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Sehee Research Institute’s office had a table in the middle, and the Yellow Detective was facing off with Lee Sehee. Yerin stood behind Sehee with a disinterested expression.

Me? I was lying in the middle of the table.

I had planned to chase butterflies as a pest control activity around the institute, but Yerin grabbed my hand and dragged me here, claiming it had something to do with me.

However, the introduction became so long that I couldn’t endure the boredom and started lying on the table, protesting for it to end quickly.

“You need the Gray Reaper’s extraction?”

Upon hearing Sehee’s words, the Yellow Detective handed her a shiny business card decorated in gold while maintaining a formal posture.

Of course, since I was curious about the card, I intercepted it midway and read that it was affiliated with the Temporary Object Management Agency.

While I was reading, the detective reluctantly pulled out another business card and handed it to Sehee.

Seeing the detective’s flabbergasted expression strangely amused me. So who was dragging butterflies around for a long time?

“I’m currently working on an assignment from a temporarily created organization called the Temporary Object Management Agency. The previous association has completely collapsed, so this organization is taking its place.”

“So why does that organization need the Gray Reaper? As you can see, it’s not easy to control.”

At Sehee’s shocking statement, I turned around in surprise only to find Sehee not even looking at me.

“Although it hasn’t been officially announced yet, the area near Songpa District is in a very dangerous situation. Butterflies that wear people’s skins are roaming around.”

The detective handed me several incident photos first. They were pictures of people brutally mutilated.

There were many photos of the scene of the person who exploded after encountering the butterfly, which I had seen at the central research institute.

“In the initial incidents, people who encountered the butterflies ended up exploding like this.”

The man brought out another photo.

It was a picture of humans staggering around like zombies.

“As time went on, instead of just killing the hosts, they began to move while wearing human skins. The biggest problem is that those awkwardly moving, zombie-like people haven’t been seen since a few days ago.”

The detective pulled out a photo with a significant expression, showing a person trapped in a detention center.

“Whether they’ve completed their learning or not, the butterflies wearing people’s skins show no awkwardness at all. There are no significant differences from humans. That person is even demanding to be released, claiming they are unlawfully detained.”

Sehee placed the photo on the table.

“So you didn’t explain why you need the Gray Reaper.”

“Well, you didn’t tell us why you need the Gray Reaper.”

At Sehee, the research director’s question, I felt the need for an answer.

The need for the Gray Reaper was purely intuitive.

The butterflies that had appeared clearly originated from the central research institute, but there seemed to be far fewer victims than expected.

It was presumed that something at the central research institute had hindered the butterflies’ activities, and I thought that might be the Gray Reaper.

I opened my mouth but then shut it again.

If it were a detective acting alone, it might be possible, but it wouldn’t be easy to make a request based solely on speculations from someone representing a government agency.

“So you have no particular reason? Given the current issue of the gray collapse, it seems releasing the Gray Reaper to the outside wouldn’t reflect well on public sentiment. I’ll decline the extraction request.”

So, indeed, the research director’s answer was a refusal.

Official requests that go into the records will flow according to the FM.

*

‘Hmm.’

It felt like there was a reason the detective couldn’t say out loud.

But it wasn’t something I could just grant permission for.

Furthermore, just because the institute allowed it, didn’t mean they could send the Gray Reaper without reservation.

Forcefully sending the Reaper to a place it doesn’t want to go?

Absolutely impossible.

That said, refusing didn’t mean the Gray Reaper wouldn’t follow.

I chuckled at the now empty table.

*

The Gray Reaper was following me.

The reason… I didn’t know.

[Draws strength from human sorrow.]

[Draws strength from human misery.]

[Draws strength from human pain.]

[Knows the fastest way to kill the target.]

Every time I turned around, those phrases discreetly shifted to the corner and hid.

Since they weren’t visible, they seemed to be in a ghosting state, but why were they hiding if they were like that?

