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Seoul Forest Village had been completely reduced to ashes. A fire that started in one house turned catastrophic due to the densely built wooden structures of the village.

In the midst of the charred remains, Research Institute employees were busy investigating and organizing. They were sorting through debris and compiling data.

From a nearby hill, two men with completely different vibes were overlooking the scene. One was a cold-looking man dressed in a black suit. The other was a cheerful man clad in a yellow suit.

“Everything has burnt down perfectly clean. Well, it can’t be helped; it’s all wooden buildings, after all!” exclaimed the man in the yellow suit as he rummaged through the remaining debris.

“…”

“Han Kangcheol, who practically built Seoul Forest Village, is dead, and the village has been completely destroyed. Is it possible that Seoul Forest Village will disappear like this? I hurried over on a request to find a person, and now I’m not sure if we can fulfill the request. You all have so many personnel; can’t you find anything? If we could at least find a violin, that would be great!”

“…If you want information, make a formal request to the Central Research Institute.”

The yellow-suited man seemed unfazed by this answer and continued busily rummaging through the wreckage. The man in the black suit didn’t stop him either.

“Based on the testimony we have, the Gray Reaper story keeps surfacing, but there’s actually no solid evidence. Wasn’t it the same a year ago? It looks like the work of the Gray Reaper, but there’s not a shred of proof. Once again, a village has been burned to the ground by the Gray Reaper! I wonder if this will end up in the news again.”

“…If there’s no opposing evidence, we can only conclude the most rational explanation.”

“I’m not blaming you or anything. But it’s impossible to bring in any electronic equipment to Seoul Forest, so it can’t be helped. The last report mentioned it clearly, didn’t it? Just circumstantial evidence. At this rate, if it turns out a totally different object is the cause, it would be a disaster.”

The man in the yellow suit happily dug through the debris and picked up a blackened, twisted piece of wood, then shouted.

“Ooooh! Look! A violin! This is a violin. I think it’s the violin that the client’s missing person had. I might have something to report to the client now.”

“…”

The man in the yellow suit decided he should go around and talk to some people, and he quickly left. The man in the black suit didn’t even glance at him and continued filling out documents.

“If it’s a violin, you should talk to Director Lee Sehee of the Sehee Research Institute. She might know something.”

“Thanks~ Then I’ll be on my way.”

The man in the yellow suit waved his hand lazily as he departed. The man in the black suit didn’t respond and slammed shut the file on the table. The folder was labeled ‘Record of the Seoul Forest Village Fire Incident.’

*

After the Seoul Forest incident, the director’s office in the now chaotic research institute was filled with noise as Yerin Oh rushed in. She said she was fleeing from an enraged Kim Jungrwi.

“So you just ran all the way here without a plan?”

“Yes, Jungloe was really mad. It seems like he was bothered by reporters a lot… Since a big fire broke out in Seoul Forest, it was revealed that I wasn’t staying in Seoul Forest Village.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. She had only signed in on the visitor’s list for Seoul Forest and then left for the day, so Jungloe had every right to be angry. Well, listening to him rant would probably solve the issue since he would cool off, so it should be fine.

“Looks like they’re going to take the Reaper to the Central Research Institute. It’s just like when the ‘Cute Puppy’ incident happened…”

“That’s likely, right? But even at the Central Research Institute, I wonder if they can contain the Reaper.”

Yerin, who had been very close to the Reaper, wore a look of disappointment. However, given the current public sentiment, it seemed confirmed that the Reaper would be sent to the Central Research Institute.

The atmosphere in the institute was chaotic after the Seoul Forest incident. In particular, a recently published online article had a huge impact. Not long ago, it was nothing more than a third-rate internet tabloid focusing on sensational news, but after a feature on the Gray Reaper a year ago, it had become incredibly famous.

