Chapter 234
As I cut the connection with the corpse and opened my eyes in Yerin’s arms, a massive corpse came into view.
The white-hot firewood had dwindled, and the halo glowing above my head had vanished.
Yet, just its size exuded a considerable sense of intimidation.
Looking up while nestled in Yerin’s embrace, it felt as though it could touch the sky.
The still, empty-eyed corpse seemed to be looking down at me.
Without collapsing, the corpse, unnatural in its stance, began to be pulled somewhere.
Much like the ‘Red Monster’ that was pulled into a crack in space, the black corpse was sucked into [The Unchanging Black Sphere].
The situation and atmosphere differed, but it strangely felt the same.
As the entire corpse was pulled in and [The Unchanging Black Sphere] returned to its original position in the Mini Reaper Garden, it truly felt like it was over.
Strangely enough, I felt tense when looking at that corpse.
Was it too big?
Or was it because it was the corpse of a high-ranking existence?
While I was pondering such thoughts, I suddenly noticed that a bunch of bandage masses with legs had gathered around me.
Though I couldn’t see in front of me, they seemed to sense my direction and were crashing into each other, creating a ruckus.
Once I sprung out of Yerin’s arms and stood on the ground, the bandage masses rushed toward my feet, starting to hop and headbutt me.
“Mom!”
“Mom!”
“Mom!”
They were bursting with joyful intent, exclaiming “Mom!” over and over.
Even though the Sehee Research Institute had been attacked, perhaps it was because we defended against it well, the Mini Reapers were bouncing around excitedly.
The Black Reapers looked at the Golden Reapers, who were hopping around as bandage masses, with envy before they joined in the fray themselves.
Transforming their bodies into the shape of bandage masses, they began to bounce around.
With the Mini Reapers already creating chaos by bouncing and colliding, the addition of the black masses made the garden even more crowded.
Hehe.
I let out a small laugh, pushing over the large bandage masses of the Mini Reapers.
Seeing the fallen Mini Reapers flailing their legs, I felt like I was truly back to my everyday life.
*
An unofficial private research facility located in a corner of Seoul.
It was barely worthy of the name ‘research institute,’ just a makeshift facility modified from a house, and the sound of a TV drifted through.
[The zombie crisis that swept across Seoul is gradually entering a state of calm.]
[The currently recorded number of victims is staggering. However, many still remain missing, so the scale of damage is expected to grow.]
The attack of the ‘brain-eating zombies’ that ravaged Seoul was still not properly dealt with, even after quite some time.
“Ugh, I wonder what would have happened if the ‘Golden Reaper’ hadn’t been here…”
A woman in a shabby lab coat recalled the past with a shuddered expression.
If the Golden Reaper hadn’t been kidnapped, she would definitely have had her name on that list of deceased.
At one point, she was almost certain of a 100% chance of death.
Whether it was tracking the smell of humans or some other method, the brain-eating zombies could find humans in an instant, no matter how well they hid.
This applied to the woman who sensed the unusual atmosphere early and had locked herself in her lab.
Though it may not compare to a proper research institute, this makeshift facility was sufficiently isolated, yet zombies swarmed in.
Even without sounds, without light leaking out, and without any smell, they still came.
The moment the zombies broke through the hinges of the steel door, the woman quickly squeezed herself into the Golden Reaper’s isolation room.
It was extremely cramped, but given its construction for object isolation, she hoped it would withstand for quite some time.
At least, she thought it would hold until rescue arrived, or until she starved to death.
However, perhaps it was a problem of having purchased the cheapest isolation facility online.
Contrary to the claim that it effectively blocked attacks from physical objects, cracks began to form, threatening to shatter it at once when the zombies struck.
Probably with just one more hit, this isolation room wouldn’t hold up and would crumble to pieces.
‘It’s over now!’
And the zombie’s claws were flying toward the isolation room.
Expecting a gruesome death, the woman squeezed her eyes shut, but as time passed, she didn’t hear the sound of the isolation room breaking.
Estimating the situation, she just peeked her eyes open to see the Golden Reaper moving at incredible speed.
With a fierce expression, it was moving fast enough to leave behind an afterimage, neutralizing the zombies.
“Ah…”
It dawned on her, remembering the information she had absentmindedly overlooked.
[The aggressive capabilities of the Golden Reaper have not been revealed.]
[However, it is presumed that anything/object/human attacked by the Golden Reaper has a hole shaped like the Golden Reaper.]
