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Ddukbangddukbang.

As I walked down the corridor of the research institute, I searched for a subject to experiment with my newly acquired abilities.

There were quite a few objects I had dealt with this time.

The Golden Tree, Yeti, and the inert objects that the Golden Reaper had put holes in.

Unfortunately, aside from the Golden Tree, I couldn’t gain any abilities from the other objects.

I wasn’t sure why, but it was common for objects to not grant abilities.

Criteria?

I had worked hard to investigate that about a year ago.

The more physical the abilities of an object, the less likely I was to gain anything from it.

Perhaps the abilities related to muscle hypertrophy, skin toughness, or getting stronger fur were things my body couldn’t accept?

Fortunately, I was able to gain a sleep ability from the Golden Tree.

It was an ability to put someone to sleep, but I wasn’t sure how effective it would be.

As I walked through the corridor, I heard a loud sound.

Bang.

It sounded like a palm slamming onto a table.

The sound came from the Sehee Research Institute’s conference room.

As I sneaked in using ghosting, I spotted a familiar yet rare face.

Seoah Park, the Deputy Director of the Sehee Research Institute.

It was difficult to see her unless I purposely sought her out since she rarely left the Deputy Director’s office.

Seoah was shouting as she smacked the desk with an angry expression.

She typically didn’t get angry, so what on earth was going on?

“Yerin Oh, explain yourself.”

Underneath the hand that Seoah slammed down were two photographs.

One showed Yerin sneaking the Golden Reaper into a bag and taking it outside.

The other was a bloody photo of the Golden Reaper taken during this exhibition.

Yerin shrank back with a terrified expression.

She seemed to be getting scolded for the unauthorized removal of the Golden Reaper.

“How can someone with the profession of a researcher even think about removing an object without permission?!”

“I’m sorry.”

Yerin looked all crumpled up, while Sehee, sitting beside her, wore an indifferent expression.

“Director Lee Sehee!”

Sehee looked startled at being called out suddenly.

“What kind of monitoring system allows an individual to slip out this easily? Just like that?!”

“Well, it’s because Yerin manipulated the CCTV…”

“Now, think about it—what if a high-risk object needed isolation was brainwashed by Researcher Yerin Oh to escape? Do you think such excuses would hold water? The Sehee Research Institute would be shut down, and you, Director, would be imprisoned!”

Sehee also crumpled up like Yerin.

In fact, the very idea that Yerin could sneak out an object was ludicrous.

In an ordinary research institute, such a thing should never happen.

The outcome of Seoah’s reprimanding was tragic.

Yerin faced a pay cut and was reassigned.

She would be working in the Deputy Director’s office for a while.

Sehee had to take over desk work while the deputy director restructured the monitoring system.

Upon hearing this, both Yerin and Sehee looked like people who had lost their country.

Ah, speaking of which, I need to test the sleep ability…

*

Clomp, clomp, with heavy footsteps, I headed to the Reaper’s isolation room.

Ah, working in the Deputy Director’s office from today makes it ten times harder to see the Reaper.

Upon entering the isolation room, the Reaper, lying on the bed, peeked out from under the blanket and started patting the bed.

It looked like it was inviting me to come in.

Wow! The Reaper’s invitation!

I dashed over and dove into the bed.

Then, I enjoyed the blanket that the Reaper covered me with while shutting my eyes.

Huh, suddenly feeling really sleepy.

Zzz.

*

The sleep ability test I conducted on Yerin was somewhat successful.

It was only usable upon contact.

Could not be used on objects.

Could put one person to sleep at a time.

The sleep ability I obtained this time was pretty good.

Perfect for when Yerin becomes bothersome!

But since she wasn’t annoying right now, I slapped Yerin’s cheek to wake her up.

Tap tap.

Yerin woke up quicker than I expected.

Hmm, the sleep maintenance ability seems a bit lacking.

“Ah, did I doze off?”

Rubbing her eyes, Yerin turned toward me and hugged me tightly, starting to pout.

She said it would be hard to escape now that she was assigned to the Deputy Director’s office.

To be honest, I felt a bit guilty since I partly shared the blame for the unauthorized removal of the Golden Reaper.

And Yerin had a hand in resolving the Golden Tree incident, so I should give her a present.

What would be good?

*

Munch munch.

The Golden Reaper was squirming on the desk.

“Wow!”