‘Daily Object’

Any staff member from the Sehee Research Institute would know how it constantly popped up to annoy everyone. As a major news outlet that profited from sensationalizing the Gray Reaper, they were actively pushing theories implicating the Reaper in the incident. Reading the article made it feel like the Gray Reaper was the ultimate mastermind controlling objects and was responsible for plunging the world into despair.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of interviews they had conducted that led to claims about the Reaper summoning burning monsters from Hell through voodoo rituals.

“Oh, this is a report published by the Central Research Institute. It seems researchers can freely access it. I thought the director might not even know about it, so I brought it along.”

“Really?”

What conclusion did that report reach regarding this incident? I hoped for a favorable conclusion for the Sehee Research Institute, although the likelihood was low, of course.

Yerin pressed close to me as she began reading the report alongside me. It felt a little uncomfortable, but since she said she hadn’t seen it yet, I had no choice but to read it with her.

‘This incident appears to involve a new type of object dubbed the Steel Pig and the Gray Reaper.’

‘A total of eight individuals were mutated by the Steel Pig. They were all from a family living in Seoul Forest. Although the physical mutations are severe, there were no changes to DNA or dental structure, so tracking them down has been relatively easy.’

‘The Steel Pig seems to possess the ability to produce rice cakes made of fire. Many testimonies indicate an irresistibly delicious smell, suggesting that consumption will cause bodily mutations.’

‘Except for the head of the household, everyone else appears to have been confined in the house, presumed to be a measure to monopolize the rice cakes.’

‘It seems that consuming the fire rice cakes prevents eating any other food. This family was often seen unable to eat food and vomiting before being confined.’

‘The monster appears to have kidnapped people and fattened them up to offer them as sacrifices to the Steel Pig.’

‘No correlation has been found between this Steel Pig and the mass die-off incident that occurred in Seoul Forest.’

This report contained an exhaustive account of the incident, detailing even the minutiae. The good news was that while the Gray Reaper had been sighted, it was hard to conclude a clear causal relationship.

Yerin looked pale, perhaps shocked by the part regarding the kidnapping victims’ deaths. It seemed that far more people had been sacrificed in this incident than expected.

But then again, the pile of bones stacked in the basement was rather substantial.

Knock, knock, knock.

A heavy knocking sound echoed, startling Yerin and making her look around anxiously. But no matter how much she searched, there was no way out of the director’s office. Ha, there’s no back door in this office, you know?

When Yerin’s gaze finally landed on me, she smiled nervously.

“S-so… You’re not planning to snitch, are you…?”

“Director, I’m coming in.”

With that, Kim Jungrwi barged in, grabbing Yerin and pulling her away. With Yerin’s pitiful screams, the door to the director’s office slammed shut.

*

After a series of events passed, the once busy Seoul Forest outpost returned to a quiet state, and just like the gloomy weather, the face of the substitute employee was grim.

Ever since that person in the eye-searing yellow suit had come and gone, he’d remained in that state. Clutching the pitch-black, burnt violin that had been turned over as part of the belongings, he continued to cry.

Even if he were told to take leave, he ignored it completely.

“Jua… I should have stopped you from going.”

It turned out that the person they were looking for was the substitute’s younger sister, who had been a victim of the recent Seoul Forest incident. Some witnesses had seen her in her last moments, making survival prospects bleak.

With the charred violin in one hand and what was likely her skeletal remains in a container held tightly in his arms, the substitute’s gaze no longer seemed normal.

“The Gray Reaper is the cause. The Gray Reaper is the cause. The Gray Reaper is the cause. The Gray Reaper is the cause. The Gray Reaper is the cause.”

In the substitute’s hand was a small smartphone playing what’s known as ‘cyber hunting’ videos.

Normally I’d have yelled to get rid of that ridiculous footage from ‘Daily Object,’ but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything today.

It felt pitiful since it was his sister, but I feared that if I said anything to that expression, the unhinged substitute might stab me.

I could only hope the workday would end quickly.

As it had always been, I was longing for the end of my shift more than ever.