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The sound of the TV echoed hollowly in the isolation room, and I was writhing in boredom.

‘It’s late… Yerin…’

Lately, Yerin hadn’t been able to visit often, so I was getting bored.

To kill some time, I wandered around the research institute and stumbled upon a new isolation room.

It contained a new object that had been brought in.

I discovered a total of three new objects while exploring the institute.

Each new object had a brief description of its source.

Two were found by ‘Cute Puppy’, and one was transferred from another research institute.

Back in the day, objects were brought in only occasionally, but these days, the number of isolated objects was increasing whenever I got bored.

One of them was a creepy object roaming about in the sand-filled isolation room.

I wondered if that name was really appropriate; it was rather ambiguous.

[Skeleton Spider.]

Should I consider this a spider?

It looked more like a hand bone than a spider….

The skeleton spider resembled a hand with only bones left, haphazardly tied up with spider silk.

In fact, it was hard to even consider it a human hand bone, as it had more than 20 fingers.

If I viewed the fingers as the spider’s legs, the leg count already far surpassed what a spider should have.

Upon observing it over time, its actions felt somewhat insect-like.

It would dig into the sand and hide, then spring out to ambush unsuspecting prey passing by.

It was strange that a hand bone without any flesh would bother hunting, and as I watched, it didn’t seem to eat anything.

It merely tied up its catch with spider silk and buried it in the sand.

It also spread its web to glide or shot out strands of silk.

After observing it like an ant, it began to look a bit more like a spider.

Finding it too creepy to touch with my hands, I skipped that and headed to another isolation room where more objects were stored.

This isolation room was markedly different from others.

It was a facility set up outside, vast like a racing circuit.

It was an isolation room that implemented roads and intersections in a spacious courtyard.

The name of the object isolated in this room was [Perfect Navigation.]

It was a navigation system elegantly showcasing the wave patterns of wood.

It had the feel of an art piece, like a piece of high-end furniture.

The problem was that it was attached to a tricycle.

Sneaking into the isolation room and hopping onto the tricycle, the navigation system automatically turned on, even though it wasn’t connected to any power source.

“Please tell me your destination.”

A clear voice flowed from the navigation system.

The navigation screen displayed a meticulously drawn map of the area around the institute, with people and cars moving around, suggesting it reflected real-time road conditions.

As its name implied, it seemed like a truly ‘perfect’ navigation system.

Normally, such a useful object would be kept by its discoverer after finding it, so instances of it coming into the research institute were rare.

However, given that it was here, there was likely a high probability of a critical flaw.

Still, it somehow looked fun.

Ding ding. Ding ding.

As I slowly pedaled the tricycle, a clear sound resonated from the metal parts connected to the bicycle wheels.

It was likely a device to easily locate the moving tricycle within the expansive isolation room, right?

As the tricycle moved forward, the navigation system’s voice spoke.

“Switching to free drive mode.”

The tricycle moved slowly forward, making a clear sound in sync with my pedaling speed.

The isolation room was set up like a bicycle amusement park.

Aside from the fact that it was a rather dangerous amusement park, it was quite fun.

While pedaling, steel balls would roll towards me or steel dolls would pop up at crosswalks.

Every time, this navigation system perfectly directed me at just the right moment to avoid each situation.

With a sprinkle of exaggeration, I could probably navigate the road with my eyes closed!

As I wandered around the tricycle paths, the fog began to thicken.

Wow, did they even create a device to simulate such dreadful weather?

The fog made it hard to see even an inch ahead, and I could have struggled to navigate, but thanks to the navigation system, there were no issues.

In fact, the navigation system was emitting light to simulate the external environment.

With an exhilarating mood, I wore a smile and gradually picked up speed.

Pedaling through a completely white, invisible road turned out to be more enjoyable than I had expected.

A slightly unsettling feeling combined with a strange sensation created an impressive thrill.

In the thick fog where I could barely see my bicycle wheels, that seemingly endless fun time came to an end.

