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A very big problem has arisen.

A very, very big problem has arisen.

Lee Sehee, the director of the Sehee Research Institute, was facing a significant issue.

A bed, a bathroom, and snacks scattered on the floor.

At first glance, it looked like there was no problem at all, but considering that there were iron bars instead of walls and doors, it had turned into a jail-like place in an instant.

The bigger issue than being confined was something else.

It was the horrific screaming.

Beyond the steel door, the most dreadful screams I had ever heard continued to echo without pause.

Gurgle…

I had already gone a whole day without eating.

My stomach was growling, and meals were supposed to be served, but I hadn’t put even a drop of water in my mouth in this suspicious place.

If I just accepted whatever was offered in such a dubious location, I couldn’t even predict what might happen.

The kidnapper was an old man over 80, a powerful figure in the area.

But the old man’s appearance was anything but ordinary.

He was as dried up as a withered tree, devoid of any muscle, bordering on looking like a mummy.

Yet, his movements and strength surpassed those of any human, which meant he was undoubtedly connected to an object.

The old man’s remaining family was nowhere to be found, and given the current situation, it seemed highly likely they were dead too.

I couldn’t ascertain the old man’s exact purpose.

However, it was easy to predict that the outcome would be horrific.

Why could I make such a prediction?

Because outside this jail-like room, bones were piled up like a mountain.

Right beyond the iron bars, there was a massive steel pig statue that drew the eye.

Flames danced ominously within the pig’s hollow eyes.

Scattered around the overheated statue were haphazardly discarded human bones.

Judging from my experience with object research, it seemed that the old man’s strange strength and the bone mountain were all due to that pig statue.

To think, as soon as I entered to investigate the anomalies occurring in Seoul Forest, this situation arose…

I almost died a year ago when I came to investigate anomalies, and now I was once again in danger in Seoul Forest. Had I underestimated the dangers of Seoul Forest too much?

Grrrr…

The sound of heavy stones scraping echoed along with the light footsteps.

It was the old man’s footsteps, which came down several times a day.

“Hey, still not eating?”

The old man’s voice, mixed with a lot of wheezing, was heard from outside the bars.

Tsk, he clicked his tongue and then left the basement.

The gleaming look in the old man’s eyes gave me an eerie chill, but I still didn’t know the reason.

There were many mysteries I was curious about.

Why was he so insistent on feeding me?

What was that ominous pig statue?

What about the pile of bones?

Were the old man’s physical abilities really derived from the pig statue?

It seemed he was kidnapping and killing people, but for what reason?

I jotted down the questions that came to mind in a notebook, but the questions kept piling up without answers.

It would be nice if the employees of the Sehee Research Institute found me alive by the time they realized the director was missing…

But somehow, that didn’t seem easy.

*

As the loud alarm clock chimed in the background, I pulled back the curtains and opened the windows, letting in the crisp morning air that drove away my drowsiness.

It was another pleasant morning.

With my employee badge hanging around my neck, I stepped out.

– Sehee Research Institute
– Researcher Yerin Oh

It looked like a simple ID with a photo and affiliation, but it was absolutely necessary.

From the shuttle bus to the internal convenience store and even the security facilities’ entry, it was indispensable everywhere.

I scanned my ID and boarded the bus waiting at the shuttle stop.

Checking my phone for news while on the bus, the anomalies that had occurred overnight became the hot topic.

The anomalies involved a sudden mass die-off incident.

Animals had died in droves near Seoul Forest, and since the same thing had happened a year ago, the weight of the situation felt particularly heavy.

Especially striking was an article openly targeting our institute with a headline like ‘Negligence in Sehee Research Institute?’

The Gray Reaper was being meticulously monitored by our institute, yet misleading articles like that felt incredibly unfair.

The die-off incident a year ago had tentatively concluded that it was caused by the object “Gray Reaper” that had been transferred to our Sehee Research Institute, although Director Sehee had vehemently disagreed with that claim.

I also believed that the Gray Reaper was a harmless object, but based on the facts presented, it was clear that it was involved.

