Bounce bounce.

I ran out with brisk strides.

Jump, Jump.

It was a short journey to find the main body producing the machine zombies.

I had to travel quite a distance, so I was bouncing along in a ghostified state.

It would have been better if not for the Ghost Catchers constantly chasing from far away.

Upon discovering me in a ghostified state, the Ghost Catchers' eyes rolled back as they chased me like madmen.

There were definitely some who had been chasing other ghost objects, but strangely, they only pursued me when they saw me.

Fortunately, I was far faster so there was no risk of being caught. 

Just quickly give up and chase other ghost Objects!

"Graaaaaah!"

A Ghost Catcher's frustrated scream echoed through the forest.

***

Some time had passed since completely shaking off the Ghost Catchers.

Quite far from Seoul now, the climate and vegetation seemed to change little by little.

Annoying Objects like those Ghost Catchers were no longer in sight.

In the somewhat desolate forest, I dealt with a slowly approaching zombie.

I pierced straight through the zombie's heart.

After dealing with many zombies, I got the hang of it.

There was no need to pull out the heart when dealing with zombies. 

Simply destroying the heart was enough to break the combination as an Object.

Once the combination broke, they lost regenerative ability and disintegrated into the Steel Tower.

Having traveled quite a distance, I had dealt with quite a number of zombies. 

Did I kill around 30?

I thought the main body producing the zombies would be near the Steel Tower, but that was a huge misconception.

It had been a while since I thought the main body might be here.

Just where are they being sent from?

At this rate, I might end up crossing the old North Korean border.

***

Sehee POV:

---

"Sister Sehee, I'll go down first then!"

With those words, Yerin ran down the stairs. 

After the Dobong-gu incident, the Research Institute had been in a bit of a disarray.

Most of the staff that went out to observe the 'Cute Puppy' signal had been caught up in the Dobong-gu incident.

Was it a mistake to temporarily take on the 'Cute Puppy' with the aim of expanding the Research Institute?

Fortunately, the staff caught up in the Dobong-gu incident were able to safely return thanks to the efforts of Kim Jungroo and some others.

Looking down from the rooftop, Yerin was leading the staff somewhere while punching the air energetically. 

She had been on this very rooftop just moments ago, and was number one in vigor at the Research Institute.

The area around the Research Institute was much more crowded than before.

Since it was a research institute cluster located on the outskirts of Seoul with solid infrastructure, many evacuees had gathered here.

Perhaps it was the optimal location, not too far from Seoul while having infrastructure and being quite removed from Seoul Forest?

"Phew..."

I let out a sigh with a frustrated heart.

Reaper still had not returned.

The Ice Throne in Dobong-gu had completely melted away.

The ice soldiers had all turned to dust as well.

The even bigger problem that had thrown all of Seoul into terror and shock, the Steel Tower pulsation incident, had also stopped.

Unlike the Dobong-gu Ice Throne where the culprit was revealed, the Steel Tower pulsations ended without any known reason.

Of course, no one knew why it had started either. 

No one knew why this happened or why it suddenly ended.

Because of this, people in Seoul now lived in fear that such a terrifying incident could occur again at any time.

Yerin, the Reaper admirer, jokingly went around saying that Reaper handled Dobong-gu and also resolved the Steel Tower issue. 

She said it hadn't returned yet because it had something to take care of but would be back in a flash once it was done.

I wished that were really the case. 

It felt a bit lonely without Reaper around.

***

??? POV:

---

In the dead of night when not even an inch ahead was visible, a group of men arrived in front of what looked like an abandoned building.

"Phew."

A bald man with a sullen expression let out a sigh.

The bald man was frustrated with the current situation where he had to come out for an investigation even to places rarely reached by people's footsteps.

The bald man, who had previously belonged to the Central Research Institute, was now working for the 'Temporary Object Management Organization'.

The order the bald man received was just one.

To resolve the Golden Horn incident faster than anyone else, by any means necessary.

The bald man thought this incident could never be resolved.

How could they possibly find traces of someone who was kidnapped and taken all the way to China?

Even in Korea, which has relatively good public safety, in this era where people frequently become corpses in remote areas, let alone the safe world before Objects appeared?

However, he soon realized that thought was wrong.

Another agent belonging to the same 'Temporary Object Management Organization' had tracked down the whereabouts of the Golden Horn.