Suddenly, the fog that filled the surroundings vanished.

‘Huh?’

And then I tumbled down a high slope.

Rolling, rolling.

Where I ended up was the graveyard of tricycles.

A grave filled with many fallen bicycles.

I would be fine since I was physically invulnerable, but it was a height at which a regular person might die.

I moved outside the isolation room through ghosting, then read the description of the object.

[Perfect Navigation.]
[This navigation requires neither electricity, sensors, nor data connections.]
[Newly created roads are recorded instantly for navigation.]
[Roads that have been damaged due to accidents or collision sites are recorded immediately for guidance.]
[Traffic congestion is also recorded instantly and the fastest route is provided.]
[Caution: If one begins to rely on the navigation, it will randomly create fog at arbitrary times. Trusting the navigation during that time can lead to fatal accidents.]
[It often leads users to places like cliffs to cause falls.]

I thought it was a good fellow, but it turned out to be an evil navigation system….

*

I picked up a picture drenched in the blood that had fallen on the ground.

“A picture of a cute puppy?”

A dismembered corpse, a torn-up notebook, and a picture of a cute puppy.

Something felt familiar, but my memory eluded me.

It felt like I should definitely remember it….

“‘The Maker’ tested ‘The Nameless.’ A criminal, trying to solve global objects. So did they steal the cube?”

“The Nameless?”

The black figure obscuring the eyes of the Young Miss in the dreadful basement environment muttered something ambiguous.

‘The Nameless.’ That name seemed vaguely familiar.

What was it again?

“Don’t bother trying to recall. It’ll just give you a headache.”

“Well, since I don’t really care for useless worrying, this ambiguous thing must relate to objects.”

In frustration, I brushed my hair back.

“So, have you discovered anything from this atrocity?”

“There’s not much useful information. Just remnants of pointless attempts.”

“So, the Maker missed their mark.”

Employees in blue uniforms began pouring down into the basement.

They were likely going to rummage around with their specialized equipment to find even the tiniest clue.

Chasing after the Maker seemed quite intriguing, but without any requests, I should probably head back to the office and wait for the next request.

“Junior. Let’s go back!”

“No, Senior! What about Hyejin?”

*

Leaving the skeleton spider and navigation, I arrived at a more sturdy isolation room holding another object.

The moment I saw this object, I felt a tingle of excitement.

This seemed like it would be fun!

The object was a walking doll.

It had a round face like a ball.

Its eyes and mouth were crudely sewn shut, and it was dressed in flamboyant clothes like a clown.

Aside from the face, it looked like a pretty nice doll.

The problem was that the face was oddly realistic, which felt disturbing.

The doll wandered around the isolation room, bowing its head and offering a letter.

On the envelope, it read: [You are invited to Smile Theme Park!]

Perhaps that was why this object’s name was written as follows:

[Doll Invitation to Theme Park.]

The doll pathetically wandered around, trying to offer its invitation, but none of the research institute staff accepted it.

In fact, receiving an invitation from an object meant expressing a willingness to risk death.

Just then, the doll waddled over and extended the invitation to me.

Hmm, somehow, I felt like something interesting might happen if I took that invitation?

*

A desolate graveyard.

Leaning against a tree, I was endlessly waiting for someone.

All around the graveyard, secret employees from the Central Research Institute were stationed to protect me.

They didn’t send me back to prison.

Instead, they assigned me to the position of Deputy Director of the Secret Central Research Institute.

Even though it had become impossible to summon the Director object, they still left the director position empty and seated me in the Deputy Director’s chair.

And the first duty I performed as the Deputy Director of the Secret Central Research Institute was to wait for someone at a particular grave.

I was certain he would come here now that he was free.

Because it was my mother’s grave.

Tap tap tap.

I heard the familiar sound of shoes.

Looking up, there he was, a man with the same face as 30 years ago.

He looked at me with the same emotionless gaze as he did 30 years ago.