The ‘Object Directory’ she had purchased at the bookstore contained mostly ‘money-making information,’ lacking details on the Golden Reaper, but it was sufficient to understand the current situation.
Zombies being immobilized by having holes shaped like the Golden Reaper punctured through them.
The woman was captivated by the dignified and graceful figure of the ‘Golden Reaper.’
As she watched TV and pondered about the Golden Reaper, she turned her gaze toward it.
There it was, the Golden Reaper with a very happy expression stepping outside the isolation room and gnawing on a pile of hardtack.
It was a massive amount of hardtack that the poor woman had saved for calorie intake, not having a proper job.
It was human feed that had no advantages other than being cheap, extremely hard, and tasteless.
Upon sensing the woman watching, the Golden Reaper beamed a big smile, set down the hardtack, and held out something in its palm.
‘Delicious!’
With an expression as if it was saying this was incredibly tasty and to hurry and try it, it clutched a candy shaped like a star, like a baseball.
‘Ah, so cute.’
The woman smiled as if inspired by the Golden Reaper, placing the star candy in her mouth.
As she tasted the candy, it felt several times tastier than usual, she picked up another star candy and popped it into the Golden Reaper’s mouth.
With its cheeks bulging from the candy, the Golden Reaper rubbed its cheeks and laughed.
Hehe.
It was a joyful day for the Golden Reaper and its attached human.
*
The chunk of bandages that was hugely popular among the Mini Reapers remained in high demand.
Kids who love to munch on something, yet are still wearing attire that leaves their mouths covered!
‘Bandage!’
‘Mummy!’
It seemed there were Mini Reapers somewhere who knew about mummies, as they ran around wrapped in bandages, playing mummy games.
The Golden Reaper enjoyed munching on Mini Reapers while playing mummy games.
Caught up in the Mini Reapers’ atmosphere, the Blue Reaper wrapped itself in bandages and dropped its hat.
The Red Reaper wrapped itself in bandages, with just its limbs sticking out and crawled around like a spider.
The Mini Reapers, in various ways, continued to wrap themselves in bandages, playing joyfully as they bounced around or bit each other like zombies.
And the people of Sehee Research Institute were looking on with warm smiles.
It felt a bit like Halloween.
By the way, I didn’t understand the sounds from movies or dramas, so where on earth did they hear about mummies?
No matter how much I thought about it, it was odd, and when I searched for the source of the rumors, there stood a Golden Reaper.
It was a Golden Reaper who enjoyed movies with its attached human but realized that its attached human was doing something unnecessary because they couldn’t understand the movies.
Explaining while watching movies so that the Golden Reaper could understand!
It was quite an annoying thing to do, yet the attached human went that far.
‘The attached human is amazing!’
Of course, the Golden Reaper, feeling the effort of its attached human, seemed immensely happy and continuously bragged to me.
The delightfully foolish Golden Reaper has gotten smart!
Somehow, I felt a little scared that a Mini Reaper smarter than me was about to emerge.
If it’s weaker than the Mini Reapers but has a good head on its shoulders?
It would make me feel resentful unnecessarily, so I messed up the hair of the Golden Reaper that was explaining how wonderful its attached human was.
‘?’
The Golden Reaper looked puzzled with a dumbfounded expression.
Leaving the Golden Reaper, who wore a confused look with its messy hair, I began to roam around the courtyard of Sehee Research Institute.
Thud thud.
Even with Seoul in chaos due to the zombie crisis, the Sehee Research Institute was still filled with its usual soft atmosphere.
While wandering like that, I discovered a scene that stimulated my inspiration.
A human and a Mini Reaper happily sharing a delicious cookie.
‘This is the last cookie!’
The Golden Reaper held out the last of the mini cookies toward its attached human.
“Haha, I’ve had enough.”
The attached human smiled while conceding.
Of course, the Golden Reaper, capable of feeling emotions, knew that the attached human’s words were a lie meant for it and was laughing happily while munching on the treats.
A fun prank came to mind.
Hehe.
*
Thud thud.
I was walking through the parking lot of the Sehee Research Institute, deeply absorbed in a very important dilemma.
There might not be a more crucial question than this in my object life.
When and on whom.
Since a fun prank came to mind, when and on whom should I pull this prank!
It was such an important dilemma that I couldn’t find an answer at all.
While pondering like this, something strange caught my eye.
A colorful Color Hungry Ghost was running with a large cart.
Noticing me, it perked up its antennae, signaling I was their target.
‘?’
I tilted my head, thinking, ‘What on earth is that?’