??? POV:

---

Bang bang bang.

A sound like air bursting came from the spotlight.

The spotlight was shining brightly on the abandoned building.

It was a thorough security perimeter, as if guarding against something.

*Hoot hoot hoot*

The ominous hooting owl fled pitifully, avoiding the light.

"Unidentified vehicle found near the target building! Don't let your guard down!"

Men in blue uniforms skillfully began securing the scene.

A man in a black suit stood in front of the unidentified vehicle, receiving a report.

"This...seems to be one of our vehicles."

The agent in the black suit sighed wearily.

"It seems we didn't receive any notice that another team was coming here." 

His tone implied he guessed the inside story.

"The hood is still warm, so it doesn't seem to have arrived long ago. Let's proceed with full caution."

The black agent touched the hood, then withdrew his hand as he spoke.

"We can't neglect investigating even if it's one of our vehicles. Compile the vehicle owner's information and submit it. I'll report it to the superior."

The curt black-suited agent headed towards the abandoned building where the light was concentrated.

As he approached the building, a blonde girl blocked his path.

"Mister!"

"Miss, you're here."

The girl, holding the same notebook and pen as the black agent, spoke with a slightly chubby expression.

"Mister, why did you leave me behind again?"

The black agent had secretly come on this mission because he didn't want to bring the girl to the dangerous site, but couldn't escape her.

Perhaps the secretary-guards surrounding her like screens had arranged it somehow.

The girl, looking around elementary school age, was the granddaughter of the chairman of the National Object Management Association.

The organization may be under investigation for corruption, but that doesn't mean he has lost its power.

The black-suited agent resigned himself to just taking her along.

***

The black-suited agent examined the wall traces, opened his notebook and jotted down a few words.

Seeing this, the girl also opened her notebook, scribbled something, then ran over to the site and picked up a piece of concrete, holding it high.

"Mister! Isn't the investigation wrong? For a Research Institute that had people until a week ago, this place looks too run-down."

The blonde girl spoke with a worried expression.

The black agent pointed to various parts of the lobby with his finger as he spoke.

"Miss, you can see traces of desks from here to there. Signs of being cleared out very recently. It will probably be easier to see in daylight."

The black agent proceeded forward, making simple notes and sketches, while simultaneously issuing various instructions to the surrounding staff.

The girl also opened her notebook, scribbling like the agent as she followed.

As the agent and girl investigated, they discovered a man sprawled on the floor.

"Ah! This must be the person who drove that vehicle outside!"

The blonde girl confidently exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her body.

"That's highly likely. There's nothing to identify him, but I remember this face. I saw him pass by just once at the temporary Korean headquarters."

When the agent agreed with the girl's words, she giggled happily.

The black agent instructed the blue-uniformed staff.

"Tie him up securely and keep watch. There will probably be quite a few things we need to ask him."

Then the black agent strode forward unhesitatingly.

***

Although the abandoned building had given off a rather ominous atmosphere, the presence of numerous personnel shining flashlights diluted that feeling considerably.

The men meticulously searching every room arrived at a conspicuously suspicious area.

A place littered with charred lumps.

The blonde girl made a disgusted expression as she asked, "Mister...these aren't human corpses, are they?"

The girl's face had turned pale.

"With this creepy atmosphere, they must be human corpses, Who could have done such a horrible thing?"

The girl always tried to act like an adult, but seemed to lack fortitude for such situations.

Seeing that sight, the black agent quietly approached and gently stroked the girl's head.

Then, the girl giggled and her complexion noticeably improved.

"This certainly seems to be the work of an Object."

The black agent determined it was the deed of an Object.

The girl tilted her head and asked, "Huh? An Object? But there's nothing here."

"These are corpses killed instantly by tremendous heat. There are no traces of them being moved, and no traces left in the surroundings. Only an Object could do something like this."

"Ah... when you think about it that way, it does seem like an Object's doing."

"Let's withdraw everyone. After making thorough preparations against Objects, we'll re-enter during the day. Proceeding further now seems too dangerous."

