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The shattered golden-horned alloy container, and the thick pool of blood slowly oozing from within.

The director’s experiment had once again failed.

“It seems there’s a limit to just adjusting the alloy ratios. Since we’re dealing with a special object, I think we need to prepare special materials on our end as well.”

As he lightly tapped his fingers on the desk, the director fell deep into thought.

He was recalling the numerous objects he had seen in the time gap.

He thought haphazardly about useful objects among those he had successfully observed from the past or future.

Objects that are excellent at preventing intrusions and ones that can be obtained right now.

Then, the director’s mind wandered to one particular event.

‘Object Expo’

He recalled that a very useful object would appear there soon.

The director instructed the researchers to prepare for participation in the expo under the name of the Bucheon Research Institute.

It was preparation to acquire an object that is absolutely necessary for humanity.

*

Looking up at the sky, it was a rare sunny day.

The warm sunlight gently warmed my skin, and the cool breeze that blew over me felt delightful.

Meow.

The ghost cat in my arms also seemed to be in a good mood.

The cloud fish swam freely in the sky.

Once we unpack the cargo brought by the Sehee Research Institute, I’ll have to enjoy cold soda while snacking on cloud whales.

This is the Object Expo.

This is the place where Yerin was excitedly chattering about attending.

It was a large festival with many research institutes within Korea participating, along with a few foreign institutes.

They said many rare objects would be brought in, which made me somewhat expectant.

It was like a dream come true to visit a place I had always wanted to go.

The place I always wanted to visit was the ‘Object Zoo.’

The ‘Object Zoo’ had been attempted more than I expected, but it had a sad jinx.

It was a sad jinx where a large-scale casualty accident occurred on the first day of opening, leading to its cancellation.

After this jinx repeated a few times, it came to a sad conclusion that no further permits would be granted.

I hoped that this event would conclude successfully, breaking through such a jinx.

I hoped the successful conclusion of the Object Expo would lead to permits for establishing the Object Zoo.

I looked forward to a joyful Object Expo.

Hehe.

*

As I entered the expo hall, a massive golden tree welcomed us from a distant corner.

“Wow, noona. What kind of tree is that? Was there a research institute isolating such a gigantic tree object?”

When I opened the guidebook to check Yerin’s question, I could find the answer.

“It says it’s an object brought by the Bucheon Research Institute. But wasn’t that institute out of business?”

Well, did someone acquire it and is it back in operation?

Is there really a need to acquire an institute that went under? That thought lightly lingered in my mind but was quickly forgotten.

On our way to the exhibition space assigned to Sehee Research Institute, we passed by the Bucheon Research Institute booth.

Tired-looking employees were welcoming the incoming guests.

Did that institute not let their employees sleep or something? Why does everyone look so worn out?

Still, the massive tree that radiated its own light was quite an impressive object.

It was a bit strange that such a noticeable object had never been known before.

*

“Hello. Is there something you need assistance with?”

As I took a breath, my senior suddenly began to say something strange, completely cutting the context.

If you just blurt it out like that, people looking for assistance would definitely run away!

“Yes! I need help!”

And it worked again!

“I need to find my sister!”

Why is it that my senior’s odd remarks seem to work so often?

Talking about requests outside while it’s drizzling wouldn’t be easy, so we decided to return to the detective agency for a proper discussion.

At midnight, I caught a taxi and arrived at the detective agency.

Walking into the office felt vastly different from usual.

The large window that always bathed the room in sunlight emitted an eerie atmosphere at night, with the faint sound of rain tapping against it, resembling a scene from a horror movie.

Watson, placed on the shelf, looked unchanged, yet a strange sense of unease washed over me.

It felt like the gas lamp had just been lit moments ago.

My senior, appearing familiar with the atmosphere, naturally turned on the light and guided the client to a seat.

She even handed a large towel to the drenched client.

Wait, did we have such a towel in the detective agency? I’ve never seen it before!

