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Late at night, among all the surrounding buildings with their lights turned off, there was a warehouse brightly lit and bustling with activity.

In front of the warehouse, trucks were lined up waiting with their doors open, while people were continuously coming and going at the entrance, carrying cardboard boxes.

The warehouse looked poorly maintained at first glance.

The walls were stained with neglect and decay.

The faded exterior paint.

As if cleaning had never been done, rusty metal and wooden scraps lay scattered on the floor.

However, unlike the shabby exterior, the goods being busily handled by the people inside the warehouse looked neat and intact.

Men were carefully packing Polaroid pictures into pristine cardboard boxes that didn’t at all match the dilapidated warehouse.

“Hurry, hurry, move it!”

“There’s a mountain of pictures still to pack!”

Once the packing was complete, the boxes were quickly moved into the truck, which bore the name of the company.

[Daily Object.]

This warehouse was used by Daily Object.

The pictures being packed were Polaroids featuring ‘dancing penguins.’

Currently, they were a hugely popular item in Seoul.

At first, many people were hesitant because it was an ‘object.’

But after selling quite a bit without any issues, it finally spread to the general public.

The fact that ‘Daily Object’ called itself an ‘object-specialized media outlet’ also helped.

The general public thought, “Those taking dangerous objects up close must know what’s safe,” which aided in sales.

To sell as many photos as possible, they took Polaroid pictures all day long, packed them all day, and transported them all day.

“Hurry, hurry! This is a gold mine! We need to sell out while it’s popular!”

An abandoned-looking shabby warehouse, busy workers, and flashy, luxurious cardboard boxes.

It was a strange space where nothing seemed to match up, but the most bizarre aspect was something else entirely.

The black penguin.

Sitting calmly in front of the Polaroid camera for 24 hours, the black penguin was the most alien presence.

Caw.

Caw.

The once quiet black penguin began to cry.

“Someone shut that thing up! It’s so noisy!”

“Boss, uh… how do we make it shut up?”

A man with a blank expression stood in front of the black penguin, bewildered, talking to another man who was yelling.

“Just smack it!”

“This… feels weird. It looks like the penguin’s mocking us. Isn’t it dangerous?”

The man packing boxes strode over and smacked the bewildered man’s head in front of the penguin.

“Geez, you idiot. Can’t you see this is delaying the picture-taking? Just smack the penguin’s head like this!”

As he said that, he brought his hand down onto the penguin’s head.

Thwack. Thwack.

The sound of a strong, emotional smack echoed.

Since the penguin just stayed still no matter what, the man’s movements were unhindered.

But this time, it was a bit different.

Crunch.

With the sound of bones cracking, the man’s scream rang out.

“Ahhhhh! My hand! My hand!”

The man’s hand was neatly severed into the shape of the penguin’s beak.

Skin, muscles, and even bone were cleanly sliced off as if by a slicer.

“You idiots! Why are you just standing there? Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!”

Caw. Caw.

As the staff hurried to call an ambulance, the blood-soaked penguin lifted its head and began to smile as if it were delighted.

Caw. Caw. Caw.

And the sound of the penguin’s crying began to grow louder and more numerous.

Despite the pictures scattered messily all over the floor, penguin heads were popping out everywhere, screaming.

“What in the… Who suggested selling this as an object?”

One of the men packing photos threw everything down and ran out of the warehouse.

And then terrible sounds came from outside.

“Ahhhhh!”

The scream of the fleeing man mixed with the crunching sound of something being devoured.

Leaving the howling boss behind, the men trying to escape could only stop in their tracks at that sound.

Penguins, stained with blood, were lining up at the entrance of the warehouse.

Soon, the area around the men was filled with penguins, and the man became increasingly frightened by the advancing penguins.

Then the penguins all charged at once and tore the men to shreds.

*

Lying in a warm isolation room, I was scooping up ice cream.

Haum.

As I watched TV while eating ice cream, the news was filled with stories about the black penguin attacks.

‘Daily Object’ had sold so many photos that the number of victims was staggering.

Was it a divine punishment or was there just no one left to take responsibility?

Everyone, including the boss, at ‘Daily Object,’ which supplied penguin photos wholesale and retail, had died.

Their deaths were quickly reported, discovered by an ambulance dispatched to some shabby warehouse.

