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The room I entered was quite unusual.

A room with no windows.

Skinny monsters sprawled across the floor.

Delicious-looking snacks, beverages, and food were carelessly scattered everywhere.

The monsters drooled and mumbled with their hazy eyes.

Even when I released my ghosting and waved my hand in front of them, they just lay there, with dull eyes and clearly out of their minds.

There were many sealed doors with iron chains and locks, each holding at least one monster inside.

‘What kind of house is this? Why are there so many monsters, and why are they confined in each room?’

Grrrlk grrrlk

As I wandered around the house, I heard the faint scratching of wood from somewhere. It was a small sound, but it kept going without pause.

Listening closely, I found it coming from the second floor. The stairs leading up were covered in dust as if they hadn’t been used for a long time, and every step creaked unpleasantly.

Looking back, I saw tiny footprints on the dust-covered stairs.

If I had known this would happen, I would have ghosted my way up…

Upon reaching the second floor, the scratching sound I had heard had suddenly ceased.

Fortunately, there was only one attic on the second floor, making it clear that the source of the sound must have been the attic.

Entering the attic while ghosting felt different from the rooms on the first floor. In the dark room without a single light, a monster was slumped against the door, its head resting. The monster’s glowing red eyes were the only source of light in the dark room, appearing distinctly different from the other dull monsters.

Grrrlk grrrlk

The glowing-eyed monster began scratching at the door. With weak strength, it continued scratching even as blood pooled from its fingertips, staining the door with red. Among the confined monsters, this one clearly seemed to be desperately trying to escape.

I wondered if this monster would react if I released my ghosting, so I did, causing a soft sound as my feet met the floor. It was a sound too faint to be heard over the scraping noise.

The incessant scratching ceased.

A sudden silence.

The monster, which had been scratching the door, had now turned its head to look at me. Despite its dry, gnarled skin, its vivid, shining eyes displayed a clear intelligence.

“Who are you?”

The monster, having turned its head a full 180 degrees, began to rise gradually, making its way toward me. It was so skinny and hunched that I hadn’t realized it, but the standing monster appeared to be over 2 meters tall.

“You’re not breathing. Are you not human?”

“Before that, how did you get in here?”

“I thought you suddenly appeared in the room. Do you possess an ability that ignores physical limitations?”

The monster paused mid-sentence, then suddenly opened its mouth wide and began scratching at where its ears would be with both hands. Its intelligent red eyes dulled and took on a similar impression to the other monsters on the first floor.

How often had it scratched? The area where its ears used to be showed no sign of ears at all, just horrifyingly scratched wounds.

“Then then then can you bring me fire? I need fire! I’m hungry, hungry, hungry! Food, I need food! I’m starving, starving, starving!”

The monster, spouting incomprehensible words rapidly, curled up and began to bash its head against the floor. The dry, gnarled skin finally began to bleed, but the monster continued to slam its forehead until it stopped and stood back up.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so hungry I couldn’t help it.”

Hungry? There were plenty of canned food and snacks scattered around this room. When I picked up a snack from the floor and offered it, the monster shook its head.

“My hunger cannot be satisfied by such things. I see, since I’m useless, I cannot speak. It’s interesting, though—does a non-speaking object need the ability to understand speech?”

Is it that it can’t eat? I took a bite of the snack that the monster refused.

It tasted great. Is this some kind of curse that one can’t satisfy their hunger with such food?

If you’re starving enough to have a seizure, anything should taste good. Have I become so far removed from hunger and thirst after over a year of being born as an object that I can’t empathize anymore?

“Sorry, but may I ask a rude favor of you? If you could, I would appreciate it.”

“Can you go to the basement and bring me fire?”

“Ah! No!” the monster shrieked and began to thrash about wildly, causing chaos as it crashed against the walls. The reinforced walls and doors hurt the monster, but even covered in blood, it didn’t stop its rampage.

The monster’s frenzy continued until it finally collapsed to the floor.

Of course, I had long since ghosted my way to safety given how dangerous it looked.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Sorry. By the way, I can’t see you.”

“Oh, is that how it is? Are you a specter-type ghost object?”

As soon as I released my ghosting and stepped back into the attic, the monster nodded.

“I’d like to ask a favor while I’m sane. I want you to take my life away. I don’t know why, but I feel like you could do it easily.”

The monster appeared clearly out of its mind.

Did an object that affects the mind get to it?

There’s hardly any known way to deal with these objects, so it’s widely accepted that the best course of action in such cases is to eliminate them. But the desperation behind those words was palpable.

After saying that, the monster closed its eyes.

‘Hmm, this is troublesome.’

Although it’s known as the Gray Reaper, I had no ability to take lives directly.

Then why was I called a reaper?

I possessed the ability to learn easy methods to kill things. But that was only useful when the target wasn’t an object; if it was an object, it was merely a matter of gathering hints.

Unfortunately, even if the monster in the attic was a human at one point, it was now so close to being an object that its death appeared as just that to me.

[Destroy the source of the fire dumplings]

Fire dumplings? What are they?

In fact, all the monsters in this house shared the same condition of death. The ones outside causing a ruckus were no different, meaning they were all derived from the same object.

Even if I wanted to grant the attic monster’s wish, I had no way to do so without knowing what ‘source of dumplings’ meant.

Leaving the attic behind, I thoroughly searched the suspicious mansion, but I didn’t come across much information.

I discovered that there were a total of 8 monsters in this mansion.

The house had two floors but no basement.

There was always ample food in the rooms where the monsters were confined. Yet no one ate anything.

The monsters all appeared emaciated. Still, they didn’t look like they were about to die.

I was certain Sehee was somewhere in this house, but she hadn’t been found anywhere. Come to think of it, when the monster was rambling, it mentioned something about fire.

Did it say to go to the basement to get it?

But there was no basement in this house, is it hidden somewhere?

*

It smells.

A very delicious smell.

It was clearly a dreadful and anxiety-inducing situation, yet the delicious smell was enough to make me forget all that. The smell came from the pig roasting.

If an object has something alluring about it, one must never be tempted by it.

That’s something any object researcher would know.

But even knowing that, the smell was absolutely mouthwatering. I closed my eyes and sat as far away from the pig as I could.

Even the slightest lapse in concentration would have me reaching out to grasp through the bars. It was clear that it was far beyond reach if I just thought about it.

Grrrlk

A rough scraping sound echoed through the space. I thought it might be the old man again, but soon I heard completely different footsteps.

The sound of skin hitting stone. The slapping noise was echoing loudly.

‘This sounds familiar…’

It was a rhythm I’d heard multiple times a day.

Could it be?

Could it be, could it be?

I stretched my head as far as possible toward the stairs, gripping the bars.

The dim light from the lamp on the stairs cast a looming shadow that painted a familiar silhouette.

“Reaper!”

I shouted with joy.

I didn’t understand why the Gray Reaper, who was supposed to be in the research institute, was here, but I was just happy. If the reaper was here, it meant they’d escaped the institute’s confinement, and despite the obvious potential problems, the joy of possibly surviving outweighed the fear.

Whether it heard my voice or not, the sound of the reaper’s footsteps began to speed up.

‘The reaper is here!’

With anticipation, my heart raced even faster.