My senior skillfully brewed warm coffee and offered the client a cup.

Listening to the client, I realized there was a reason behind my senior’s absurd suggestion working.

The client already recognized my senior from seeing him on TV.

Well, anyone wearing a yellow suit and puffing on a pipe would stick in your mind after just one glimpse on TV.

“I need to find my sister. She headed to Seoul, but… suddenly I lost contact with her.”

The client seemed flustered, as if they couldn’t organize their thoughts.

“Ah! Speaking of which, the broker who tried to kidnap me said my sister was also kidnapped.”

“Can… we find her?”

After organizing the request details, it seemed like quite a difficult task.

It was fortunate that not much time had passed since the kidnapping, but the survival chances seemed bleak.

Most victims related to the golden horn are murdered within 10 hours.

As crimes targeting the golden horn increased, harsher penalties were imposed, leading to this tendency.

If one commits a crime related to the golden horn, they receive a sentence akin to murder, resulting in victims simply being killed while cutting the horns.

After all, if one is caught while cutting a horn, their life is ruined anyway, so murder and burying the body reduces the probability of being caught, hence the phenomenon.

Perhaps the law might change again soon?

Perhaps proposing substantial penalties for simultaneously committing horn cutting and murder would be the next step.

“Then, let’s start by finding that broker!”

My senior accepted the request without caring about such issues.

Wait, senior, what about the fees?

*

The black agent was still lingering in Chinese territory.

While investigating the research institute where the golden horn was imported, the black agent discovered peculiarities and remained in China to continue the investigation.

“Ahjussi, what are you obsessively staring at?”

“I’m checking strange discrepancies regarding the research institute I’ve investigated.”

Just by looking at the transcripts from the ‘specialized delivery drivers’ who transported the golden horn, something felt off.

There was something the drivers commonly said.

“The research institute we visited during delivery was clean and seemed to have no issues.”

“The building looked like it was brand new.”

“In fact, it was an institute that had been delivering even before it went bankrupt, but I was surprised to find it was completely different when I visited after it reopened.”

“I don’t know how much they cleaned, but there wasn’t a speck of dust.”

The first commonality was that the building was clean and showed no signs of issues.

“The staff was a bit strange.”

“Their unfriendly demeanor was rather off-putting.”

“All the staff looked excessively tired and depressed.”

“Even the staff in the security office showed no interest in the vehicles entering the institute.”

“There were quite a few staff members who seemed frustratingly clueless.”

The second commonality was that the staff seemed unfriendly and depressed.

Even though I had never met the staff, the appearance of the institute I directly verified was far from such cleanliness.

Ruins, a building on the verge of collapse.

A building seriously deteriorated due to lack of maintenance.

As I continued my investigation, oddities began to surface.

The acquisition and establishment process itself was peculiar.

The public officials who approved the acquisition and establishment didn’t recall the institute at all.

The landowner who sold the institute signed the contract without even receiving payment.

They didn’t even remember having sold that land.

The vague memories were similar symptoms to the public officials.

The black agent noted the discrepancies in his notebook.

[Hypnosis object?]
[Reality manipulation object?]
[Both are annoying objects regardless.]
[Even if limited to criminal uses, there ought to be better utilization.]
[Why specifically the golden horn?]
[The returns are too low relative to the risks.]
[Korean criminals utilizing this in China.]
[Golden horn syndrome only occurs in Korea.]
[High probability of activity mainly in Korea.]
[Grid through Korean institutes that were suddenly acquired or reopened.]

The black agent closed the notebook and stood up.

The blonde girl followed suit.

“Ahjussi, you’ve reached a conclusion, right? Your expression seems decisive.”

With an expressionless demeanor, the agent nodded slightly.

“Yes, young miss. I believe we’ve investigated everything worth investigating here. The rest is to be done in Korea.”

The black agent finally seemed to see a faint outline of the culprits behind the golden horn incident.