The Reaper, who had been accommodating my complaints, suddenly summoned the Golden Reapers.

And when I pulled out cake for the hungry-looking Golden Reapers, this was the scenario.

The sweet-toothed Golden Reapers dashed over to the cake and enjoyed it in their own way.

So cute!

I grabbed a camera and started taking pictures.

Seoah had said that recklessly photographing objects could be dangerous, but the Golden Reapers were good kids, so it should be fine!

Honestly, I wanted to take them home again, but I should hold off this time.

And if I took them home, I was bound to have another nightmare.

It would be too sad if the warmth of the Golden Reaper disappeared while I was sleeping.

There were three squirming Golden Reapers in total.

One was submerged in cocoa.

It was clearly drinking it, as it gradually diminished, but I wondered why it was doing that.

Well, it’s cute, so I don’t mind!

The other two were engrossed in cake.

One was hugging a cake sponge and munching away.

The other was eating strawberry leaves.

Why on earth are they eating that?!

I wanted to make them eat proper strawberries, but whenever I tried to intervene, they got mad, so I could only watch.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I continued snapping pictures until Seoah came to drag me away.

*

The kidnapping case was reaching its final stages.

I had found out where the kidnapped person had been sold to.

I obtained information from the Golden Horn broker and tracked the destination, which led me to this place, the Buchun Research Institute.

It was clear that the client’s sister had been sold alive to the Buchun Research Institute.

Looking around, contrary to the claim that it was in operation, it was in complete ruins.

It seemed like they might have packed up and run far away?

I sneaked into the fully abandoned research institute.

The building was a mess, piled high with trash, and the exterior walls were damaged, revealing iron bars.

“Wow, what a total mess.”

“Senpai! Please be quiet. The infamous ‘Maker’ might be here. Do you understand? You never know!”

Does my junior know that their voice is three times louder than mine?

I could hear sounds from a distance.

The sound of vehicles moving along the deserted road.

And there were quite a few of them.

It seemed like we weren’t the only ones with business at this research institute, huh?

Naturally, since it’s the hideout of the famous ‘Maker’?

“Someone’s coming.”

As I turned around after the warning, I saw my anxious junior gripping a large hammer tightly.

Behind them was our client, Hyejin, who had managed to follow us here.

A multitude of vehicles began lining up as they entered the research institute.

From the lead large van, two men disembarked first, followed by many others.

There were two figures approaching the front.

One was a tall shadow, and the other a short shadow.

What appeared were a man in a tight black suit and a blonde girl.

Both of them were familiar faces.

“Hey buddy~ Long time no see!”

“Yeah.”

“And you, young lady, it’s been a while~”

The blonde girl merely nodded and bowed gracefully in response to my greeting.

The guy in black was associated with the Central Research Institute along with Oh Muryong’s granddaughter.

Wait, isn’t she no longer the association president? Anyway, she was the granddaughter of someone important.

Surrounding the granddaughter were people who looked like bodyguards standing guard like a folding screen.

“We’ve come to search for the victim of the Golden Horn kidnapping case. How about you?”

“We’ve been tracking the Golden Horn case itself but… it seems like it’s too late.”

“Right? Then let’s head down quickly. Criminals love the basement.”

I strode boldly into the research institute.

The guy in black directed the newly arrived staff to seal off the area and followed me inside the building.

The interior of the research institute was even more wrecked than the exterior.

Is this really the research institute that had been in operation until recently?

An ominous aura began slithering up from the stairs that led down into the basement.

And the dense smell of blood grew stronger the further we went down.

Once we had completely descended into the basement, the source of the terrible blood scent was revealed.

Blood was thickly caked in every isolation room.

Severed limbs and mashed-up body parts.

What the hell were they doing here?

What kind of experiments would lead to such a horrifying sight in isolation rooms?

Outside the isolation rooms, pale corpses were piled high in the corners like garbage.

They were discarded haphazardly.

“Sister!”

Hyejin cried out in a frantic voice.

Then she dashed toward the mound of bodies.

Seeing the identical signs of severed horns on the corpses, they all seemed to be the victims of the kidnapping.

The sister who had asked us to find her was already dead.

“No! Sister, sister, sister!”

With the sound of Hyejin’s sobbing echoing as she shouted for her sister, the request for her sister to be found had been fulfilled.

It was a tragedy, though.