the spot.

How on earth?

The Gray Reaper’s left arm had disappeared from the elbow down. The severed limb glowed yellow as it slowly began to regenerate.

For those who couldn’t escape that sight, a thin ray of hope began to surface.

Please. Please let the less dangerous Gray Reaper win.

*

The method I had just used was a combination of abilities.

Ghosting, Physical Immunity, and Regeneration. This was a combination of these three Object abilities.

An Object with Ghosting could use a dangerous technique to overlap its body with that of its opponent.

It was very simple.

In a ghost state, you overlap your bodies, and then release the Ghosting.

The problem is that doing so causes both bodies to intertwine, inflicting fatal injuries on both.

In fact, there were some vicious guys among Objects with Ghosting who continuously tangled their bodies together like this.

But if you added Physical Immunity to the mix, the story changed.

The one with Physical Immunity could inflict damage only on the opponent without suffering any harm themselves.

It was a method I often used when cutting through iron bars and the like.

But it wasn’t commonly used against Objects.

Why, you ask? If the opponent doesn’t get physically destroyed, then both parties end up getting wrecked!

What was needed here was Regeneration.

Once broken, regenerating afterward can be painful, but still a net gain.

No, it’s really painful, so I hope this situation doesn’t arise.

The flame pulsing in my chest blazed fiercely as it regenerated the lost body part.

The fortunate thing was that there were many people watching the fight between the Hungry Ghost and me. Their emotions of fear and anticipation greatly fueled my flame, and it sped up the regeneration of my wounds as if rewinding time.

Moreover, the Hungry Ghost seemed clearly shaken, as if it had never felt pain before.

I mean, how often does an Object with Physical Immunity experience injuries?

That thing was probably feeling pain for the first time in its life.

What about me? Wasn’t I the same? When I first opened my eyes in Seoul Forest, I was always covered in wounds.

Unlike those feeble beings born with Physical Immunity, I was an Object who had suffered and rolled around.

The problem was that it also seemed to possess weak regenerative abilities.

If it didn’t have limits to that regeneration, complete incapacitation would be impossible.

Now I had to come up with a way to either drive that thing away or trap it while having a good, fun fight with the Hungry Ghost.

Unfortunately, the battle wasn’t going unilaterally.

That thing seemed to understand that passively getting hit all the time wouldn’t do it any good and began to actively respond.

It swung its tentacles to shove me away or pulled back to dodge when our bodies began to overlap.

The prolonged situation where it was difficult for either side to kill the other encountered an unexpected shift.

It happened when I swapped out one of my left arms for one of the Hungry Ghost’s tentacles.

The Hungry Ghost screamed in pain, then swung its remaining tentacles at me and sent me crashing into the wall of the institute.

Normally, I would have stood back up after hitting the suspiciously strong wall of the institute and resumed the lethargic battle against the Hungry Ghost, but this time, I was unable to do so.

‘???’

My body easily penetrated the concrete wall and fell into the parking lot of the institute, rolling around.

The institute had crumbled! How did this happen?

Hastily, I turned my gaze back toward the institute; it was no longer composed of Objects.

From one side of the institute, the Hungry Ghost burst out, breaking through the wall.

It let out a long, cry of “Keeeek!” that seemed to express the exhilaration of experiencing outside air for the first time in thirty years.

Then, with a confident stride, it charged at me.

What? Did it think it would have the advantage now that the outside was spacious?

*

I handed the cane I was holding directly to the Director.

“Senpai! Is this okay?”

“It’s like there are no options left here. Seeing how the Deputy Director hastily escaped, it’s certain that the Gray Reaper has revealed itself. By now, it must have released the Hungry Ghost into the institute.”

“Huh? Then isn’t that dangerous for us?”

“That’s why I said there are no options. Here, all we can do is pass over the cane.”

Being eaten by the Hungry Ghost vs. bargaining with a suspicious Object.

In this unreasonable dilemma, I chose to strike a deal.

Once the Director had the cane in hand, he struck it against the floor. Just like how I would use the cane’s abilities. Then he vanished from that spot.

My junior stared blankly, looking like a raccoon that had lost cotton candy washed in water, and then yelled.

“Ah, Senpai. Did he just run off with the cane? We weren’t supposed to trade with Objects! Did we get scammed?”

I walked over to the window and flicked it with my finger.

The clear ringing of glass could be heard. Unlike before, it was definitely an ordinary window now.

The institute was no longer composed of Objects.

“No, the trade was completed properly. Let’s get out quickly. It’s going to be hell soon.”

Snatching the hammer from my junior’s hand, who had a suitable tool, I swung it towards the window.

If it had been the usual research institute, this window would have deflected the hammer.

But not now.

Considering the hint from the monocle, this was the obvious result.

[As long as the Director is present, destruction of the institute is impossible.]

Since the Director had taken off with the cane, the institute was now in a state that could be destroyed.

“Ah! When breaking with a hammer, you should’ve told me to do it! I’m good at hammering!”

After handing the hammer back to my junior, I hurried down the path.

“Come on! We need to get out of here as quickly as possible, thinking about the Objects confined in the Central Research Institute.”

Time was running out.

The Objects in the institute would soon start their breakout.

And those were the vicious Objects that had to be confined within the Central Research Institute.

If I didn’t want to get caught in their rampage and die, I had to grit my teeth and run.

As I dashed, the sounds of the institute joyfully collapsing echoed behind me.

“If you don’t want to die, run!”

It was the sound announcing the start of hell.