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James Tower in Outskirts of Songpa District, Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor Assembly Factory.

The assembly room was thoroughly sealed, with robotic arms controlled by AI expertly assembling the Tyranno’s armor.

Bounce bounce.

The Golden Reaper sneaked into the assembly room through ghosting, hopping around with a delighted expression while watching.

James was enjoying a rare moment of rest, looking down from the control room at the Golden Reapers who were dodging the robotic arms and having fun.

A warm cup of coffee and sweet desserts.

It was a honey-like break for James, who had been sacrificing sleep to repair and upgrade the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor.

James’s Golden Reaper was sitting on the table, nibbling on cookies.

Of course, the Golden Reaper also tried to drink coffee, but after several attempts, it simply gave up.

So, it was noted in James’s Golden Reaper report.

[After eating, it sticks out its tongue for about a minute, hating it enough to dry out its tongue.]

[I conducted the same coffee experiment on a random sample of 1,000 Golden Reapers, but the same result was obtained.]

At the bottom of the report, there was a photo of James being swarmed by a thousand Golden Reapers, getting tickled.

At that moment, the TV, which was on as background noise, began to broadcast news about a missing person incident.

[On the 15th, a girl from an elementary school went missing. The CCTV footage secured by the police captured the girl’s expression that seemed to witness something shocking.]

[The police traced the girl’s movements based on the CCTV footage but reported that her whereabouts became unclear at some point.]

[As a result, the police now believe that this incident is not a simple missing person case but may involve ‘Objects’ and requested cooperation from the Object Association.]

The TV showed a girl in a state of panic, looking around frantically.

It seemed to be a fairly typical type of Object incident.

James tried to push the incident to the back of his mind as he sipped his coffee, but suddenly, a report he had seen not long ago popped into his brain.

‘Wait, this seems familiar…’

James rummaged through the pile of disorganized reports on the table and pulled out an old one.

[Case Number: 2xxx-xxxx-xxx]

[Reporter: Kim Nam-soo (Male, 45 years old)]

[Report Content: Mr. Kim Nam-soo reported that he witnessed an 'Object' hiding on a road near Songpa District in Seoul at around 3 PM on x day of x month in 2xxx. Mr. Kim was engulfed in extreme fear and showed strong conviction about what he saw.]

[Result of On-Site Investigation:]

– Responded immediately to the report and conducted the investigation.

– No trace of the Object was found at the scene.

– Mr. Kim returned to the scene to confirm and quickly regained his composure, stating that it was likely his report was a misunderstanding.

[Additional Investigation:]

– A separate investigation was conducted at the James Research Institute at the request of the police, but no traces of the Object were found.

[Conclusion:]

– Based on the results of the on-site investigation and the additional investigation by the James Research Institute, Mr. Kim’s report was deemed to be a misunderstanding.

– No traces of the Object were found, and Mr. Kim himself corrected his report, acknowledging it was likely a misunderstanding.

– Accordingly, this case has been closed.

It seemed to be a report that had little to do with the girl’s disappearance.

‘But in the same area, similar panicked behavior…’

James took the report with a serious expression.

It seemed necessary to investigate.

*

In a remote hideout of the Yellow Reaper near Songpa District.

The gray girl reported missing was here.

Using the power of the large doll outfit ‘Ordinary Passerby Doll’ made by the Yellow Reaper, she was able to arrive without anyone knowing.

Although it was a giant doll outfit about 2 meters tall, it was an Object that possessed a strong mental pollution ability that made it look like an ordinary passerby.

It didn’t affect the gray girl but was enough to fool the Objects and humans in that apartment complex.

Thus, the gray girl, having arrived at the Yellow Reaper’s hideout without anyone noticing, still looked confused.

‘Was everything, everything fake?’
‘All the people living in our apartment, everyone I know, even my family were Objects.’
‘Even I myself.’

With vacant eyes, the gray girl simply poured out her feelings to the Yellow Reaper.

She opened her mouth to speak, but only creaking sounds were heard.

Her monologue, which she couldn’t even hear herself.

‘The daily life that repeats day by day, everything I’d thought I loved turned out to be fake…. Were my emotions even real?’
‘Then what is the meaning of my existence? Why am I here in this world? Is there no other life but living as a puppet for someone else?’

Yet the Yellow Reaper heard her clearly.

The girl had not changed at all in the eyes of the Yellow Reaper.

‘Who could have made us? Who is the creator of everyone? Why were we born?’

