The shattered Golden Horn alloy container, and the thick blood oozing out from inside.

The director's experiment failed again.

"It seems there is a limit to just adjusting the alloy ratio. Since we're dealing with a special Object, we'll need to prepare special materials on our side too."

Tapping his fingers on the desk, the director was lost in thought.

He was recalling the numerous Objects he had seen through the cracks of time.

He randomly brought to mind the past or future Objects he had successfully observed that could be useful.

An Object at blocking the intrusion of 'Nameless' that could be obtained immediately.

And the director's thoughts turned to one event.

The 'Object Exhibition'.

He remembered that an extremely useful Object would appear there soon.

The director had his researchers prepare for participation in the exhibition under the name of the Bucheon Research Institute.

It was preparation to obtain an Object crucial for humanity.

***

Sehee POV:

---

Looking up at the sky, it was unusually clear weather.

The warm sunlight pleasantly warmed my skin, and the cool breeze blowing over it felt nice.

Meow.

The ghostly(phantom) cat in my arms also seemed to be in a good mood.

The cloud animals swam freely across the sky. 

I even saw a rare cloud whale.

After unpacking the luggage the Sehee Research Institute brought, I should have a cold carbonated drink with the cloud whale as a snack.

This is the Object Exhibition venue.

The place Yerin made a fuss about being excited for.

It was a large festival with many domestic research institutes participating, and even some foreign ones joining.

Apparently many rare Objects were brought in too, so I had some expectations.

A place I had always wanted to visit was realized here.

What I always wanted to see was the 'Object Zoo'.

The 'Object Zoo' had been attempted more often than expected, but it had a sad jinx.

On the first day of opening, there was a mass casualty accident and it was canceled - that was the sad jinx.

After that jinx repeated a few times, no more permits were issued, sadly ending it.

I hope this event can overcome that jinx and conclude successfully.

I hoped the successful conclusion of the Object Exhibition would lead to a permit for establishing the Object Zoo.

I hoped for an enjoyable Object Exhibition.

Hehe.

*** 

As we entered the exhibition venue, a massive golden tree greeted us in the far corner.

"Wow, unnie(sister). What kind of tree is that? Was there a research institute isolating such a huge tree Object?" 

I opened the guidebook to check Yerin's question, and could confirm the details.

"It says it's an Object brought by the Bucheon Research Institute. But wasn't the Bucheon Institute defunct?"

Well, maybe someone took it over and is operating it again?

I briefly wondered why anyone would need to acquire a defunct research institute, but quickly dismissed the thought.

On the way to the exhibition space assigned to the Sehee Research Institute, we could see the Bucheon Institute's booth.

Tired-looking staff were welcoming visitors. 

Are they not letting the employees at that institute sleep? Why all look so exhausted?

Still, the massive, self-luminous tree was quite an impressive Object. 

It was a bit strange that such an eye-catching Object had never been known before.

***

Detective's Junior POV:

---

"Hello. Do you happen to have any requests?"

As I caught my breath, senior suddenly said something strange, cutting out all context.

If he just blurts that out, anyone would run away, especially an unconscious girl who has just woken up.

"Yes, I have a request!" 

And somehow that worked again!

"I need to find my sister!"

Why do senior's strange words often work?

Since discussing the request outside in the drizzling rain would be difficult, we decided to first return to the detective office and hear him out.

Taking a taxi in the dead of night, we arrived at the detective office.

As I opened the door and entered the office, it had a completely different feel from usual.

The large window that always let in sunlight felt ominous as night fell, and the faint sound of rain hitting it was like a scene from a horror movie.

Even though Watson on the shelf looked no different than usual, there was an eerie feeling about it.

It felt like the gas lamp had been lit just a few seconds ago.

Senior seemed accustomed to this atmosphere in the office, naturally guiding the client to a seat and even handing over a large towel to the drenched client.

Wait, did the detective office have a towel like that? I've never seen it before.