In any case, I achieved my initial goal of ‘bringing the Gray Reaper to the scene.’

The ability to disrupt the butterflies belonging to the Gray Reaper had already been confirmed.

Just looking at how I was freed from the butterflies proved that.

My only concern was whether it was okay to take a being that couldn’t be controlled like that with me.

*

When I got into the vehicle, the Gray Reaper, as if it had given up on hiding, boldly appeared in the passenger seat.

The Gray Reaper seemed bored and was opening various things inside the vehicle.

According to the latest report from Sehee Research Institute, the Gray Reaper was an object that understood language like a “cute puppy,” but communication and control were impossible.

I pulled out a frequently used coin.

As I took out the object, the Gray Reaper was staring at me with interest.

The name of that coin was ‘Coin of Luck,’ and when flipped, a number between 1 and 20 would appear on its surface.

Strangely, both sides showed the same number.

If it showed 1, it would be an extremely unlucky day, and if it showed 20, it would be a really lucky day; it was a simple object with that ability.

Currently, since no one flipped it, it was showing ‘0.’

Ping!

When I flipped it to check the value, the result was 5.

Not exactly a lucky number.

When I placed the coin on the Gray Reaper’s hand, it gleefully flipped it itself.

The number the Reaper got was 20.

Was today a lucky day for the Gray Reaper?

Well, luck is always good.

Wouldn’t it help with solving the case?

*

I had a nightmare.

Such things couldn’t possibly be real.

My house was gone.

A giant sinkhole had appeared and swallowed it up.

A tremendous number of people in Songpa District died, but our family was traveling at that time, so we managed to avoid the disaster.

The ‘Songpa Sinkhole Relief Camp’ we had to go to because we had no house was initially not too bad.

After all, I was told I didn’t have to go to school.

But gradually, there started to be more and more things I didn’t like.

The container houses were one thing, and the people living there were another.

While I was enduring my complaints and getting by, a problematic incident occurred.

A horrible murder case took place.

I didn’t see it firsthand, but I heard the person was killed with their skin and entrails all torn apart.

And from that moment on, soldiers began to appear and started sealing off the entire camp.

This sealing was a legal lockdown under the Object Special Law, and we could not leave at all.

Afterwards, the same murder case happened several more times.

By that point, the atmosphere in the camp had changed sharply, as if it was on edge.

People raised their voices at the tiniest sounds, and at night, no one roamed outside.

People suspected each other of being murderers, and they held strong grievances against the government that wouldn’t let them out.

Adults started to protest strongly against the government’s lockdown measures.

Media outlets that had contacted each other arrived to film that scene.

But the lockdown was never lifted.

Mom and Dad also participated in the protests and raised their voices vigorously.

But at some point, they stopped participating in the protests.

I could easily figure out the reason.

What the protesters were saying was nonsense.

They claimed the government was spreading a virus, or that they were preparing a ritual to sacrifice us.

Ununderstandable opinions kept increasing.

My parents, who were grumbling that they would never gain support with such nonsense, began gathering people who disagreed with that conspiracy theory to form a separate group of protesters.

That night, something strange happened.

When I woke up to an odd sound, I saw my parents spewing their entrails everywhere right in front of me.

I was so shocked I couldn’t say a word.

My parents, who looked like all the insides had vanished and they had just become skin, were transformed.

Maybe it was such a shocking scene that I fainted right there.

“Hyunseok, you have to wake up!”

When my parents called me, I opened my eyes.

I really had a nightmare.

Such a thing couldn’t be real.

“Today, we need to go protest together. Clearly, the government’s electromagnetism is exploding people to death!”

Mom said, smiling brightly while saying something strange.

“You said your neck hurts, right? The government released poison gas in the camp; you need to wet your mask with water and wear it properly!”

Dad said, also smiling brightly while saying something strange.

I’m still having nightmares.

Such a thing couldn’t possibly be real.

Somehow, it felt like a black butterfly with a strong smell of blood was flying around inside the container.