Judging that there was an Object present that could harm life, the agent ordered a withdrawal.

He felt there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

The black agent turned around and began walking out of the building.

***

Reaper (MC) POV:

---

Hanging upside down from the chandelier of the abandoned building, I watched the blonde girl.

She was an amazing little girl.

She acted casually, yet had a sense of dignity.

Outwardly a child, but quite bold, using quite adult vocabulary.

It made one think she must be a modern-day noble who received an excellent upbringing.

Actually, I had only come to this building to check if the people coming here were in cahoots with the zombie makers, but the captivating girl made me keep watching.

From following the girl and observing so far, it didn't seem they needed to worry about tracking down criminals.

I didn't know who they were, but they were far more capable than expected.

I never imagined there were such capable people in Korea!

*Clap clap clap*

In my ghostified state where no one could hear, I applauded.

Now I could leave the rest to them and go rest at the Sehee Research Institute!

***

??? POV :

---

At high noon with the sun overhead, heavily armed personnel headed down to the basement in droves.

The black agent stood with arms folded, waiting for their call.

"All clear!"

Only after hearing those words did the black agent unfold his arms and slowly descend the dark stairs with the girl.

The basement of the abandoned building seemed to have been used as a lab, with related experiment records scattered carelessly about.

"Mister, it looks like they deliberately left the experiment logs on the floor instead of disposing them."

The curious girl, wandering here and there, picked up a piece of paper from the floor as she spoke.

"With just this experiment log alone, they couldn't avoid serious charges, but they scattered it on the floor instead of disposing of it..."

The black agent also picked up a piece of paper to examine as he said, "Indeed, it doesn't seem like they tried to hide the information. Then it must be one of two things. Either they were absolutely confident they wouldn't get caught, or they've already committed misdeeds so heinous that this pales in comparison."

The blonde girl made a horrified expression.

"What could be worse than this? Kidnapping, confinement. Gouging out the eyes of living people. Crudely replacing their organs with makeshift Objects. Just reading this briefly makes my head spin."

The girl shook her head back and forth, as if wanting to forget the unwanted information.

Passing through the corridor littered with papers, the black agent and blonde girl arrived at a large room.

An enormously wide room.

On both sides were installed racks that seemed for hanging pork bellies, and in the center of the room was a pool of spilled blood.

And in the middle of that blood pool lay a severed male head, tongue lolling out.

Seeing this sight, the black agent went behind the girl and covered her eyes.

"Huh? Is there something else?"

Though the blonde girl grumbled, she didn't resist.

It seemed she had already witnessed sights she shouldn't have in similar situations.

"This man is a wanted criminal in Korea."

The black agent briefly deduced the man's identity from the severed head lying there.

"You've probably seen him at my office too, Miss. A middle-aged man who set up a fake Research Institute and kidnapped many people."

The girl nodded.

"That's the man who was wanted because of the Golden Horn incident, right? I remember!"

The black agent closed his notebook with a thud, signaling the end of the investigation.

"We've recovered most of the leaked Golden Horn, so our primary task is complete for now."

The black agent spoke while looking at the golden hearts scattered all over the room.

"From now on, we need to find out who was behind this whole incident."

***

The man who seemed to know something about this incident ultimately couldn't provide any useful information.

"No, you see, there was a ghost!"

Whenever asked what happened inside the building, he kept going on about ghosts.

His statements were incoherent, and he barely witnessed anything, so it wasn't even clear what kind of Object was involved.

Moreover, by the time the investigation team arrived, the Object had already left no trace behind.

Asking why he was there didn't help much either.

This man was more like a day laborer dragged in due to debts.

In other words, he knew nothing.

Continuing the interrogation was pointless.

The black agent stood up, holding the dozing girl in his arms.

As he left the interrogation room, he opened his notebook.

On the notebook was a simple drawing.

The only evidence that seemed valuable.

It was a trace left on the man's clothes when he was found.

Two tiny footprints, neatly imprinted like a baby's.