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Hiding on the rooftop of a nearby building, I looked down at the place where the Ghost Cat was, and the temporary camp at Geyang Mountain was in complete disarray.

The traces of a joyful party were scattered chaotically, and it broke my heart.

I like parties too!

The toppled grill was lying on the ground, vomiting its contents, while the golden-brown, well-cooked skewers of chicken rolled around, dripping juices onto the dirt.

In the aftermath of the party, not quite human nor quite object, strange fake humans were running around like zombies.

Next to the wrecked party area were familiar faces hiding.

The Yellow Detective was leaning casually against a brick wall with a gas lamp in hand.

The detective junior was holding a large hammer and looking tense.

Both emanated an aura that felt different from before.

Hmm, if I had to put it into words, I’d say they had half-transformed into objects?

Still, a person who can throw someone like a baseball couldn’t be a normal person.

I was trying to watch the cat’s adventure like a movie, but something began to stimulate my senses.

Should I say I heard a ‘bang’ that only I could hear?

I felt as though something chilling had suddenly appeared in a corner of this camp.

The overwhelming sensation was one of immense malice towards humans.

I glanced back and forth between the distant camp corner and the place where the cat was.

Aww, I wanted to see more of the cat’s great adventure….

Surely the cat wouldn’t be in danger; the detective and junior are competent.

Besides, there’s Watson too!

Leaving the detective and crew behind, I started hopping towards the direction where I felt the chilling presence.

*

Words that I remembered seeing near that rooftop popped into my monocle and then vanished.

Words I had seen from The Gray Reaper.

SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1VHdKNkcvMW1QZzFUOVZodW5GanVXbDBOYmJ0QjhVZ0dqQzJQUUFZbGsrVg

The Gray Reaper, who seemed to be observing us, had abruptly vanished.

To think The Gray Reaper, who should be at the Sehee Research Institute, appeared here.

I know The Gray Reaper is often wrongfully labeled as an object….

But with him constantly showing up at the crime scene, suspicion is inevitable.

Why in the world did he show up here?

Still, it would have been much easier if I could get the help of an amicable Gray Reaper….

Rescuing Junior No. 2 seemed like a significant hassle.

The three-story building where Junior No. 2 was hiding was surrounded tightly by the camp occupants.

The large number of people at the welcoming party had turned out to be a problem.

They had locked the rooftop door and were staging a standoff, but it wouldn’t be easy to hold out for long.

Unlike the zombies you typically see in the movies, the camp occupants were intelligent, making it impossible to just hold out.

It seemed they were already trying various methods, like bringing ladders or attempting to climb the walls.

Junior No. 2 had only three bullets left, too.

Hmm, no solution in sight.

To rescue the client and Junior No. 2, I’d have to lure the camp residents outside, who were piled up like a mountain, for any chance of success.

Fortunately, those residents exhibited zombie-like tendencies.

If they discovered us, rather than thinking strategically, they would mindlessly chase after us.

If they didn’t have such tendencies, it would have felt like fighting organized militia, and escaping would have been incredibly difficult.

If that were the case, I would have been caught while roaming the alley in the first place.

“Come on, over here.”

A simple operation explanation.

I would distract those zombies and lead them all away, while Junior No. 1 would take Junior No. 2 and the client to safety.

In this operation, the most crucial part is, surprisingly, that cat.

I have to hope that cat guides them to safety.

As I explained the plan, the object cat meowed as if it understood.

*

The senior recited a flimsy plan and suddenly stood up, rushing into the open area.

Clap, clap. He clapped twice to gather everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, it’s getting late; shouldn’t we start wrapping up the welcoming party?”

At the senior’s words, the camp residents began to drool and rush in.

And without even glancing my way, the senior started running off in the opposite direction.

After waiting for the commotion to subside, I looked over the wall, and all those people had vanished.

The area that had been full of people barbecuing and eating skewers just moments before was now utterly in shambles.

I entered the empty three-story building and knocked on the locked rooftop door.

Knock, knock, knock.

After a moment, Hyejin, with a pale face and the unconscious client in her arms, opened the door.

The revolver she clutched tightly with both hands was trembling, and she still looked confused.

“What in the world—why is this happening? Everyone was so friendly!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. No problem.”

I could only give her a tight hug and pat her back.