Senior skillfully brewed some warm coffee and offered a cup to the client.

Listening to the client's story, there was a reason the senior's outrageous suggestion worked.

The client had already seen senior on TV.

Well, a person wearing a yellow suit and carrying a pipe would certainly leave a deep impression even if seen just once on TV.

"I need to find my sister. She headed to Seoul, but...suddenly she's not responding."

The client rambled, as if their thoughts weren't organized either.

"Ah! Come to think of it, the broker who tried to kidnap me said he kidnapped my sister too."

"Can...you find her?"

Summarizing the request, it seemed quite a difficult one.

It was fortunate that not much time had passed since the kidnapping, but the chances of survival were slim.

Most missing victims related to Golden Horns are killed within 10 hours.

As Golden Horn-related crimes increased, sentences were drastically increased, leading to this trend.

If you commit a Golden Horn-related crime, you get a sentence equivalent to murder.

So they just kill the victim when cutting the horn, since they'll be ruined if caught anyway. It lowers the chances of getting caught if they just kill and bury the body somewhere.

The law may change again soon.

If you cut the horn and commit murder simultaneously, you may face an extremely heavy sentence.

"Then let's start by finding that broker!"

Senior accepted the request without any concern for such issues.

Wait, what about the fee, senior?

***

I dunno whose POV is this:

---

The black agent was still in China.

While investigating the Research Institute where the Golden Horn was brought in, the black agent discovered something strange and remained in China to continue the investigation and confirm it.

"Mister, what are you still looking at?"

"There are many inconsistencies in the information about the Research Institute I investigated, so I'm verifying those parts."

Just looking at the recordings of the 'specialized delivery drivers who transported the Golden Horn' to this place, one could sense something was off.

There was something they all commonly said,

<The Research Institute I visited for the delivery was neatly maintained and looked fine.> 

<The building itself seemed brand new.>

<Actually, it was a Research Institute I had delivered to even before it went defunct, but when I went after the reopening, it had become a completely different building, which surprised me.> 

<They must have cleaned thoroughly, as there wasn't a speck of dust.>

The first common point was that the building was neat and spotless.

<The employees seemed a bit strange.>

<The employees were so rude, it was unpleasant.> 

<All the employees looked exhausted and depressed.>

<Even the security staff didn't seem interested in the vehicles entering and leaving the Research Institute.>

<From what I saw, quite a few employees seemed frustratingly gloomy.>

The second common point was that the employees were rude and looked depressed.

While I couldn't judge the employees I hadn't met, the Research Institute I directly inspected was far from such neatness.

A ruin, a building on the verge of collapse.

A severely dilapidated building from lack of maintenance.

As I investigated this strangeness more deeply, even stranger points were discovered.

The acquisition and establishment process itself was strange.

The officials who permitted the acquisition and establishment of that Research Institute could not remember it.

The landowner who sold the land for that Research Institute just signed the contract without receiving any money. They couldn't even remember selling that land.

Having vague memories was the same symptom as the officials.

The black agent wrote down the questions in a notebook,

<Hypnosis object?>

<Reality manipulation object?>

<Whichever it is, it's an annoying object.>

<Even if its use is limited to crime, there could be better applications.>

<Why specifically Golden Horn?>

<The benefits are too small compared to the risks.>

<Utilizing Korean criminals all the way to China.>

<Golden Horn syndrome occurs only in Korea.>

<High probability of primarily operating in Korea.>

<We need to investigate Korean research institutes that have suddenly been acquired or reopened.>

The black agent closed the notebook and stood up from his seat.

The blonde girl also stood up.

"Mister, have you reached a conclusion? Your expression looks like you've decided something."

The expressionless agent nodded slightly and said,

"Yes, ma'am. It seems we've investigated everything worth investigating here. The rest is work to be done in Korea."

The black agent felt the vague outlines of the mastermind behind the Golden Horn case were finally becoming visible.