Fortunately, the penguins were dealt with in an instant.

Although as hard as steel, they weren’t immune to physical damage, so a good blast of armor-piercing rounds would take care of them.

However, some residual penguins reportedly fled towards Gangseo, but would that be alright?

After this incident, politicians seemed poised to tackle object-related legislation.

They were going to raise the standards for the certification required to handle objects…

I just hope they set the bar high enough that something like ‘Daily Object’ doesn’t happen again.

No wait, if they set it too high, would Sehee Research Institute get disqualified?

Hmm, then I hope the standards rise just enough for Sehee Research Institute to barely pass.

Hehe.

Lying in bed, eating ice cream, I thought silly thoughts.

*

The Kkachisan Conference seemed to be on a larger scale than expected.

The Kkachisan Institute appeared cramped, yet magically seemed much bigger than it looked.

A magnificent chandelier adorned the high ceiling, and the bright white lights bathed the entire hall in a gentle glow.

The neatly arranged chairs stretched out to a point where the end wasn’t easily visible, giving a hint of how many attendees the venue could accommodate.

As someone from the small Sehee Research Institute, it would have been easy to feel intimidated, but thanks to the Golden Reaper tickling my palm, that didn’t happen.

As expected, the Golden Reaper I had hidden in my bag was squirming, wanting to come out, so I held it in my hand and covered it with a book.

The Golden Reaper seemed to enjoy the situation, wriggling and moving in my palm with a big smile.

Among the many institutes and government organizations that had participated, some people stood out.

They were the researchers from ‘Trinity Research Institute.’

Currently, they were indeed the number one research institute in Korea.

The Trinity Research Institute was formed by a merger of three large institutes, expanding their industry influence with enormous scale and funding.

They flaunted their laboratory coats emblazoned with the Trinity Lab logo, strutting around with an air of superiority.

Considering it was a place where the best talents in the country gathered, and their pay was also top-notch, it’s understandable to take pride, but flaunting it like that was hard to grasp.

The most unusual thing was the reaction of the Golden Reaper.

Regardless of what was around, the Golden Reaper playing in my palm would stop moving only when I got near the Trinity researchers.

It bared its teeth and showed threatening signs while gazing in their direction.

I guess the Golden Reaper doesn’t like strutting and showing off either.

I need to be careful not to incur its dislike.

*

After clearing the furniture in the isolation room, I kept the Golden Reaper at a distance.

I was doing this to test the new abilities I had acquired.

Okay, here we go!

Focusing on the Golden Reaper, I felt a connection leading to it.

Then, I dove toward that connection!

In the blink of an eye, I was standing near the Golden Reaper.

The Golden Reaper clapped its hands in wonder at my sudden appearance.

The ability I gained by killing the harmful bird, the black penguin, was the power to teleport to the Golden Reaper’s location.

The consumption of firewood is a bit high, but considering I got such a great ability from killing a pesky bird, it was impressive.

If the harmful bird can move through photos, I can now move through the Golden Reaper.

So now, if there’s somewhere far away that I’m too lazy to go to, I can just send the Golden Reaper!

However, it was already difficult to get the Golden Reaper to stay at a distance for my ability test, so sending it beforehand seemed even harder.

Perhaps only after obtaining the ability to control the Golden Reaper at will will that be possible…

*

Late in the evening, after the conference ended, the Black Agent was gazing up at the red moon.

‘In the end, the evacuation order hasn’t been issued until the day of the conference.’

Ignoring manifestations that seemed to pose no special danger had become a problem, but it was also understandable.

With so many objects appearing, it would be too much to be scared of each one.

In an age where objects are commonplace, Cloud Fish suddenly descend upon homes, and mirror balls emitting cheerful songs occupy the National Assembly building.

Eventually, these happenings would end without any damage.

With such incidents building up, it’s cultivating a sense of safety insensitivity.

The girl sitting next to the Black Agent, swinging her legs and fiddling with a red bat-like creature, was no different.

A bat that suddenly appeared in downtown, and especially one colored as red as blood.

Clearly an object, but the girl’s reaction was not fear but rather delight.

“There’s a bat! It’s the same color as the moon up there!”

The Black Agent thought again that, just like the mirror ball, he hoped nothing would come of it.