Seoul Object Story

A loud crash echoed through the Central Research Institute.

A massive force pierced straight through a desk and slammed into the wall.

Had it been regular concrete, the impact would’ve easily shattered it, but the Object-composed walls of the institute remained unscathed without a single crack.

The Hungry Ghost that had flung me with its tentacle now lolled its enormous tongue around as it searched for its next prey.

Its giant mouth dripped saliva, its sticky body oozed with mucus, and countless tentacles sprouted from its torso. Not exactly an easy thing to like, but I got back up from my spot and charged at the Hungry Ghost anyway.

A wrestling match where the opponent was 100 times bigger than me.

Still, there was no choice but to charge forward.

Because this monster was my doing—I had to stop it.

If I irresponsibly ran away, the employees trapped inside the research facility would unjustly perish.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out what could destroy the Hungry Ghost.

It wasn’t my preferred method, but I decided to try incapacitating it using a different approach—even if I couldn’t outright kill it.

If all its tentacles were severed, wouldn’t that be practically the same as being dead?

***

This place was usually a hellish job where threats to life coexisted daily, but compared to the current situation, it felt almost heavenly.

The Hungry Ghost was running around trying to eat people while the Gray Reaper relentlessly pursued it.

The sealed Central Research Institute had transformed into a battlefield.

All the high-ranking personnel who should have been issuing orders had vanished, and suddenly, the Hungry Ghost, which was only seen in documentaries about the incident 30 years ago, appeared.

I was escaping from the Hungry Ghost when I was saved by none other than the equally infamous Gray Reaper.

A collision between the most famous and dangerous Object from 30 years ago and the most famous and dangerous Object today.

The Gray Reaper heroically charged forward but was effortlessly thrown aside.

When I thought, “Even the Gray Reaper can’t handle the Hungry Ghost?” it immediately got back up and charged again.

And again. And again. And again.

It looked like the Gray Reaper was diving in to save us cornered souls from certain death.

Even though it was absolutely impossible—it created the illusion that it might actually succeed.

The Gray Reaper kept charging. And charging. And charging.

It seemed like the Gray Reaper would continue to take one-sided beatings endlessly.

Just as everyone thought this, an unexpected change occurred.

The situation where the Gray Reaper was getting pummeled reversed all of a sudden.

As usual, the Gray Reaper charged, but this time, with a loud *POW*, a tremendous sound of rupture filled the air along with the Hungry Ghost’s anguished scream.

The Hungry Ghost’s massive eyes had exploded like they’d been hit by a bomb, and green blood gushed uncontrollably from the wounds.

How in the world…?

The Gray Reaper’s left arm was gone from the elbow down. The severed end glowed yellow as it slowly regenerated.

Witnessing this, those who couldn’t escape began to hold onto a thin thread of hope.

Please. Please let the less terrifying Gray Reaper win.

***

The method I used just now combined various abilities.

Ghosting, physical immunity, regeneration—this three-way combination of Object abilities.

An Object with Ghosting can use a dangerous technique that overlaps itself with its opponent’s body.

It’s very simple.

Overlap bodies while in ghost form, then cancel the Ghosting ability.

The problem is that doing so mixes both bodies together, causing fatal damage to both parties.

In fact, there are some truly vicious Objects with Ghosting that repeatedly do this to mix up their opponents’ bodies.

But add Physical Immunity, and things change.

The side with Physical Immunity suffers no damage while forcing all the harm onto the opponent.

Something I often used when cutting through iron bars.

But it’s not something you’d typically use against another Object.

Why? Because if the opponent isn’t physically destructible either, both will just obliterate each other!

That’s where Regeneration comes in.

After breaking apart, regenerate, and it’s painful—but worth it.

Though it’s kind of really painful, so I’d rather not use this method unless necessary.

The fire pulsating in my chest burned fiercely, consuming and regenerating the lost parts of my body.

Fortunately, there were many spectators watching my fight with the Hungry Ghost. Their emotions—fear, anticipation, etc.—greatly fueled my flames, rapidly regenerating my wounds as if rewinding time.