And the bald man had arrived here in advance to take credit for that agent's work. 

Because the order the bald man received was 'to resolve this incident faster than anyone.'

With a disgruntled expression, the bald man nodded his head and ordered his subordinates to enter the building.

The sound of an owl hooting ominously echoed. 

According to the records left by the agent, the trail of the Golden Horn smuggling ended at this ominous Research Institute.

Thanks to that, they had to move their steps to this dilapidated building so late at night.

The bald man picked up a broken piece of concrete and muttered,

"This was the Research Institute that operated until a few days ago? Did we come to the right place?"

According to the records, the dilapidated building in front of them was a normally operating Research Institute just a few days ago.

But looking at the wreckage now, the building had already become a haunted house that ghosts might come out of.

Crunch.

The sound of hard glass being crushed under shoes, in the quiet abandoned building, sounded as loud as thunder.

In an atmosphere terrifying enough to make an ordinary person hiccup, strange sounds suddenly began.

The sound of a woman crying and sobbing, and the sound of scratching the walls relentlessly.

The men looked around in surprise, but the source of the sounds was nowhere to be found.

It was a situation scary enough to make the men want to run away, but they were barely holding on with reason.

If they ran away from here, their reality would become even more terrifying.

Swallowing their dry saliva, they just advanced deeper into the abandoned building.

With the background of a woman's crying voice and the unpleasant sound of fingertip flesh being crushed.

"Huhhk!"

One of the advancing men suddenly gasped in surprise at the blood dripping down the wall.

<Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Home. Let me go.>

<Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Home. Let me go.>

<Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Home. Let me go.>

Ominous phrases were carved into the wall with blood.

The bald man, surprised, kicked aside the fallen employee and ordered them to advance quickly.

"It must be some kind of Object. From the looks of it, they can only instill fear. Advance!"

He could take such an attitude because his boss was more cruel than such ambiguous fear.

Literally, if you don't want to die, you have to at least pretend to be dead, don't you?

The men arrived in front of the stairs leading underground, full of ominous traces.

Charred corpses, blackened to death.

And a small voice constantly muttering in their ears.

And the entrance to the stairs that wouldn't brighten no matter how much light they shone.

That abyss-like staircase looked like the entrance to hell.

The employees, drained by fear, could not advance any further.

"Such foolish fools. I'll go first, so just follow me

Mocking the fear-stricken men, the bald man began descending the stairs without hesitation.

As the bald man took the lead down the stairs, suddenly flames shot up in front of his eyes.

"Kkwuhhhk!"

Someone was strangling the bald man's neck.

The bald man was dangling in midair.

There was clearly no one in front of him!

Gasping, unable to breathe, he could only flail his arms and legs meaninglessly.

The flames that had spread all over his body began to burn him to a crisp.

The men who had been carefully following behind the bald man fled in panic at the sight.

The bald man's endless screams soon stopped.

The abandoned building, where those desperate cries had ceased, was now filled with the usual eerie silence.

***

Reaper (MC) POV:

---

'Hmm.'

This definitely doesn't seem to be Korea.

It feels like I've crossed a few rivers, maybe even the Amnok River?

Judging by the remnants of modern structures like concrete and asphalt, albeit unsightly, it appears I've gone beyond the range of the Steel Tower.

Fortunately, I've located the source sending out the zombies.

That abandoned concrete building in front of me seems to be it.

Since the building itself doesn't seem to be an Object, the source must be inside.

As I approached the building, an ominous owl sound came from nearby.

Standing in front of the abandoned building in the dead of night did give me an eerie feeling. 

There were no signs of life inside the building.

As I stepped inside, crushing broken glass, I heard strange sounds nearby.

Turning my head, I saw a ghost painfully scratching the wall.

'!'

Wow, my first time seeing a ghost.

One of the things I most looked forward to after gaining the ability to see spiritual bodies was the possibility of seeing ghosts.

I really wanted to confirm if humans truly become ghosts after death. 

But disappointingly, there were no ghosts.

At least, until this very moment, I had never seen any.

But a ghost! Why is there only a ghost here?

Leaving the wailing, wall-scratching ghost behind, I pressed forward.

'I wonder if I'll be able to see other ghosts too?' I thought, filled with anticipation.