The girl had never ‘spoken’ to the Yellow Reaper from the start.

‘Am I really alive, or just a doll pretending to be alive?’

The Yellow Reaper took off the Golden Reaper doll outfit it was wearing to perform antics, poked its head out, and sat on the girl’s shoulder.

‘It’s okay. You are real.’

The Yellow Reaper patted her cheek, conveying its sincerity to the girl.

Though the Yellow Reaper’s intention didn’t reach her through voice, the meaning was being conveyed.

‘Is that so…’

With dark tears rolling down, the gray girl quietly fell asleep.

*

In the Free City Alliance located in China.

I finally visited the city of the Mini Reapers and Roll Cake Humans after a long time.

The reason was simple.

It was because of the ‘real’ Tyrannosaurus that the Green Reaper had made this time.

After all, the Tyranno was too large to raise at Sehee Research Institute.

Yet it wouldn’t fit in the Mini Reaper Garden either.

The Tyranno living in the fluffy Marshmallow Land suited the appearance of a Hungry Ghost.

The Tyranno I created with my poor imagination might have lacked detail, which is why it didn’t look so out of place….

But the Tyranno created by the Green Reaper, an expert in biological creation, felt extremely out of place.

It felt like displaying a real fish next to a white Hungry Ghost.

So, I decided to create a dinosaur park in a suitable place and raise it there.

The initial candidate was Seoul Forest, alive with trees and nature!

But upon further consideration, Seoul Forest had many problems.

After all, there was that oddly crumbling ‘Steel Tower’!

If I placed a Tyranno in Seoul Forest, I had a strong feeling it would likely be torn to shreds and die.

Therefore, the choice was the ‘Free City Alliance’, where Mini Reapers were swarming around, and it seemed relatively easy to manage.

I decided to create a massive dinosaur park in one corner of the city.

Opposition?

There was no such thing in this city.

Hehe.

As I wandered around, I saw Mini Reapers and Roll Cake Humans working on building the dinosaur park.

They were working at a speed several times faster than regular humans due to the unique physical abilities of Objects.

And in a corner, Mini Reapers and Roll Cake Humans were resting together.

“Where could Cheong be by now?”

“I heard she went from Korea to Japan last time. She said she was going to visit a lab where the Golden Reaper is the director.”

I saw a tall woman surrounded by Mini Reapers, chatting with a man who had four arms.

On the shoulder of such a woman sat a Black Reaper, poking her cheek.

‘I want snacks too!’

Then the woman chuckled slightly, pulled out some snacks, and popped them into the Black Reaper’s mouth.

Everyone looked happy.

Despite having turned from humans to Objects, even becoming Roll Cakes, they seemed quite cheerful.

Were they originally ones who replaced parts of their bodies with Objects?

By the way, a dinosaur park in an Object Punk city.

I’m quite looking forward to it.

Hehe.

*

James was opening a report that had just arrived with a serious face.

[Intermediate Report on the Incident of Reporter 'Kim Nam-soo's Death']
[Incident Summary]
– Reporter ‘Kim Nam-soo’ has been confirmed dead recently.
– The cause of death is presumed to be a common accidental fall.
– However, a connection with another incident has been discovered.

[Connection]
– Similarities have been found with the deaths of executives from a construction company that occurred previously.
– The common point is that all causes of death are presumed accidental.
– Additional investigation is necessary.

[Investigative Plan]
– A thorough investigation into the circumstances of reporter ‘Kim Nam-soo’s’ death will be conducted.
– A plan for additional research will be established to determine the connection with the deaths of the construction executives.

[Other Matters]
– It appears to be a socially intricate and crafty Object incident, so extreme care will be taken regarding security throughout the investigation.

[Date of Creation: x day of x month in 2xxx]
[Author: James Research Institute Special Investigation Team]

‘This seems bigger than expected.’

James was particularly alarmed by the fact that the incident site was in ‘Songpa District.’

Even with Mini Reapers swarming around, they hadn’t been discovered.

It must have been a considerably powerful Object.

Moreover, James found similarities with other incidents during the investigation.

The so-called Small Town Annihilation Object Incident.

An incident where a perfectly normal village turned into ruins overnight.

The commonality is that at least one or two people claiming to have seen a ‘monster’ always emerge.

And that reporter always ends up as a ‘fatal accident.’

[Kangwon H-County, immediately affected by Object phenomenon….]
[In the city of D in Chungbuk, the urban area became ruins…. Residents are missing.]

James sighed heavily while staring at the scrapped articles.