Moreover, it was clear that the Hungry Ghost, visibly shrinking in confidence, had never experienced injury before.

After all, how often does an Object with Physical Immunity get hurt?

This must be the first time this guy has ever felt pain.

And me? When I first woke up in Seoul Forest, I was already covered in wounds.

Unlike fragile Objects born with Physical Immunity, I’m an Object that’s been battered and bruised quite a bit.

The issue is that this guy seems to possess a weak Regeneration ability too.

If there’s no limit to his Regeneration, completely neutralizing him will be impossible.

Now, amidst the thrilling battle with the Hungry Ghost, I needed to quickly devise a way to drive him away or trap him.

Unfortunately, the fight wasn’t going entirely one-sided.

Apparently realizing that staying passive and taking hits continuously wouldn’t benefit him, he started actively countering.

Swinging his tentacles to push me away, pulling his body out of alignment at the moment our bodies overlapped—he managed to evade effectively.

The stalemate where neither of us could kill the other dragged on until an unexpected change happened.

It occurred when I traded my left arm for one of the Hungry Ghost’s tentacles.

While screaming in agony, the Hungry Ghost flung me with the remaining tentacles into the research facility wall.

Normally, I’d have crashed into the indestructibly sturdy research facility wall, gotten back up, and charged again, continuing the monotonous battle—but this time, I couldn’t.

‘???’

My body penetrated the concrete wall effortlessly, rolling dejectedly into the parking lot outside.

The research institute had broken! Why?

Glancing hurriedly toward the institute, it was no longer an Object.

From one corner of the institute, the Hungry Ghost burst out, smashing through the walls.

Its long wail of “KIEEEEEEEK!” seemed to express the Hungry Ghost’s joy after 30 years of breathing fresh air.

Confidently striding, it charged directly at me.

Well, maybe he thinks it’s more advantageous to fight outside since there’s more space?

***

I handed the cane I was holding directly into the Director’s hands.

“Senior, is this okay?”

“The choices here are practically nonexistent. Seeing how the Deputy Director hastily escaped, it’s clear the Gray Reaper has revealed itself. By now, it’s probably unleashed the Hungry Ghost inside the institute.”

“Huh? So, aren’t we in danger?”

“That’s why there’s no choice. All we can do here is hand over the cane.”

Being eaten by the Hungry Ghost vs. dealing with a suspicious Object.

In this unreasonable binary choice, I chose the deal.

The moment the Director grasped the cane, he tapped it against the floor just like when I used its abilities. Then, he disappeared right there.

The Junior stood there dumbfounded, looking like a raccoon who lost its cotton candy in water, and shouted:

“Hey, Senior! Did he just run off with the cane? We weren’t supposed to deal with Objects! We’ve been scammed!”

I approached the window and flicked it with my finger.

A clear ringing sound of glass resonated. It was definitely ordinary glass now.

The institute was no longer an Object.

“Actually, the deal went fine. Let’s go quickly. This place will soon turn into hell.”

I snatched a hammer from the Junior’s hand and swung it at the window.

Under normal circumstances, this window would’ve repelled the hammer.

But not now.

Of course, considering the hint given by the One-Eyed Glasses, this result made sense.

[As long as the Director remains, the institute cannot be destroyed.]

Since the Director had departed somewhere with the cane, the institute was now destructible.

“Aaah! If someone had to smash the window, it should’ve been me! I’m good at hammer work!”

After handing the hammer back to the Junior who was making nonsense complaints, I hurried along.

“We need to move fast. We’ve got to avoid the quarantined Objects inside the Central Research Institute.”

Time was running out.

Because the Objects inside the institute were about to break free—those particularly vicious Objects difficult to quarantine and sent exclusively to the Central Research Institute.

If you don’t want to get caught in the chaos and die, grit your teeth and run.

Amidst our sprint, the sound of the institute exploding behind us echoed loudly.

“Run if you want to live!”

It was the sound signaling the beginning of hell.

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