Its ability to simply induce death made it the most suitable object for causing inexplicable die-off incidents.

Moreover, since we had captured the ‘Gray Reaper’ from Seoul Forest and transferred it to the institute, the continuous die-off incidents had abruptly ceased, solidifying my suspicions.

As I listened to the broadcast through my earphones, it constantly chattered about the significance of the die-off incidents, the event from a year ago, and our institute’s management of the Gray Reaper.

Upon passing through the institute’s security gate, I was welcomed by the eerily quiet isolation facility.

It was an early hour when no one had come in.

The Gray Reaper, also, should still have been asleep at this hour.

The interior of the isolation room was furnished like a living space, with a large bed occupied by a being with gray skin lying curled up, eyes shut.

It was the “Gray Reaper,” rumored to be the most dangerous object being managed in South Korea.

Most of the research institute staff knew that the Reaper was harmless, but those who weren’t aware likely feared the Gray Reaper excessively.

The problem lay in the video that first revealed the Reaper’s appearance.

In that video, the Reaper looked exactly like the God of Death descending upon the world.

All it had to do was stroll amidst a pack of wolves, and the footage showed the wolves colliding and causing their own destruction.

There were many fast and powerful beings, but a creature that caused mass fatalities instinctively raised alarm.

Despite its abilities, it was a cute and harmless being in reality.

At least, for the past year, there had been no sightings of the Reaper attacking living beings for no reason.

I poked the sleeping Reaper’s cheek just for fun.

Since no one had come in yet, this was the only time I could monopolize the adorable Reaper, so I had to enjoy it.

*

I woke up to the sensation of being poked on the cheek.

Every dawn I was poked like this, and perhaps because I didn’t show any sign of dislike, I was being poked daily now.

Though I was a smart researcher who often argued back against the director’s remarks with logic, I couldn’t quite grasp the reason for this behavior.

Was it some sort of reaction test?

As I carefully opened my eyes, Yerin Oh excitedly lifted me up.

Looking right into my slightly opened eyes, she showed a bright smile.

Reflected in those eyes was the lazy expression of me, half-awake.

I was the Gray Reaper, an object with gray skin and brightly burning yellow eyes.

“Good morning!”

Yerin Oh was always brimming with energy.

Not just Yerin, but all the staff at this institute had excessive amounts of energy, which was one of the many mysteries I couldn’t understand despite being here for a year.

The Sehee Research Institute a year ago had a tension akin to soldiers being dragged to war.

Given that someone died here about once a month, it wasn’t surprising for such a mood to exist.

I was still convinced that I would never die and had withstood living in that deathly environment.

In the end, I actually died during the terror incident at the Seoul Research Institute a year ago.

Waking up in the early morning and dozing off, Yerin cradled me and sank into the sofa set up in the isolation room.

While holding me tightly on the sofa, Yerin began to recount the amusing events from her day at work.

New objects registered in the latest conference, stories from food stalls she passed by.

For someone who hadn’t been outside the research institute for a whole year, those were quite entertaining tales.

“I heard there was another mass die-off near Seoul Forest yesterday. Everyone was saying the Gray Reaper did it! But she’s right here, how ridiculous!”

Yerin shook my hand while expressing her indignation.

“I think it’s just too much to say the Reaper did it without proof, just because another incident happened in the same place as last year’s! Our research institute hasn’t had a single incident of neglect in the management of objects!”

The die-off incident, the reason I met director Lee Sehee, was also due to the event a year ago.

I had rescued Sehee, who was abducted while naively wandering around for an investigation, and thus began our fateful connection. And now, another die-off incident after a year.

“Isn’t it funny? This time, Sehee unnie rushed out to Seoul Forest again. When she got to the institute, there was a message on the internal messaging system that read ‘Departing for Seoul Forest.’”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Sehee had been kidnapped again, but I tried to ignore it.

No matter how clumsy Sehee was, she was a researcher from a prestigious university, so surely she wouldn’t repeat the same mistake twice.

Yerin also had a vaguely worrying concern, wondering, “Sehee unnie’s not that foolish, right? Nothing can happen again…”