After a few minutes of comforting, Hyejin finally calmed down enough to engage in conversation.

First, I needed to ask why the client had fainted and why we suddenly found ourselves in a situation requiring a gun.

“The client suddenly fainted on the rooftop. The reason… I don’t really know.”

“Then do you have any idea why you were attacked?”

“I have no idea either. We were just chatting normally…”

Hyejin seemed puzzled about the whole situation.

“My senior and I also encountered something strange while wandering around. I saw kids tearing into a puppy. And as soon as I saw that, I thought, ‘Oh, I need to go back!’ but then the gunshots rang out, and the camp folks went haywire attacking.”

“Could it be the skewers they were serving were actually puppy meat?”

“Oh come on, surely not….”

While trying to stabilize the client with cloth, Hyejin blurted out a very ominous thought.

Oh no, tell me it’s not true.

It wouldn’t make sense; the taste would be different if it were puppy meat.

“By the way, it seems like these people have an obsession with ‘tourists.’”

“Tourists?”

“Every person I meet keeps asking if I’m a tourist or who I came with.”

“I think I might have discussed something related to that too. So, is that why we were attacked? Because they thought we weren’t tourists?”

“Who knows how they would know that? This just confirms that things are really weird around here, so we need to solve the request quickly.”

I called out to the cat lounging on the wall while carrying the client on my back.

“Hey, cat! Guide us to safety now.”

Meow!

The confident-looking cat began to wag its tail and lead us onward.

*

Phew.

As I sprinted down the unfamiliar street, I huffed and puffed.

There was no time to catch my breath while fleeing from the relentless horde of zombies.

I leaped over brick walls, spun around narrow alleys, and toppled trash cans and similar structures but couldn’t shake off the zombies.

I’m dying here; all this physical work isn’t my style….

Even now, the gas lamp I’m holding is shaking.

If I asked Watson to hide me, it would solve everything, but I decided to hold on a bit longer.

I know it’s okay to ask Watson up to three times, but he still makes me feel uneasy.

While fleeing from rooftop to rooftop, something unusual caught my eye at the edge of my vision.

What is that?

Late at night, dressed in black clothing.

It was hard to see, but just spotting the scattered numbers showed that quite a few individuals were coming.

They were wrapped in black cloth like ninjas.

Their movements were organized.

Their attire was anything but ordinary.

I’d never heard of a group like that dressing in Korea.

They infiltrated the camp and began slaughtering the camp residents.

Without uttering a word, they blended into the darkness and acted mindlessly.

Thanks to that, the number of camp residents pursuing me had significantly decreased, but I couldn’t purely rejoice; those dark individuals looked too suspicious.

With the situation shifting, I thought it would be better to regroup with the juniors quickly.

I lifted Watson and said.

“Watson, hide my appearance.”

“Watson, hide my appearance.”

“Watson, hide my appearance.”

With the sound of giggles, the smoke that spread around made my body invisible.

Let’s hurry back; something is definitely off.

*

Looking around near the container house, I saw building materials surrounding the area like a castle wall.

From the outside, it looked like a huge pile of construction materials stacked for storage.

Inside was quite a spacious area with a small container house.

This place the cat led us to was absolutely perfectly hidden.

Hyejin looked worried as she scanned the surroundings.

“Do you think they can find us here? It’s completely out of sight, and it’s so secluded…”

“Don’t worry; my senior will definitely find us. Honestly, my senior’s intuition is more ‘object-like’ than the objects they carry. And if they really can’t find us, they’ll just call us on their phone, right?”

My senior was excellent at finding paths, so there was no need to worry.

After a while, Hyejin would probably get used to my senior’s antics.

Pushing my worries aside, I took a seat on a chair provided inside the container, and groaning noises began to resonate.

“Ugh.”

The client, Sua, shook her head left and right as she began to wake up.

Hyejin rushed over to the waking client, greeting her warmly.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Oh, I must have fainted? I’m sorry.”

The client seemed still disoriented and wobbled.

Well, it would definitely be shocking if someone returned after a month, only to find everyone they knew turned into something resembling a zombie.

Once she gathered her senses, the client, Sua, spoke with a bewildered expression.

“Um, this may seem like a strange question, but…”

“Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t quite remember.”

“What was my name?”